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Liked It “It was my first graphic novel, recommended to me by several. I did appreciate the layout, though I found it very difficult to follow the plot and keep the characters straight at the beginning. It got better towards the end. I appreciated it, and am excited to see how the movie interprets the...” see full review » see other reviews » |
Didn’t Like It “I cannot believe what passes as must read literature. The Watchmen is a Hugo award winner and one of Time Magazine's 100 best novels. WHY?!?! |
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“Great story.”
Kurt M wrote this review Sunday, June 7 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Watchmen gets a lot of press, especially now that the film has been released, but I couldn't get into it as much as other people. There are some memorable characters here, but for most of the story I was just bored.”
Matthew wrote this review Saturday, March 28 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No“It was my first graphic novel, recommended to me by several. I did appreciate the layout, though I found it very difficult to follow the plot and keep the characters straight at the beginning. It got better towards the end. I appreciated it, and am excited to see how the movie interprets the novel. At the risk of sounding sexist, I would say this is more a "guy" novel.”
Marisol E wrote this review Sunday, March 1 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Hailed as "the most celebrated graphic novel" of all time, Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' Watchmen is a fascinating foray into the psyches of men and women who fight crime in costume. It would be grossly inaccurate to call this a comic book about superheroes; in Watchmen, there are no real heroes, only humans who try to be, but fail in one way or another. Written and set in 1985, it is also an eerily prescient depiction of the political and moral decline the world is currently in, and I can't help but marvel (pun not intended) at the sophistication and substance of the subjects dealt with in the novel.
Ailee wrote this review Monday, February 23 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
In the alternate reality of Watchmen's 1985 America, Nixon is still president, Russia is invading Afghanistan, and all costumed vigilante crime-fighters have been outlawed by the Keene Act, save for 3: Dr. Jonathan Osterman, a.k.a. Dr. Manhattan, the lone superhero on the planet with real superpowers acquired from a freak lab accident, and who works for the US government as both guardian and weapon; superhero-turned-government mercenary Edward Blake, a.k.a. The Comedian; and Walter Kovacs, a.k.a. Rorschach, who's just a wee bit crazy and doesn't give a shit about the Keene Act. When The Comedian is murdered, Rorschach investigates and begins to suspect that someone out there is on a superhero killing spree. His investigation leads him to old nemeses and allies, and triggers reminiscing and reflection among the latter, before things come to a head and the costumes have to come out again.
Watchmen is told in a series of 12 issues, and in between each "chapter" is inserted a piece of text that serves as a backgrounder or profile, presented in the form of biography excerpts, newspaper clippings, and various correspondence, which lend a realism as well as a grim sobriety. Flashbacks also provide revelations about each character's history, and a better understanding of their individual reasons and motives for donning their masks and costumes. Watchmen is surprisingly philosophical and psychological, plumbing into the dark recesses of its characters' minds and souls, so much so that it makes Batman's angst seem sunshiny in comparison. I admit I wasn't blown away by the art, though I don't exactly have an expert eye for this kind of thing. But the writing is even better than that of most "real" novels I've read. Goes to show that graphic novels can indeed be excellent literature, and shouldn't be dismissed as mere "comics".”“ I cannot believe what passes as must read literature. The Watchmen is a Hugo award winner and one of Time Magazine's 100 best novels. WHY?!?!
Jamba (Personal Bookshelf) wrote this review Wednesday, February 11 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
Any reader how isn't a slave to hype would tell you its not because of the story. Maybe it's the sophomoric pornography drawn into the middle of the book. Or the skill the writer has for cursing God's name at least once on every page? I guess it gets such great acclaim because it gives the film noir genre what it was apparently lacking for so many years... cartoon boobies.
This book is a complete waste of time. At no point did the story have an enjoyable or redeeming quality. The premise is wonderful but the delivery is atrocious and the ending depressingly weak and contrived.
My recommendation skip the Watchmen and read a writer who treats this topic and genre right. I suggest Kurt Busiek's Astro City. The Confessor story line is amazing. Another epic novel worth reading is J. Michael Straczynski's "Rising Stars."
Don't waste your time on this drivel. If you have to know what this awful novel is about do your self a favor and read a Wikipedia summary.
If this is what passes as a ''must' read" then the blind and illiterate aren't missing much.”
“Truly awesome... except for a parallel story in story.
Rohit P wrote this review Sunday, February 8 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
I just hope the movie is just as good.”“Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? Who will watch the watchmen? A Question raised centuries ago by the great philosopher Plato. A question that Scholars still argue over today. A question written on the walls of the 1980s alternate reality NYC of the Watchmen. Where Nixon is in his second term and masked crime fighters roam the dirty, corrupt, streets. The New York Times was right in calling the Watchmen one of the best NOVELS of all time. The book explores what super heroes would be like in the real world, heroes who are flawed and more realistic. Though i was a little skeptical at first because it was a comic book, but once i started reading, i couldn't put it down. The characters are really well developed and relatable. The story is gripping, so engrossing that there's almost a sense of awe and fulfillment when your done reading and you'll be asking yourself how exactly they pulled all of this off. Be warned though not only is the book very bloody and violent, but there are alot of literary and cultural references that might go over some younger readers heads ( i suggest having Wikipedia on hand to look up names and places, it will help add to the experience). Overall this is truly a master piece, one of the best BOOKS I've read in years, and a great edition to anyone library.”
JAKE B wrote this review Wednesday, January 21 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“"Observation:
apokalypsis wrote this review Wednesday, January 14 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
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Multi-screen viewing is seemingly anticipated by Burroughs' cut-up technique. He suggested re-arranging words and images to evade rational analysis, allowing subliminal hints of the future to leak through...
an impending world of exotica, glimpsed only peripherally.
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Perceptually, this simultaneous input engages me like the kinetic equivalent of an abstract or impressionist painting... phosphor-dot swirls juxtapose; meanings coalesce from semiotic chaos before reverting to incoherence.
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Transient and elusive, these must be grasped quickly:
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Computer animations imbue even breakfast cereals with an hallucinogenic futurity; music channels process information-blips, avoiding linear presentation, implying limitless personal choice...
These reference points established, an emergent worldview becomes gradually discernible amidst the media's white noise.
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This jigsaw-fragment model of tomorrow aligns itself piece by piece, specific areas necessarily obscured by indeterminacy.
However, broad assumptions regarding this postulated future may be drawn. We can imagine its ambience. We can hypothesize its psychology.
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In conjunction with massive forecasted technological acceleration approaching the millennium, this oblique and shifting cathode mosaic uncovers the blueprint for an era of new sensations and possibilities.
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An era of the conceivable made concrete...
...and of the casually miraculous."
[/br]--Adrian Veidt
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I liked Watchmen much better at the end than halfway through the book. Alan Moore is definitely a master of writing for comics.”
“The premise of the book is that heroes are just as messed up as the rest of us. If that is so, then why do we consider them heroes? If a mask and a strong left hook give you power over right and wrong, good and evil, then either we are all heroes or none of us are. ”
Only Playing wrote this review Monday, January 12 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Watchmen is the first (and only, thus far) graphic novel I've ever read. It was recommended by a good friend of mine and I figured, why not give it a shot? I didn't expect to enjoy it as much as I did; Watchmen is clever and beautifully illustrated. If graphic novels aren't your thing, an exception must be made for Watchmen - I guarantee it'll surprise you.”
Betty Bear wrote this review Sunday, January 11 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
