Writer: Alan Moore
Illustrator/Letterer: Dave Gibbons
Colorist: John Higgins
Publisher: DC Comics (1986)
It's a constant delight to me that despite Michael and I being at this joint posting thing for over five years, we still record a fair number of firsts. Thanks to the reader suggestion poll hosted at the end of last year by Michael, we had two reader suggestions for this year (which, btw, was a first). We did the first suggestion back in Jan and this month sees the second. However, it's also a first in that we haven't before used a comic/graphic novel for our source material. In the days of studios having tri-phasic superhero movie plans that might come as a bit of a surprise but what can we say? Sometimes you need an outsider to help you shake things up.
For those that are new to our monthly series, this is when Michael reviews a film adapted from a book which gets a review here.
Click here for Michael's film review of Watchmen
at It Rains... You Get Wet
It's 1985 and someone is targeting costumed adventurers. These self-styled saviors of humanity have either retired voluntarily or submitted to decommission after the Keene Act. Despite being almost wholly inactive, someone wants these crime fighters dead. As Rorschach tries to rally the troops, so to speak, lives are at stake and obligatory back stories commence. But as we delve deeper into the mystery we're forced to ask: is something far larger afoot?
I was seven years old when this first came out and even though I found it in the youth section at the library I would not consider this a book for kids. And, in fact, I didn't read it as a kid. The comics I remember reading were lots of standalones for kids, Batman, and some old Disney and WB comics I found in a relative's garage. I never lost my love for Batman, but I didn't stick with comics for long. I started reading more books and preferred them as a medium for stories (as I do to this day, books still beat out all other forms of story telling for me). In a funny coincidence with Watchmen coming up now, I delved back into comics last year because someone I knew could not shut up about how great Planet Hulk was (btw, they were right, it's great!). Here's a quick snapshot of where comics and I live right now:
I mention all this to make it clear that I feel like an outsider to both the 80s paranoia/fear complex and to critical analyses of comics. I also think both of the above are inseparable from Watchmen. As a casual reader, a lot of what Watchmen had to offer was pretty exciting. There were also points at which it fell short of my expectations (and if you pay any attention at all to comics or the book world it's very hard to not have Great Expectations going into this one).
Watchmen is set in an alternate history in which the US won the Vietnam War, the Cold War is still a thing (including HUAC), and a certain blue fellow has changed the face of technology. This tech seems to be mostly focused on military and energy needs as most people are still living typical 80s lives whilst being paranoid as shit because the world (which, in Watchmen, seems to refer solely to NYC and Russia with Vietnam and Afghanistan as war props) is devolving into one giant criminal hot bed under the constant threat of nuclear war with moral decay added on for funsies. The absolute horribleness of the world is a relentless theme throughout the 12 chapters.
The aspect of Watchmen I found most appealing was its structure. There are several story threads woven throughout which run, for lack of a better term, at various speeds in relation to each other. The reader is bumped between current events (sometimes several happening simultaneously), past events and an in-universe pirate comic with creative abandon. Actually, that's probably unfair, there is a very specific direction that Alan Moore is taking his readers and those jumps are all leading to the finish. Alright, that pirate thing is wholly symbolic but it still tied in with the larger themes of the story. (No, I did not care for the pirate story or find it all that necessary but I still admire the craft its inclusion displayed.)
There were several character arcs that also quite drew me in though I think there was definite room for improvement there. A few of the arcs were pretty shallow and even the best of them had at least one major hiccup. Rorschach gets my vote as the best developed and most consistent but I'd sure be interested in the perspective of longtime fans.
I don't know if there's a name for it but the building of the character world was quite rich. These characters didn't exist previous to Watchmen and yet they feel like characters that have made the rounds. The intersecting time points and backstories, along with the supplemental materials at the end of each chapter (memoir excerpts, articles, ad campaigns, company memos) lent a depth of reality to the costumed heroes that is necessary to the epic scope of the book.
For all that there's a lot to love, I found myself bored at times. The themes aren't exactly subtle and the "world is total shit" aspect was a dead horse that could have used far fewer hits. I think if this had been tightened into 8 chapters it would have been an absolute page turner.
There are several panel sequences that are a joy to follow. I can flip through and find several action sets that I'm happy to peruse over and over. The last two pages of Chapter VIII, though, have to have been the most affecting for me. You've just come off a couple pages that have you following events from three perspectives - which are additionally overlaid with the pirate comic - and then you narrow down to one event that, over the course of 16 panels, still includes three perspectives but it's only in one room, watching the horrific fate of one person. It's amazing. It's like looking at those 3D posters, one moment I'm looking at the stunning artistry of the moment I have been drawn into, and the next I'm getting choked up all over again because it's a heartbreaking scene. I dare you to finish that chapter without tearing up a bit.
