We're not surprised that Tron Legacy's director Joseph Kosinski's illustrated novel Oblivion is going to be made into a movie. The buzz generated by Tron, in the past week alone, should be enough for Kosinski to squeeze out a couple more projects from.

The story centers on a battle-damaged soldier who, assigned to a desolate planet after a court-martial, patrols the bleak landscape in an effort to destroy the last vestiges of a primitive alien race. When a mysterious traveler arrives unexpectedly, their lives become inextricably linked as they are forced to question everything they know about this world and themselves.

Radical's Barry Levine, Fight Club director David Fincher and David Morrison will produce the film — but we're still waiting to get our hands on the book, which has about 40 painted landscapes from Tae Young Choi.

[THR]

Graphic novel writer Robert Vendetti is working on a prequel comic, almost done, and hopes to write a sequel as well. But Banks says she's taking it one movie at a time. Also, co-star Elizabeth Mitchell dropped a few details about the film's plot.

Mitchell plays the wife of Willis' police detective in the movie. And she also plays her character's robot surrogate, who goes out into the world to interact with people. And, in an interesting twist, it sounds like Mitchell's surrogate gets hacked — so the robot version is under the control of various other people. "I get to be different people," says Mitchell. "It's an interesting concept."

Also, your surrogate doesn't have to look like the real you, says Mitchell. It can be more beautiful, it can be a different gender, and presumably it doesn't even have to be human. And if your surrogate dies out in the real world, all that happens to you is that you need to buy a new surrogate. [MTV]

Moore has cited Ah Pook Is Here, the 1970 collaboration of Malcolm McNeill and William S. Burroughs, as a Watchmen primary source (you can see an image from it at right, above). Ah Pook Is Here never made it into the marketplace as a graphic novel, but the comic did appear as The Unspeakable Mr. Hart in Britain's Olympus magazine. The image of the Mayan Death God resembles a certainly godly figure in the Watchmen universe: Dr. Manhattan. The art and tone supplied a mythological depth for the creation of a God. Moore has referenced Burroughs' "idea of repeated symbols laden with meaning" as a feature he wished to embody.

The British psycho-scifi series The Prisoner gets a direct shout-out when Rorschach mutters "Be seeing you" - a recurring line on the show - as he leaves through a window. The production motif pops up in Nite Owl's Owlship, the Archimedes:

The Prisoner's coy tone and mysterious plot twists are found in the dark humor of the original comic - not an area that Snyder is particularly known for. So we may not be seeing much Prisoner in the film version of the movie.

Rorshach's interrogation by a psychologist in Issue 6 is told through the journal of his interrogator. Such a device might be too clunky for film, resulting in something like the opening scene of Blade Runner. The struggles of both interrogator and subject for identity are common themes here, and the lonely Owlship moving through the the city landscape also resonates with the Ridley Scott film.

The second Nite Owl is played by Patrick Wilson in the film. His desperate post-hero plight recalls Travis Bickle's crazed loneliness in 1970s deathtrip classic Taxi Driver. The long pan across Bickle's sad phone call in the film's middle, as though the camera was ashamed to watch, recalls this depiction of Dan Dreiberg in Issue 1:

Snyder's has mentioned the seediness of Taxi Driver and David Fincher's Seven as inspirations for the gritty element of Watchmen, all the better to wear off the superhero gloss.

You're following up your Continuity graphic novel - about a girl who changed realities every time she fell asleep - with a book about tri-sexual redneck outlaws fighting for the survival of Mars. Why can't you write something a little bit more imaginative, McNamara?
 
I try to write the books I'd love to discover.  That doesn't always translate into an easy sell. You might like my next collaboration with [Continuity artist] Tony Talbert, it's pretty dull. It's called Sucker and it's an examination of the failed pursuit of American Ideology from the point of view of a guy who comes back from the dead to eat children and hump his sister.
 
Nothing kills a comic book for me more than cheap realism. It's boring and a waste of an artist's talent. I'd much rather adapt real world themes into a fictional landscape. For example The Martian Confederacy was inspired by the American super conglomerate Bechtel's failed attempt to privatize the drinking water of Brazil. Now I could barely stay awake writing that sentence, imagine trying to read a graphic novel about it. But throw in a horny android, a drinking bear, and some two sided ladies and it's suddenly fun for me to write and you to read. The goal is always to create someplace you'll miss when you close the book.
 
You've said elsewhere that the book takes place in a future where historical records have been lost and "the people of the future think Planet Of The Apes, Star Trek and Pulp Fiction actually happened" - Is this some kind of comment on the dangers of sci-fi being taken too seriously, or just an excuse for pop-culture reference nerds to piss themselves in glee?
 
I look at Science Fiction as a living language that's always building on itself. So the challenge for me was how to recognize where we've been while still going forward without being trapped in homage.  Instead of worrying about what's been done before we just decided to recognize all science fiction as our past and theirs.
 
