Watchmen

i just started reading Alan Moore's Watchmen and already i'm blown away. About seventeen years too late, i know, but i'm sure others are still into this book.

I love the whole superhero deconstruction thing and the alternate history. THis is probably old hat now but it must have been quite a big deal back in 1987. I know Frank Miller was doing the same sort of thing around the same time with The Dark Knight Returns (though embarrasingly, the only Miller i've ever read is Ronin...yeah), but this must have been a shock to the general comic-reading public. I can see how the "superhero reality" thing could get stale or tacky if not done in a thoughful manner, but Watchmen is really impressive so far.

My only regret is that, as someone who doesn't really know shit about comics - having only dabbled in Marvel stuff in the late eighties and early nineties - i have no real knowledge of all the old school DC references. Though i can recognize some of the cliches and conventions being dissected, i am wondering if i am missing anything important?

Any thoughts? Stuff to look for? Or recommendations? The world of comics can be pretty intimidating with the depth and breadth of material available...

Watchmen is one of the best stories I've read in years (I first picked it up in 02). The ending is fucking awesome and the big turning point really was touching in light of recent events.

The planned movie couldnt due it justice, IMO. *maybe* a HBO/Showtime Mini Series.

Who Watch The Watchmen ?


Yes, really a great Comic !

Don't want to spoil anything by saying too much.

Just have a blast with it, I know I did.

Been meaning to read this, my friend tells me its considered to be one of the 3 best comics ever written.

StickmanLoser said:

Don't want to spoil anything by saying too much.

Just have a blast with it, I know I did.

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yeah, you had a Rorschach pic in your sig a while ago, right?

I'm only on "Judge of All the Earth", but i'll probably finish it tonight or tomorrow. THen you can spoil away!!!

Yes.

Seriously one of the best stories in literature.

The charicters,themes,settings,backstory.

No single movie could tell this tale.

Maybe 2 0r 3.

a mini series would definatley be the best I think. 12 episodes for 12 chapters.

A great comic, but I notice people always call it Moore's Watchmen, forgetting about Gibbons... One interesting thing that seems to go unnoticed now, is that Moore originally wrote the story around the Charlton super heroes, which DC had just aquired: the Question, Blue Beetle, Captain Atom, etc.. I guess when they read the story, DC decided they didn't want to use the characters that way...it would have kind of limited them as to what what they could do with the characters afterwards. So Moore created a new, Charlton-inspired cast, which really worked out, because even though I really like the character of Rorschach, the Question series DC then came out with became one of my favorite comics of all time.

SouthtownKid said:

A great comic, but I notice people always call it Moore's Watchmen, forgetting about Gibbons...

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yeah, you're right, my bad. The art IS great; it perfectly captures that pulp feel, but with more grimy detail. It mirrors the story sort of: that bright and idealistic surface of the superhero, and the darker moral depths underneath. All the character's faces are super-expressive and detailed (even Rorschach's inkblots, LOL), which helps with that feeling of seeing beneath the veil.

Overhyped to exhaustion (Moore's own From Hell is better), we've finally gotten far enough away from its release to adequately judge it.

In my opinion, it's one of the few (maybe out of four or five) super-hero stories that are actually worth reading, and that I would recommend to someone who doesn't read comics at all. (For the record, Lee/Ditko's Spider-Man, Flex Mentallo and Moore's Miracleman would also be included in that list)

It's nice to be able to hand it to someone and say, "OK. Now you've read the absolute best that the super-hero genre can offer, and it's never going to get that good again....so you can move on, now."

Zeekade Zarathos said:

Overhyped to exhaustion (Moore's own From Hell is better), we've finally gotten far enough away from its release to adequately judge it.

In my opinion, it's one of the few (maybe out of four or five) super-hero stories that are actually worth reading, and that I would recommend to someone who doesn't read comics at all. (For the record, Lee/Ditko's Spider-Man, Flex Mentallo and Moore's Miracleman would also be included in that list)

It's nice to be able to hand it to someone and say, "OK. Now you've read the absolute best that the super-hero genre can offer, and it's never going to get that good again....so you can move on, now."

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Exactly. I don't even read comic books, really.

Hehe... some of my favs...

V for Vendetta written by Alan Moore and drawn by David Lloyd. Its about Freedom and loss of choice in a world full of rules. A bit scary and sorta meaningful I feel..

http://www.rzero.com/books/VforVendetta.html

Marshall Law: Fear and loathing wriiten by Pat mills and drawn by Sam O' Neill. It turns the word superheroe stereotypes on its head. The world is full of genetically enhanced and psychotic villains... its upto Marshal law to wipe the scum out...

http://www.popmatters.com/comics/marshal-law-fear-loathing.shtml

My personal fav of all time is the series:

Lone Wolf and Cub written by Kazuo Koike Kojima.

An epic tale of Vengeance, Honor and Death. It was recently serialised by Dark Horse Comics. It is my opinion a masterpiece.

http://www.fact-index.com/l/lo/lone_wolf_and_cub.html

hehe.... there's in fact 28 episodes in the Dark Horse range. It took me over 2 years to collect and read. Worth EVERY second.....

BTW. Watchmen is a very good series... my little bro has some very collectable stuff from the comics. The ending is open ended and kinda scary too...

rotphungte said:

Marshall Law: Fear and loathing wriiten by Pat mills and drawn by Sam O' Neill..

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Kevin O'Neil, man...Kevin... I'm a bigger fan of Mills and O'Neil's Nemesis, though. Also, if you're reading Mills, I think a lot of people here would get a kick out of his and Ezquerra's 'Third World War'. It's not about a world war 3, but about giant corporations' war on the third world. A bit preachy, but still very entertaining.

Rick Veitch - Bratpack, The Maximortal, The One

About the references in Watchmen, I seem to recall seeing a site a couple of years ago that broke down the whole series. I don't recall what it was called, though. I'm kind of drawing a blank on my favorite comics of all time, although if you like Moore's stuff, I would suggest you pick up Batman: The Killing Joke, which is probably still one of the darkest and most disturbing Batman stories to date.