If I were to ask you to think of the most important works of fictional literature I’m sure you would think of novels and poems from people like Shakespeare, Dickens, The Bronte Sisters, and Homer…you know the ones that are really important to the English language, its development, or were culturally significant at the time of writing. What you probably wouldn’t think of is a DC comic book series, created by a man who’s made it abundantly clear he is at least a little bit insane. Well…according to an awful lot of highly regarded critics and news outlets Watchmen should be considered among the greatest literary works of the twentieth century. So why is a comic book held in such high regard, decades before comic books were considered anything other than picture books for children?
Watchmen opens in New York of October 1985, but not the 1985 we know. This world has been altered by the existence of costumed vigilantes known as the Minutemen. Their presence in significant global affairs since the 1930’s has altered the course of history, and now the Doomsday Clock sits at two minutes to midnight as a United States led by Richard Nixon sits on the brink of nuclear war with the Soviet Union. The only thing that stops the scales tipping one way or the other is the existence of Dr. Manhattan, formerly a man named Jon Osterman who following an accident decades earlier has the ability to manipulate matter to his will and see into the future. However, Jon is unable to foresee much further into the future and fears it may be because nuclear annihilation is inevitable.
This coupled with a string of murders of former Minutemen, brings a new generation of heroes out of hiding to try and solve the mystery of who is murdering vigilantes and whether it has a role to play in the impending apocalypse.
At the time of publication Watchmen was years ahead of its time. It’s a graphic novel designed specifically for adult readers that is intended to challenge their preconceived philosophical and moral notions of what it means to be a hero when faced with the end of the world. It deconstructs the superhero genre and presents a world where costumed heroes don’t have superpowers, but instead do what they do because their twisted moral compass tells them it’s the right thing. Whilst Dr. Manhattan does have superpowers, it explores what happens when a superhero is integrated into a countries government and military, giving them the ability to become the most powerful country in the world simply because a man could wipe out the entire planet with the click of his fingers if he so desired it.
All of the characters are broken people who in one way or another justify their often-terrible actions with the fact that they are heroes and they are inherently good as a result. Or in some cases accept that they’re terrible people, but who’s going to stop them?
Watchmen opens in New York of October 1985, but not the 1985 we know. This world has been altered by the existence of costumed vigilantes known as the Minutemen. Their presence in significant global affairs since the 1930’s has altered the course of history, and now the Doomsday Clock sits at two minutes to midnight as a United States led by Richard Nixon sits on the brink of nuclear war with the Soviet Union. The only thing that stops the scales tipping one way or the other is the existence of Dr. Manhattan, formerly a man named Jon Osterman who following an accident decades earlier has the ability to manipulate matter to his will and see into the future. However, Jon is unable to foresee much further into the future and fears it may be because nuclear annihilation is inevitable.
This coupled with a string of murders of former Minutemen, brings a new generation of heroes out of hiding to try and solve the mystery of who is murdering vigilantes and whether it has a role to play in the impending apocalypse.
At the time of publication Watchmen was years ahead of its time. It’s a graphic novel designed specifically for adult readers that is intended to challenge their preconceived philosophical and moral notions of what it means to be a hero when faced with the end of the world. It deconstructs the superhero genre and presents a world where costumed heroes don’t have superpowers, but instead do what they do because their twisted moral compass tells them it’s the right thing. Whilst Dr. Manhattan does have superpowers, it explores what happens when a superhero is integrated into a countries government and military, giving them the ability to become the most powerful country in the world simply because a man could wipe out the entire planet with the click of his fingers if he so desired it.
All of the characters are broken people who in one way or another justify their often-terrible actions with the fact that they are heroes and they are inherently good as a result. Or in some cases accept that they’re terrible people, but who’s going to stop them?
As far as the author, Alan Moore, and much of the fanbase are concerned, Watchmen is a standalone entity that doesn’t have any prequels or sequels. Reading the comic it’s easy to understand why as it does have a very concrete ending and it gives so much depth and backstory to the events and characters that when viewed as a solo experience it is already complete. It ran for twelve issues between 1986-1987, and though there have been multiple prequel comics (the Before Watchmen series), a sequel comic (Doomsday Clock), and a sequel TV series (also titled Watchmen), it is a story worth enjoying as a standalone entity first before diving into any of the other material surrounding it, and maybe even staying that was as the other material never reaches the insanely high bar set by the original graphic novel.
