Written by Alan MooreDave Gibbons Indulge in 416 pages Rated 4.5/5.0, based on 432 reviews. Buy from Amazon: New price: $10.40 Used price: $9.59

What Can Be Said?
Rating: 5/5
What can I say that hasn't already been said about "Watchmen"? I first read this graphic novel when it first was published. I was newbie at collecting comic books and a good friend said "Hey man, you've got to check this out." And I did and was floored, never had we (comic book readers) seen anything of this depth and caliber. I mean, "The Dark Knight Returns" was ground breaking, but "Watchmen" was something totally different. It was a novel, a incredibly detailed journey to an alternate superhero reality and it worked. I absolutely love this book and I am looking forward to Zack Snyder's interpretation. If you haven't read this book and you love comic books, then what are you waiting for?

A classic
Rating: 5/5
This makes about the 10th time I've been through this series. It really was an amazing turning point for comics. I caught it a few years late, but the impact was no less effective. The shifts between current and flashback, the relationship of the side stories to events in the characters lives - and particularly the dark, adult subject matter explaining the motivations of the various flawed characters made it so real - a little too real at my first exposure.

Although it's not the most clever story in the whole, my favorite character to analyze has always been Dr. Manhattan. As kids we played superheroes and the inevitable escalation of powers always led to the taunt "well, Superguy (or whatever) can do anything". As an adult, Watchmen explored the idea of exactly what could happen to a person that can basically do anything - how it affects his mental shift, values and relationships. It remains the most intriguing mindplay from the series, at least for me.

I don't have to extol the values of the series; they're well documented. This series and the Dark Knight Returns series was what brought my attention back to comic books from my grade school days with Jack Kirby and Stan Lee.

Much ado about not much
Rating: 3/5
Brace yourself. This is the contrarian review. I've had this recommended to me since the 1980s, and finally decided to put my nickel on the counter to see what it's about. I'm underwhelmed.

It's got some nice things going on. There are a few reversals of loyalty, some of them more grounded in making it through the day than in high ideals. That works for me. Sanity as a negotiable quantity works for me, too, I'm sorry to say. Moral and social issues, in combination, dominate the last one or two of the original comic series. Those matter, at least to any thinking reader. Open-ended (mistakable for weak) choices left Adrian where he wanted to be - I hoped for better. Even so, I follow along with all of that. But.

I come for the art, too. Gibbons's drawing and Higgins's coloring narrate, effectively, even if they don't innovate. I want my eyes to learn, to be brought to a higher level of seeing a story told. Didn't happen. Nice, but only nice. And, I have to admit, the story didn't snag me until the last two or three of these dozen-ish comic book reprints.

I like comics. I like good ones a lot. I like this one. I just don't like it all that much. I'm not sure I'll keep it. Maybe back then it advanced the frontiers of comics - but today is today, and it doesn't.

-- wiredweird

Simply amazing
Rating: 5/5
One of the best novels I've read, period. Add in fantastic drawings and a gritty, realistic world and you have a fantastic must-read for everyone.