Who Watches the Watchmen
***Okay
- before I begin... How the heck did I get this
book? I
honestly don't remember ordering it, and I don't see it on my accounts
anywhere. I threw away the packing thinking "huh, must have bought
this," but really I have no recollection of doing so. Was it a gift? I
may never know.***
I've just finished reading the Graphic Novel, "Watchmen" by Alan Moore.
For those of you who aren't familiar with the genre, a graphic novel is essentially a really long comic book, Most times, the novel is actually compiled of many traditional comic books sewn together with additional material and/or art.
Now, I'm not a particularly great fan of comics. I read a few as a teenager and I have a sort of knowledge by proxy from having some friends who are much more into them, but I was never a comic book geek. A computer geek, sure, a sci-fi geek, yup, but not a comic book geek. There were a few reasons behind this, some of them financial, but more stemming from the fact that I simply don't enjoy the storylines of most modern comics once the initial premise is used up.
I was a great fan of the "XMen (minus the uncanny)" which was introduced when I was about 13. They took a comic that was at that time nearing it's 300th issue, and restarted it from the beginning, building upon the existing mythology. For me, that was the pinnacle of comics. The process of discovery, the allegorical context for each story, the first 30 or so comics went together like a well written epic, and indeed those books have spawned two movies, and animated TV series, and the rebirth of the superhero genre.
With all of this in mind, I opened Watchmen with some hesitation. It was a comic from before the reissue of XMen, and it was drawn with the characteristic 80's style, which itself was sort of a busy, dark version of the 50's "superman" style. Each panel is crammed with stuff to look at, and it can initially be overwhelming. I was regretting my purchase(?) already before reading a word.
Secondly, this book was thick. I didn't even really want to carry it around in my bag every day as I read it.
With all of these things going against it, Watchmen was one of the best books - let alone being the best graphic novel - that I have ever read.
Watchmen is a cleverly crafted tale, told from numerous points of view, and simultaneously portraying the storylines of several of the "Has-been" masked adventurers that make up it's main cast.
Being that Watchmen itself was written over 20 years ago now, and that it deals with an alternate history from 1950 to 1983 anyway, the world in which it is set can feel very alien. For me, this actually lent to the story, as if it was set in present time (as it was when written) it may have been harder for me to suspend disbelief.
The winding plot looks at the morality of superheroes, and the humanity behind those who would put on ridiculous costumes to fight crime. The one true "superhero" of the story is trying to decide if he even cares what happens to earth while the rest of the cast, simply people who used to dress up and try to fight crime, wrestle with their own demons.
All in all, it's a very good read. Let me know if you want to borrow it, but I'm warning you, if the shipping is out of state, it might be a lot of money! This book is huge.
