As always I will not be discussing specific spoilers but if you want to go in completely fresh knowing nothing about Watchmen(like I did) which is how I would recommend doing it if you haven't read it yet then don't read this till you read Watchmen.
I was lent the graphic novel Watchmen by a former co-worker of mine over a decade ago. He was shocked I was a comic book reader and had never read it and we both agreed it should be remedied. When I returned it to him he asked me what I thought. My response was derived from a famous Simpson's character. It went as follows: "Worst superheroes ever." To which my co-worker replied something along the lines of: "Uh, well, yea but that's not really the point." I knew it wasn't the point. The themes, discussions, ideas, ect. that were brought up and delved into within the pages of Watchmen were too much for me to sort through and explain at that time(still have trouble pinning them down).
The point I was making to my co-worker was that the story was never meant to be taken and digested as a simple thrill ride or good guys vs. bad guys tale. If it was just a simple tale of superheroes trying to save the day then the only reaction would be "Worst superheroes ever." And to be honest at the time I didn't like the book because it was just too challenging and too complex and I tried to resist it. I was forcing myself to take it superficially. As I realized the full power of stories in life I grew to respect Watchmen more and more. You have to look at Watchmen as what it is trying to say underneath the costumes and fight sequences. Watchmen, more than any other comic book I have read throws that in your face. It forces the reader to take its story as more than surface depth and gets them to think and have an emotional reaction to what unfolded in the lives of the characters. And that's great storytelling.
Watchmen is a graphic novel consisting of 12 parts that were published in the years 1986 and 1987 by the comic book publisher DC. It was written by Alan Moore(the same writer of V for Vendetta) and the artwork was done by Dave Gibbons and it was colored by John Higgins. The story is about a group of superheroes trying to solve the murder of one of their own community. To say any more than that I feel would be a disservice to potential readers of the story. Those who have read it know that there is so much more going on in the story. As we get to know these characters we see the world through their eyes and it's not always an easy thing but it is very rewarding. Moore himself stated that the main characters in Watchmen represent "radically opposing ways of seeing the world". And that is the beauty of Watchmen. There is no simple answers. There is no right and wrong. There is no pure good or pure evil. It lays beyond all that. It requires us to consider how we want to see the world. It puts the responsibility on the reader to make up their own minds and carry through as they see fit.
In an era when we are constantly bombarded and deluged with information maybe we need to remember stories like Watchmen that ask us to see things through different lenses and form our own opinion on what we want our world to be like.
I highly recommend Watchmen for anybody who wants to be challenged by what they read. Anyone who likes critical thinking and looking at things in different ways will be very pleased with Watchmen. And even if you aren't a comic book reader I recommend it because it reads like a cross between a pulpy detective story and a Russian novel, just with pictures.
No comments:
Post a Comment