Who wants the Watchmen, Part 2

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Once Upon a Time in Detroit...

True Story – the crime rate in Detroit was once so high that the Justice League of America relocated their base of operations to a warehouse in a gang infested inner city neighborhood. Detroit was suffering from white flight, their housing market had tanked to the point where people were burning their homes because they could get more for the insurance money than from selling them for market value.

The year was 1984 and the Motor City had just earned a new nickname, the “Murder City,” with a yearly homicide rate in the high 700’s (think: two people a day). In addition to rampant manslaughter, 1984 saw over 800 separate cases of arson around Devil’s Night alone, but crime wasn’t the reason the JLA set up shop - it was supposed to be a savvy marketing move from DC Comics.

Everyone in 1984 had Detroit fever, thanks in large part to the Tigers, on the verge of winning the World Series. It doesn't take a private investigator to uncover why Detroit was huge in 1984, but it wouldn't hurt to consult one anyways.

Also huge in the mid-eighties? The growing Brat Pack teen market. The Baby Boomer's kids had finally grown up, and were spending money at movies, arcades, and yes - on comics. The creative forces behind JLA jumped on the Midwest/teen angst market wagon, restructuring the team's line-up and setting them up in a new city, featuring a newer, younger ensemble cast that like something out of a John Hughes film.

In addition to team staples Aquaman and Martian Manhunter, the Detroit Breakfast Club included Elongated Man, Steel, Vixen, Gypsy and Vibe, with every personality archetype necessary for a good movie:

Wait. What? Who?
At the same time Coca Cola was changing its formula, The Justice League underwent a radical revamp in which League mainstays such as Batman and Wonder Woman were passed over in favor of new teen heroes, more ethnically diverse and with real life issues than the Justice League of wealthy, privileged white people ever was.

Superman, only vulnerable to Kryptonite, was out. In his place was another man of Steel, who's vulnerabilities included controlling parental figures. Feral Vixen had a number of personal demons to overcome and teenage Gypsy ran away from her abusive parents. None compared however, to Vibe, a trash talking, break dancing, gang banging inner city Latino teen capable of causing mini earthquakes who dealt with escalating gang warfare in his neighborhood. If he sounds like a bad stereotype, it's because he is, or rather was.

Like New Coke, and the teen-centric 1985 cast of SNL (that featured Brat Packers Anthony Michael Hall and Robert Downey Jr as cast members) The Detroit League failed to connect with an audience and didn't last long. Hardcore fans wanted their Super Friends back, and started a letter writing campaign calling for the deaths of these teen upstarts. DC listened to their readers and the Detroit League, like so many other experimental corporate endeavors of that era tried to course correct.

Where Coke switched back to the classic formula and Lorne Michaels trapped most of the cast of SNL in a fire opting to start fresh next season (ushering in the Dana Carvey/Mike Meyers years), the Justice League were kicked out of Detroit. SNL's deaths were part of a comedic sketch, but DC was much more sinister giving the fans exactly what they wanted - heads on plates.

Less than a year after the Detroit Exodus the team was picked off one by one by killer robots, a grisly move that foreshadowed the fate of another teen hero a few years later when DC set up a 900 number giving fans control over the fate of Robin (they killed the Boy Wonder as well). The end results were the same, a blank slate, a clean page. Message received:

Detroit 1 - JLA 0

It's too bad, really. Between the Big Auto bailout, bankruptcies, and a housing market even worse than the 1980's - Detroit could really use the League's help today. Perhaps it would've ended differently had the League set up shop in Shermer Illinois.

Who wants the Watchmen?

Wizkids recently announced the release of a Watchmen Heroclix collectors set, which begs the question, who wants the Watchmen?

The answer, of course, is fans, collectors, and perhaps the ever present power gamer looking to exploit the game dial of an uber-powerful Dr. Manhattan.

So why did the Watchmen announcement come as something of a surprise to the Heroclix community?

Before Neca took the reigns, when Heroclix flew under Topps' banner, it was publicly stated, in more than one Q&A chatroom and forum thread that the powers that be would never authorize a Watchmen set. Reasons were always murky - some speculated licensing rights were an issue, while others questioned the marketability of a product that promoted some seriously screwed up people masquerading as heroes. In a game that was remarkably kid friendly, upselling a set full of murderers, rapists, and psychotic malcontents (with leather fetishes no less) as a mainstream product was a gamble big corporate wasn't willing to take.

Heroclix fans then took it upon themselves to "Dial H for Hero" and create their own custom heroclix figures and dials. Modifying existing sculpts was the easy part - determining how to translate the heroes power set to a clix dial caused some real online arguments. Many felt most of the Crime Busters deserved to be Bystander Tokens, and a strong argument could be made as such considering the overall lack of action in the Watchmen series itself. Sure, there's moments punctuated by some fighting, but no one in that universe has any "real" powers outside of Dr. Manhattan.

Regardless, the 2009 Watchmen movie certainly helped move the property into the mainstream spotlight, and renewed interest in the intellectual property, something Neca is attempting to capitalize on. Will they succeed? Early rumblings put the 25 figure set into a $99 MSRP bracket (giant blue Manhattan sold seperately), a point which has caused outrage among many fans used to buying blind boosters.

I personally find the $99 price tag refreshing - it's a "one and done" purchase that guarantees a complete set from an initial outlay of cash. No more buying blind boosters in hopes of the one rare you need. No bazillion copies of the common Captain Carnage. No outrage over chase figures. Chase Rohrschach in civilian identity won't be fetching >$100 on ebay.

Is it an expensive set? Of course this all depends on level of want, and income. Some argue the $4 per figure price tag is too high, compared to the current ratio in "grab bag" boosters (~$12 for 5 random figures). I suspect fans will buy this set regardless, and I don't think a lot of extra product will sit on shelves (the way Icons, Universe, and Indy boosters seem to have this problem). I'm all in favor of promoting less waste.

Because the set has a limited appeal compared to the more mainstream characters offered in DC & Marvel random packs I expect Neca may be hedging their bets with Watchmen, and I don't blame them a bit. The cost of production, and licensing fees likely isn't cheap for a one time product, and I expect a smaller print run overall, so I'm not appalled as most are by the sticker shock.

Likewise, this isn't a set meant to be picked up by a newcomer to the game - it's rightfully geared towards adults at specialty stores. This isn't a stepping stone for new players. Children won't be persuading parents to buy Watchmen boosters at Target with a $99 price tag.

But Mom, it's got SOOOPER HEROES!

Imagine the awkward conversations between parent and child about the "nekkid blue guy" the kid pulled out of the department store booster pack. The angry phone calls to Neca. The Senate committee to investigate the corruption of our youth. Perhaps the price point is worth circumventing that headache as well. I don't take it as a serious threat, but it is no doubt a point to consider in a society bent on frivolous litigation.

The promotional ads for the original comic series ran with the tag "Who Watches the Watchmen?" a nod to the question put to Socrates in Plato's The Republic, regarding the use of ultimate power. For the Heroclix set, a better question might be:

Who wants the Watchmen... for $99?