I first read Watchmen when it was originally released in monthly installments, consisting of 12 issues back in 1986/87, and it blew my mind. I eagerly awaited each issue like I never had any comic before. At the time, I had pretty much given up on superhero comics and mainstream publishers like Marvel and DC, in favor of independent publishers. However, all that changed when I read Alan Moore's Wa... read more
A great comic book, and one which changed graphic novels forever by its mere creation. Even if you don't like comics, and perhaps especially so, you should read this. It takes the cliches and draws them out to the open. It makes the story real, and visceral. A must read.
What can unite humanity? This is a question pondered by philosophers and leaders throughout history and, appropriately, one that Alan Moore deals with in this gritty take on the neurotic life of a superhero. And what a cast of heroes they are—Dr. Manhattan, Rorschack, Ozymandias—all illustrated and colored in a 1940’s retro style captured brilliantly by Dave Gibbons and John Higgins. Their l... read more
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Amazon Review
Has any comic been as lauded as Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' Watchmen? Possibly only Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns but Watchmen remains the critics' favourite. Why? Because Moore is a better writer, and Watchmen a more complex and dark and literate creation than Miller's fantastic, subversive take on tR
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Amazon Review
Has any comic been as lauded as Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' Watchmen? Possibly only Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns but Watchmen remains the critics' favourite. 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 recently 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 garner praise since.
The story concerns a group called the Crimebusters and a plot to kill and discredit them. Moore's characterisation 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 fine pace of the writing and its humanity mean that Watchmen more than stands up--it retains its crown as the best the genre has yet produced. --Mark Thwaite
“Essential reading - near flawless deconstruction of the superhero genre set in a whodunnit framework which switches to a WHY-dunnit towards the end” read more
OtaQueen added this to a list 11 months, 1 week ago
“What can unite humanity? This is a question pondered by philosophers and leaders throughout history and, appropriately, one that Alan Moore deals with in this gritty take on the neurotic life of a superhero. And what a cast of heroes they are—Dr. Manhattan, Rorschack, Ozymandias—all illustrated and colored in a 1940’s retro style captured brilliantly by Dave Gibbons and John Higgins. Their lives are complicated, messy, and with the Golden Age of the superhero behind them, purposeless. Rorschack never gave up his dual life, and never would. Which, despite his slight insanity, is oddly comforting. But sometimes it takes a madman to see the truth that’s coming—a force so unknowably evil that it will inevitably bring humanity to the brink, pivoting on one final question: will we run ” read more
GruntLogic added this to a list 1 year, 3 months ago
"This graphic novel is worth your time, if only because it was unique in portraying superheroes who actually didn't really have superpowers. Well... except for Mr. Manhattan... but even then it was interesting how everyone else, these supposed superheroes, acted around someone who ACTUALLY had powers."
"--REREAD--
As mentioned before in my previous Printed Matter List, I read Dave Gibbons and Alan Moore's timeless material about twice a year. The story is nothing short of revolutionary. No, I am not a fanboy, but there is no denying the impact that this graphic novel has had on the Comic industry.
And (disagree if you will) for once, the film translation did this major justice."
“A great comic book, and one which changed graphic novels forever by its mere creation. Even if you don't like comics, and perhaps especially so, you should read this. It takes the cliches and draws them out to the open. It makes the story real, and visceral. A must read.” read more
sunset96 added this to a list 1 year, 9 months ago
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