Encompassing Everything

I'm going to do something different today; I think I'll review something. True, I already wrote a mini-review about There Will Be Blood, but I want to do another one.

Watchmen- Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons

OK, so this is partially because I'm all excited about the upcoming film, but also because this is my favourite comic book.

Watchmen is about a group of masked vigilantes living in Cold War America after being forced to retire because of a government Act against them. When one of their group is thrown from his penthouse window one night, Rorschach, the only remaining active vigilante, suspects that he and his fellow masked avengers are being picked off one by one by the government in order to stop them interferring with the current crisis with Russia. Meanwhile, somebody is planning a way of stopping a superpower confrontation altogether...

I really dearly love this comic for it's pitch black tone and it's character development. Each chapter (each represented by a minute on the "Doomsday Clock" counting down to midnight/destruction) is centred around one of the vigilantes lives. It is only until the end that all 5 characters merge together to form possibly one of the strangest and compelling climaxes I have ever read. The real difference with this comic compared with other "superhero" comics around is that this one does not show any of the characters in a favourable light. Each one has their own secrets, fears or faults, and this really fleshes out their characters and makes each one seem real.

The best thing about this comic is that it's a really good for a first-time comic. I'd read From Hell (also by Moore) and I can tell you, I found it a bit confusing. Part of the problem with comic books is that people tend to get distracted by the pretty pictures and ignore the story, which is a shame because Moore is one of the best comic book writers. Watchmen tells its story in a easy to read format.

So, in conclusion, go and read Watchmen. It's so easy to be discouraged because of the fact it's a comic, but trust me, it's a bloody good story.