While following the argle-bargle over rights to the Watchmen movie (I might have made sure I had the rights before spending millions to make a film, but that’s me), I finally caved in and read the alternate-apocalyptic 12-issue graphic series. After all, it’s had a place of honor on the shelves of every man I’ve ever shacked up with. I bought the boxed set for myself (or for a gift?) in January 2006, Amazon told me when I went to fetch this image, so it’s about time.
And the series does rock, even if it doesn’t displace Grendel or Sandman as my top-faves. I like the colors, the multiple storylines, the bits at the end of each issue (fake book excerpts and especially the newspaper clippings with print-shop notes attached) and the sweeping arc of the story. The complex narratives reflect one another and the voices are great—especially the distinction between Rorshach’s voice and his writing style. Heroes as anti-heroes was probably a newer twist back in 1980s. I even liked the goofy pirate story.
My favorite narrative “trick” is first Dr. Manhattan’s story, flipping back and forth in time from panel to panel, then reprised with Laurie, flipping the same way as she re-casts events in her past to realize, finally, who her father is.
I remember watching some friends reading these as they came out, waiting for the next one and talking about them. I hated hanging in limbo between issues, so I would wait until the last issue was coming before I’d read them all (hmmm, could it be the same reason I usually watch series TV when the DVDs come out?). Somehow, Watchmen slipped by, time and again. Too dark and forbidding, with that blood-dripping packaging.
Only problem for me is I was done with the series at the end of episode 11 [spoiler alert, for the rare ones who haven’t read this—it’s only 22+ years old]. Once all the sympathetic characters are dead, the only thing keeping me reading was the amazing art. Blah, blah with the explaining what’s happened and the fate of the rest of the world—it’s not worth surviving if all the interesting people are gone. And the killed off the cat! Anti-heroes, indeed.
I know I’m a shallow analyst on this one (especially since I took a look at the Wikipedia entry and was frightened away by how dense it was). Final analysis: thumbs up.
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