It's also a reflection of people like me who were raised by TV. I couldn't tell you what I learned in grade school but ask me about how Different Strokes and the Facts of Life exist in a shared universe and suddenly I'm an expert on something.
 
Art for the book is by Jane's World creator and former Charles Shultz assistant Paige Braddock - What did she bring to the project besides making it look so good?
 
Because Paige is such a great writer herself, I actively sought her feed back in writing and editing the script. We had some spirited discussions over content and the book is better for it (if the book seems like it's missing a crucial poop joke it's because she asked me to take it out).
 
Paige also brought some unintentional anxiety to the partnership. I mean she goes from being nominated for an Eisner to working with me? Not since Cuba Gooding Junior has recognition destroyed such a promising career.
 
When The Martian Confederacy gets optioned for the inevitable movie treatment, who will you demand to play the lead roles before collapsing in a drug-induced stupor on top of your multiple Hollywood-paid hookers?
 
Optioning The Martian Confederacy would be a death sentence for me. My vices are only controlled by abject poverty. But if you really want to see me dead...
 
Ashton Kushter as Boone. The two of them are a pair of idiots, it would be perfect.
 
Natasha Lyonne as Lou. They're both trash talking, fun loving gals I'm crushed out on.
 
John Goodman as Spinner. Goodman might actually be too hairy to play the drinking bear.
 
Gene Hackman as the Alcalde. Hackman could easily embody the charm and menace of Mars sole lawman.
 
Carrie Ann Moss as both sides of Sally. Moss would be great fit for the two headed Sally. She's played both villain (Memento) and hero (The Matrix) before and after Red Planet still owes us a good Mars movie.
 
Last chance - Why should io9 readers pick up this book in twenty words or less?
 
Imagine The Dukes of Hazzard meeting Noam Chomsky. It's a perfect mix of social commentary, science fiction and cleavage.

The Martian Confederacy arrives in stores in July, and is available for pre-order now.

The Martian Confederacy

Note: hit the links to read these suckers for yourselves. The Alex Tse draft was out there at one point (we saved an older copy), so you might be able to find it by sifting the web. Or you could just put David Hayter's draft in a tumbler and give it a couple of shakes, it's roughly the same experience.

Sam Hamm, 1989: Hamm is probably best-known for writing Batman, also in 1989, so it's probably no small wonder that studios suits thought he'd be perfect to adapt Watchmen for Joel Silver at Fox. However, the resulting script is pretty much utter trash.

• 
  
• In the opening scene, the Watchmen try to foil a terrorist scheme in the Statue of Liberty, although it results in the death of their teammate Captain Metropolis, and Lady Liberty gets blown up. Cue the government's war on "masks" and superheroes.
• 
  
• The opening credits are described as dozens of watches floating around the screen. Lame.
• 
  
• Adrian Veidt has developed smokeless cigarettes that are supposedly non-cancerous, while "cleaning your lungs at the same time." A far cry from the glass pipes in the original, plus it turns out Veidt was actually giving them cancer. Evil.
• 
  
• Veidt has also created "Nostalgia," which isn't a perfume like in the comics, but rather an "anti-aging" Dick Clark-esque skin cream.
• 
  
• The whole premise is built on the fact that the creation of Dr. Manhattan changed the world forever, so Veidt spends his time and millions trying to create a wormhole in time and space so he can kill Jon Osterman before he becomes the good doc. Dr. Manhattan stops him, but realizes he was right and goes back in time to prevent himself from existing, thereby changing the future.
• 
  
• This "new world" (actually, our own present-day New York City) shimmers into existence around Dan (Night Owl), Laurie (Silk Spectre), and Rorschach, leaving them confused and wondering what happened. Fin.
• 
  
• Lamest moment: EXT. SEAPORT - THAT MOMENT - DUSK
  Ground level. From the midst of the bewildered CROWD we watch as the OWLSHIP and the CTU talk some serious trash:

  NIGHT OWL OVER OWLSHIP LOUDSPEAKER— "or we'll BLOW YOUR ASSES OUT OF THE SKY!"

  CTU LOUDSPEAKER — "UNREGISTERED CRAFT. IDENTIFY YOURSELF."

  OWLSHIP LOUDSPEAKER — "BABY . . . WE'RE A BLAST FROM THE PAST."

• David Hayter, 2003: Hayter was tapped to write the script once the project ended up at Paramount in turnaround from Fox. Hayter, who also wrote X-Men and X-Men 2 (and plays the voice of Snake in the Metal Gear Solid video games) stayed much closer to the source material than Hamm did, but he took some liberties as well.

