I have started to notice that there are some people who consider “Watchmen”, the original graphic novel, overrated.
Personally, I think it is awesome and still has importance and relevance today. Having said that, it isn’t flawless. When Rorschach tells his story involving the kidnapped girl, that apparently breaks the criminal psychologist. But considering his job is to listen to criminals tell these kinds of stories, Rorschach’s story shouldn’t be that surprising to him. Also, sexual violence is directly connected to the 2 most significant female characters and it isn’t executed all that great. Not awful, but for sure awkward looking back on it today. Also, the whole pirate comic within Watchmen doesn’t really have that much importance when you get right down to it.
Now, having said all that, I still think it is a must read and is still important and relevant. The best comic story ever? I’m not sure…I can certainly understand an argument for it. But I personally need to read more stories to figure out my own opinion regarding that.
But what are your thoughts regarding “Watchmen”? Do you think it is overrated or not?
I have come across a couple people recently who have used the term. It is still one of my favorite stories, but re reading it has shed some light on certain parts of it that I haven’t paid close attention to before
I don’t know about a backlash, per se, but I’m not really a fan. I prefer lighter stories in general. It didn’t help that I might have been a little too young at the time and that the reading location was unpleasant. Ironically, I like Doomsday Clock.
Now, here I disagree. While I am clearly not a fan of brutalizing the pantheon of heroes published monthly to create an event, creating new characters, new versions of the existing characters in an out of mainstream continuity story, or mixing it up like Watchmen-- a redress of the Charlton Action heroes-- this only expands the way we tell stories about super-heroes, and builds the mythology born with Superman in 1938.
I really liked the HBO series, but remember highly disliking the movie. It’s put me on the fence about whether or not to give the comics a try. Sooner or later I probably will, if only for their popularity. It seems like a series every comic fan should at least try.
The 80’s were a violent time. And very conservative, even more so in Thatcher’s UK. Which is the perspective Moore was living with at the time. Such a parliament debating whether or not to lockup HIV patients in what were essentially concentration camps. Not to mention that if Britain had passed that legislation, similar legislation was going to go before Congress.
All comics, novels, movies tv, are a product of their time. If you don’t understand the era and the issues of the era, it makes less sense.
Well, as a reading experience, I think you will… enjoy it whether you like it or not. But as student of sequential art, it’s as close to a must as you can get.
(And I now invite @DeSade-acolyte to add a few more musts for students of comic book art-- for I am redunkoulously mainsteam.)
I’ll just say, it is in Time magazines best 100 novels of the 20th century. And, for good or bad, it put comics on the mainstream map as an art form that should be taken seriously. (Although, that doesn’t mean every story has to be “serious”. That is the problem watchmen saddled comics with.
I think I’d be able to appreciate the books better, as a lot of my dislike for the film came from the r@pe scene. To be honest, I remember very little of the plot outside of my distaste for the Comedian. Violence tends to bother me less in comics than film.
Ive read that the comic leaves more to the imagination with that particular event, too, so that might help.
Ps: I wish r@pe wasn’t one of our censored words. Now I have a post floating in moderation limbo. Sorry, mods!
i like that take on the serious thing issue and the comics taking it in its back… because i enjoyed it for its tragedy and its happiness that it provide .
Anyway, that scene is uncomfortable. Sometimes, a story needs to make us uncomfortable to get its point across— but it can be argued that scene is a few seconds longer than needed.
Maaaaybe one day I’ll get brave and revisit. Part of the shock was that I went in having no idea what the film was about, and that wasn’t something I expected to see in a superhero movie. Live and learn!