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Powells.com Staff Pick

To call Watchmen a graphic novel is to not understand the complexities of its story. Watchmen is a dark, brooding novel, full of unrelenting characters, a bitter sense of humor, and a cynical worldview It's just a coincidence that it is a novel about superheroes so Alan Moore, Dave Gibbons, and Barry Marx decided to draw it instead of just putting the text on paper.

Alan Moore is one of the most talented people to ever work in comics, the dark, brooding genius who has given us The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and From Hell. In Watchmen he gives us a dark group of superheroes that perhaps cause more problems for the world than they solve. When one of them is murdered, it begins a chain of events that will lead to the deaths of over three million people and, perhaps, a new world order. A "superhero" graphic novel that changed the way the genre is looked at long before Neil Gaiman came along, this is one not to be missed.
Recommended by Erik B.

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JSangren, May 29, 2008 (view all comments by JSangren)
The Watchmen is a graphic novel (comic book) written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Dave Gibbons. The Watchmen is a story with a non-linear plotline in which much of it consists of sporadic flashbacks. In the 1930’s throughout the 1980’s there were a group of masked vigilantes who could be considered superheroes who banded together to create various teams to stop crime. It is set in an alternate universe where there is a constant threat of nuclear war and tells the story of two generations of superheroes and a conspiracy to kill them. The main characters are the Comedian, Dr. Manhattan, the vigilante Rorschach, Nite-Owl, and Laurie Juspeczyk, and Adrian Veidt. In the 1980’s Edward Blake, who is revealed to be the Comedian, by Rorschach, is murdered. Since Rorschach is paranoid he is convinced that there is someone trying to kill all the retired masked heroes. He thinks it could either be the government, a villain, or someone unknown. All sorts of crazy things happen, and some of the heroes come out of retirement, and there are a lot of flashbacks for each superhero which reveals more about what is really happening and how it can all be related to corruption, insanity, and nuclear war. The ending of the story is one of the best I’ve read in a comic book or even written novel.
The villain is not contemporary and is actually smart unlike most generic comic book villains which just flex their muscles and attempt to smash as many faces before they overdose on the roids or their muscles explode. Intellectually the villain actually knows what he is doing, and he knows people will die for his cause, but what makes his cause so much different than any other villains is that his ultimate goal is not world domination, but the prevention of nuclear war and the unification of all the nations. Although the way he wants to go about this is controversial, it also seems necessary, so it provides a moral dilemma to the heroes as to what they should do in order to prevent the mass killing or if the plan will actually end up bettering the world. This question is posed not just to the masked heroes, but to the reader as well. Is it ok to sacrifice thousands for millions?
The only true hero with super powers in the novel, Dr. Manhattan offers a different perspective on everything. His melancholy attitude and slightly cynical view of the human race is a criticism of what the human race has become. Although he probably has the power to save the human race, he chooses not to because what he sees is a civilization which only seems capable of destruction and barbarism. Throughout the story the reader is subject to his analysis of the human race, which although can seem harsh at some times, are also quite true. What have we accomplished in our time on earth except for mass killings of each other and our own planet? Sure we have made advances in technology, modified the world to our own specifications, but was it really all worth it? In the process we have also depleted much of this world’s resources, destroyed the habitats of countless organisms, and warred constantly with each other. This is how Dr. Manhattan views our world, and it is why he doesn’t use his power to help us. Interestingly enough, he is also referred to as the walking H-bomb, so there could also be a correlation to how even though humans are capable of untold destruction, the humanity and compassion of Dr. Manhattan himself also suggests that we are capable of loving and caring as well.
The Watchmen is a great critique on what people have done in the past and what we could become. Nuclear war is not a pretty thing to think about, but it could be quite possible in the future, and the Watchmen offers a stance on what things could be like were it to be in an alternate universe.

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uncle_loki, September 2, 2007 (view all comments by uncle_loki)
One of the things I loved about Watchmen was how human the super humans were. You get all the stuff you love about comics (errr...graphic novels), but with a gritty accessibility that you don't often find in this genre.

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PannetonD, June 5, 2007 (view all comments by PannetonD)
I really liked this book, it broke away from traditional pulpy comics, and presented a dark, intricate story filled with emotion, current events and action.

I recommend it strongly.

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Product Details

ISBN:

9780930289232

Author:

Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons

Publisher:

DC Comics

Editor:

Marx, Barry

Author:

Gibbons, Dave

Author:

Moore, Alan

Location:

New York

Subject:

General

Subject:

Comic books, strips, etc.

Subject:

Graphic Novels

Subject:

Graphic Novels - General

Copyright:

1995

Publication Date:

April 1, 1995

Binding:

Paperback

Language:

English

Illustrations:

Y

Pages:

416

Dimensions:

10.24x6.68x.84 in. 1.37 lbs.