It’s difficult to write anything new about Watchmen. I read this book about five years ago, pretty much before I really got into the whole sequential art as a way of story telling. I’ll admit I was fairly nonplussed when I read it then. This time around, for whatever reason, I just got the story. The plot is dense but superbly written and the art just somehow fits with the book. The prose background pieces inbetween each issue made compelling reading as well. It’s easy now to see why this book is held in such high regard. An undoubted classic. ( )

Reviewed by Mr. Kome ( )

Watchmen is as good as you expect. It answers the question we always ask ourselves: What would super heros be like if they were real? Well, for starters they would all have to be a little crazy. Superman would be more god than man. Batman would be insane. You get the idea. The ultimate conclusions Moore draws are ones I fundamentally disagree with. But regardless of your world view, you will find something to latch onto. Long live Rorschach! ( )

Yeah I know but I read it before it was cool. ( )

Watchmen is highly addictive – once I began it, I wanted to do nothing else but read it, but, alas, life and its duties called. The art work is beautiful, with an array of both dark and bright colors used, realistically drawn figures, scenes filled with extraneous background details (which do, however, shed light on the happenings of this alternative history version of the world), and violence that is stylized enough not to be too disturbing but that still conveys the atmosphere of the dystopia created by Moore. The story itself, plot wise, isn’t all that different from typical “action” stories and movies. However, the way it unravels is done with perfection. Moore gives all of his characters fierce emotions, motivations, and back stories. Flashbacks are frequent in the novel and are transitioned into very well, both visually and textually. Moore also inserts another comic book within the pages of Watchmen – a fictional comic called The Tales of the Black Freighter. The narrative of this comic is interspersed within the narrative of Watchmen to underscore specific points in the story. In addition, Moore does something I find quite innovative for a graphic novel – at the end of each chapter he includes an “excerpt” from something within his fictional world (a memoir by a former superhero, clippings from a newspaper, etc.) which is mainly textual. Overall, a wonderfully executed book, both visually and textually, which I think would appeal to many, even those who don’t normally read graphic novels. ( )