Watchmen (comics)

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Watchmen
Book Type: Comic book Genre: Superhero Franchise: Watchmen Author(s): Alan Moore Dave Gibbons Publisher: DC Comics Publication Date: September 1986 – October 1987

Watchmen is a British-American comic book maxiseries created by writer Alan Moore and artist Dave Gibbons. The plot follows a disbanded group of superheroes who must reunite when one of their own is brutally murdered, and the killer may be trying to start a nuclear war between the U.S. and U.S.S.R.

Why It Rocks

1. Easily one of the best, if not THE best comic book series out there and also the Citizen Kane of comic books as well.
2. Fantastic artwork by Dave Gibbons, which has aged surprisingly well.
3. Excellent story, which deconstructs the stereotype of morally just heroes. These heroes are very morally grey and often clash with each other because of their ideals, and the world they live in is quite disturbing and much more realistic than in most comics.
4. Just about every character in the series is INCREDIBLY interesting and well-developed.
   • Rorschach is basically an amalgamation of the moral ambiguity of the world they live in, he is merciless to evil and tries to achieve justice no matter what, but also has a more sympathetic side to him that he rarely shows.
   • The Comedian may seem like a sadistic bastard, and he is, but through that sadism, he's also capable of seeing through the cracks and hypocrisy in society, deciding to make a big joke out of it (hence his name)
   • Dr. Manhattan is an ultra-powerful being who cannot be killed, can see the future, and can create or destroy pretty much anything. However, he sees humanity as an insignificant existence and suffers severe ennui and alienation as a result.
   • Ozymandias is literally the smartest person in the world, and it's clearly shown by how good he is at planning ahead and being a practically unbeatable character because of it.
   • Night Owl and Silk Spectre are the least morally grey out of the group, believing in mercy as much as justice, but they slowly start to get pushed too far as the story progresses.
5. An interesting concept wherein there was a previous group of minutemen that had retired or died off years before the story, and the newer group is forced to retire because of new laws. The living members of the previous group also play some important factors in examining the themes of the series.
6. Each piece of cover art is absolutely beautiful.
7. It also deconstructs nationalism, showing hypocrisy in patriotism and believing in absolute justice, and doing so in a way that actually makes sense. It's not afraid to berate it's own characters for their behavior.
8. Rather than rely on insane amounts of action, the series relies on atmosphere and the action that there is is much more brutal and surprisingly realistic.
9. A fantastic ending that leaves it up to interpretation what happens after without feeling like a waste of time.
10. LOTS of symbolism that's easy to catch and decipher.
11. Excellent dialogue that makes each character feel both unique and real, which is quite an achievement.
12. A title-within-a-title called Tales of the Black Freighter, which is about a beached ship captain who sets out to save his town from the dreaded Black Freighter, only to find himself the villain of his own story. And the art style in the pseudo-series is reminiscent of earlier comic book art.
13. A very well-detailed backstory included between issues that's in the form of a novel by one of the characters, Hollis Mason, A.K.A the first Night Owl.
14. An interesting depiction of what would've happened to the world if the U.S. won the Vietnam War, which may seem random at first, but it serves the overall deconstruction of the mob mentality around that time.

The Only Bad Quality

1. The Before Watchmen comics were made without Alan Moore's involvement, which he didn't appreciate. As a result, they received more divided reception, ranging from alright to very negative.

Reception

Watchmen is often considered the greatest comic book ever made for it's dark, satirical themes and deconstruction of the superhero genre in addition to its story and artwork. It has won the Hugo award and received high praise from many other writers, such as Lost co-creator Damon Lindelof.

Trivia

• Alan Moore is often known for preemptively disowning movie adaptations of his work, case in point, comparing the Watchmen movie to "regurgitated worms".
• Alan Moore has stated that he regrets making this series, not because he doesn't enjoy it, but because DC Comics started making stories with very dark and nihilistic themes as a result, of diminishing returns.
• The comic was later followed up with a sequel titled Doomsday Clock, which crosses over with the DC Universe.

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