"Watchmen" by Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons - Chapters I & II

Watchmen is the graphic novel: it's widely credited with revolutionising the comics industry in the '80s (leading to such seminal works as The Dark Knight Returns and Batman: Year One, the primary inspiration for the massively successful Batman Begins); it's written by Alan Moore, probably the most prolifically praised writer in the medium; the art is by Dave Gibbons, another high-profile creator; and it was the only graphic novel to appear on Time's list of the 100 greatest English language novels published since the magazine's inception. With the millennial resurgence in popularity of the comic book movie -- kicked off by 2000's X-Men, reaching new heights with Spider-Man, continuing this year with Iron Man, and showing no signs of going away soon -- the time is more than ripe for the long-mooted film adaptation of Watchmen to finally hit our screens. Its release is still 9 months off, but I thought I'd get a jump start on all those who will finally, shame-facedly, read the original graphic novel when hype kicks in next year, and read it now.

Yes, you interpreted that sentence right: this is my first time reading Watchmen.

Thankfully, so far at least, it's brilliant. And it's brilliant in the sort of non-flashy way that means it stays with you and undoubtedly continues to reward, at a level beyond moving from one pretty or exciting panel to the next. Which isn't to say Dave Gibbons' art isn't impressive, because it is, fitting the tone of the story perfectly -- realistic, but with the sort of gaudy neon colours that fans would deride so much in Batman & Robin (one suspects they work better on the page than in Real Life). There's even the odd splash panel, though these are rarely of exciting fight moments and more often punctuating dramatic scenes. The regular pattern of panels -- a hallmark of something written by Moore, it seems to me -- keep things clear and filmic, even if they're rarely the same shape as a film frame.

This is one thing that sometimes bothers me about Moore's style, actually: for a writer so vehemently opposed to film adaptations of his work, he uses a hell of a lot of filmic 'shots' and transitions. They work on the page too, but they're effects that originally come from film and, truth be told, they work even better there. For example, Chapter II focuses on flashbacks to memories of the Comedian. The structural brilliance of this chapter (both within itself and as part of the larger story) aside, Moore transitions into and out of these by replicating a dissolve from the character in an identical pose in the past and present, by placing two similar/identical panels (one present, one past, and vice versa at the end) side-by-side -- it's a very visual technique, consequently hard to explain but very clear when seen! But it's also a very filmic one, which does work better when there's an actual dissolve rather than just consecutive panels.

On a similar note, for a writer so highly praised for his originality and revolutionising of the industry, Moore re-uses an awful lot of the same tropes and tricks, both in the visuals he writes and the plot points within. I expect many of them originate in Watchmen and its in his other books that he's repeating himself, but in reading this close after two League of Extraordinary Gentlemen books (Black Dossier and, before this blog began, Volume II) the similarities are all the more apparent. Nonetheless, if one can place aside the feeling they've read it all before (not a problem if you've not read other Moore books; and, outside of his work, similarities are undoubtedly copied from this), his plot points and imagery are all very effective.

There's a lot to love in Watchmen, even after just two chapters of twelve -- it is, relatively speaking, quite long, which I suspect allows Moore to explore what he wants in a suitable level of depth; even after these two there's a lot to mull over. I don't want to reel off to much because I'd hate to spoil it if you haven't read it. Suffice to say, on the evidence of this opening, it's living up to my expectations. I can see why a film adaptation worries fans (a miniseries would seem to allow the right amount of space), and perhaps I should have joined the masses who'll read the book after the film -- that's usually my rule with adaptations, as that way round you tend to enjoy both more. You can wait to be one of them, or you can get it now, but either way I'm going to echo everyone else (ever, it seems) and say that, if you have the remotest interest in this sort of storytelling, you need to read this.

Pretty strong after just a sixth of the story.

Fiction

Batman: The Killing Joke by Alan Moore & Brian Bolland
As well as the main story, there's an introduction by Tim Sale, an afterword by Brian Bolland, and a selection of art from the files of Brian Bolland included in the recently released Batman: The Killing Joke - The Deluxe Edition.
See here for my thoughts on The Killing Joke.

Blood Fever by Charlie Higson
Chapters 28 - 30 [the end]
An odd final few chapters, in which James faces off a string of increasingly minor enemies. Still, all in, an even better book than the first. Next up, the apparently Da Vinci Code-esque Double or Die.

