Product Description

"Watchmen" redefined superhero conventions and re-introduced comics to an adult audience with a gripping, labyrinthine piece of comic art. Rorschach, a half-psychotic vigilante must convince his ex team-mates, now middle-aged and retired, that he has uncovered a plot to murder the remaining superheroes - along with millions of innocent civilians...Even reunited, will the remnants of the 'Watchmen' be enough to avert a global apocalypse? With a powerful storyline masterfully told by comics supremo Alan Moore and beautifully rendered artwork by the talented Dave Gibbons - this is the one that started the graphic novel revolution and is definitely not one to miss!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #42 in Books
• Published on: 1987
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 424 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Has any comic been as lauded as Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' Watchmen? Possibly only Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns but Watchmen remains the critics' favourite. 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 recently 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 garner praise since.

The story concerns a group called the Crimebusters and a plot to kill and discredit them. Moore's characterisation 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 fine pace of the writing and its humanity mean that Watchmen more than stands up--it retains its crown as the best the genre has yet produced. --Mark Thwaite

BookMunch Online Book Reviews June 2002
This is the Daddy.

Customer Reviews

Iconic, influential, inimitable... and intermittently irritating
First off, "Watchmen" is an awesome product. Chapter 1, especially the opening two pages (closing with "That's quite a drop") have definite wow factor. Throughout, the multitextured storyline by Alan Moore and the terrific artwork by Dave Gibbons surprise, intrigue and entertain. The ambitious concept of trying to give the comic heroes of the 1940s both a back story and a future comes off pretty well. The characterisation and the sombre mood are both exquisite.

So what's not to like? First, the resolution is, compared with the complexity of most of the storyline, daft. Villains (or heroes) who say: "If we do X, Y will happen" are always suspect. Veidt's big play, and the world's simplistic reaction, don't live up to the rest of the book. I also found some of the side stories illustrating the horrors of the world a bit too discursive. So only four stars.

Pros: drop-dead brilliant product. Cons: a bit dated and occasionally long-winded.

Mind Blowing
Couldn't help myself getting immersed into Watchmen, it's absolutly compelling, the way it's written and the way it looks is mind blowing, I can understand this is an acquired taste and its a real shame if you don't get into it like I and so many others have.

Be sure to get this 5 star item before the world ends.

Watchmen forever!
I have always been a graphic novel buff ever since buying Hitman & Preacher in my late teens. And now in my early 30's I came across an old box containing my old graphic novels, I felt that I struck gold! I loved the V for Vendetta movie and decided to purchase the V for Vendetta graphic novel and found it gripping, intense and incredible (not that I'm a non-conformist!). Thus leading me to Watchmen. What can I say, WOW! This is my second read of Watchmen within a month. It's definately better reading it again & again! It is imperative to read Watchmen before the movie. So, what are you waiting for.....go & buy it!!!!!