I happened to come by an interesting article regarding innovation in story-telling while reading Watchmen that got my brain working overtime. Its relevance here is a bit outside the scope of this review - and would include many spoilers for this title - but I hope to post about it in the coming days so if you want more of my thoughts on Watchmen I hope you'll come back by.
I was seven years old when this first came out and even though I found it in the youth section at the library I would not consider this a book for kids. And, in fact, I didn't read it as a kid. The comics I remember reading were lots of standalones for kids, Batman, and some old Disney and WB comics I found in a relative's garage. I never lost my love for Batman, but I didn't stick with comics for long. I started reading more books and preferred them as a medium for stories (as I do to this day, books still beat out all other forms of story telling for me). In a funny coincidence with Watchmen coming up now, I delved back into comics last year because someone I knew could not shut up about how great Planet Hulk was (btw, they were right, it's great!). Here's a quick snapshot of where comics and I live right now:
 |
| recently read (on the left) and to be read (on the right) |
I mention all this to make it clear that I feel like an outsider to both the 80s paranoia/fear complex and to critical analyses of comics. I also think both of the above are inseparable from Watchmen. As a casual reader, a lot of what Watchmen had to offer was pretty exciting. There were also points at which it fell short of my expectations (and if you pay any attention at all to comics or the book world it's very hard to not have Great Expectations going into this one).
Watchmen is set in an alternate history in which the US won the Vietnam War, the Cold War is still a thing (including HUAC), and a certain blue fellow has changed the face of technology. This tech seems to be mostly focused on military and energy needs as most people are still living typical 80s lives whilst being paranoid as shit because the world (which, in Watchmen, seems to refer solely to NYC and Russia with Vietnam and Afghanistan as war props) is devolving into one giant criminal hot bed under the constant threat of nuclear war with moral decay added on for funsies. The absolute horribleness of the world is a relentless theme throughout the 12 chapters.
The aspect of Watchmen I found most appealing was its structure. There are several story threads woven throughout which run, for lack of a better term, at various speeds in relation to each other. The reader is bumped between current events (sometimes several happening simultaneously), past events and an in-universe pirate comic with creative abandon. Actually, that's probably unfair, there is a very specific direction that Alan Moore is taking his readers and those jumps are all leading to the finish. Alright, that pirate thing is wholly symbolic but it still tied in with the larger themes of the story. (No, I did not care for the pirate story or find it all that necessary but I still admire the craft its inclusion displayed.)
There were several character arcs that also quite drew me in though I think there was definite room for improvement there. A few of the arcs were pretty shallow and even the best of them had at least one major hiccup. Rorschach gets my vote as the best developed and most consistent but I'd sure be interested in the perspective of longtime fans.
I don't know if there's a name for it but the building of the character world was quite rich. These characters didn't exist previous to Watchmen and yet they feel like characters that have made the rounds. The intersecting time points and backstories, along with the supplemental materials at the end of each chapter (memoir excerpts, articles, ad campaigns, company memos) lent a depth of reality to the costumed heroes that is necessary to the epic scope of the book.
For all that there's a lot to love, I found myself bored at times. The themes aren't exactly subtle and the "world is total shit" aspect was a dead horse that could have used far fewer hits. I think if this had been tightened into 8 chapters it would have been an absolute page turner.
There are several panel sequences that are a joy to follow. I can flip through and find several action sets that I'm happy to peruse over and over. The last two pages of Chapter VIII, though, have to have been the most affecting for me. You've just come off a couple pages that have you following events from three perspectives - which are additionally overlaid with the pirate comic - and then you narrow down to one event that, over the course of 16 panels, still includes three perspectives but it's only in one room, watching the horrific fate of one person. It's amazing. It's like looking at those 3D posters, one moment I'm looking at the stunning artistry of the moment I have been drawn into, and the next I'm getting choked up all over again because it's a heartbreaking scene. I dare you to finish that chapter without tearing up a bit.
I happened to come by an interesting article regarding innovation in story-telling while reading Watchmen that got my brain working overtime. Its relevance here is a bit outside the scope of this review - and would include many spoilers for this title - but I hope to post about it in the coming days so if you want more of my thoughts on Watchmen I hope you'll come back by.
rating: 3 of 5 stars
Click here for an index of the joint post series