There is no single main character to Watchmen, instead it is a story driven by an ensemble cast. I’ve already briefly covered Dr. Manhattan/Jon Osterman; but his story primarily follows his disillusionment of mankind and his internal debate as to whether to simply leave Earth and start life on a new planet as a God, or to help them stop their own annihilation only for them to continue living in misery for a little longer before annihilation rears its head again. He doesn’t perceive the world as a human being anymore and so his entire perspective is one of omniscience and distanced from the events that are happening all around him.
Rorschach is the only vigilante still fighting crime without being affiliated to the government. In the time since he became a vigilante he has seen the worst in humanity, this tied with his own tragic past has twisted his perception of right and wrong. Many, including his former teammates, are scared of Rorschach and what he represents; a man who has lived so long under the mask that the person underneath it disappeared a long time ago.
Dan Dreiberg is, much like many of his fellow vigilante team, a former masked crimefighter who went by the name of Night Owl II (assuming the role from one of the original 1930’s Minutemen upon their retirement). He was Rorschach’s partner for almost all of their years as vigilantes, but now tries to keep his distance out of fear for his own life. A bachelor that spends most of his days reminiscing about the past, he returns to a life of vigilantism when one of his former team-mates Edward Blake (A.K.A. The Comedian) is murdered.
Laurie Juspeczyk is the youngest of the former Minutemen, and the only female. Another former vigilante known as Silk Spectre II (assuming the role from her mother after her retirement from the original Minutemen), Laurie is Jon’s girlfriend. Following the death of The Comedian she rekindles her friendship with Dan Dreiberg and re-enters the vigilante profession in an attempt to rediscover what she wants from life.
Adrian Veidt is supposedly the smartest man in the world and former vigilante Ozymandias. Veidt is now a successful businessman and is currently searching for ways to stop nuclear war from breaking out, all whilst trying to keep himself alive following an assassination attempt perpetrated by the person behind The Comedian’s murder.
Finally, there’s Edward Blake, The Comedian. Despite his death occurring in the first few pages, Blake plays a major role in the overarching story of Watchmen as he is the only vigilante that was a part of the 1930’s Watchmen, and then the new breed of heroes some decades later. He also remained active until his death working for the government, often sent into warzones as a guy who isn’t afraid to shoot first and ask questions never; Blake is a man who uses the evils of the world as an opportunity to commit horrific crimes. He’s a murder and a rapist, but it’s ok because he’s an American and that makes him one of the good guys, right?
The characters are all three dimensional and really fleshed out over the course of the story, so much so that come the end they don’t just feel like characters but are representations of our own desires. Veidt’s the part of us that wants to solve the worlds problems; Laurie is the part of us that doesn’t really know what we want; Jon is the part of us that’s prepared to walk away when things get tough; but Dan’s the part of us that refuses to ever let go even in the face of defeat; Rorschach’s the part of us that fights for justice no matter the cost; and The Comedian is the part of us that says fuck it all and wants to burn it all to the ground for our own amusement. They are all incredibly relatable, and even if you don’t agree with their methods or desires, you can always understand their intentions and why they do what they do. It’s part of the reason why the frankly brutal ending has such a profound impact on readers, because what other option do they have in the face of such insurmountable odds.
There is no single main character to Watchmen, instead it is a story driven by an ensemble cast. I’ve already briefly covered Dr. Manhattan/Jon Osterman; but his story primarily follows his disillusionment of mankind and his internal debate as to whether to simply leave Earth and start life on a new planet as a God, or to help them stop their own annihilation only for them to continue living in misery for a little longer before annihilation rears its head again. He doesn’t perceive the world as a human being anymore and so his entire perspective is one of omniscience and distanced from the events that are happening all around him.
Rorschach is the only vigilante still fighting crime without being affiliated to the government. In the time since he became a vigilante he has seen the worst in humanity, this tied with his own tragic past has twisted his perception of right and wrong. Many, including his former teammates, are scared of Rorschach and what he represents; a man who has lived so long under the mask that the person underneath it disappeared a long time ago.
Dan Dreiberg is, much like many of his fellow vigilante team, a former masked crimefighter who went by the name of Night Owl II (assuming the role from one of the original 1930’s Minutemen upon their retirement). He was Rorschach’s partner for almost all of their years as vigilantes, but now tries to keep his distance out of fear for his own life. A bachelor that spends most of his days reminiscing about the past, he returns to a life of vigilantism when one of his former team-mates Edward Blake (A.K.A. The Comedian) is murdered.
Laurie Juspeczyk is the youngest of the former Minutemen, and the only female. Another former vigilante known as Silk Spectre II (assuming the role from her mother after her retirement from the original Minutemen), Laurie is Jon’s girlfriend. Following the death of The Comedian she rekindles her friendship with Dan Dreiberg and re-enters the vigilante profession in an attempt to rediscover what she wants from life.
