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July 17, 2005
Books : The Watchmen
Watchmen (Paperback)
by Alan Moore (Author), Dave Gibbons (Artist)
In 1986/1987 Alan Moore created what is recognized as a masterpiece among "graphic novels" (high-end, comic book series created for adults instead of children). I however was not reading comic books at the time, so it passed me by.
A few years back, I started reading comics again when JMS (a TV writer whose work I enjoyed) started writing the Spiderman comics for Marvel and I was curious what he skills would produce in this different medium. I was pleased and surprised, and have since started reading a very limited number of "graphic novels" when I have time.
Now that I am paying attention to comics again (looking for those few I am willing to spend my time on), I've taken note of those titles people are still talking about 10-20 years after they were published, and "The Watchmen" is near the top of that list. I was finally able to borrow a copy from a friend and read it over the weekend.
The Watchmen disserves all of the praise it receives. It is an intelligent deconstruction of the American "comic book hero" myth. It tells the story of 2 generations of heroes (roughly matching the "golden age" and "silver age" of comics), and shows the complexity of their characters. A key subtext of the book is that in real life, anyone who would go around fighting crime in a costume has to be pretty mess up psychologically, and anyone who was born with "superpowers" would find it difficult to relate to the rest of humanity. Out of those conflicts comes a story that isn't pretty; but asks good questions about just what is "truth, justice, and the American way" as Superman used to say.
Not only are the characters and the story interesting; but Moore(and the artist, Dave Gibbons) manage to employ almost "cinematic" techniques in how they tell the story. Both the visual style and background action provide complexity to the presentation that I think many people would not expect.
By the way, the title comes from the roman aphorism: "Quis Custodiet ipsos Custodes?" – Who watches the watchmen, only mentioned in passing in the book; but serves as the foundation of the whole story
Posted by Steven at July 17, 2005 09:03 PM
