DC’s Peacemaker was almost in Alan Moore’s Watchmen

Many almost-rans can be found in the rich history of comic book superheroes. Many stories are about books and characters that could have been, but didn’t become. There are many, perhaps thousands of them. The comics critic’s bread and butter is curating a messy magpie nest full of these facts and other tidbits.

One example is the alternate reality. WatchmenThe Peacemaker was the focus of my story. And that’s how I would explain Peacemaker to my coworkers in the lead up to Suicide SquadAnd the Peacemaker series.

1. It is the costume he wore in comics.
2. Yes, his tagline really is “A man who loves peace so much that he is willing to fight for it!”
3. He was never interesting except when he was It is almostTitle character Watchmen.

You see, Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ initial pitch for WatchmenAs a mystery team, DC would use an action hero set it had obtained from Charlton Comics. As the story goes DC and former Charlton editor Dick Giordano decided to use the characters in the DC Universe.

Moore and Gibbons took the Charlton characters from the Charlton movies as inspiration. Their story began with the brutal murder of the Comedian, a former government killer. The original pitch name was also no longer applicable. DC Comics was close to making a book named “Battle of the Books”, but they never did. Death of the Peacemaker.

The pants of time

Image Credit: Dave Gibbons/DC Comics

It’s interesting to explore this alternate universe: With the huge success of Death of the PeacemakerThe Charlton characters are never included in the DCU, except for the odd comic about an event. This probably doesn’t mean much for most folks, but it will sorely disappoint everyone who loved the Question in Justice League UnlimitedWe are fans of Blue Beetle & BoosterGold, as well as… uh… I suppose there is someone who likes Captain Atom. Guess what?.

Moore could have been signed to a regular work-for hire contract, but without having original characters, and wouldn’t have had any issues with the American mainstream comics industry. Moore was also co-creator. The Killing Joke, “For the Man Who Has Everything,” John Constantine, and Mogo the Living Planet Who Is Also A Green Lantern would have lent his inventive talents to the world of superheroes a little longer.

However, it could also become a world with the Peacemaker being a nihilistic sociopath. And it is with some measure of surprise that I must admit that I would miss the Peacemaker of James Gunn’s Peacemaker. The Comedian was always my “favorite” character in Watchmen, insofar as I had one among its intentionally unlikable cast — but only because I disliked the others more for their pretensions of heroism.

Moore and Gibbons brought together the Comedian to tell a story about what would happen to the world if it happened. It was built to mirror our current fears of Armageddon. It is easy to see the parallels between 2020s and Moore. But if I had to pick one, I’d leave the Comedian’s total mental collapse in the face of the Big Squid Lie at the door.

Give me John Cena’s Christopher Smith. He is a great dancer and pianist. His eagle is a favorite of mine, as well his colleagues. I like that he’s loutish jerk fed garbage ideas his entire life who learns to make a handful of real personal connections and SortaBe a good personSometimes. Something the Peacemaker did is finally more interesting than something he didn’t.