Watchmen.
"This rudderless world is not shaped by vague metaphysical forces. It is not god who kills the children. Not fate that butchers them or destiny that feeds them to the dogs. It's us. Only us."
In the last quarter of the 20th Century, a few brave souls ventured into the territory of graphical literature, or comic books for the reasonably intelligent. These individuals proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that brilliant writing is not medium dependent. This year is the 20th anniversary of the original publication of Alan Moore's Watchmen.
Watchmen, though not my favorite comic book ( that dubious honor is bestowed upon From Hell, also by Alan Moore ), is arguably the most important work in the recent evolution of the medium. Watchmen was perhaps the first comic book to attribute real dimension and personality to super-heroes, giving them identifiable flaws and human characteristics, as well as a wide spectrum of intelligence. Furthermore, it explores issues which are very much in people's minds today, including the American government's attitude toward terrorism, freedom vs. control, the good of society vs. the good of the individual and the abuse of power. Watchmen deals with these topics on a very personal level, illustrating the effects of the issues on the lives of twelve principle characters. The story examines the different attitudes and opinions of those characters and how these attitudes developed.
One of the largest overriding themes of the story is that of the existence or absence of god in the affairs of man. Two characters in the story examine this issue from the perspective of the atheist, and are driven to two different extremes as a result. One "hero", known as the Comedian, sees life as a joke told by men to an audience of one, to be appreciated only by him. The other, Rorschach, is driven to madness by the shape which he sees in the world. One character, Dr. Manhattan, has powers which approach those of a god, and finds himself distanced from humanity as a result.
I recommend this book to anyone who feels that comics are shallow, as well as anyone who enjoys orchestra level storytelling and well conceived characters. I also recommend it to anyone who sees on a macro scale, or anyone who struggles with atheism.
In the last quarter of the 20th Century, a few brave souls ventured into the territory of graphical literature, or comic books for the reasonably intelligent. These individuals proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that brilliant writing is not medium dependent. This year is the 20th anniversary of the original publication of Alan Moore's Watchmen.
Watchmen, though not my favorite comic book ( that dubious honor is bestowed upon From Hell, also by Alan Moore ), is arguably the most important work in the recent evolution of the medium. Watchmen was perhaps the first comic book to attribute real dimension and personality to super-heroes, giving them identifiable flaws and human characteristics, as well as a wide spectrum of intelligence. Furthermore, it explores issues which are very much in people's minds today, including the American government's attitude toward terrorism, freedom vs. control, the good of society vs. the good of the individual and the abuse of power. Watchmen deals with these topics on a very personal level, illustrating the effects of the issues on the lives of twelve principle characters. The story examines the different attitudes and opinions of those characters and how these attitudes developed.
One of the largest overriding themes of the story is that of the existence or absence of god in the affairs of man. Two characters in the story examine this issue from the perspective of the atheist, and are driven to two different extremes as a result. One "hero", known as the Comedian, sees life as a joke told by men to an audience of one, to be appreciated only by him. The other, Rorschach, is driven to madness by the shape which he sees in the world. One character, Dr. Manhattan, has powers which approach those of a god, and finds himself distanced from humanity as a result.
I recommend this book to anyone who feels that comics are shallow, as well as anyone who enjoys orchestra level storytelling and well conceived characters. I also recommend it to anyone who sees on a macro scale, or anyone who struggles with atheism.
posted by Q. at 6:22:00 AM
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