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Watchmen by Alan Moore
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Watchmen (edition 1995)

by Alan Moore (Author), Dave Gibbons (Illustrator)

Series: Watchmen (1-12)

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
19,085493247 (4.31)529
Comic and Graphic Books. Fiction. HTML:

This Hugo Award-winning graphic novel chronicles the fall from grace of a group of super-heroes plagued by all-too-human failings. Along the way, the concept of the super-hero is dissected as the heroes are stalked by an unknown assassin. One of the most influential graphic novels of all time and a perennial bestseller, WATCHMEN has been studied on college campuses across the nation and is considered a gateway title, leading readers to other graphic novels such as V FOR VENDETTA, BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS and THE SANDMAN series.

.… (more)
Member:anro14
Title:Watchmen
Authors:Alan Moore (Author)
Other authors:Dave Gibbons (Illustrator)
Info:DC Comics (1995), Edition: Gph, 416 pages
Collections:Your library
Rating:*****
Tags:None

Work Information

Watchmen by Alan Moore (Author)

  1. 210
    V for Vendetta by Alan Moore (FFortuna, monktv)
    monktv: These books have the epic storytelling and interesting meaning in common.
  2. 202
    Batman: The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller (McMinty)
  3. 100
    The Absolute Sandman Volume One by Neil Gaiman (JapaG)
    JapaG: After the Watchmen, Sandman is probably the graphic novel that has most influenced the adult comic scene today. It has similarly deep storyline about humanity from the perspective of one outside of it. Also the magnificent art contributes to the great collection.
  4. 80
    DC Universe: The Stories of Alan Moore by Alan Moore (artturnerjr)
    artturnerjr: Includes two earlier Moore/Gibbons collaborations.
  5. 80
    From Hell by Alan Moore (sturlington)
  6. 50
    Supreme: The Story of the Year by Alan Moore (TomWaitsTables)
    TomWaitsTables: Like Watchmen, this is a superhero story. But it is the complete polar opposite of Watchmen; this is Alan Moore's love letter to the silver age superhero.
  7. 40
    Miracleman Book Three: Olympus by Alan Moore (artturnerjr)
    artturnerjr: Both deconstructionist superhero tales by Alan Moore. WATCHMEN is the more formally masterful work; MIRACLEMAN, the more emotionally devastating one.
  8. 40
    Supreme: The Return by Alan Moore (TomWaitsTables)
  9. 40
    Batwoman: Elegy by Greg Rucka (sweetiegherkin)
    sweetiegherkin: I enjoyed the back stories in both, seeing how regular people end up as costumed vigilantes.
  10. 40
    Astro City Vol. 01: Life in the Big City by Kurt Busiek (FFortuna)
  11. 40
    The Authority: Relentless by Warren Ellis (MyriadBooks)
  12. 62
    Kingdom Come by Mark Waid (jpers36)
  13. 20
    Those Who Walk in Darkness by John Ridley (MyriadBooks)
    MyriadBooks: Which is another superhero deconstruction along these same lines.
  14. 20
    Icon: A Hero's Welcome (Milestone Comics Library) by Dwayne McDuffie (FFortuna)
  15. 20
    Greyshirt: Indigo Sunset by Rick Veitch (kxlly)
  16. 31
    American Flagg!: Definitive Collection Volume 1 by Howard Chaykin (LKAYC)
  17. 20
    Wild Cards I: A Mosaic Novel by George R. R. Martin (LamontCranston)
  18. 10
    Atomika Vol 1: God Is Red by Sal Abbinanti (IamAleem)
  19. 10
    The Winter Men {complete} by Brett Lewis (IamAleem)
  20. 21
    The Satires of Juvenal by Decimus Iunius Iuvenalis (bertilak)

(see all 24 recommendations)

1980s (69)
Books (66)
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» See also 529 mentions

English (474)  French (4)  Danish (2)  German (1)  Italian (1)  Swedish (1)  Spanish (1)  Catalan (1)  Dutch (1)  All languages (486)
Showing 1-5 of 474 (next | show all)
Read this a few years ago, in advance of the movie and was blown away. Recently I was recommending it to a friend as an iconic work in the graphic novel genre and decided to read it again.
Watchmen is amazing. A tremendous work of art. Mysterious, thrilling, gut wrenching, captivating. It's one hell of a ride and deserves its distinction as one of TIME magazines 100 best novels. It was such a pleasure to enjoy Watchmen again and I already can't wait for the next time I get to enjoy Alan Moore's masterpiece. ( )
  wsampson13 | Mar 2, 2024 |
Watchmen, the greatest graphic novel of all time? Maybe.

I can’t really say I’m qualified to make this judgement - my familiarity with the genre is limited to reading a few Star Trek comics with my daughter. But Watchmen has a lot of positive attributes worth pointing out. It was published in the eighties during the Cold War, and the tensions of the time are skillfully reflected in a unique alternate history.

