Sir Diesalot reviewed Watchmen by Alan Moore
Review of 'Watchmen' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
I figured I should read this before the movie comes out, since everyone says it's so good.
English language
Published April 7, 2008 by DC Comics.
Watchmen
by Alan Moore,
Alan Moore
4 stars
(428 reviews)
[Comment from Lauren Beukes][1]:
It took me years to read Watchmen. Every time I'd get to the men in tights and the giant naked blue guy, I'd think, "Ack! Superhero comic!" and put it down again. It wasn't that I was against comics. I'd read 2000AD Monthly religiously since 1989 and Alan Moore's The Ballad of Halo Jones, about a girl from an interplanetary ghetto who wanted to get "out", was my favourite series of all. But I liked the dark, twisty stuff that had something to say about the world and superhero comics seemed tediously codified with no room for moral ambiguity. I should have known better. What Moore does best, even at his silliest or most obtusely philosophical, is subvert. He uses story to crack open the dark places of the human soul like a crab shell, revealing the pasty meat within, and then pokes it with a …
[Comment from Lauren Beukes][1]:
It took me years to read Watchmen. Every time I'd get to the men in tights and the giant naked blue guy, I'd think, "Ack! Superhero comic!" and put it down again. It wasn't that I was against comics. I'd read 2000AD Monthly religiously since 1989 and Alan Moore's The Ballad of Halo Jones, about a girl from an interplanetary ghetto who wanted to get "out", was my favourite series of all. But I liked the dark, twisty stuff that had something to say about the world and superhero comics seemed tediously codified with no room for moral ambiguity. I should have known better. What Moore does best, even at his silliest or most obtusely philosophical, is subvert. He uses story to crack open the dark places of the human soul like a crab shell, revealing the pasty meat within, and then pokes it with a cattleprod to see it writhe.
He's the kind of writer who makes you feel very smart (Kitty Genovese and the moral bankruptcy of crowds in Watchmen, for example) and very stupid (a dozen obscure Victorian literature references interwoven into every page of League of Extraordinary Gentlemen) at the same time. He pushes the medium. Every panel, every background detail, every interlude, whether a vaudeville song or a beat-style short story or seemingly wholly unrelated pirate horror comic, counts. He stretches the boundaries of storytelling in ways other writers wouldn't attempt, let alone pull off – and does it with a ferocious social conscience that challenges everything we are.
And when he has a mind to, when he's not off on some grand mal meditation on the nature of magic or sexual desire or what stories mean, Moore tells the perfect story. Inventive. Surprising. Original. Utterly devastating. From being the comic I couldn't read, Watchmen became the narrative I hold up as what fiction can be.
[1]: www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/may/14/science-fiction-authors-choice
A. Rivera reviewed Watchmen by Alan Moore
Review of 'Watchmen' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
This was simply "wow." This is one of the most complex works of literature I have read, and a great graphic novel to boot. When the ending is revealed, it is just amazing. Talk about having to make a choice. I won't reveal it for those who have not read it, but it does make a reader wonder what would they choose if they were in the situation. That may be part of why this book has remained popular over time: because it presents heroes as complex, often tormented, individuals who are faced with conflicts and choices. It's not all about the adventure. Thus they are people we can identify with. Of course, the novel is still a very good story as well. This is absolutely one of the best, if not the best, works I have read this year. Definitely one that invites reading again. And the work definitely …
This was simply "wow." This is one of the most complex works of literature I have read, and a great graphic novel to boot. When the ending is revealed, it is just amazing. Talk about having to make a choice. I won't reveal it for those who have not read it, but it does make a reader wonder what would they choose if they were in the situation. That may be part of why this book has remained popular over time: because it presents heroes as complex, often tormented, individuals who are faced with conflicts and choices. It's not all about the adventure. Thus they are people we can identify with. Of course, the novel is still a very good story as well. This is absolutely one of the best, if not the best, works I have read this year. Definitely one that invites reading again. And the work definitely confirms Alan Moore's place as a great author.
By the way, for those readers who like a little history, seeing the alternate world that Moore creates for the U.S. is interesting as well. Who becomes president of the U.S., the Cold War, so on. While this element is not the main thrust of the book, it certainly adds to the ambiance and makes it even more interesting.
