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Watchmen (Absolute Edition)
by Alan Moore

Published: 2005-10-05
Hardcover : 464 pages
1 member reading this now
8 clubs reading this now
1 member has read this book
Recommended to book clubs by 1 of 1 members
Has any comic been as acclaimed as Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' Watchmen? Possibly only Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns, but Watchmen remains the critics' favorite. Why? Because Moore is a better writer, and Watchmen a more complex and dark and literate creation than Miller's fantastic, ...
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Introduction

(Has any comic been as acclaimed as Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' Watchmen? Possibly only Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns, but Watchmen remains the critics' favorite. 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 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 gather praise since.The story concerns a group called the Crimebusters and a plot to kill and discredit them. Moore's characterization 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 finepace of the writing and its humanity mean that Watchmen more than stands up--it keeps its crown as the best the genre has yet produced. --MarkThwaite

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Book Club Recommendations

Sin City
by bchamplin (see profile) 08/14/09
I really like this graphic novel also. I thought the storyline was riveting. The movie was interestingly filmed. I liked it also.
Watch the movie as part of your discussion and follow along in the book to see how faithful the movie is to the book.
by bdcalv (see profile) 08/06/09

Member Reviews

Overall rating:
 
 
  "Not a Comic Book--Not for Everyone"by Brenda C. (see profile) 08/14/09

This book is a Graphic Novel, not a comic book. It is just that GRAPHIC. Sex, nudity, language, extreme violence.
I am an Alan Moore fan. I thought this was an excellent piece of work. It'
... (read more)

 
  "Watchmen and other books in this format should not be overlooked as a bookclub choice."by Brian C. (see profile) 08/06/09

Layers of parallel stories with great imagery and fantastic use of colors throughout. I loved the book and recommend it to other clubs. It is an "R" rated read. Don't think it is for kids since it is... (read more)

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