DC Comics is Bringing The Watchmen into the DC Universe in a Strange Crossover

So, I don't keep up a lot with DC Comics, but at the behest of some of my friends, and with it having gone through another reboot with rebirth, I figured I'd start dipping my toe in this well of storytelling. Now, I hadn't gotten too far into it when I came across a recent Batman/Flash crossover, and what is Batman holding in his hand? A smiley button, with just a touch of blood.

For those of you who don't read comics, this is a reference to quite possibly one of the best graphic novels to date, Watchmen. DC holds the rights to Watchmen, but with the exception of letting Zach Snyder have his way with it in theaters, they have mostly let it be its own thing. In fact, when it was first created, it was made with DC characters that DC then said they didn't want involved in the story because it was too dark. 

But now, after a little bit of reading and perusing the internet, I've come to see that Watchmen is going to be playing a big part in the DC Universe. The Hell? Ya, and it goes deeper than that. Spoilers ahead.

Apparently, Flashpoint, the huge thing that happened a few years back that made comic readers suddenly care again, was not made by Flash, you know the guy it's named after. But was somehow created by Doctor Manhattan, who was making his way into the DC universe. 

I'm not always a fan of DC characters, but they've had some good stories in the past. A move like this is hard to figure out. I'm not sure if this is going to be a well thought out and intriguing story or a cash grab. To put this in perspective for people who don't really read comics, this would be like if Star Wars were to introduce Indiana Jones in their next movie. Lucasfilm holds the rights and Indiana Jones was successful but the two are from completely different places. You could even say it's as far out as the idea that Disney plans on combining the Star Wars and Marvel universes, while they totally could legally, it would be strange and leave people wondering what the hell.

I read the first issue of the Batman comic that is a crossover with Flash called The Button, and while it did have many elements of the Watchmen novel, not a whole lot happened. I mean, there was a hockey game and one guy killed another guy, the Flash was fighting a bunch of Samurai, and the Reverse Flash showed up in Batman's Cave and started beating him up. It ended with Reverse Flash picking up the button and then being microwaved Manhattan style. So... mysteries abound, but is it a mystery worth reading? We'll see.