Watchmen
who here has read it? if so, did you enjoy it? i just finished and though i will read it again at some point to understand the more underlying story connections, i was disappointed.
the characters were never fully-developed, most were whiny and self-important, and it all ended…(spoiler)
with blowing up a giant squid to jumpstart world peace.
as something voted one of Time’s 100 Best Novels and being recommended as one of the first graphic novels one should read, i was expecting something far more well-rounded.
like i said, maybe it requires another reading – i do not like when that’s the case though.
Comments
obviously a very simplified summary and take on the matter. however maybe it will end up like Slumdog Millionaire and be stuck in my head for days and weeks until i realise it had a bigger effect on me than i had first thought. who knows. right now i’m more excited to watch Lost.
I ordered it online last week and just got it in the mail today. I’m trying to figure out whether to read it first or watch the movie. I’m having quite an inner struggle with this, any suggestions?
i’ve mostly read the books before seeing the movies, but that’s more because i like to have the characters live in my head first. in the instance of a graphic novel, i’m not sure that’s much of a case.
why not read it first? it won’t take you long.
I think it was a good book, but a lot of the fervor over it was because of what it did in it’s place in time. Up until that book, Superhero books were pretty much Superhero books with few exceptions. Watchmen turned it on its head. The characters and writing definitely isn’t the greatest thing in the world, but in the comic book universe, in that time period, it was a changing of the guard.
I agree, Hutch. It’s hard to truly appreciate it. But I always liked the concept of having a medium like “comic book” being turned so real and dark.
And I loved Dr. Manhattan’s scenes when he discusses his thoughts about why he should help mankind at all. Not many superheroes stop to think about all that. Or really, not many comic writers of the past thought to address it.
I agree with you, Mandy, I expected a whole hell of a lot more when I first read it. Especially since I bought the thing on hype.
I appreciate what you’re saying, John, about how it played a role and that’s why it’s important and all that… I just really expected to have my socks knocked off.
It kinda reminds me of that one Simpsons episode where Bart discusses Friday the 13th (or was it Nightmare on Elm Street?), about how it used to be scary when it was new, but how by today’s standards it’s pretty tame. I’m sure Watchmen is as important as people say it is, and there were certainly things in it that I really liked… but that being said, I was a little disappointed when I was done with it. I really felt like I missed something… because I didn’t care that I was done reading it. It was just something that happened.
Now, for example, I’m in the second half of Marvil’s Civil War and find it pretty damn compelling. I found a torrent of the 100 or so issues of various comics that intersected the narrative as it appeared in the Civil War-specific series that were written, and it’s really, really complex and awesome. Would this have been the case without the Watchmen having broken the ground long ago? Perhaps not. Hard to say.
What bothers me is that I would wager the vast majority of these list makers who say that the Watchmen is so great (e.g., the top 100 novels list), did not read the book when it came out. And, if the impact of the book is, in fact, lessened over time, are these people writing on hype alone? It’s a great book and I very much enjoyed it. But c’mon. Top 100 Novels? Annoying.
i have skipped everything i see here. i know nothing of watchmen, i have had several people, including john, but ill wait until after ive seen the movie.
that being said, and having read other alan moore books turned into movies, a lot of times i enjoy the movies more (except league of extraordinary gentlemen) because he tries to over complicate stories and throw in things that are not all that integral to the plot. they remind me of an explanation i once heard someone say of all steven king books where the idea and set up are great, and some how as it winds along, a great villain becomes some stupid space spider. not to say moores stuff isnt good, but not always exceptional.
as far as watchmen is concerned, i think its almost the basis for modern antisuperhero superhero books, and in that way i respect it, but judging from mandy’s initial post, im hoping it isnt like from hell the book and from hell the movie.
im skimming here to avoid spoilers, but i think sammy nailed in in that in a lot of moores writing i find cool characters and situations, and a mature take on the medium, but no feeling with dealing with the characters. he can also kill a climax with more pages than needed post the rising action.
i am also bugged when something takes a second viewing, or a second reading, because im torn between the thought of ‘am i not smart enough to get it’ or ‘did the person fail in effectively communicating their idea’
Sometimes you just miss things. Has nothing to do with smarts. Just about anything can be greater understood (or just understood… different) with a second reading/viewing/listen.
like when my friend matt said fight club was a shitty movie, and i said ‘your watching it all wrong, its a dark comedy’, and then he watched it again, and it became part of his top ten?
