The Watchmen (Spoilers Ahead)

I got The Watchmen graphic novel for Christmas yesterday and over the course of one evening I read it. But something odd happened, I did not see what the fuss was about and then I had another thought. This was over-hyped by nerds just as Scarface was over-hyped by wannabe gangsta rappers. Those rappers seem to overlook the fact that besides Pacino, the violence and the fun video game released a couple years back; Scarface was an over-long, boring mess of a movie. Also, the fact that Tony Montana was killed seems to escape those rappers who look up to him in every way so hopefully they all get shot in the back. Alright, tangential rant over and I promise Scarface won't show up but I think the message is the same:

The Watchmen is overrated!!!!


Before I begin, I will say that despite all the disappointment I have in this, I still liked it. It is mostly a well-written what-if scenario of what Masked Heroes and one real-life Superman existed and they walked among us, at least until the last issue. Also, the plot is actually quite intricate and it demands readers to flip back and forth to make sense of it. Add to this, some memorable characters and you should have a great graphic novel but alas, something went wrong.

Now before I get all down, I'll talk about the things I liked the most and that is the characters. Consider The Comedian, the guy whose death(don't look at me like that, he dies on the first page) kicks things into motion. The first couple flashbacks we have is he's a near-insane jerk. He rapes the first Silk Spectre, kills a pregnant Vietnamese chick and pretty much wreck the second-era of the Masked Heroes. But as we see more and more of him, we understand who he is and how he really is the smartest man in the group as he sees society as it is...and he just doesn't care. It's a masterstroke to make that kind of man sympathetic in any regards. Now look at Rorschach, he also sees society as it really is but unlike The Comedian who decided to make it one big joke, Rorschach has let it destroy his sanity. He writes rambling thoughts to his journal, goes into bars and starts breaking some bones, does some breaking and enterting to homes of people he DOES like and that's when he's masked. Unmasked...well, he's even more insane due to him not changing his facial expressions or the way he talks at all. He may not have the depth of The Comedian but he is just as interesting. The rest of the cast have some moments but it's clear that when neither of the two are there, it kinda gets boring.

Don't get me wrong, Doctor Manhattan and the second Nite Owl are cool but they have no depth to them. We get a backstory on Doctor Manhattan and while it's a well-written one, I felt no connection to him at any time, especially when he goes on self-exile on Mars. The fact that he also has real superpowers, while an interesting dynamic on paper, does make him boring. He's like Superman, who can do anything at will. But unlike Superman, who managed to not be boring due to his caring about Earth and especially Lois, Manhattan does not care and it hinders his character. Sure he has relationships with women but he doesn't really care about them. Granted, he does a couple cool things but it's just not enough.

Now the plot itself is like a puzzle. At first, nothing seems to be filler and everything is connected to each other. Especially at first when Rorschach is talking about the first era of the Masked Hero and what happened to them now and then to the first Silk Sceptre's flashback to a New Year's Eve party of the group. I found myself flipping back and forth to guess who they were...I was mostly right. But after a while, you see loose threads and useless characters pop up. Consider the newsvender, you think something important would happen to him but take him out and nothing changes, except fewer pages and the loss of that pirate comic. That pirate comic may be fine as a stand-alone thing but as part of The Watchmen it chokes in it's own symbolic pretensions that are aggrivating enough to try to find Alan Moore's neck behind his crazy person beard and strangle him. Another loose thread that pissed me off was the first Nite Owl's murder. At first, it seemed like Nite Owl II and Rorsharch are going to get some vengance but they don't and it's forgotten about. Dammit, Nite Owl I deserved to be avenged!

Lastly, I have my problems with the climax. Maybe I was naive but I thought Alan Moore was smarter than the whole "The bad guy was actually one of our own!" twist. And I really thought he was smarter than "Let's blow some shit up" plotline. I also thought he was smarter than to have the villian monologuing about his incredibly detailed plan....granted it's a decent monologue but dammit, I expected something different from all the hype it has. Then the last panel really set me off, Rorschach sent his journal to a newspaper that crazy people read. It implies the truth will be told....but Rorschach never wrote about the last scheme. Nothing will really change if it was published and believed. The bad guy still gets off...despite his incredible guilt of blowing that shit up.

But yes, despite all that I still like it. I still say it should be read if only for the history. And I will probably see the movie...even though Billy Crudup is too slight to be Doctor Manhattan and I think that David Carouso is a better Rorschach than that the guy they casted.