Watchmen Book

These days it seems like just about everyone is watching the Watchmen but, way back in the dim and distant 1980s, way before the special effects bonanza movie, the collectible trading cards and the ultra realistic action figures, there was Alan Moore's groundbreaking comics series. Illustrated by Dave Gibbons, Watchmen represents a seminal moment in the history of comics, a moment when comics ceased being solely a fantasy world created for the pleasure of children and instead took on a far more realistic, adult feel. Set in an alternative future where Nixon is in his third term as President of the United States and where America won the Vietnam War, Watchmen begins with the murder of Edward Blake, also known as the Comedian. The Comedian had been a member of a group of crime fighters known as the Watchmen, a group that included Ozymandias, the smartest man on Earth, the super powered Doctor Manhattan, the Nite Owl, the Silk Spectre and the disturbed Rorschach. Although initially impressed, the public had quickly turned against the Watchmen's vigilante style of justice and so the government had outlawed masked crime fighters. While the Comedian and Doctor Manhattan continued to work for the government and Rorschach continued his independent vigilante activities, the rest of the Watchmen slipped back quitely into civilian life. When the police fail to find any leads as to the identity of the Comedian's murderer, Rorschach investigates and comes to believe that there is a plot afoot to murder all of the former Watchmen. Setting out to warn his former colleagues, Rorschach finds himself framed for murder while an attempt is made to assassinate Ozymandias and Doctor Manhattan leaves the Earth for Mars after being accused of causing the cancer that has plagued some of his old friends and former enemies. Realising that Rorschach was right about the death of the Comedian, Nite Owl and the Silk Spectre set out to spring him from jail and track down the murderer before any more of the Watchmen die. Alan Moore's Watchmen is a truly amazing comics series, collected here in graphic novel format, featuring perhaps the best and most involved story in the history of the medium as well as masterful art by Dave Gibbons and some wonderful extra material such as Hollis Mason's autobiography "Under the Hood" and the comic-within-a-comic "Tales of the Black Freighter". One of very few graphic novels to regularly be included in "Must Read" lists, Watchmen is a quite exceptional piece of literature and should be read and enjoyed by everyone.

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?

Watchmen : Paperback : Titan Books Ltd : 9781852860240 : 1852860243 : 01 Oct 1987 : 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?

Alan Moore, Dave Gibbons, Alan Moore (Illus)