Product Description

Acclaimed as one of "Time Magazine's" 100 Best Novels, "Watchmen" is widely considered to be the greatest graphic novel of all time. "In Watching The Watchmen", artist Dave Gibbons gives his own account of the genesis of "Watchmen", opening his archives to reveal excised pages, early versions of the script original character designs, page thumbnails, sketches and much more, including posters covers and rare portfolio art.Featuring the breathtaking design of Chip Kidd and Mike Essl, "Watching The Watchmen" is both a major art book in its own right, and the definitive companion to the graphic novel that changed an industry.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #52353 in Books
• Published on: 2008-10-24
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 256 pages

About the Author
Dave Gibbons is best known for his iconic artwork on the groundbreaking Watchmen. He has also written and/or drawn Superman, Batman, Doctor Who and his semi-autobiographical graphic novel The Originals. Chip Kidd is an award-winning writer and designer, whose books include Batman Collected.

Customer Reviews

An essential companion for my favourite graphic novel
I must have re-read Watchmen once a year since I first bought it and loved it, and thought there was nothing new I could now discover about it, but this book has changed my mind. I found it's a book to dip into, not read from start to finish in one big bite, but there's so much to see and pore over on every page, I didn't want to gulp it down anyway, lots of colours and textures and so much fine detail in every frame. Alan Moore gets loads of kudos, and deserves it 100%, but it's good for once to see Dave Gibbons get his time in the sun - a fantastic artist.

Worth Watching the Watchmen
For Watchmen fans, Watching the Watchmen offers a gorgeous companion to the comics masterpiece, revealing excised pages, early versions of the script, original character designs, page thumbnails, sketches and much more.

Gibbons deliberately skirts around the controversy that ensued the publication of Watchmen, which ultimately led to Alan Moore refusing to work for DC Comics because of royalty and character ownership disputes. While not averse to scandal, the consummate artist prefers instead to celebrate the work and its ongoing success.

While I would have liked to have seen more of Alan Moore's script for this seminal work, the art samples are stunning and a testament to Gibbons artistic skills. This is a beautifully packaged, superbly designed celebration of the Watchmen which should encourage fans to revisit the original work and see its pages and storytelling in a whole new light.

Manhattan perfect transfer
`Watching the Watchmen' is the hardback equivalent of all those extra features you get in a deluxe DVD movie package. Dave Gibbons delivers the text equivalent of the audio commentary and opens up his portfolio to offer us page after beautiful glossy page of early, revised or deleted scenes from key stages in the development of the greatest graphic novel of all time.

It is a refreshingly frank and humble guide. Despite already enjoying huge critical success on a variety of other projects, Gibbons recalls how he and (Alan) Moore did not take DC's exclamations of approval for granted as they began to submit pages and receive the glowing feedback.

If you've ever wondered how your favourite comic strips go from concept to critical acclaim, this is the book for you.

One word of advice, this may have the weight and girth of a coffee table book, but you may want to read it wearing white gloves. It really is a thing of beauty - and such beauty should remain untainted!