Watchmen | Alan Moore, Dave Gibbons

Watchmen | Alan Moore, Dave Gibbons | A strong book but has weaknesses

books:

Watchmen

	Watchmen Alan Moore, Dave Gibbons DC Comics, 1995 - 416 pages average customer review:based on 434 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Has any comic been as acclaimed as Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' Watchmen? Possibly only Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns, but Watchmen remains the critics' favorite. Why? Because Moore is a better writer, and Watchmen a more complex and dark and literate creation than Miller's fantastic, subversive take on the Batman myth. Moore, renowned for many other of the genre's finest creations (Saga of the Swamp Thing, V for Vendetta, and From Hell, with Eddie Campbell) first put out Watchmen in 12 issues for DC in 1986-87. It won a comic award at the time (the 1987 Jack Kirby Comics Industry Awards for Best Writer/Artist combination) and has continued to gather praise since.The story concerns a group called the Crimebusters and a plot to kill and discredit them. Moore's characterization is as sophisticated as any novel's. Importantly the costumes do not get in the way of the storytelling; rather they allow Moore to investigate issues of power and control--indeed it was Watchmen, and to a lesser extent Dark Knight, that propelled the comic genre forward, making "adult" comics a reality. The artwork of Gibbons (best known for 2000AD's Rogue Trooper and DC's Green Lantern) is very fine too, echoing Moore's paranoid mood perfectly throughout. Packed with symbolism, some of the overlying themes (arms control, nuclear threat, vigilantes) have dated but the intelligent social and political commentary, the structure of the story itself, its intertextuality (chapters appended with excerpts from other "works" and "studies" on Moore's characters, or with excerpts from another comic book being read by a child within the story), the finepace of the writing and its humanity mean that Watchmen more than stands up--it keeps its crown as the best the genre has yet produced. --MarkThwaite

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What Can Be Said?

What can I say that hasn't already been said about "Watchmen"? I first read this graphic novel when it first was published. I was newbie at collecting comic books and a good friend said "Hey man, you've got to check this out." And I did and was floored, never had we (comic book readers) seen anything of this depth and caliber. I mean, "The Dark Knight Returns" was ground breaking, but "Watchmen" was something totally different. It was a novel, a incredibly detailed journey to an alternate superhero reality and it worked. I absolutely love this book and I am looking forward to Zack Snyder's interpretation. If you haven't read this book and you love comic books, then what are you waiting for?

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A strong book but has weaknesses

First things first what I liked about this book is it touches themes about humanity, and how certain events comparable to the shooting of Arch-Duke Ferdinand or how Germany invaded France could trigger a global world. This is what I liked about this book it still echos sentiment about the present now if it dealt with human pandemics like AIDS it would have been more then a book it would have been a prophecy. The end page about Tandoori Chicken now was really comical as well but if you want me to explain what I am talking about you should read the book. In this book Nixon is still President and the Soviet Union invading Afghanistan would have triggered a World War if certain events which have not played out at the end would have clinched it. This book is over 20 years old and was and is ahead of its time so it is no coincidence it is Time Magazine's 100 best novels.

Now I will talk about what I don't like that is why I love writing reviews what I didn't like was I did not feel any strong attachments to any of the minor characters since the novel was focused on telling a story now that is not totally a bad thing but for me I would like to feel some bond to some characters and knowing more about these minor characters who were briefly mentioned would have even been more compelling.

The only character that I felt any strong sentiment dies at the end and his name is Rorshach a character who has an unending crusade to find the truth dies because the other heroes did not want him to tell the truth was heartbreaking because there is no opportunity for a sequel since it is 23 years later and Moore hasn't written anything to follow up this book. This is even compounded by the fact that the movie that is coming out next year will not have a sequel as evidenced by online reviews.

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Wow! Simply a great read!

I read that this book is one of the best graphic novels out there, so I was intrigued, but what got me to buy this book was that it is going to feature film and is on slate for release March '09. Outside of all that, I read the book, cover to cover, in 3 days, man I couldn't put it down, and I work full time. The characters are just fantastic, and the framing of every scene is like nothing I've ever seen, it's a ride that I didn't want to end, but when it did come I was too eager to start reading again, making sure I hadn't missed anything. You actually root for these people who are trying to save the world.

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A classic

This makes about the 10th time I've been through this series. It really was an amazing turning point for comics. I caught it a few years late, but the impact was no less effective. The shifts between current and flashback, the relationship of the side stories to events in the characters lives - and particularly the dark, adult subject matter explaining the motivations of the various flawed characters made it so real - a little too real at my first exposure.

Although it's not the most clever story in the whole, my favorite character to analyze has always been Dr. Manhattan. As kids we played superheroes and the inevitable escalation of powers always led to the taunt "well, Superguy (or whatever) can do anything". As an adult, Watchmen explored the idea of exactly what could happen to a person that can basically do anything - how it affects his mental shift, values and relationships. It remains the most intriguing mindplay from the series, at least for me.

I don't have to extol the values of the series; they're well documented. This series and the Dark Knight Returns series was what brought my attention back to comic books from my grade school days with Jack Kirby and Stan Lee.

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superstars revisited

This comic was recommended to me, but I would never have picked it up myself - it looks like and has the feel of the old superhero comics which I do not like at all (except for The Spirit). But this one is deeper than you might think - it's a serious looking parody on these very supermancomics, which makes it nice. I still don't really go for the looks of this comic, but the story is really good.

reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

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