Tyler's Blog Death of Destiny

“Watchmen” by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons (3/5)

Watchmen
Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons
ISBN 9-780930-289232

The Watchmen is a graphic novel written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Dave Gibbons. It follows vigilante masked hero characters as they find themselves being killed off in a complex plot amidst a perceived Apocalypse brought about by the Cold War. It is available from Amazon.ca.

It took me a while to get used to the artwork (mind, I am largely used to manga-style graphic novels) but I did get used to them over time.

The characters are round, each with their own story line explaining their personality.

Looking at the Watchmen from a literary standpoint, many literary aspects make this book great. Suttle repetitions foreshadow future events, second meanings and intentions are weaved throughout the plot, and paying careful attention to the images reveals a lot to what is hidden in the story.

I liked the plot. I got a lot more out of it the second time through reading. There is a lot of political stuff happening in the book, so that aspect I missed out on. But the plot overall is quite enjoyable.

The ending, however... I will say I prefered the movie ending. The ending is creative and well thought out, but I don't think it is nearly as believable as what happens in the movie. I think the ending of the book makes a few large jumps between events that I personally don't think would lead to one another. Or I could be missing out on something causing me to misinterpret it...

Anyhow, overall, I liked the Watchmen and I recommend it to anybody interested in graphic novels, super heroes, morality, or the human condition. I give it 3 out of 5 stars.