I bought this graphic novel a few years back as a birthday gift for myself. I had watched the Zack Snyder film and really wanted to jump into the comics. It's safe to say I made a really smart decision, because I absolutely LOVED this graphic novel (and honestly, Zack did a good job changing the format and making it into a movie... but the comics were better, just saying).

There are superheroes and gods hidden among the everyday people of Earth. The original Watchmen are all older now and a new group of youngsters have been ushered in. Unfortunately, these superhuman, masked individuals are being killed off by someone... but why? This 12 book run dives deep into humanity and god-like powers.

This series starts out with The Comedian (Edward Blake), a former Watchman, being murdered. Rorschach (a name I have the hardest time spelling and pronouncing) decides to look into the murders and try to figure out what's happening. Rorschach's arc turns out to be one wild ride, and along the way we learn out a fair bit about The Comedian and his past. After Rorschach grabs a few more of the newer Watchmen, Laurie (Silk Spectre, who's Mother was also Silk Spectre in her day) and Dan (Hawkman, but not Hawkman - he's the NiteOwl) they decide to fight crime and try to determine what evil is affecting the world. Did I mention that Laurie goes out with both Dr. Manhattan (the naked blue man who has crazy super powers) and Dan?

These characters have lots of depth to them. The Comedian is a nasty man who rapes women and doesn't care for children, yet he's... funny? He felt like a Joker-esque man but almost worse. He's more sane than the Joker... Yet he has such a strong back story that I still felt bad for him. That's how you know this book is good. I felt bad for a man I should have hated.

Laurie and her Mother also have a very intriguing arc. The twist about Laurie's family was easy to spot, but still hit hard.

Side note: The giant lynx was really cool - it really should have gotten some more scenes.

Dr. Manhattan, Jon, has some of the most intelligent and intriguing sets of dialogue that I've ever seen in graphic novels. I found his character to be very interesting and I'm curious how his story arc would have continued into the future. I am curious why he speaks so formally. Was that because of the crazy accident that turned him into a blue man? Why does he insist on being naked all of the time? He's such a weird character but really interesting too.

This book is 100% an R-rated read, but it's well worth it. The blood, the gore and the insanity of this comic series just feels right. I couldn't see a story this honest and brutal be anything less than an R rating. There's also sex scenes, a naked blue man and rape. It's definitely a strong R but it felt like it fit the narrative. Although, Dan and Laurie's sex scenes just felt... awkward?

To move onto the illustrations themselves - they're classic. The story is colourful, felt like a real comic book and didn't feel wasted. Yes, the series is a little bit older, but it still felt just as real as an updated comic book. Overall, it really packed it's punch.

My final notes: I suggest reading the entire graphic novel. The comics don't stand alone by themselves and it'd be a real waste to only read half. To get the full impact, read all twelve. It's worth it! There are some slower comics in this mix, but all together they make for a really great story. The entire story is a real gem if you give it a chance. I have to say I did really enjoy it and I'd read it again in the future. The ending left it a little ambiguous yet it left me wanting to find out more about the characters who made it to the end.

Overall, I really enjoyed this graphic novel! It's a shame I didn't pick it up earlier because it was truly marvelous and one of the greats.

Five out of five stars. ( )

This is only the second graphic novel, or comic book, that I have ever finished. I have never even got to the end of an Asterix book, so my introduction to the form was reading [b:Maus|15195|Maus|Art Spiegelman|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1327354180s/15195.jpg|1658562] a couple of years ago (OK, that's technically two books, but it only makes sense as a single volume - buy them together!). Maus is the perfect book for non-graphic-novel-readers because the subject matter is unusual for the form (holocaust/family memoir) and the style is very minimal.

Watchmen is a whole other kettle of fish. There are super heros (lots of 'em), and blood, and muscles, and cunning plans, and flying owl ships, and teleporting. Unsurprisingly, then, it's not subtle. It is effective, however. The motivations of the various conflicted characters are larger-than-life, but still finely balanced and there's an artistry in this. It would be easier to balance two supermodels on a seesaw than two wrestlers and in the same way it must be easier for [a:Proulx, Annie|5558357|Proulx, Annie|http://www.goodreads.com/assets/nophoto/nophoto-U-50x66-251a730d696018971ef4a443cdeaae05.jpg] to build tension with a pair of twitchy repressives than it is for Alan Moore with his extreme, loudmouthed, sociopaths. Somehow it all comes down to the wire - narratively and intellectually. The latter is especially important, because as much as it's tempting to dismiss this as philosophy for people who think in absolutes, he swings back and forth between these absolutes throughout the book, before somehow managing to finish the whole performance in mid-swing, so the reader isn't left with any easy answers.