An Innocent Guy by Brian Bolland
(from Batman: The Killing Joke - The Deluxe Edition)
Short Batman story written and drawn by Brian Bolland. Originally published as part of the Batman: Black & White strand, it's presented here in a coloured form.

Watchmen by Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons
Chapter VI
Walter J. Kovacs files
See here for my thoughts on these chapters of Watchmen.

"Watchmen" by Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons - Chapter IV

Alan Moore is clever. The fourth chapter of Watchmen focuses on Dr Manhattan, the only superhero in the book with any actual superpowers. Having run off to Mars at the end of the preceding chapter, Manhattan reflects on his life to date -- essentially, this is his backstory. The clever part comes from the way Moore re-uses images and the way he's seeded them in earlier chapters. For example, Manhattan remembers an argument he had with his then-girlfriend at a superhero meeting. We saw this same meeting in Chapter II. Flicking back to that chapter now, you can see the argument going on, they just don't have the speech bubbles to spell it out to us. There are a couple of other instances of this kind, which both add to the story's depth and are great fun for the reader -- it's sort of in the tradition of the best Agatha Christie stories, where all the clues you need are sat under your nose from the start, you just don't know what to do with them.

Within the chapter itself, Moore structures things cleverly. Manhattan sees time as the fourth (or fifth?) dimension, and so in some way is experiencing all of the past and all of the future at once. Moore uses this to slot his backstory together in a variety of ways, drawing parallels and connections between time periods without ever becoming too confusing. Events make sense the first time they're witnessed, but then Moore adds something and places the old events around it, giving them new or altered meaning in their new context. The clarity of Gibbon's art means that there's no need to retell events every time -- with repeated frames, sometimes even from earlier chapters, the reader vividly recalls the relevant scene; sometimes the colouring or focus is even modified to help draw our attention to another element, be it for a different meaning or just for a different transition (such a visual technique is, again, hard to adequately describe with words).

Previously I've moaned about Moore repeating himself. Another frequent trope turns up in the 'supporting documents' -- the autobiographies, magazine articles, etc, that sit between the chapters -- not only the one attached to Chapter IV, but also the autobiography that preceded it. Moore has the characters writing the documents refer to events we know nothing of as "well documented elsewhere", and then doesn't explain them himself. At first it seems an amusing way of maintaining mystery -- inevitably, these events are things Moore wants to reveal at a later point -- but when overdone it's just repetitive, and also unrealistic. In my experience, the sort of works Moore is parodying are all too happy to re-explain well-known things, or at least give a brief overview of them. If not those, they assume people's assumed knowledge; they don't make a point of telling the reader that they know about this (and then not telling them it). This could be seen as a minor point of course, and when the heart of the story is so good it really is, but it taints the edges and takes the sheen off things.

Nonetheless, the main thrust of Watchmen continues to be a completely engrossing story. There's much still to be revealed across its many plot strands -- I can't wait to see how Moore brings them all together.

Fiction

Doctor Who - Decide Your Destiny: The Dragon King by Trevor Baxendale
See here for my thoughts on this book.

Heat Guy J by Chiaki Ogishima; Kazuki Akane, Nobeteru Yuki & Satelight
Chapter 1 (pages 32-66)
Chapters 2 & 3

Preacher: Dead or Alive by Glen Fabry
A general flick through this collected volume of all the Preacher covers, with comments from Fabry and series writer Garth Ennis.

Watchmen by Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons
Chapter I
Under the Hood by Hollis Mason I & II
Chapter II
Under the Hood by Hollis Mason III & IV
See here for my thoughts on these chapters of Watchmen.

"Watchmen" by Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons - Chapter III

The forthcoming Watchmen film unsurprisingly has to lose some content from the original -- after all, it's somewhere over 300 pages of comic, plus eleven sections of additional information between the chapters. One of the things left out that has received most attention is Tales of the Black Freighter, a pirate comic book that a minor character reads within the graphic novel, which thematically mirrors the journey of one character. The film originally had this in the script, to be shot in a stylised manner reminiscent of 300, but as it would've added $20 million to the budget it was scrapped... in that form. Now it'll turn up as an anime-style animation, direct-to-DVD just days after the film's release in cinemas (there's every chance that a later 'extended cut' DVD release of the film will have it edited in).

