5 Reasons Why I’m in Love With Watchmen

November 30, 2008 10:00 am     Posted in Cool Stuff  Sarabeth - University of Texas g+ page

watchmen


By Sarabeth

The first time I’d ever heard of Watchmen was when I went to see The Dark Knight. There was a trailer with an amazing Smashing Pumpkins song, and it looked pretty cool. The trailer mentioned something about being based off of a graphic novel, so when I got home I called the bf since he worked at a comic book store in high school. (Nerdcore, I love it.) He told me that it was really good, and since I’d never read a graphic novel before, it’d be a good one to start off with. So I went and bought a copy.

I FRIGGIN LOVED IT. Here’s why I’m stoked about anything Watchmen; book or movie:

1) Incredibly well written: The entire time, I couldn’t put it down. Without giving anything away, it’s about a group of masked vigilantes who are considered superheroes, but only one of them has an actual power. The world is going down the crapper and they have to save it. But there’s just so much more to it than that. It’s written amazingly and you get everyone’s background history. You really get involved. Plus it’s won a Hugo award and is the only graphic novel on Time magazine’s “Best 100 English Language Novels,” which means it’s not just me who’s thinks it’s amazing.

2) Silk Spectre is badass: For once there’s a woman in a graphic novel who isn’t a total cheeseball. No offense to Wonder Woman or Catwoman, but the Silk Spectre would kick their butts, and look amazing doing it. You go girl.

3) In the film, Jeffery Dean Morgan plays the Comedian: Ever since Denny Duquette, this man has had my heart. I will gladly pay money to see him in anything. I can’t wait.

4) The underlying theme that anyone can be a hero: Like I said, only one of the “super heroes” has any real power. The rest are just normal everyday humans. They take it upon themselves to rescue humanity, whether the general population likes it or not. Yeah, vigilantism can be pretty stupid, but there’s just something about people stepping up for what is right that will always be inspiring, fiction or non-fiction.

5) It’s a graphic novel that men AND WOMEN can enjoy: Trust me, this one isn’t just for the boys. This is the first and only graphic novel that I’ve read, so it’s not like this is coming from one of those kids. Seriously, it reads like a novel, and it has a story that anyone can enjoy. Women can even appreciate the fact that there’s a well written love triangle in the story; it’s almost like watching a soap. It’s not like the horrid love story of Anakin and Padme from Star Wars. “Anni, you’re breaking my heart!” Really George Lucas? REALLY?

So I encourage you: go out and pick up a copy. Hell, put it on your wish list. You won’t regret it.

8 Comments on "5 Reasons Why I’m in Love With Watchmen"

  1. Cat says:
    Sun, 30th Nov 20088:03 am 

    Thanks for sharing! I was just going to see the movie, but now I might read the novel, too.

  2. Kristen says:
    Sun, 30th Nov 20088:20 am 

    I love this book! I picked up a copy for one of my guys friend's birthday and ended up reading it one day out of boredom. I totally agree, everyone should add it to their wish list.

  3. Andrea says:
    Sun, 30th Nov 20088:37 am 

    Laurie is not a badass. without giving anything away, she is so worthless in the story that the bad guys don't even take her into consideration and everybody only sees her as being the plaything of the superheros and that's why i love her because she's the human connection, she's the audience pointing out the stupidity of it all

    "Do Grow Up"

  4. Ashley says:
    Sun, 30th Nov 200810:00 am 

    I also read it after hearing about the movie. It's basically a "gateway" graphic novel. Right after "Watchmen," my first graphic novel, I read "Kingdom Come," which is kind of "Watchmen" with characters we all know, like Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, etc.

  5. Molly says:
    Sun, 30th Nov 20083:52 pm 

    I absolutely love this novel. I read it a few years ago and re-read when I found out they were making a movie.

    I'm highly interested to see J.D. Morgan play the kind of character The Comedian is written as.

    Hell, I'm excited to see it all.

  6. Allison says:
    Mon, 1st Dec 20085:43 am 

    I'd argue that "Watchmen" isn't a gateway GN at all, but better suited for kids who grew up on superhero fictions, considering the way Moore twists the genre into something much more humanly realistic than any comic universe we've before seen.

    "Sandman" was my first GN, and from there "Y: the Last Man" and "Preacher," and quite a few one-book story-lines as well. I read "Watchmen" after being continually harassed to do so, and the philosophical questions it raised made me so intensely interested I couldn't put it down. It's the kind of book you have to read twice.

  7. qwerrrty says:
    Mon, 1st Dec 20084:25 pm 

    i'm reading this right now =]

  8. kitty says:
    Mon, 1st Dec 20087:24 pm 

    watchmen is a great read and a book that anyone could enjoy, even those "comics are for kids" eye-rollers out there. But really i only comment on this post because someone mentioned Preacher. Do yourself a favor and read these books, the artwork is iffy (in my opinion) but the story is phenomenal and you can't put it down. I read the first graphic novel and came to my bf the next day drooling and ravenous and demanding the rest of the 9 or so books. (not for the faint of heart or those overly sensitive about religion, god and that whole bit..)

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