Watchmen-The graphic novel

[amdmiami]

I've been meaning to read this but I want to know from you guys if it's any good.

[Davros]

amdmiami wrote:

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I've been meaning to read this but I want to know from you guys if it's any good.

It is one of the best ever written.

[Ben Sisko3]

Davros wrote:

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It is one of the best ever written.

Seconded. It may, in fact, be THE best.

[misskim86]

itunes has an animated watchmen but it's just the first comic or something. It's pretty neat though, voiced and all

[Moocey]

Get it. It's a great read.

[The Old Mixer]

Those guys don't know what they're talking about--it IS the best. I've heard of entire college courses being taught on just this comic. Take the plunge!

And I wholeheartedly recommend reading the book before seeing the movie. In this case, no matter how good, the movie can only be a pale reflection of a story that was told to perfection in its original medium.

[Darth_Pinche]

You HAVE to read it. Then wait a few months to chew on it, then read it again to really appreciate it.

[davejames]

I'm about halfway through it so far-- and yeah, it's pretty good. I was worried it was going to be a little too esoteric and impenetrable like some of Moore's other stuff, but it's actually been pretty easy to read.

Even the little "book excerpts" and other side stories have been cool to read (unlike whatever those things were in the LXG comics).

[Davros]

It may well be one of the best works of fiction to come out of the 1980s.

[JNG]

Ben Sisko3 wrote:

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Seconded. It may, in fact, be THE best.

OBEY

[Haytil]

I thought it was slow and boring. I've yet to make it all the way through, and I've tried several times. Incredibly overrated.

I'd say it was pretentious, but it's not the comic so much as the reaction everyone has to it that could be qualified as such.

[misskim86]

I like The Watchmen but stuff like Preacher, Sandman or Garth Ennis' Punisher is way better. Preacher is what got me into comics in the first place.

[Bishbot]

Haytil wrote:

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I'd say it was pretentious, but it's not the comic so much as the reaction everyone has to it that could be qualified as such.

That or it really is just that good?

[stj]

After reading Promethea (reading at least one volume and skimming two others anyhow) or League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, I felt I had wasted my time. I didn't feel the same after reading Watchmen. It deserves to be taken seriously I think. Some of the raving does sound demented, true, but I hope it's hyperbolic.

In the end the staunchly heterosexual, anti-intellectual super badass Rohrschach martyrs himself but will ultimately prevail over the epicene intellectual Ozymandias, while Blue God-like being displays proper contempt for humanity as a whole by heading out into space, or something. Plainly the sort of stuff that inspires terminal enthusiasm in a certain kind of young person.

[The Old Mixer]

That's all you got out of it? No symbolism, no subtext, no historical context?

Plainly the sort of stuff that inspires terminal enthusiasm in a certain kind of young person.

And what about enthusiasm in mainstream critics and college professors? On the contrary, while I appreciated Watchmen a great deal when I first read it at the age of 17, I found that it grew and grew with subsequent readings over the years, particularly when I shared the book with others and we thoroughly discussed matters such as character motivations and symbolism. There are layers of depth in this book to be delved into.

I'm reminded of what Luthor tells Miss Tessmacher in Superman: "Some people can read War and Peace and come away thinking it's a simple adventure story."