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Watchmen | 
 enlarge | Authors: Alan Moore, Dave Gibbons
Publisher: DC Comics
Category: Book
List Price: CDN$ 22.99
Buy New: CDN$ 15.17
You Save: CDN$ 7.82 (34%)
New (24) Used (5) from CDN$ 12.63
Rating:  252 reviews
Sales Rank: 55
Media: Paperback
Edition: 0
Pages: 416
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 10.1 x 6.6 x 0.9
ISBN: 0930289234
Dewey Decimal Number: 741.5941
EAN: 9780930289232
ASIN: 0930289234
Publication Date: April 1, 1995
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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From Amazon.co.uk
Has any comic been as lauded as Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' IWatchmen/I? Possibly only Frank Miller's IThe Dark Knight Returns/I but IWatchmen/I remains the critics' favourite. Why? Because Moore is a better writer, and IWatchmen/I a more complex and dark and literate creation than Miller's fantastic, subversive take on the Batman myth. Moore, renowned for many other of the genre's finest creations (ISaga of the Swamp Thing/I, IV for Vendetta/I, and recently IFrom Hell/I, with Eddie Campbell) first put out IWatchmen/I in 12 issues for DC in 1986-87. It won a comic award at the time (the 1987 Jack Kirby Comics Industry Awards for Best Writer/Artist combination) and has continued to garner praise since.pThe story concerns a group called the Crimebusters and a plot to kill and discredit them. Moore's characterisation is as sophisticated as any novel's. Importantly the costumes do not get in the way of the storytelling, rather they allow Moore to investigate issues of power and control--indeed it was IWatchmen/I, and to a lesser extent IDark Knight/I, that propelled the comic genre forward, making "adult" comics a reality. The artwork of Gibbons (best known for I2000AD/I's IRogue Trooper/I and DC's IGreen Lantern/I) is very fine too, echoing Moore's paranoid mood perfectly throughout. Packed with symbolism, some of the overlying themes (arms control, nuclear threat, vigilantes) have dated but the intelligent social and political commentary, the structure of the story itself, its intertextuality (chapters appended with excerpts from other "works" and "studies" on Moore's characters, or with excerpts from another comic book being read by a child within the story), the fine pace of the writing and its humanity mean that IWatchmen/I more than stands up--it retains its crown as the best the genre has yet produced. --IMark Thwaite/I
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| Customer Reviews: Read 247 more reviews...
 For those who grew up on comics, and for those who've never read one September 30, 2008
Jack Blatant (Ontario, Canada)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Fans of graphic novels have been crying out for the genre to be taken as legitimately literary for quite some time. Some of these works really should be taken seriously - Neil Gaiman's Sandman series, for example - and some really are nothing more than glorified comic books. As with any genre, there are diamonds and lumps of coal - and Watchmen is the diamond. If you only read one graphic novel, it should be this one. br / br /Plot summaries and spoilers abound; suffice to say that this book involves superheroes, conspiracies, relationshps, insights, metaphysical questions, and so, so very many levels of meaning. Don't let the superheroes put you off: this is as mature and real a treatment of these preadolescent phenomena as you will ever find. br / br /I teach this book to my grade 12 English class every semester, and each time I read it I find something new. My students - who love it - have found things that have escaped me and brought amazing new interpretations. It can be easy to belittle graphic novels, and some deserve it, but not this one. I tremble at the idea of a film version, mind you.
It's all about the ending. September 16, 2008
Collin Price (Niagara Falls, ON Canada)
I picked up this novel in August 2008 after seeing a trailer for its up and coming movie. I did not have any expectations for this novel as I have never read a graphic novel before and in fact did not find out that a graphic novel was a long comic book until I bought it. br / br /After the first couple of chapters I did not know what to expect. I liked the story but I did not see why everyone loved the novel. Nearing the last couple of chapters I could see why it is a classic and will be loved forever. The whole story is more than just entertainment, it is a reflection of our world.
It's a classic for a reason September 5, 2008
Guy Rogers (Calgary, Canada)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
A cleverly written interwoven story, which hasn't really dated and rings even more true in today's current environment. Well inked as well. br / br /It will be interesting to see how it translates to the big screen.
One of the best books I have ever read May 8, 2008
M. Dohms (Antarctica)
In terms of graphic novels, I have read The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen, 300, V For Vendetta and Watchmen. V For Vendetta was very good, but Watchmen is AMAZING. Watchmen is probably one of the best books I have ever read. The plot is great, the artwork is great and the characters are great. I am really looking forward to the Watchmen movie that Zack Snyder is directing. I highly recommend this book.
Watching the Watchmen July 12, 2007
Greg (Canada)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
A superhero called the Comedian is thrown out the window of his apartment and killed ... murdered. Soon afterwards, another is framed for causing cancer to those he has been in relations with. And the strikes continue, upon the survivors of a superhero group who had called themselves the Crimebusters. Who has discovered their secret identities? How? And why do they want them removed? The threat of a nuclear war, the third World War, lingers, as these not-so-super superheroes struggle to find who has been orchestrating their removal, and the destruction of mankind. br / br /"Watchmen" is nothing that you could presume it could be going in. It's a satire, it's a drama, it's a murder mystery, it's a superhero comic mini-series ... and a landmark in the medium. The artwork is fantastic, and very professionally plotted out to make it easy to read. Colour is used more as an emotional anchor than to distract from what is happening. You'll find here is a fantastic literary achievement, chronicling the later adventures of strong-willed individuals, driven to save humanity from itself. It dishes out psychology-rich, deep-reaching personal profiles of the characters, exploring into what shaped them, what drives them. You come to feel that you are reading an illustrated recording of actual events, accurately portrayed, despite some tall-tale elements. Its believability is as striking as its vivid reflection of reality. "Watchmen" serves as a mirror to better view a world in crisis that we easily glance away from. There is no arguing with the problems which "Watchmen" exposes. It's stark, gritty realism. br / br /Alan Moore (writer of "V For Vendetta" and "Swamp Thing"), and artist Dave Gibbons ("2,000 AD", "Green Lantern") teamed up to make a comic mini-series to prove the industry wasn't just for kids, and that such a comic could be as literary, as meaningful, and as deeply gripping, as any novel. The heroes were loosely based on those of Charlton Comics, but they are fully their own characters. The idea of the book is simple -- what if superheroes were real? What if, in this messed-up world, there were people screwy enough to don silly guises and try to save it? How safe could we be without them? How safe could we be with them? br / br /I was delighted that Amazon sent it to me in mint condition, with the British release cover version as it advertises (the American release cover shows a window breaking and is a far less original first glimpse upon such a powerful book.) "Watchmen" is the first graphic novel to win a Hugo award and earn a spot in Time Magazine's 100 Best Novels. It stands as a work of high cultural influence, a subject of discussion, and a marvel in storytelling. A book to read once, read several times more, hold onto and treasure for a lifetime. br / br /"Who watches the watchmen?"
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