Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Who Watches the Watchmen? I Don't Know, but Your Life is Not Complete Until You Read This

I wrote this review over a year ago, and am now posting it for the world to see.



Ladies and gentlemen, weep your pathetic earthly tears now, and accept that no matter what you do in life, no matter how much money you make, how many lives you save, how many spiritual epiphanies you have, how many women you have sex with, it doesn't matter. You will never be as good as a single chapter, scene, or even panel of Watchmen. 
But enough of that, let’s dive right in.
The story, well, it’s very long and complicated, so make sure you aren’t reading this while laughing at the hilarity of your favorite TV show.
In order to understand the plot, you need to know the universe. Basically, it’s an alternate reality where the superhero comic fad of the 50’s turned into a fad of real-life costumed adventurers, as the book calls them. They’re there for a while, but then, the government outlaws them. The only two left legally active are The Comedian and Dr. Manhattan, who is essentially like a god, he can do anything. It’s all set in an alternate 1985, where the Cold War is real and Nixon is still president (*shudder*). The book actually opens with the murder of The Comedian, who is like Marvel Comics’ The Punisher, but, well, what makes him different is a major character plot point, so I won’t say. Anyway, so then, an illegally active costumed hero, named Rorschach, is investigating the murder. Rorschach believes that someone is picking off costumed heroes, although we aren’t sure. This soon introduces us to the remaining three characters, Dan Dreiberg, the second Nite Owl (the first being a man named Hollis Mason), Laurie Juspeczyk, the second Silk Spectre (the first being her mother, Sally Jupiter), and Adrian Veidt, who is also known as Ozymandias.
Rorschach goes to all of the other characters; Dr. Manhattan included, and tells them about the murder of The Comedian, Edward Blake. The majority of the first half centers around this mystery, as slowly the hit list for the heroes grows Rorschach becomes ever more convinced of his “mask killer” theory. Eventually, it all boils down to a point where the heroes need to essentially save the world.
There’s a lot more to it than that, with a lot of secondary characters, sub plots, and flash backs. However, for the sake of space, most of this will be left for you to discover.
Wow. That’s about all you’ll be able to say after reading this. Let’s start with the story. The story is very well thought out, it pulls you in from the beginning and never lets go. You keep reading and reading until eventually you’re hooked, and you can’t wait for some spare time to find out what happens next. That’s what a good story does. Which brings us to the writing. This Alan Moore is a genius. Never before have I seen a comic book so down-to-earth. With the exception of Dr. Manhattan, this book keeps everything within the acceptable range of believability. Not only that, but every character is fleshed out, and develops as the story progresses. You don’t feel cheated, like you missed something with a character, because no one gets missed. That’s hard to do in a book, or anything, that has so many characters. The characters themselves are brilliant. The great thing about them is, they’re all flawed in some way.
Even Dr. Manhattan, perfect on the surface, has unfortunately had his humanity taken away when he becomes an omnipotent super being. In other words, you can connect with all of them, even if they are nothing like you, you can still understand them, and you can believe that they exist.
The art by Dave Gibbons, while a bit cartoonish by today’s standards, has a draw to it. A nostalgic charm combined with a unique style of color that all accumulates into an effect that is very pleasing to the eye.
Also, there’s a lot of symbolism and subtext in Watchmen. The book raises a lot of moral, social, and even religious questions as to what is acceptable and what ultimately becomes of us. These only enhance the experience.
All these elements, the story, writing, characters, and artwork, combine into a spectacle that is one of the best ever to grace the grid-like pages of comics.
A fair bit of warning: this story is not for the faint of heart or easily offended. There’s quite a bit of violence, imitatible violence at that, and yes, there is a fair amount of bloodshed. There’s also some nudity, so if you find this discomforting, you might want to stay away from this one. However, if none of this bothers you, then go right ahead.
I encourage anyone who doubts the ability of comic books to carry a good, thoughtful, and believable story to read Watchmen. If you think this is where I mention any faults, then you’re bloody mental, this book has none. Its richness can never be denied, and it gets better every time you read it.
No one can deny, Watchmen is dazzling, thought-provoking, engaging and one of the greatest comic books ever written. Scratch that, one of the greatest books, no, one of the greatest things ever created.

For my overall rating, I give Watchmen: a perfect five Godzillas.

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