• Dr. Manhattan is much more godlike in this script, creating a "magic mirror" for Laurie that can allow her to see any point in her past. This only seems to serve as a plot device so that we can see her fighting with The Comedian in the past.
• 
  
• Dr. M also uses his abilities to give Laurie one of the lamest superpowers since Jubilee: she can now shoot a blue ball of energy from her fingers, slingshot-style.
• 
  
• She uses this power to try and stop Adrian, but he catches the ball and pummels her. Not quite as dramatic as catching a bullet, is it?
• 
  
• Instead of a vat-grown alien-tentacled telepath, Veidt fires a concentrated beam of radiation at orbital mirrors which reflect into New York City, killing 20 million people.
• 
  
• Night Owl and Veidt square off in the end, and although Veidt beats the crap out of him, Night Owl still wins by tricking Veidt with an Owl-o-rang and killing him. Yes, really.
• 
  
• Lamest moment: ADRIAN — "Why an Owl? I mean, assuming your intention is to intimidate the criminal element... What's so frightening about an owl?"

  DAN — "I don't know, really. I guess it's because... No matter how hard you listen, you never hear them coming."

  Dan DUCKS. Having circled the room, the OWL-WING ZOOMS OUT OF THE DARKNESS, OWL-FACE SCREECHING INTO FRAME —

  — And STRIKES ADIAN THE IN THE CHEST, KNOCK HIM OFF HIS FEET. Adrian SLAMS to the ground, THE BOOMERANG'S LEFT WIND IMBEDDED IN HIS SOLAR PLEXUS. He wheezes blood.

• Alex Tse, 2006: Novice writer Tse was hired to come in and work on David Hayter's draft, which remains mostly intact. He changes a few things, but it still seems like it's mostly Hayter's script.

• Dr. Manhattan is seen as the "peacekeeper of the world," keeping all of the world's government in check, for better or for worse.
• 
  
• Rorschach busts in on an army officer with a hooker, beats the crap out of him (and her) and takes his uniform. Later, he disguises himself as the officer, so he can enter Dr. Manhattan's army lab and tell him about The Comedian's death.
• 
  
• Veidt impersonates Dr. Manhattan, and fires beams of concentrated... er, "big blue energy clouds" into key cities around the globe, killing three million people.
• 
  
• Dan and Veidt square off again, but this time Dan crashes the Owl-Ship via remote control into Veidt, wounding him badly. You think he might survive, but as Laurie flies the ship out, she sets his body on fire. Whoops.
• 
  
• Lamest moment: ADRIAN — "I have to say, I've always thought your choice of an owl was quite juvenile."

  DAN — "Really? I've always liked owls..."

  Adrian sees that Dan has pulled one last item from his belt. Adrian STEPS on Dan's WRIST, bones crunching. Dan's hand falls OPEN, revealing the OWL-SHIP REMOTE.

  DAN (cont'd) — "... because you can never hear them coming."

  BEHIND ADRIAN: FLOODLIGHTS BLAZE, targeting Adrian as the OWL-SHIP CRASHES THROUGH THE WINDOW and into Adrian and Dan.

• 
  

At any rate, we'll be watching these Watchmen.

Famous names: Alan Moore, David Lloyd

Crunchy goodness: 5

Social message: Moore doesn't hide his commentary on the rise of Thatcher in Britain below the surface. In fact, Moore criticized the American movie adaptation for sticking to the comic's British setting. If the Americans wanted to comment on Bush-era excesses, Moore said in an interview, they should have made a movie set in America and featuring a clear Bush analog.

The shit: Evey, V's only friend, starts out as a frightened girl and travels through hell (partly at V's own hands) until she is able to rise up and take his place. Her suffering and transformation allows the reader to do what V's grand-guignol speechifying can't: understand the desire to rise up and smash the state at any costs.

Deadliest spoiler: V isn't really a person, he's an idea, man.

V for Vendetta Shrine!

Crunchy goodness: 5

Spinoffs/Sequels/Copycats: A movie adaptation is in the works, reportedly featuring the Disburbia team of Carl Ellsworth, DJ Caruso, and (sadly) Shia LaBouf.

Elevator pitch: What if women ran the world, and turned out to be just as big assholes as the men?

Deadliest spoiler: Yorick isn't really the only man left. Oh, and the awesome Agent 355 dies after Yorick confesses his love for her.

Strange Horizons Review by Jed Hartman

Famous names: Alan Moore, Dave Gibbons

Crunchy goodness: 5

Spinoffs/Sequels/Copycats: A Watchmen movie has been in development forever, but recently seems to have been picking up momentum, with Zach (The 300) Snyder directing and Billy Crudup playing the all-powerful Dr. Manhattan. It's set to bow in March 2009.

Backstory: Moore was supposed to have a free hand to tell a story about a set of characters published by Charlton Comics, which DC Comics had just bought. They included Blue Beetle, the Question, Captain Atom and Nightshade. At the last moment, the suits changed their minds, and Moore had to create a whole new set of characters.

Design breakthrough: The interlocking narratives, including excerpts from books the characters have written, and a horrific pirate story, form a much more complex piece of storytelling than any superhero comic before or since.

Fighting Evil, Quoting Nietzsche by Tom Shone