I'm recounting all of this trivia because Chapter III of the graphic novel is where Tales of the Black Freighter makes its first appearance. In typical Moore style, it's style of mirroring is pretty opaque, especially as all the text from it is in the faintly pretentious style that often characterises Moore's prose. More interesting is what's going on elsewhere, where Moore more obviously juxtaposes simultaneous events. as with some of the things I mentioned in previous chapters, it's a favoured mode of his -- which is understandable when it works so well. As for the content of the chapter, it largely leaves the investigation of the Comedian's murder aside to focus on Dr Manhattan and his relationships with others. It's at times like these that Watchmen's strengths shine through, and you see the reason it was so revolutionary, because this is all character drama, not superheroes punching the lights out of supervillains. The characters may be people who used to (or still do) dress up in silly costumes to fight crime, but their emotions and their actions are all still completely believable. It's a completely compelling read.

There's also a feeling that Moore is moving pieces around a giant chessboard, putting things into place for larger events, beyond the lead characters' control, that will come into play later. I very much enjoy books, miniseries, films, etc, that work in this way -- where you know there's more going on, bigger mysteries, but that the characters can't quite see them or can't quite reach them yet, but the author is in control of them and they're going to come into play eventually -- see State of Play for one of my absolute favourites (incidentally, also being remade as a movie next year -- it won't be as good).

With three-quarters of the story still to go (in Watchmen, that is), I'm sure there's a lot left to be revealed...

Fiction

Blood Fever by Charlie Higson
Chapter 16 [2nd read]
Chapters 17 - 23
Returning to the second Young Bond novel, which I began ages ago (perhaps as much as a year) but never got round to finishing. With the fifth out in just over two months, I ought to get a move on with them...

Heat Guy J by Chiaki Ogishima; Kazuki Akane, Nobeteru Yuki & Satelight
Chapter 4 [the end]
While the first couple of chapters adapted episodes of the series, this manga increasingly goes its own route (with similarities), though there's a notably higher amount of gratuitous fan service here (that said, when is fan service not gratuitous?) For whatever reason the manga stopped after this chapter, so there are a fair few elements that seem pointlessly introduced (Boma, for instance). The anime is great though, so go watch that.

Heat Guy J Extra Material
J-Hot Paper December 2002 - April 2003
Anime Preview
Heat Guy J Animation Characters
Interview: Kazuki Akane [the end]

Watchmen by Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons
Chapter III
Under the Hood by Hollis Mason V
See here for my thoughts on these chapters of Watchmen.

"Watchmen" by Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons - Chapter VI

Major spoilers follow. You may well have gathered that I don't tend to do spoiler-free reviews, but there are some extra big ones in this entry.

Watchmen reaches the halfway point with a chapter focussed solely on Rorschach, much like the Dr Manhattan-focussed Chapter IV. Leaving all the other characters and stories aside for the moment, Moore focusses in on a series of interviews between Rorschach -- whose identity has been revealed to be Walter Kovacs; no one of importance, but we've seen him almost since page one as the guy wandering round with an apocalyptic placard -- and a prison psychoanalyst, who's attempting to find out what led Kovacs to become a vicious vigilante. Rorschach is a character who is, initially at least, easy to sympathy with. He had an horrendous childhood, later driven to extremes trying to protect the innocent. His efforts to murder childkillers, rapists, and other scum seem like the sort of thing we all might wish we could actually do, but he perhaps has a tendency to take it too far...

As well as showing how Kovacs came to be Rorschach -- including the origins of his incredibly shifting mask -- Moore follows the psychoanalyst as his obsession with the case leads to sleepless nights, perhaps the end of his marriage, and a general deterioration in his psychological state. It's an effective way of showing the effect of these truths of humanity on an ordinary, seemingly well-adjusted human being. As I've surely said before, this is really why Watchmen is so great and so acclaimed -- ostensibly it's about superheroes, but really it's about people, why they're driven to do things, and how they cope with the consequences. And all the while, in the background, (nuclear?) war is brewing...

Halfway through, Watchmen continues to be a stunning achievement. There are many mysteries left to be solved, undoubtedly including some that, like the identity of the placard-man, I don't even know need solving.

