Watchmen comic series
Who watches the Watchmen

// Synopsis: During the height of the Cold War someone has been murdering ex-super heroes. The last rogue hero attempts to unravel the mystery and stumbles upon a conspiracy that has global implications.

// Review: Possibly the most acclaimed comic book/graphic novel in the history of the genre. It has garnered a motherload of the industry awards and was even listed in Time Magazine's 100 best novels from 1923. After recently reading it for the first time, personally I didn't find it very entertaining and equal to t he hype.

/ The story takes place in the early 80's and has flashbacks than go back to the 40's. Because of the Keene Act passed by Congress, costumed vigilantes have been outlawed forcing all of them into early retirement. All except for the enigmatic Rorschach who cotinues to work outside the law and is considered a wanted criminal. In the span of 11 days, disturbing things begin to happen to the retired heroes which causes Rorschach to launch an investigation of his own.

/ Having a pretty big collection of golden aged comics (60's and 70's Avengers, X-Men, Archie, Fantastic Four, Batman), I can really appreciate Watchmen for being revolutionary to theindustry. It is credited for being the series that elevated comics from low-brow to a respected art genre. Alan Moore does a fantastic job with creating extremely realistic and believable characters, especially in only 12 issues. With the exception of Dr. Manhattan, none of the super heroes have super powers. They are for all accounts regular people who live in apartments, pay bills, go to the grocery store, , eat in diners, and struggle with loneliness like normal people.

/ Watchmen is a very rich graphic novel with many different layers and politcal, philisophical, and cultural themes. Concurrent with the storyline is a pirate comic book being read by a teenager. It follows a shipwrecked man who agonizes his way home to warn of an ethereal mortal threat. But during his journey he becomes more deranged and paranoid and he rationalizes his violent and deadly behavior. This story also serves as a parallel in different aspects to the characters Dr. Manhattan, Adrian Veidt, and Rorschach. At the end of each issue are lengthy autobiography excerpts, police reports, and newspaper clippings of the ex-super heroes that give more insight to each of the characters' histories and personality.

// Wrap up: Watchmen is probably the grandfather of every good thing that comics became and had a similar influential effect that the Lord of the Rings had on fantasy. But reading it 20 years after it was released, I think that just because it was the first of its kind doesn't neceassarily make it the most entertaining read.

Entertainment rating: 3