It would be fair to say that without Watchmen, there would be no HeroPress. The unique vision of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons was a key inspiration for me in shaping the original HeroPress play-by-post superhero game all those years ago.The fact that this desire for a "realistic" take on costumed vigilantes went over the heads of most of the players ultimately didn't matter because they were creating their own, unique multiverse around their own visions of what being a superhero was all about.
That, of course, led through a trail of events, false starts and dead-ends to HeroPress as it exists today (this blog).
Now, with Zack Snyder's hungrily-awaited big screen adaptation of Watchmen only a week away, I felt it was time to revisit the source material that had had such a big impact on me when I first read it in 1986.
With a more mature head on my shoulders I can see past the moments of crowd-pleasing violence (there are fewer of these than you might expect from a superhero tale), savour Dave Gibbons almost cinematic transitions between scenes, appreciate the metaphorical allegory of The Black Freighter (a pirate comic being read by a minor character in the story that becomes a "tale-within-a-tale"), be more aware of the shifting time frame of the narrative and pick up on subtleties that may have passed me by before.
Watchmen begins as a murder mystery, with the death of a former-costumed hero-turned-government-enforcer called The Comedian, but quickly glides into a political thriller and ultimately a conspiracy theory investigation.
Set on an Earth where Nixon is still President in 1985 and the one true superpowered individual, Doctor Manhattan, has stimulated major leaps forward in technology e.g. electric cars, genetically engineered animals etc, the story posits a world teetering on the brink of a nuclear war, with Russia's ambitions to invade Afghanistan only held in check by the presence of the near-omnipotent Dr Manhattan.
With all the preview clips and trailers for the film that have come out on the web in the past month, I was one of the people who joked that most of the movie was already available to see online (before it opens on March 6). However, having reread the book I realise how little has actually been shown and was reminded how layered and complex the story actually is.
Throughout the 12 chapters of the collected trade paperback (the 12 original issues of the comic), the main characters - Nite Owl, Dr Manhattan, Rorschach, Silk Spectre, Ozymandias - each have their back story explained as their role in the unfolding events comes into focus and the pieces of the giant puzzle fall into place.
Watchmen takes a serious, adult approach to comics and superheroes - without "adult" equating to graphic sex, ultraviolence and f-bombs every other panel - that has rarely been equalled in the mainstream comic industry. What it does equate to though is an interweaving story with multiple characters, both major and minor, all being gradually manoeuvred into the wrong place at the wrong time for the jaw-dropping climax, which takes place simultaneously on two continents.
How this plays out in the film, we will have to wait and see.
If, for some reason, you have yet to read this book, but are thinking about going to see the film, I'd recommend probably seeing the film first because no cinematic adaptation of great literature can ever remain 100 per cent faithful to the source material and this way there will still be some nice Easter Eggs for you to enjoy when you finally come to read the book.
For those who don't mind spoilers I'll direct you to the following trio of interesting articles. However, if you want to remain as spoiler free as possible bookmark this page and come back to it after you've seen the film and read the book!
The Ten Most Memorable Moments of Watchmen from IGN.
'Watchmen' Director Reveals Key Differences Between Graphic Novel And Film from MTV.
How 9/11 Changed Watchmen from io9
And if you still can't wait to see the movie, here's yet more clips...
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2 persons have something to say about this!:
With you 100% on this. Watchmen is right up there as one of the greatest stories ever told.
To me, the underlying story in Watchmen is not that impressive. I think it's certainly not the best superhero story ever (actually, it's a very atypical superhero story). However, Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons take a slightly above average story and, through great writing, turn it into a wonderful graphical novel.
It's also a very clever comic book. It's obvious a fair amount of thought, planning and preparation went into this - more so than the average comic book (which often seems like it's been made up as it goes along). Everything from the repeated imagery to ironic juxtaposition of narrative and pictures - and far, far more inbetween - make this book shine with intelligence. It shows what comic books can do that other media can't.
Also thanks for the links. Your review reads much better than mine, btw.
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