Watchmen

[alabamaassassin]

For me,I couldn't get into the characters at all,with the exception of Rorschach.

Very depressing and dark storyline which I couldn't get excited about.Many parts felt like a chore to read.

quote]

i really agree with this opinion. on the day it was delivered, i proudly presented it to the girlfriend as being thought of as the greatest graphic novel ever. i was really excited to find out what it's unique qualities were. after completion, i found the story to be pretty long winded with not alot of action. i found myself forcing to continue on at about chapter 8, and i am a huge reader (i have read about 30 dc graphic novels in the past 3 months). i seemed like a book which really needed a group discussion or literature class to really understand and "get into" any symbolism or messages. the whole thing just seemed real alien to me like 2001: a space odyssey or the fountain. i guess personally i can draw more satisfaction from books like superman "secret identity" that have a more relatable or familiar characterization.

 

[Archangel]

Take out Tales of the Black Freighter?I hope that does not happen,i thought it was rather interesting.A story within a story,if that`s the case..are the small parts that were at the end of each chapter going to be taken out also?

I hope not,because if they are taken out..the movie watchers are really going to miss out on some things.Especially with the fact that some important details are there.

Are you expecting a narrator to read all the excerpts from Hollis Mason's book, the book about Dr. Manhattan, the snippets regarding Silk Spectre, etc.? Those are definitely not going to be in the movie, maybe as featurette's on the DVD though.

 

[Artistsean]

I have yet had time to read it, but I do own it.

What I was wondering is,
I have heard that there are parts (if not the whole thing as far as I know) of the story that deal with very complex issues like discribing how Dr. Manhattan sees all time and space.
and that it is so complex that people have to read and re-read those parts over and over.

I am an auditory dislexic, meaning I take forever to read anything.
So would this book be almost impossible for me to read?

Also I have heard some people say that this book isn't as good as the hype makes it out to be. Does this have anything to do with these complex issues?
Is it like boring, or tooabstract, or maybe it just seems like its trying to be deep? Or maybe its not those parts at all the people don't really care for.
Just curious.

 

[alabamaassassin]

I have yet had time to read it, but I do own it.

What I was wondering is,
I have heard that there are parts (if not the whole thing as far as I know) of the story that deal with very complex issues like discribing how Dr. Manhattan sees all time and space.
and that it is so complex that people have to read and re-read those parts over and over.

I am an auditory dislexic, meaning I take forever to read anything.
So would this book be almost impossible for me to read?

Also I have heard some people say that this book isn't as good as the hype makes it out to be. Does this have anything to do with these complex issues?
Is it like boring, or tooabstract, or maybe it just seems like its trying to be deep? Or maybe its not those parts at all the people don't really care for.
Just curious.

it is a pretty deep character study which probably calls for reflection after each chapter. it turned me off by all the excessive dialogue with not alot action to be found. the main characters also wore very hokey costumes which resembled generic halloween gear.

 

[Elijya]

I think that's somewhat intentional, because that's what people in real life really look like when they put on a superhero costume

 

[Roughneck]

I lost my copy of the TPB....does anyone know where I put it?

 

[Elijya]

The naner stole it

 

[Mladen]

Phew, I thought I was the only one who didn't enjoy this book. Some parts are great (pirate comics instead of superhero comics made absolute sense to me), but mostly its a chore to read the damn thing. Both Dave Gibbons and Alan Moore later openly said that they were aware that the whole faked alien invasion concept wasn't exactly original, but that they were more focused on the telling of the story, through experimenting with different storytelling devices etc. In this sense, Watchmen definately improves upon re-reading since all of these visual devices and layers of narrative symbolism start to become more noticeable, but as a stand-alone book I'd say its incredibly difficult to read, overlong, and most of the time meanders around in its subplots for too long.

Although it has an important place in comicbook history, its aged pretty poorly. The whole 'realistic superhero' concept was immediately copied and taken onboard by pretty much every superhero book since by any writer, and Watchmen has ceased to stand out. That, and the blasted thing is so consistently pessimistic that it becomes bloody depressing to get through.

Artistsean, none of the complex sequences in Watchmen were particularly hard to get on the first read. Meanwhile, you should keep away from most books by Grant Morrison :P

 

[brobdingnag]

Very good. I really don't think it's the best graphic ever written. Kingdom Come takes the cake for me.

The idea that Kingdom Come is better written than Watchmen is laughable.

 

[Darthphere]

I can't help but notice that newer users are popping up to hate on Watchmen. This leads me to one illogical conclusion: GNR, stop making new accounts.