Derrick said:like when my friend matt said fight club was a shitty movie, and i said ‘your watching it all wrong, its a dark comedy’, and then he watched it again, and it became part of his top ten?
That’s exactly what happened to me with Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. The first time I watched it I hated it and turned it off. Later in life, I sat through it with a friend that loved it and came to realize how completely brilliant it is.
John said:Sometimes you just miss things. Has nothing to do with smarts. Just about anything can be greater understood (or just understood… different) with a second reading/viewing/listen.
the best early-morning example i can think of for this point is watching and then rewatching The Sixth Sense. the first time around, Bruce Willis seems like he’s empathizing with troubled people and the second time around, it is so very obvious that he’s just dead.
one part that confused me was the idea that Laurie was born out of a rape-based relationship between Sally Jupiter and the Comedian. there is a massive amount of hatred towards him from both women the entire time, even after the realization that he’s Laurie’s father.
however in the end, in a moment that could have been so very touching had it made sense, Sally kisses an old photo of the Comedian and weeps.
was the rape all a lie and they really loved each other? was there a deeper relationship between the two that was never really touched upon? or is she finally just weeping for her daughter’s father? i felt like i could have had a grander moment of emotion there, but was too perplexed.
It’s like the Beatles… it’s almost impossible to separate Watchmen from everything that’s come afterward. It’s a great book in general, far greater for how it twisted around all that superhero mythos. But it’s treated with way too much respect. That’s one of my great fears about the movie, actually. It looks like it takes things too seriously. A lot of Watchmen is, to me, a satire. There’s a huge amount of ridiculousness to how pathetic and troubled some of these characters are, and I always figured Moore had his tongue planted firmly in his cheek for some of that. I think the movie’s gonna embrace everything literally, which is a mistake.
A great book, though. Even if I’ve always thought the squid monster ending was pretty lame (although Veidt’s reveal that he’d already unleashed the death of millions half an hour before the heroes arrive is still unsettling as hell).
Try the Dark Knight Returns. Similar amount of impact, published the same year, and far more satisfying on the first go-round.
No, see, it’s really sort of like reading about industrialized orange juice on a digital paper and then twittering about it while listening to the Beatles.
Mandy, you really are spoilering the shit out of Watchmen.
Sammy said:Mandy, you really are spoilering the shit out of Watchmen.
it’s been out for over 20 years – the movie’s been in production for probably nearly that long, too. it’s like saying someone spoilered the shit out of Titanic or Lord of the Rings.
mandy said:
it’s been out for over 20 years – the movie’s been in production for probably nearly that long, too. it’s like saying someone spoilered the shit out of Titanic or Lord of the Rings.
That doesn’t make it right. I feel like I could never watch Citizen Kane, arguably the best movie of all time, simply because I saw an Animaniacs cartoon as a child that gave away the ending.
Sammy said:mandy said:
it’s been out for over 20 years – the movie’s been in production for probably nearly that long, too. it’s like saying someone spoilered the shit out of Titanic or Lord of the Rings.
That doesn’t make it right. I feel like I could never watch Citizen Kane, arguably the best movie of all time, simply because I saw an Animaniacs cartoon as a child that gave away the ending.
i’m sorry cartoons ruined your life. :(
incidentally, i am guessing you have then never seen Citizen Kane. if not, i don’t think you could even argue it’s the best movie of all time.
No, that would be 8 1/2.
John said:No, that would be 8 1/2.
or Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure.