Product Description

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.

Product Details

Amazon.com Review
Has any comic been as acclaimed as Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' Watchmen? Possibly only Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns, but Watchmen remains the critics' favorite. Why? Because Moore is a better writer, and Watchmen a more complex and dark and literate creation than Miller's fantastic, subversive take on the Batman myth. Moore, renowned for many other of the genre's finest creations (Saga of the Swamp Thing, V for Vendetta, and From Hell, with Eddie Campbell) first put out Watchmen in 12 issues for DC in 1986-87. It won a comic award at the time (the 1987 Jack Kirby Comics Industry Awards for Best Writer/Artist combination) and has continued to gather praise since.

The story concerns a group called the Crimebusters and a plot to kill and discredit them. Moore's characterization is as sophisticated as any novel's. Importantly the costumes do not get in the way of the storytelling; rather they allow Moore to investigate issues of power and control--indeed it was Watchmen, and to a lesser extent Dark Knight, that propelled the comic genre forward, making "adult" comics a reality. The artwork of Gibbons (best known for 2000AD's Rogue Trooper and DC's Green Lantern) is very fine too, echoing Moore's paranoid mood perfectly throughout. Packed with symbolism, some of the overlying themes (arms control, nuclear threat, vigilantes) have dated but the intelligent social and political commentary, the structure of the story itself, its intertextuality (chapters appended with excerpts from other "works" and "studies" on Moore's characters, or with excerpts from another comic book being read by a child within the story), the finepace of the writing and its humanity mean that Watchmen more than stands up--it keeps its crown as the best the genre has yet produced. --Mark Thwaite

Review
"A work of ruthless psychological realism, it’s a landmark in the graphic novel medium. It would be a masterpiece in any."
–TIME, TIME MAGAZINE’s 100 best English-language novels from 1923 to the present

Customer Reviews

A Must Read!
This graphic novel is unparalleled by other works in the medium. The psychological profiles of the characters are deep, the story is intricate, and the art is spectacular! It brings up issues of right and wrong, black and white, the greater good. No other graphic novel is this deep or well written! The book is, however, fairly dark and not very appropriate for younger readers.

Who reviews the Reviewers?
Okay. It's NOT a comic book. It's a graphic novel. Had to get that out of the way.

But the truth is, it IS a novel, and a really good one at that. Just because there are pictures doesn't diminish the superior plot or well drawn (get it?) characterizations in "Watchmen".

I'll admit I bought this book out of sheer curiosity, having seen the trailers for the upcoming movie on Rotten Tomatoes, and wondering WHAT THE HELL THAT was all about. And why was everyone so excited that a movie was coming? AND that their only concern was that the movie couldn't possibly be as good as the novel. The bloggers all said that "Watchmen" (the graphic novel) was the best of its genre, and was in fact one of the best novels of our time. Could such hyperbole POSSIBLY be correct? I had to find out for myself. So I bought the book.

Now I'm sorry. Sorry that I waited 23 years to read the best SciFi and one of the best EVER novels that I have ever laid my greasy little hands on.

Not to say it is without flaws. Mommies, you probably ought to know that Watchmen is bloody, intense, and, well, relentless. There's nudity and sex. Lots of senseless killing (or is it senseless?- That's kind of the point...) There's a big blue guy who is running around as naked as the day he was born (or is 'synthesized' a better word?). Maybe 12 year olds ought to find something else to read.

And if it's closure you want, you probably ought to be reading Barbara Cartland or something, cause there ain't none here. Who wins and who loses? Aside from Richard Nixon, it's kind of hard to say. The only character who remains true to his ethical code is certifiably insane, after all.

But if you want something intelligent, something thought provoking (e.g., if there WERE superheroes, what would comic books be about?), and something downright fun, Watchmen may be for you. Try to get it before 030609.

And don't wait 23 years to read it!

Great Service
Received package within time assigned. Product was in perfect condition. This is was should be expected of all sellers on Amazon. Great Job.