Ok. To truly understand the awe that is The Watchmen, you have to rewind to the mentality of the world when it came out. At the time, most comics were for 'kids' and were whitewashed so there was good and evil and good always won.
Then came The Watchmen.
"Who watches the watchmen" is the quote where the title came from. That is, exactly, the entire premise.
What the comic did was take comics from the white washed world for kids and put it into the grim reality that we know is true. It took the idea of "What would happen if superheroes were REAL?" and went from there. It took them into the gritty reality that was the cold war and did an honest sociological study as to how it would impact the world from technology to politics. It's mature, it's intelligent, and it brought the comic world from the realm of children into the world of acceptable adulthood. Making it a solid medium for TRUE literature told with imagery not just text.
Me? I didn't even know the comic existed until 2000 or so when I was handed it and V for Vendetta and told I had to read them both. I instantly loved V.. but The Watchmen. At first I was confused by it and had to start reading over after the first chapter or so. The second time around I didn't just glance at it and skim. I read every word, looked at every scene and it all clicked together. It flabbergasted me. Even after comics had started to move from the world of children for so many years it left a major impact on me. In many ways I still like V better, but it really is a tossup between the two depending on my mood.
To best sumup I'm going to just quote from Wikipedia: Watchmen is set in 1985, in an alternative history United States where costumed adventurers are real and the country is edging closer to a nuclear war with the Soviet Union (the Doomsday Clock is at five minutes to midnight). It tells the story of a group of past and present superheroes and the events surrounding the mysterious murder of one of their own. Watchmen depicts superheroes as real people who must confront ethical and personal issues, who struggle with neuroses and failings, and who - with one notable exception - lack anything recognizable as super powers. Watchmen's deconstruction of the conventional superhero archetype, combined with its innovative adaptation of cinematic techniques and heavy use of symbolism, multi-layered dialogue, and metafiction, has influenced both comics and film.
And it isn't just nerds and geeks who hail it as a literary masterpiece. It's won numerous awards, including a Hugo Award which no other comic book to date has won.
It's a groundbreaking comic mini-series that was then combined into the very first "Graphic Novel" and is really what changed the mentality of comics.
There is no "Watchmen", not like how "XMen" is a comic about a group of superheroes called the XMen. No, it's just a title. The only 'group' in the comic is an old disbanded one that was called the Minutemen. In fact, in the series superheroes/vigilantes have been outlawed (again).
Truly it's just a real literary novel just told with graphics not simply text. That's why it coined the term "Graphic Novel".
Then came The Watchmen.
"Who watches the watchmen" is the quote where the title came from. That is, exactly, the entire premise.
What the comic did was take comics from the white washed world for kids and put it into the grim reality that we know is true. It took the idea of "What would happen if superheroes were REAL?" and went from there. It took them into the gritty reality that was the cold war and did an honest sociological study as to how it would impact the world from technology to politics. It's mature, it's intelligent, and it brought the comic world from the realm of children into the world of acceptable adulthood. Making it a solid medium for TRUE literature told with imagery not just text.
Me? I didn't even know the comic existed until 2000 or so when I was handed it and V for Vendetta and told I had to read them both. I instantly loved V.. but The Watchmen. At first I was confused by it and had to start reading over after the first chapter or so. The second time around I didn't just glance at it and skim. I read every word, looked at every scene and it all clicked together. It flabbergasted me. Even after comics had started to move from the world of children for so many years it left a major impact on me. In many ways I still like V better, but it really is a tossup between the two depending on my mood.
To best sumup I'm going to just quote from Wikipedia: Watchmen is set in 1985, in an alternative history United States where costumed adventurers are real and the country is edging closer to a nuclear war with the Soviet Union (the Doomsday Clock is at five minutes to midnight). It tells the story of a group of past and present superheroes and the events surrounding the mysterious murder of one of their own. Watchmen depicts superheroes as real people who must confront ethical and personal issues, who struggle with neuroses and failings, and who - with one notable exception - lack anything recognizable as super powers. Watchmen's deconstruction of the conventional superhero archetype, combined with its innovative adaptation of cinematic techniques and heavy use of symbolism, multi-layered dialogue, and metafiction, has influenced both comics and film.
And it isn't just nerds and geeks who hail it as a literary masterpiece. It's won numerous awards, including a Hugo Award which no other comic book to date has won.
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There is no "Watchmen", not like how "XMen" is a comic about a group of superheroes called the XMen. No, it's just a title. The only 'group' in the comic is an old disbanded one that was called the Minutemen. In fact, in the series superheroes/vigilantes have been outlawed (again).
Truly it's just a real literary novel just told with graphics not simply text. That's why it coined the term "Graphic Novel".
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