Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons

Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons
Series: Watchmen
Published by DC Comics in 1986
Genres: Comics, Politics, Mystery
Pages: 416 : Paperback
Source: Received through PaperBackSwap.com
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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 best-seller, 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.

You know, I’m not one to typically like comics or the whole comic book universe, but Watchmen has to be one of the exceptions for me. I first watched the movie Watchmen about a year ago and completely fell in love with it (unlike the masses who have hated on it).

The comic really parallels the movie in the fact that it’s dark and gritty and shows a side of comic book heroes we don’t typically see; what happens after they’re not allowed to fight the bad guys anymore and must deal with the regular avenues of everyday life. I really like how the comic also focused on other “normal” people living in New York and what they were thinking of this alternate time period.

Watchmen also employs a couple of different subplots and backgrounds that really get you involved in the story and keep you guessing as to what will happen next. I know that now there are some other comics that have been released that go into each character’s backstory, which I have not read, but after reading Watchmen I totally want to read those!

Anyways, overall I have to give this book a definite 5/5 star rating because the world building and illustrations along with the incredible dialogue sums up into one fantastic piece of work.