Do comic book movies guarantee box office gold?
Again — who? With superheroes consistently bringing in super bucks at the box office, it sometimes seems as if Hollywood could take any schmuck off the street, throw a cape and mask on him and turn him into a $100 million franchise. Not that the heroes (or actors) involved in “Watchmen” are schmucks off the street. The 12-installment “Watchmen” graphic novel has been around for two decades now and is arguably the most critically acclaimed comic of all time. But its characters hardly have the familiarity of classic superheroes such as Batman, Superman or the X-Men, who have all been featured in literally thousands of comics over four, five and six decades. Popular as he may be among comic devotees, you just don’t see that many kids dressed as the Comedian on Halloween. That hasn’t deterred Warner Bros. and director Zack Snyder (“300,” “Dawn of the Dead”) from bringing “Watchmen” — the complex story of a serial killer knocking off retired superheroes set against an apocalyptic backgrou