Having said that, there wasn't anything new for me intellectually speaking, and apart from one poignant moment near the end, the only emotion I felt was curiosity as to what would happen on the next page. The drawings are particularly effective for this, with some pages begging to be turned, while others demanding lingering examination (the signs and advertising in the background are wonderful).

If you only read one superhero graphic novel in your life (and you probably should try at least one), you could do much worse than read this one.

Important update: in reading a couple of other reviews I was reminded that some of the less-rewarding chapters really did drag at the time of reading. I was already tossing up between 3 and 4 starts, but I've downgraded to 3 because the tedious middle to middle-late chapters are really quite hard going, especially when they're violent. And because the pirate thread was gratuitous and vaguely insulting to the reader. We get it already! ( )

Hands down awesome. Really cool to see this distopian type of world where vigilantes roam the streets but can't always be considered good. While it has been a long time since I have read it, I always remember the twist towards the end. One of my top 5 favourites. ( )

"The Watchmen" is a classic deconstruction of other classic superhero genres or tropes. Every hero in this story is an archetype of well known, established characters from other DC properties. The story from beginning to its conclusion is a literary work of art. I got my spouse to read it and she could not put it down. Fantastic! ( )

I supereroi sono fra noi!
(Cui prodest?)

Le strade sono lunghi rigagnoli
E i rigagnoli sono pieni di san-
gue e quando alla fine le fogne
si ricopriranno di croste, tutti
i parassiti della societa’
Affogheranno. (9)

A mezzanotte,
tutti gli agenti e
la combriccola
dei superumani
escono e arrestano
chiunque ne sappia
piu’ di loro.
Bob Dylan (34)

E sono sveglio
Mentre l’alba
s’avvicina, anche
se il cuore mi fa
male. Dovrei fare
un brindisi agli
amici assenti
invece che a
questi comici.
Elvis Costello (70)

Forse il giudice di tutta la terra non pratichera’ la giustizia?
Genesi 18,25
(104)

Vado a guardare
le stelle.
Sono cosi’
distanti e la lo-
ro luce impiega
cosi’ tanto
tempo prima di
raggiungerci… (111)

Chi crea il mondo?
Forse il mondo non viene
creato, forse niente lo e’.
Semplicemente e’, e’ stato,
Sara’... (137-8)

La conquista
dell’energia atomica
Ha cambiato tutto
tranne il nostro
modo di pensare…
La soluzione a
questo problema
risiede nel cuore
dell’umanita’.
Se solo lo avessi
saputo, avrei fatto
l’orologiaio.
Albert Einstein
(138)

Tigre, tigre, divampante fulgore
nelle foreste della notte,
quale fu l’immortale mano
o l’occhio ch’ebbe la forza
di formare la tua agghiacciante simmetria?
William Blake
(172)

Guardato il cielo attraverso
Il fumo gravido di grasso umano
E dio non c’era, il buio freddo
E soffocante si estende per
Ogni dove e siamo soli.
Viviamo le nostre vite,
perche’ ci manca di meglio,
il motivo si fabbrica dopo.
nasciamo dall’oblio,
alleviamo dei figli come
noi legati all’inferno, e
poi torniamo nell’oblio.
Non c’e’ altro.
L’esistenza
e’ casuale. Non
ha schema tranne
quello che imma-
giniamo noi dopo
averla fissata
troppo a lungo.
Nessun
senso tranne
quello che
noi scegliamo
di imporle.
Questo mondo senza
direzione non e’ stato
forgiato da vaghe forze
metafisiche.
(204)

Non combattere
contro i mostri
o diventerai
tu stesso
un mostro.

E se guardi a lungo
nell’abisso, anche
l’abisso guardera’
dentro di te.
Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche
(206)

Non c’e’
futuro, non
c’e’ passato.
Capisci?

Il tempo e’ simultaneo,
un gioiello della strut-
tura intricata che gli
umani insistono a perce-
pire una faccia alla
volta, quando la forma
complessiva e’ visibile
in ogni lato. (286)


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