- Hardcover: 464 pages
- Publisher: DC; New title edition (Nov 2005)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1401207138
- ISBN-13: 978-1401207137
- Product Dimensions: 22.7 x 5.6 x 39.5 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (182 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 561,905 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
Has any comic been as lauded as Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' Watchmen? Possibly only Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns but Watchmen remains the critics' favourite. Why? Because Moore is a better writer, and Watchmen 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 (Saga of the Swamp Thing, V for Vendetta, and recently From Hell, with Eddie Campbell) first put out Watchmen 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.
The 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 Watchmen, and to a lesser extent Dark Knight, that propelled the comic genre forward, making "adult" comics a reality. The artwork of Gibbons (best known for 2000AD's Rogue Trooper and DC's Green Lantern) 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 Watchmen more than stands up--it retains its crown as the best the genre has yet produced. --Mark Thwaite --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
BookMunch Online Book Reviews June 2002
This is the Daddy.
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The word on the street is that Watchmen is finally going to be made into a movie. Although I'm likely to be queueing to get a ticket, in many ways it's a shame, because Watchmen is quite simply one of the most complex, awesome and complete novels of the twentieth century, delivered in a form that is perfect for the tale. Anything that can be re-read time and time again and still unlock new surprises refunds its cover price ten times over, and this is certainly one of the few books that delivers on all levels. Forget the "SOCK POW" of the 60's Batman series, and even the original Superman film - instead examine the minds of masked vigilantes and how the existence of a real superhero would affect the planet. Those thoughts, and many, many more are explored here in a cracking yarn that remains tense, thrilling, consistent and amazing throughout - and all from two tiny brains that dared to challenge convention when the Superhero was believed to be dead.
Buy this now, before Holywood makes it hot property or buries it just as it did The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.
Buy this now, before Holywood makes it hot property or buries it just as it did The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The best works of fiction are generally untranslatable into different media. It is impossible to make a film that encompasses all the great things about Catch-22. Citizen Kane and Vertigo would make lousy novels. Watchmen is comparable. Many people I know refuse to read it, just because it's a comic. But it couldn't work any other way. I'm trying not to spoil too much of the plot, but Alan Moore's writing, the pacing of the story - he somehow manages to overlay multiple plot lines on just one page. The dialogue is realistic: people talk over each other, conversations are drowned out by TV, the characters stutter and repeat themselves. The characters are real, flawed. the plot manages to mix high-concept science fiction, hard-boiled crime, philosophy, conspiracies, action, drama. Alan Moore isn't just one of the greatest comic writers ever, he's one of the greatest writers ever. His work stands comparison with anyone - Harper Lee, Joseph Conrad, Heller, Orwell.
But Watchmen isn't just about the writing: Dave Gibbons' art isn't flashy, but no other artist could've drawn the story. Gibbons' work is realistic, insanely detailed. Again, I don't want to spoil the plot for you, but analyse every panel. Every detail, no matter how minor, has purpose.
This book is flawless. It will never be surpassed.
But Watchmen isn't just about the writing: Dave Gibbons' art isn't flashy, but no other artist could've drawn the story. Gibbons' work is realistic, insanely detailed. Again, I don't want to spoil the plot for you, but analyse every panel. Every detail, no matter how minor, has purpose.
This book is flawless. It will never be surpassed.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I have tried to work out why this has the quality almost everything else lacks and I think it's that Alan Moore doesn't refer to the field when he writes, he refers to his own complicated obsessions. Like Michael Moorcock, who admires Moore as much as Moore admires Moorcock, he is one of the wellsprings. He doesn't take his bucket to the common pool. He takes it to some very strange pools indeed and his dark imagination, which again reflects the work of the New Worlds writers like Harrison and Moorcock, with whom he's associated, is questing not for thrills or fresh wrinkles in an old security blanket but for something altogether his own. That is why he remains the king and why Watchmen remains a standard of graphic novels just as the Cornelius novels remain a standard for cyberpunk. This is nothing less than a classic in a field it made interesting. I had long since lost interest in comics until I came on Moore's work. He didn't just revive my interest in comics -- he revived the whole comics field! He deserves to be made a Knight Spiritual if not a new Lord! Buy two. One to read and one to throw at people who say comics are just for kids.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Great graphic novel
This was a good buy - it came promptly and was a good read. I haven't read any of Alan Moore's books before but I liked this a lot. Read more
Published 9 days ago by tbe77
Let's cut through all the guff, shall we? Here's how it is:
So much has been said about Alan Moore's Watchmen, there's almost no point in penning another review of it.
So, why, in a nutshell, is it worth anybody's attention? Read more
So, why, in a nutshell, is it worth anybody's attention? Read more
Published 13 days ago by JoeConsumer
"I used to be a masked avenger too ...I'm used to going out at three...
Some think that the nativity is the greatest story ever told, clearly those people have never read Alan Moore's Watchmen. Read more
Published 24 days ago by GeekZilla
Best comic ever!
I love this book so much,its like the Godfather part 2 of comics .Its a superhero crime novel by alan moore (yes the alan moore). Read more
Published 1 month ago by Doctor polical nerd
amazing
i really love this book, I'm so glad i bought it, if you liked the film start to finish then you'll love the book, although at the same time its best not to compare the two as the... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Ben C Gadd
Watchment is the no1 graphic novel
A legendary novel you cant just not buy. Amazing full of actions and extra chapters. Allan Moore has created a masterpiece here.
Published 3 months ago by giavas
Remains an original and standout graphic novel
Watchmen is a rare breed of graphic novel that everybody seems to have heard of, and has a reputation as an exceptional piece of literature as well as a simple comic. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Crazy Jamie
great book
the book is a great read and has a more thrilling stories I have read, as well as being surprisingly long .Book was in great condittion, a great buy and a must read.
Published 3 months ago by bailey dacre
Phenomenal
When I started to read this, I was cautious, since it was so hyped and I didn't want it to let me down. It didn't. Not. One. Bit. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Patricia
Watchmen
Bought this as a present and my husband absolutely loved it. It was very reasonable and dispatched very quickly. Excellent buy!!
Published 5 months ago by JemJEJemscott
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