The super hero characters are not the typical one-dimensional perfect Superman type. With the exception of Dr. Manhattan, all are distinctly human, with complex emotions and no amazing superpowers. They are believable real people, who don costumes and become masked vigilantes. The plot centers around the primary characters investigating a murder, with numerous interwoven flashbacks and side stories set against a backdrop of heightened international tension and the threat of World War III. Each chapter is followed by an article or book extract which provide great background stories to the main plot. I particularly enjoyed Tales of the Black Freighter, a comic book which one of the characters is reading in the main story. And you gotta love Bernie the newspaperman, my favorite character!

At the end of the day, I thought this was a great story, well written with excellent illustration, but it didn’t excite me enough to give it a 4 or 5 star rating. I would recommend reading it though. It can’t be denied as groundbreaking in the graphic novel/comic genre. ( )
  amurray914 | Feb 27, 2024 |
Great artwork, but the story is so politically naive that only an infantiile brain could give it any credence. It says a lot about the sad state of the world that this can be so influential and respected. Nuclear war over the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan? I was already an adult then and it wasn't even a possibility. Also, there are so many knee-jerk characterizations here without an ounce of thought behind them. Richard Nixon is assumed to be an ultimate evil, although he's just a shadowy background character. It's others who are really up to no good in this muddled tale. And compared to Bush Jr. and Trump, Nixon emerges as a longsighted statesman! Paranoid to be sure, but not senile.... And of course there have to be digs at Reagan, too. I guess I'm saying that there really isn't much intelligence on display in the writing. The whole story ends up being almost pointless. ( )
  datrappert | Feb 24, 2024 |
The best comic i ever read of superheros. I loving. Incredible. ( )
  p0dr3reader | Feb 12, 2024 |
Isn't it a little bit funny how screwed up people can be, even when they're trying to do the best they can? I can't empathise with the Cold War mentality, and it's staggering how differently we think these days, but I do see something of myself in most of the Watchmen. Idealism, cynicism, hope, narrowmindedness, uncertainty, determination. This book will make you question a great deal about who you are and what you do. Read it. ( )
  Zedseayou | Jan 30, 2024 |
Showing 1-5 of 474 (next | show all)

» Add other authors

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Moore, AlanAuthorprimary authorall editionsconfirmed
Gibbons, DaveIllustratormain authorall editionsconfirmed
Higgins, JohnColoristsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Orlando, JoeIllustratorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Bárány, FerencTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Sabbagh, JuliaDesignersecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Wein, LenEditorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed

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Watchmen (1-12)

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Epigraph
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes. Who watches the watchmen? Juvenal Satires, VI, 347, quoted as the epigraph of the Tower commission report, 1987
Dedication
With special thanks to Neil Gaiman, Mike Lake, Pat Mills, and Joe Orlando.
First words
Rorschach's Journal. October 12th, 1985:
Dog carcass in alley this morning, tire tread on burst stomach. This city is afraid of me. I have seen its true face.
Quotations
[spraypainted on wall] "Who watches the Watchmen?"
"Looked at the sky through smoke heavy with human fat and God was not there. The cold suffocating dark goes on forever and we are alone. Live our lives lacking anything better to do. Devise reason later. Born from oblivion; bear children hell-bound as ourselves; go into oblivion. There is nothing else. Existence is random. Has no pattern save what we imagine after staring at it for too long. No meaning save what we choose to impose. This rudderless world is not shaped by vague metaphysical forces. It is not God who kills the children. Not fate that butchers them or destiny that feeds them to the dogs. It's us. Only us." (Ch. VI, pg26)
"All this, it could be gone: people, cars, T.V. shows, magazines...even the word 'gone' would be gone." (Ch. V, pg12)
"Why do we argue? Life's so fragile, a successful virus clinging to a speck of mud, suspended in endless nothing." (Ch. VI, pg28)
"We're all puppets, Laurie. I'm just a puppet that can see the strings." (Ch. IX, pg5)
Last words
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
Disambiguation notice
Some consider Absolute Watchmen to be a notably different work from Watchmen. There is currently a discussion in Combiners! discussing whether or not this separation is needed. Please join the discussion. Please do not combine the two works until this is resolved.
Before separating check ISBN because there are bad titles

Please be careful in separating editions titled Watchmen #1, because many are not for the first single issue of the miniseries, but for this collected volume.
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Information from the Portuguese (Brazil) Common Knowledge. Edit to localize it to your language.
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Comic and Graphic Books. Fiction. HTML:

This Hugo Award-winning graphic novel chronicles the fall from grace of a group of super-heroes plagued by all-too-human failings. Along the way, the concept of the super-hero is dissected as the heroes are stalked by an unknown assassin. One of the most influential graphic novels of all time and a perennial bestseller, WATCHMEN has been studied on college campuses across the nation and is considered a gateway title, leading readers to other graphic novels such as V FOR VENDETTA, BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS and THE SANDMAN series.

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Book description
A New York Times Best Seller!

This Hugo Award-winning graphic novel chronicles the fall from grace of a group of super-heroes plagued by all-too-human failings. Along the way, the concept of the super-hero is dissected as the heroes are stalked by an unknown assassin.

One of the most influential graphic novels of all time and a perennial bestseller, WATCHMEN has been studied on college campuses across the nation and is considered a gateway title, leading readers to other graphic novels such as V FOR VENDETTA, BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS and THE SANDMAN series.
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