10 Comics Too Big To Fail (That Did Anyway)
7. Before Watchmen
Years ago, Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons created something special with their 12-issue maxi-series, Watchmen. The Hugo Award-winning books have long been considered masterpieces of the medium, and years went by before anyone had the courage to adapt them in any way. In 2009, Zack Snyder's film adaptation was released, and it opened up a floodgate.
The movie wasn't a blockbuster success, but it did well enough to raise a few eyebrows at DC. In 2012, the publisher released a prequel series based on Moore's Watchmen universe, but without any collaboration from Moore or Gibbons whatsoever. That's not surprising, as Moore is well-known for his dislike of how his work is perceived and adapted, and in particular with how DC treated him following Watchmen's publication, but the publisher pushed forward anyway.
Unfortunately, things didn't go according to plan. Despite the massive fan-following The Watchmen had, DC pulled the plug prematurely on the series due to low sales figures. A planned Epilogue one-shot was scrapped, and the entire run concluded with 37 issues.