Adrian Veidt is supposedly the smartest man in the world and former vigilante Ozymandias. Veidt is now a successful businessman and is currently searching for ways to stop nuclear war from breaking out, all whilst trying to keep himself alive following an assassination attempt perpetrated by the person behind The Comedian’s murder.
Finally, there’s Edward Blake, The Comedian. Despite his death occurring in the first few pages, Blake plays a major role in the overarching story of Watchmen as he is the only vigilante that was a part of the 1930’s Watchmen, and then the new breed of heroes some decades later. He also remained active until his death working for the government, often sent into warzones as a guy who isn’t afraid to shoot first and ask questions never; Blake is a man who uses the evils of the world as an opportunity to commit horrific crimes. He’s a murder and a rapist, but it’s ok because he’s an American and that makes him one of the good guys, right?
The characters are all three dimensional and really fleshed out over the course of the story, so much so that come the end they don’t just feel like characters but are representations of our own desires. Veidt’s the part of us that wants to solve the worlds problems; Laurie is the part of us that doesn’t really know what we want; Jon is the part of us that’s prepared to walk away when things get tough; but Dan’s the part of us that refuses to ever let go even in the face of defeat; Rorschach’s the part of us that fights for justice no matter the cost; and The Comedian is the part of us that says fuck it all and wants to burn it all to the ground for our own amusement. They are all incredibly relatable, and even if you don’t agree with their methods or desires, you can always understand their intentions and why they do what they do. It’s part of the reason why the frankly brutal ending has such a profound impact on readers, because what other option do they have in the face of such insurmountable odds.
I am going to talk about the ending briefly so if you don’t want to know what happens skip to the final paragraph now.
It is revealed that Veidt’s plan to stop the war and unite humanity together is by tricking humanity into thinking they’re being attacked by aliens. He does this by teleporting in a giant octopus-like creature into New York and killing roughly half the population of Manhattan in the process. Now whilst the act of uniting humanity against a common enemy is a great plot twist that leaves the reader unsure of whether Veidt truly is a villain or not, the actual event itself of making an alien appear kind of makes the whole comic so much less believable. Up until this point everything had been relatively plausible, and then with one swift motion it suddenly becomes just another comic book. I’m definitely in the minority when I say that I prefer what the film adaptation did, as it played into Jon’s story arc and gave that a lot more meaning to it, but yeah...a giant squid didn’t really do it for me, sorry Alan.
Should you read Watchmen? I feel that answer is a definite yes, whether you’re a comic book reader or not. Whilst people who are well versed with comic books and superheroes will definitely get more out of the experience than those who are not, Watchmen transcends its medium and is a critique of modern civilisation that sociologists, ethicists, and philosophers refer to in their studies. It’s an intelligent read that unlike the works of many other highly regarded authors doesn’t require a dictionary to understand. Plus, Dave Gibbons’ illustrations are incredible, memorable, and extremely unique, so even if you aren’t looking for an incredible story you still have incredible artwork to admire. I can’t think of a reason as to why you shouldn’t read Watchmen, and if that’s not high praise I don’t know what is.
It is revealed that Veidt’s plan to stop the war and unite humanity together is by tricking humanity into thinking they’re being attacked by aliens. He does this by teleporting in a giant octopus-like creature into New York and killing roughly half the population of Manhattan in the process. Now whilst the act of uniting humanity against a common enemy is a great plot twist that leaves the reader unsure of whether Veidt truly is a villain or not, the actual event itself of making an alien appear kind of makes the whole comic so much less believable. Up until this point everything had been relatively plausible, and then with one swift motion it suddenly becomes just another comic book. I’m definitely in the minority when I say that I prefer what the film adaptation did, as it played into Jon’s story arc and gave that a lot more meaning to it, but yeah...a giant squid didn’t really do it for me, sorry Alan.
Should you read Watchmen? I feel that answer is a definite yes, whether you’re a comic book reader or not. Whilst people who are well versed with comic books and superheroes will definitely get more out of the experience than those who are not, Watchmen transcends its medium and is a critique of modern civilisation that sociologists, ethicists, and philosophers refer to in their studies. It’s an intelligent read that unlike the works of many other highly regarded authors doesn’t require a dictionary to understand. Plus, Dave Gibbons’ illustrations are incredible, memorable, and extremely unique, so even if you aren’t looking for an incredible story you still have incredible artwork to admire. I can’t think of a reason as to why you shouldn’t read Watchmen, and if that’s not high praise I don’t know what is.