Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons VG+

Watchmen is an epic comic book depicting the revival of "costumed adventurers" and their eventual fall, brought about—deliberately—by one of their own.

It's set in the United States, but a United States that won the war in Vietnam in 1971, that never uncovered the Watergate break-in, and that eliminated presidential term limits. Consequently, Nixon is still president in 1985 when the story begins. Internationally, tensions between the U.S. and Soviet Russia are high, threatening to spark World War III. As the story plays out, the Soviets do invade Afghanistan and seem poised to push through into Pakistan. Though costumed freelance crime-fighters were outlawed in 1977, two are now employed by the government. The murder of one such, Edward Blake, triggers an investigation that draws the interest of Rorschach, the character who ignored the ban and never stopped prowling.

After the police depart the murder scene, Rorschach slips in and locates a false wall in the back of the bedroom closet, exposing the costume worn by The Comedian. He also finds The Comedian's signature yellow smiley-face pin, now marked with blood. The book's first chapter introduces each of the Watchmen, as Rorschach approaches each in turn to warn them, suggesting each is in danger, that it's a plot against all of them. We see their reactions, each one different from the others.

• Dr. Jon Osterman is unique. He is the lone Watchman with superpowers and the only one who can't shed his "costume." He's about 7 feet tall with the physique of Adonis, and he's blue, a nice shade of powder blue. Oh, and he's usually naked. In a 1959 accident with an experimental "Intrinsic Field Subtractor", Osterman was vaporized. Several months later he started to reappear, first as a brain and nervous system, then several days later with a circulatory system, adding a musculoskeletal structure after that, and finally skin, that blue skin. After his reappearance, he became known as Dr. Manhattan.
• Dan Dreiberg once patrolled as Nite Owl II, a persona he adopted after the original Nite Owl retired and resumed being just Hollis Mason. Dreiberg still has a stockpile of high tech devices he used when active as Night Owl II, but now he's melancholy, paunchy, and out of condition.
• Laurie Juspeczyk appears initially as Dr. Manhattan's lover. But he's distant, preoccupied, emotionally cold. When she leaves him, he hardly notices. The only child of Sally Jupiter, the first Silk Spectre, it's natural she would be Silk Spectre II. Her relationship with her mother has been strained, primarily because her mother won't tell her who her father is.
• Rorschach was another, always standing apart from the other Watchmen. Because he wasn't ever seen without his defining mask, no one really knew who he was until captured by police and unmasked as Walter Kovacs. He held rigidly to his vigilante pose, seeing the world in black and white terms without any compromising gray. Walter kept a diary and often leaked his grim views to the right-wing media.
• Edward Blake was known only as The Comedian. His persona was the coarse, muscle-bound, ruthless cynic, amoral, and usually at odds with the other Watchmen. He was one of the "costumed adventurers" retained by the government. Deployed in Vietnam, he was a conspicuously violent operative. He always wore a yellow smiley-face pin.
• Adrian Veidt is a rich guy, perhaps the richest in the world. Before turning to accumulation of money, Veidt patrolled as Ozymandias. The smartest guy in the world? Many think so. And he has the physical fitness and body control to match. What Veidt has trouble controlling is his condescension. He is, after all, smarter than everyone else.

The fate of humanity and of the world seem to be at stake. Dr. Manhattan with his superpowers has been America's deterrent to Soviet aggressiveness. His powers have been exhibited. But when he's accused of giving cancer to workers in the research lab, he abandons Earth for Mars. No longer threatened, the Soviets invade Afghanistan and drive toward Pakistan

Watchmen, the book, began as a 12-issue comic book series. From the beginning, the intent was to pull the issues together and publish the collection as a coherent book. The initial proposal came from veteran comic book writer Alan Moore. Illustrator Dave Gibbons wanted in, and later got colorist John Higgins involved. An immediate success, Watchmen has been in print for 35 years. It's the benchmark against which every new venture in the genre is measured.

By all means, give the book a look. It does dump a load of mayhem and violence into your lap, so it won't be for everyone. But it is the only graphic story Time selected for its top 100 list. Lev Grossman, one of the magazine's critics, wrote: "Told with ruthless psychological realism, in fugal, overlapping plotlines and gorgeous, cinematic panels rich with repeating motifs, Watchmen is a heart-pounding, heartbreaking read and a watershed in the evolution of a young medium."

It is quite unfortunate that images can't be shown in the reviews, for this is a GRAPHIC edition. Images are so important for anyone to get a satisfactory understanding of the book. Here's what I posted to my thread: https://www.librarything.com/topic/337746#7754596 ( )

A comic that deals with superheroes in an untraditional way. I knew there was an HBO show coming out of this. After wanting to read it for a couple of years I found myself buying this collection just in time before the show would start.

The story is an alternate history that follows a couple of vigilantes in New York in 1985. The third world war is about to start and things aren’t going as smoothly. Vigilantes are forbidden leading to former superheroes to work for the government or in retirement. the story starts when one “hero” is murdered. Slowly the group gets back together to try to solve who’s behind the murders.

This comic is phenomenal! It’s so well thought out of and everything is just right. The whole collection feels like a whole story without any unnecessary plotlines. The worldbuilding is really well done. It’s set in an alternate history so it makes it easy to understand how people are living. They only had minor differences that make it not to complicated but yet fresh. The characters were amazing. They all had an interesting backstory and all were super flawed. I’m a sucker for a good anti-hero. The way the story is told is interesting because it keeps you on your toes there are some twists and turns that really move the story forward. After being so oversaturated with all kinds of superhero’s and vigilantes in media these days I thought this was a very different take that really felts different instead of only saying it is. If I have to point out one minor thing, I wasn’t totally feeling it would have to be the story inside the story. It’s about this comic a kid is reading about someone being stranded on an island. I just wasn’t getting the bigger picture and sometimes it felt it was distracting from the bigger story. On a positive note I enjoyed the issue of Dr Manhattan the most. The way his story is told is heart breaking and really emotional. The artwork only enhances that.

Please read this. It’s a story not for everyone but I’m sure it’s worth your time spending on it.
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As I don't read in this genre I'm probably not qualified to review but I will say it stank of testosterone: men thinking they can rule/change/police the world with women as props. So bleak, violent and unrelentingly pretentious in its allusions to myths and mythology. Not at all likemthe much better than series. There I said it. ( )

Very fun! ( )

What is there to say about Watchmen that hasn't been said already? This is one of the most monumental, "must read" comics ever written.

Masterpiece.

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