Book Review: Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons
Excerpt:
This Hugo Award-winning graphic novel chronicles the fall from grace of a group of super-heroes plagued by all-too-human failings. Along the way, the concept of the super-hero is dissected as the heroes are stalked by an unknown assassin.
One of the most influential graphic novels of all time and a perennial best-seller, Watchmen has been studied on college campuses across the nation and is considered a gateway title, leading readers to other graphic novels such as V for Vendetta, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns and The Sandman series.
My Review:
The story of watchmen starts with the death of a comedian while Rorschach describing in his journal the everyday routine of him living in the chaotic cold war era where everyone is threatened by the possibility of a nuclear war. The story is mostly told from the perspective of Rorschach and how he tries to convince Nite Owl and Silk Specter to find the man behind the comedian’s death and also resolve the conflict between the US and Russia with the help of his former watchmen members. A unique and exciting storyline follows each character which is unlike any other comic book at that time with a more realistic and relatable look at life and politics, and how each character suffers as a result of their choices and reflects on the past of how they ended up where they are today.
Each panel of the book is beautifully illustrated and coloured by Dave Gibbons and John Higgins, using a perfect green, orange, and purple colour pattern, with an amazing nine-panel grid layout, the interruption of the structure was for an extremely specific reason, and the lettering changes with every character in the novel, especially Dr Manhattan and Rorschach, as it changes according to their emotional reactions.
Adapting characters from old Charlton Comics, Alan Moore made them more relevant to the ’80s and told the story of the struggles of someone who wore a cape and protected the people around him. Each issue concludes with supplemental materials that give throwback moments about the old Minutemen characters and what it was like to defend the world from evil! Alan Moore is not afraid to discuss harsh truths about post-war and human rights issues that were a serious problem at the time of the minutemen series.
There is a deeper understanding of how the actions are taken in the past shaped the present situation of each character is discussed, whether they were good or bad. The more complex insight is that society became less concerned about the glory days of those characters but instead sought revenge on them by imprisoning or excluding them.
It is almost impossible to find a single issue of the novel that lacks detailed characterization of one watchmen member and thus illustrates how fundamentally different they are from what is presented in the news or media. An example of this would be the character of Rorshach who is portrayed by the police and media as a vigilante, but in fact, he is one who is concerned with the current situation and he goes to any length to help them, while Dr Manhattan and Ozymandias have the power and wealth but are more focused on their own personal lives and how they want to see the world better for themselves than helping millions who would suffer the consequences of their selfish decisions.
Final verdict: “Watchmen” altered the comic book industry for the better. It broke all the rules of how comic books should be and made them mature and relatable for the young and adult reader today, as well as exposing how life and struggle were during the cold war. The Deluxe or Absolute Edition format is highly recommended for a great reading experience with stunning illustrations and the colouring of the graphic novel.
My Favourite Moments:
