Fun on Friday #18: Who watches the Watchmen?

I first noticed Alan Moore in the 1980s when he was writing for 2000AD. I remember enjoying Skizz but it was D. R and Quinch that really hooked me in. (Brief aside: I looked up Alan Moore on Wikipedia to make the above hyperlink and discovered that he did comic strips in the Sounds under the name of Curt Vile which I read and enjoyed in the 1970s. It seems I was a fan of Moore even before I knew I was.) I became even more impressed with his work as I read Warrior magazine where he wrote The Bojeffries Saga (a hugely funny and, in my opinion, underrated series), Marvelman (later re-titled Miracleman thanks to a bunch of numpty lawyers from Marvel comics) and V for Vendetta.

What has prompted this trip down comic memory lane is the immanent release of a new film based on his Watchmen story. It has to be said, Moore's work has been badly treated by Hollywood in the past (Exhibit A - The League of extrodinary Gentlemen - brilliant gaphic novel, extraordinarily poor film) but I've heard some positive noises about the Watchmen movie. (Although I've also heard they've changed the ending which is a bit worrying.)

So where's the "fun" in this belated Fun on Friday? (A snigger on Saturday?) It comes from the pre-publicity for the film which I found to be fun. The first I encountered was this YouTube clip:



I like this because there is no direct link to the film - instead it, and associated material, places you in the world of the Watchmen and leaves you to explore from there. They have also created a Flickr account, a New Frontiersman website and a New Frontiersman Twitter account. Of course, they have the usual official movie website too but I thought the presence on social networking sites was fun. What do you think? Interesting use of the read/write web or cynical marketing tat?

Either way, enter the world of the Watchmen and have fun this Friday... er Saturday.