The Classics: Watchmen Reviewed

I read Watchmen for the first time a few years ago (Around the time of the movie's announcement) not really knowing much about it. At first, when I was at Borders and saw it, I thought that since the hardcover and paperback copies have different covers, that there was more than just one volume and it was an on-going series. Wrong. The story consists of twelve issues long and is a graphic novel of epic proportions. Alan Moore the writer and Dave Gibbons the artist make a wonderful team with dark and dreary dialect (Especially with Rorschach) and graphic, bloody art (Once again, with Rorschach). The premise of the story is about a group of former super heroes who used to be the city's team but after the years have become vigilante. They've all seemed to have gone their separate ways hiding in the shadows and from their past (Except for the character Ozymandias who is living and bathing in the fame of it all). The novel takes place during the cold war and Nixon as president. With war against Russia increasing and a nuclear war on the horizon, a Doomsday Clock has been set up predicting the nukes. At the beginning of each chapter in the story, it shows the clock getting closer and closer to it's destination with blood dripping down. Meanwhile, with all of this happening in the background, someone is killing off costumed heroes with The Comedian, a member of the Minute Men from long ago, starting off the death spree by being thrown out a window (Don't worry guys, that wasn't a spoiler. It's in the first 3 pages of the novel). And that my friends is how Watchmen got it's logo with the smiley face with a red stain over the left eye. The Comedian's logo being the face and his blood from the fall... yeah you know what I'm getting at. Rorschach, the only one of the former super heroes who has the balls to still be a hero is by far my favorite thanks to his dark and depressing speech and actions. All in all, apart from Dr. Manhattan's junk flying all over the place throughout the story, this is definitely one of my favorite comics of all time. I even had the pleasure of seeing all twelve single issues of this epic in person at a local comic store that was near my relatives house. Asking price? $200. Thanks, but I'll stick with my used copy of the compilation I got at a used book store for $8 in Chicago. So with all of this said in mind, please comic book lovers, if you haven't read Watchmen yet, I STRONGLY advice you too asap. You're missing out. Do not weasel out either and watch the movie first because the whole book will be ruined. Not to mention, the movie changed the ending for some unknown frakin reason and the book ending is a billion times better. Read.This.Book.

Hardcover Edition