 

[Overman27pj]

I can't help but notice that newer users are popping up to hate on Watchmen. This leads me to one illogical conclusion: GNR, stop making new accounts.

QTF.

 

[Arkady Rossovich]

When i read it,it would take me an hour to read a single chapter.It's rare that a novel would take that long to read,if you read a chapter a day.

 

[That-Guy]

Finally read Watchmen the other day. Very, very good read. It's the "No Country for Old Men" of comic books.

 

[Whirlysplat]

It's the "No Country for Old Men" of comic books.

What? I really enjoyed the Watchmen! Even if it is no Miracleman!

 

[Shmoil]

I loved Watchmen. The way it dissects the entire Superhero genre is brilliant, along with alll the beautiful visual metaphors, this really is the cake. The multiple storylines and the way that they comment on each other is great. Especially the Black Freighter stuff, and how it comments on the main story. Even how the main story comments on real life. I loved everything about Watchmen!

 

[Whirlysplat]

I loved Watchmen. The way it dissects the entire Superhero genre is brilliant, along with alll the beautiful visual metaphors, this really is the cake. The multiple storylines and the way that they comment on each other is great. Especially the Black Freighter stuff, and how it comments on the main story. Even how the main story comments on real life. I loved everything about Watchmen!

Yup, classic deconstructionist, mid eighties Alan Moore! Nuff said!

 

[Arkady Rossovich]

I loved how things got worse..and worse..and worse. You actually would think that it couldn't get worse,and it always did. Often when I read,I felt like the world was going to end. That's how powerful the work was,reading the pages you felt like it was 1985.

 

[Cobblepot]

I bought it yesterday and started reading reading it. I'm at chapter 4 I think. It's not very confusing (up till now). I like Dr. Manhattan he's got some mad skills building a glass castle like that. Can't wait to see that in the movie.
Who are the characters based on?
I read somewhere that:

Rorschach = The Question
Night Owl = Batman

Was the story intended to be written with the original characters, and so how much is re-written after DC editors told Moore that they wouldn't let him do that? Just curious...

 

[Cobblepot]

Just finished it, it was great. Got a bit hard to read at the end. But overall it was a good read.
I would place it in my top 5, but I really need to re-read it.

1.TLH
2.Y1
3.New Frontier
4.TDKR
5.Watchmen

 

[Skyline Twenty]

I bought it yesterday and started reading reading it. I'm at chapter 4 I think. It's not very confusing (up till now). I like Dr. Manhattan he's got some mad skills building a glass castle like that. Can't wait to see that in the movie.
Who are the characters based on?
I read somewhere that:

Rorschach = The Question
Night Owl = Batman

Was the story intended to be written with the original characters, and so how much is re-written after DC editors told Moore that they wouldn't let him do that? Just curious...

Night Owl is basically the Blue Beetle, because originally Alan Moore wanted to use the old Charlton Comics characters DC bought in the 80s. But DC saved the characters and so Moore had to alter them a little bit.

 

[Cobblepot]

Thanks! An who are the other ones?

 

[Anubis]

Rorschach is the Question, the Comedian is Peacekeeper or whatever his name was, Ozymandias was Thunderbolt, Silk Satan or whatever her name was was Night Shade, and Doc Manhattan was Captain Atom.

 

[Spade]

I really liked this. It's not like the average comic storyline; I asked myself questions about morality at the end, not just if the climax was satisfying (which it was). It doesn't turn into a mess, it's not full of itself, and it gets what Mark Millar has never really grasped: violence, in any form, comes with profound consequences. I can understand why it's not some people's thing, after reading through this thread. It's not exactly filled with action, and if you like light reads it's not gonna be a fave. But I liked it because of those two qualities, amongst many other things. I've only read it once, but seeing how worthy of rereading The Black Freighter is claimed to be makes me think it's far from the last time I flip through this.

What I really can't get over is Ozymandias' plot. I've seen alot of plans come to fruition, but I've never seen anything so deliciously absurd yet as insanely logical as what he manages to pull off.

 

[J.R.]

The idea that Kingdom Come is better written than Watchmen is laughable.

The fact that you can't grasp the concept of people respecting a person's opinions and different tastes (after only recently reading it for the first time, The Killing Joke beat out Kingdom Come, but that's beside the point), is what's really laughable.

 

[Hush]

I just bought the Absolute of this glorius book and I am proud to say I read half of it yesterday, took me about 4-5 hours but i did it, this thing is just so ****ing good. I mean I think it is the greatest graphic novel of all time and i have only read HALF! I love every character and it reads like a real book and you feel for these characters so so so much, man Rorschach is maniacal. Well guys im off to read some more. Oh and the trailer is what inspired me to buy this book.