Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons (review)

Title: Watchmen
Author: Alan Moore
Illustrator: Dave Gibbons
Pages: 408
Genre: Non-Fiction
Dewey Decimal: 741.5941 Moo
ISBN: 0-930289-23-4
Cost: $0

Who reviews the reviewers?

This was a review a long time in the making because I wanted to include a mini-review of the movie. Thankfully LibraryGary was kind enough to purchase the BluRay version.

Starting with the graphic novel, I was continually impressed. The artwork was clearly dated (circa the mid-1980s) but It was also refreshing to see no anime, manga, or more modern influences. At least none that the novice comic reader would notice. The plot was somewhat basic, but the thought that went into the history behind the Watchmen was beyond what I would expect. And the ending reveal of who the "bad" guy was actually surprised me. As did the idea behind the grey area of what is "bad" and what is "good." This is a topic I haven't really thought about since my college days when we talked about capital punishment and if it was good, bad, evil, etc.

So the artwork was old-school. The plot was great and surprising. There were morals discussed and implied that made you think. But that wasn't the best part for me. The best part was the level of detail. And I don't mean the art was so detailed you could read hidden messages under a magnifying glass. I mean the art was so detailed you could see things in the background if you paid attention. And it was a theme that started when I first saw the Gunga Diner and continued through the very end. I don't think I've ever seen a comic or cartoon that had that much thought put into the background. You could almost see each scene in 3D if you pressed your imagination hard enough.



Enter the Director's Cut on BluRay. First, I love my BluRay. This being my first movie in this format, it didn't disappoint (I do have LOST Seasons 1 and 2, but that's it for BluRay for now). I could have followed the movie nearly scene for scene with the graphic novel. But I didn't. I wanted to see how true they stayed to the plot. And again, I was impressed. With two minor exceptions, the movie was stride for stride with the comic until about two-thirds of the way through. That's when the biggest change starts to appear. The replacement of the alien with some nuclear-style explosion. Bummer. Not what I wanted to see, but it still kept pretty close to the comic. Close enough to be up there in the top five movies I've seen that are based on books.

So where does this leave me? Thoroughly impressed with the capability of graphic novels. I've read some bad ones and I've read some good ones. But this is the first great one I've read. I enjoyed it so much, I'm considering reading V for Vendetta (I loved the movie). So if you haven't read it, read it. If you haven't watched it, watch it.