Who Watches The Watchmen?

Book Review
Watchmen
Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons

Alright, I'm not much of a comic book fan (and please bear in mind that comic is different than manga, it's Japanese counterpart). I don't follow stuff like the Marvel Universe, or Justice League of America. I mean, I know X-Men, Spiderman, Batman, Superman, and all those superheroes, but only in general terms. My exposure to these characters is thanks to a good friend, who has quite a healthy collection of superheroes comics in his home library.

I am, however, always curious about books that are said to be excellent by a few sources, one of them being Time magazine. That was why when I saw Watchmen in one of Makati's book stores I got interested. On top of the cover, these words were printed: "One of Time Magazine's 100 best novels". Novel? Must be one heluva comic with one heluva story. On a side note, they call comics 'graphic novel' these days, but to me they will always be comic books. They just have much better stories.

A week later, on a Friday, I got my hands on one copy and started reading and finished by late next day on Saturday. From the moment I opened up the book, I was hooked. The artwork is vintage American comic, and the story is excellent. I could understand why Time magazine called this one of the best 100 novels. The story's excellent, with a lot of plot twists and tiny little details, and the psychological profiles of the many characters depicted in this 'graphic novel' are amazingly deep and multi-dimensional. Each and every one of them are believable human beings. Yes, the story is about people dressing up in costumes and masks and fighting crimes. But, that's what's great about it. These are just ordinary people with their own private fears and doubts.

The story's started with the mysterious murder of a costumed crime fighter (or vigilante, if you prefer that) named 'The Comedian'. His death is only the first of many to follow, with the murderer seeming intent on eliminating costumed crime fighters (whether active or retired). Determined to find out about the truth, one costumed vigilante with the name of Rorshcach started investigating. As to be expected, one thing leads to another, and soon enough, you got a pretty complicated yet excellently told story on your hands. There are so many story elements, like the cold war between the USA and the (then) USSR, the Keene Act that declared costumed vigilantes to be illegal, war in Vietnam, the golden age of comic books, and so on. Some (like me) would probably be unfamiliar with these background/concepts, but that won't take the pleasure of reading it away.

There are so many things to be said about the story, but at the least I could say that this is not your usual colorful superhero story. It's dark, and can be a bit depressing at times, at least to me. And unlike the usual superhero story, good and evil are not clear cut here. There's so much gray area in this story, it's not an easy 'black and white' story. There's this interesting thing worth mentioning: there's a 'story within story' thing going on along the way. Won't spoil it for you, but it's one of the many entertaining parts of the story. Furthermore, I can't say it enough, there are so many little details in this book, that you'd probably want to go through it again and again. Good value for money, right? To add to the growing glowing words I've been writing up until this point, I'd like to point out that the story's not only told in comic panels. You'll find sections where there are worded narratives in place of panels (usually at the end of a chapter). In both matters, comic panels and narratives, the book shines equally.

So, great story, great character psychological profiles, great artwork (vintage!), the list goes on and on. For those who love comic books, it's definitely a must have. And for those who love great stories, don't be put off by the comic panels presentation. You will find a deep and compelling story within this one. Certainly one of the best book I've ever read.