Watchmen

Watchmen
written by Alan Moore, illustrated by Dave Gibbons



I'm not a comic book person. In fact, this was the first comic book (or is the term 'graphic novel' now?) I've ever read. I had some trouble getting into it, but it was all worth it. The text is scribbly and very difficult to read, random words were bolded for no apparent reason, and the page numbers made no sense. The story itself was hard to get into because I was concentrating on these things, but once it got started, it really got started. I think I got hooked right around the part where Dr. Manhattan's character gets more to do (basically, when it started being slightly more character-centric). The majority of the book is action-centered, but there are some fantastic moments of character development (whole story arcs for several of the characters, giving them psychologically deep stories behind the actions that become crucial to the plot). The two most intriguing characters to me were by far Rorschach and Dr. Manhattan. One with too much to feel, the other with nothing. The minor details the characters were given, such as distinct speech patterns, made all the difference. The end fell apart. Once all the character development was done, it was all action, action, action, and the big reveal at the end made no sense to me. Fantastic set-up with really well-rounded characters, and it all falls flat on its face near the end. The ending could have been handled much better, but it was still an amazing experience, and well-worth the time to get to know all these interesting characters.

Rating: 4.5/5