Fiction

Gotham by Gaslight by Brian Augustyn & Michael Mignola
Published in 1989, and now considered the first Elseworlds tale, Gotham by Gaslight combines two interests of mine by pitting a Victorian Batman against Jack the Ripper. Although double the length of an average issue of a comic, the story feels a little short, with not enough room to develop fully. Nonetheless, it's a great idea and a good story.

Watchmen by Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons
Chapter IX
Sally Jupiter scrapbook
Chapter X
'Veidt' documents
With no shortage of twists and turns, as well as the usual doses of great art and juxtaposition, things rattle on towards the story's climax. Only two chapters to go!

"Watchmen" by Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons - Chapter VII

Moore moves his focus to a pair of character in this chapter, as Dan Dreiberg and Laurie Juspeczyk -- a.k.a. the second Nite Owl and the second Silk Spectre -- chat, bond, hit it off, nearly have sex, resurrect their superhero IDs, accidentally rescue people from a burning building, manage to have sex (it's the excitement of the costumes and the superheroics, you see), and possibly come to a fairly shocking decision...

Once again Moore leaves the other character's storylines in the background, focussing on just two members of the (actually nonexistent) group of superheroes that the book's main plot revolves around. It's mainly about Dan's memories, though there are no flashbacks here: it's as much about how two old acquaintances become re-acquainted. It seems a difficult chapter to find much to say about. It's not treading water or marking time, but nor are there bold gestures or big action sequences -- well, apart from the tenement building rescue, which is somewhat exciting, but also has a share of laughs (importantly, not at the heroes or their abilities, but rather at things like Nite Owl having a coffee machine on board), or many significant plot points... beyond those I already outlined, anyway.

Moore slides a few of his chess pieces around, reveals that Dan is impotent while Nite Owl is not (this seems bordering on a cliché, though Watchmen was probably ahead of the curve on that and it's just 20 years later that it looks old hat), and sets up where things are probably heading next. And next is...

Fiction

Doctor Who - Decide Your Destiny: The Horror of Howling Hill by Jonathan Green
See here for my thoughts on this book.

Watchmen by Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons
Chapter VII
Blood From the Shoulder of Pallas by Daniel Dreiberg
See here for my thoughts on these chapters of Watchmen.

Fiction

Blood Fever by Charlie Higson
Chapter 24

Watchmen by Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons
Chapter IV
Dr. Manhattan: Super-Powers and the Superpowers by Professor Milton Glass Introduction
See here for my thoughts on these chapters of Watchmen.

Fiction

Blood Fever by Charlie Higson
Chapters 25 - 27

Watchmen by Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons
Chapter V
Treasure Island Treasury of Comics Chapter 5
See here for my thoughts on these chapters of Watchmen.

"Watchmen" by Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons - Chapter V

Chapter V returns to Rorschach's hunt for the murderer of the Comedian, as Adrian Veidt (aka Ozymandias) becomes the latest former superhero to be attacked, though this time unsuccessfully. After the last chapter's internal musings of Dr Manhattan, this one is more plot-centric, also touching upon the potential burgeoning relationship of Dan Dreiberg and Laurie. Moore also continues to use Tales of the Black Freighter, this time to mirror the news vendor's ongoing musings on life.

The chapter ends with Rorschach lured into a trap, which leads to a rare action sequence and his capture... and the removal of his mask! While I feel left with little to comment on about this chapter -- it's a strong, plot-driving episode, but with little else to mention, clearly -- it sets up what should be an interesting sixth part, as the mystery of Rorschach's true identity has lingered around much of the story so far.

Fiction

Watchmen by Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons
Chapter XI
After the Masquerade by Doug Roth
Chapter XII [the end]
Stunning conclusion to the justifiably acclaimed masterpiece. You owe it to yourself to read this. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to pre-order all the action figures from the forthcoming film adaptation.

Fiction

Watchmen by Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons
Chapter VIII
New Frontiersman Thursday, October 31st, 1985

Articles

DC Entertainment Officially Announces Before Watchmen
by David Hyde (from The Source at DC Comics)
A series of prequel series to Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons' seminal '80s comic. There's been a lot of reporting on this today and I haven't had a chance to read most of it, so maybe I'll share more links tomorrow.