About Heroes

Writer: Alan Moore
Artist: Dave Gibbons

Okay, I will admit that I have just read Watchmen for the first time. I picked it up last time at the Comic shop b/c that week's haul was not substantial.

Holy Cow was this good! This is the second thing by Moore I have read (Killing Joke being the first), and he is a really good writer. For being brand spanking new characters I really cared about them, and was interested. The inter-weaving storylines, along with the supplamental materials at the end of the chapters, fleshed out a world where we won Vietnam, and Nixon was still President into the 1980's.

We begin with the hook, a murder, the Big Bang to set events in motion. A hero, the Comedian, is pushed out his high rise window and ends up as street pizza. As the story unfolds, it turns out that the rising escalation of fear and nuclear aramament is related to this hero's death, and the conclusion will shock you. The first chapter establishes our characters and the status quo in one fell swoop. First we meet maniacal/crazy/moralized Rorschach, one of the most misterious and complex characters in comics. And I thought Bruce Wayne was messed up! Rorschach is a detective and avenger, in the vain of Batman but different that he will kill to do what is necessary, to punish or to obtain information. His mask is his namesake, an ink blot, ever changing. Going into this I expected to see the same ink blot time and time again, but Gibbons draws it differently consistently. The very definition of a Rorschach is an ink blot that they ask "what do you see in this formless and symmetrical absurdity?" So, depending on the situation, we might see something reflected in Rorschach's mask. When he was supposed to be suprised, I saw a look of suprise, when angry, I interpreted the mask to look somewhat angry. As an artistic choice, this is brilliant, as it allows the audience to make thier own assumptions about the character's thoughts through his mask. His words are cold and stale most of the time, devoid of any hint of what his emotions might be. Brilliant.

Nite Owl is a retired adventurer who like Bruce Wayne has no powers, and lots and lots of money and gadgetry. However, unlike Bruce Wayne he has a heart. He is the sensitive man, that all ladies say they want, he is vulnerable and fragile, but in costume he regains his strength. Gibbons really shows Nite Owl's age. He's the average 40 yr old comic reader, a nerd with a beer belly. Ok, not that much but a slight paunch to show that he is retired and slightly out of shape, making his return to heroism all the more difficult on his psyche and body.

Dr. Manhattan is Superman without the Man. All the power, none of the heart. Essentially he is God. All powerful, he can re-arrange Atoms, and see into the future and the past, simultaneously existing in each plane, aware of himself in all other times as well. Superman is an alien who became human, Dr. Manhattan is a man who became an alien.

With these three players in place, we kick into gear. In 12 issues, Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons create a whole world. They create these characters, with thier flaws, strengths and emotions, as well as giving the world it takes place in a past that could also be 12 issues in itself. After each comic chapter are 3-4 pages of prose that are excerpts from books the characters wrote, newspaper articles, interviews, advertisements, etc, that are essential reading to getting the full scope of the story and characters. The best of these supplamentals were the book excerpts and the psychologists notes on Rorschach.

Watchmen echoes today with the tensions in Iraq, and the coming conflict with Iran, as it did in the 1980s during the Cold War. With these echoes, the book does not feel dated, or old, as all the best ones shouldn't. After finally reading Watchmen, I realize now why it is so revered among the comic community. It's that good. Go get it or read it again. A+