Watchmen (Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons)

I am almost embarrassed that it has taken me this long to get around to this classic comic series. I had of course heard about it for years, but it took the amazing trailer for the upcoming movie adaptation to prompt me to pick it up. For those of you unfamiliar with it, the Watchmen is a self contained superhero comic series that came out in 1986. Along with Maus and the Dark Knight Returns, it revolutionized the comic book industry of the 1980's and paved the way for the darker, more adult graphic novels we have today. Watchmen takes place in an alternate 1985. The superheroes are very down to earth, in fact only one can claim what we would consider `real' superpowers. The rest are the second generation of masked vigilantes. When we join the story, few are still actively fighting crime largely due to an anti-vigilante law passed in 1977. The plot moves effortlessly between the past and present. Minor details in the panels hint at the differences between our world and theirs such as ... Read more

I come to this review as someone who is not a die-hard fan of graphic novels. I also come to this review in the post Dark Knight era, an era in which complex troubled superheros is not as new or intriguing as it probably was when Watchmen first arrived. I also come to this book a generation after the Cold War ended. In that context, Watchmen risks being an important historical landmark for what it did for the genre in the mid-80s, but of little relevance today. So, what does a book of this nature have to offer? It's still an incredibly well crafted story. The first time through, though, I struggled. I was counting pages until the end. It seemed to labor on discordant aspects that didn't make sense until I knew the bigger picture. The second time through, knowing where things were going, I could appreciate the various parts a whole lot more. I still didn't like the fact that they took the easy way out and did the "villain monologue" at the end. I was waiting for The Incredi... Read more

Powerful story, fine art, an intriguing mix of stories within stories. Basically we have a set of back stories illuminating the lives of the heroes, mixed with intercut 'documents' and an overarching narrative concerning a putative plot to eliminate the heroes so that some grand, dark event can occur without their interference. To summarize would be to spoil. Suffice to say, that all of the narrative lines converge, an event occurs and the aftermath becomes the subject of controversial reflection. As the main narrative proceeds, a second narrative parallels it (from a comic book read by a young bystander within the principal narrative). The interplay between these two narratives is central to the final resolution, in my opinion, but I can't describe it without spoiling the principal narrative. The architectonics of the plots are very impressive and engaging, though the greatest amount of attention is likely to be focused upon the aftermath of the 'event' and the degree to which o... Read more

You didn't like Watchmen? You must be unintelligent, a graphic novel noob, or you just don't understand the history of comics. Say whatever you wish because I did not enjoy Watchmen. Since college I had a friend constantly try to get me to read the graphic novel. He knew that I liked stories told through any medium and that I would give it an open-minded reading. Eventually I decided to take the plunge, after all, if Time Magazine has it listed as one of the 100 best novels then it must contain some merit. Let me first say that I understand how important this piece is for modern comics. Watchmen was the first story to really dive into the deeper side of being a good guy hero and the not so much black and white but gray area in which the real world operates. Historically it is very important, but simply being historical does not warrant the intense praise that it is receiving today. I'm afraid it doesn't have the impact now that it did in the 80's. The story type... Read more

The lavish praise seems over-rated. It may have a bit more depth than the average comic (or perhaps it's that it brought about an increase in the depth of the average comic?), but I don't see it as a contender for one of the 100 best English-language novels from 1923 to the present, as TIME would have it. Don't believe the hype.