Watchmen- the first comic book I read

Watchmen by Ann Plzz is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at https://flic.kr/p/2mBTj4u.

For a long time, I was cold to the comics themselves, although I really liked watching them being adapted on big screens in the form of films or cartoons. In 2009, director Zack Snyder released his film "Watchmen", which was based on a comic book of the same name. The film hooked me and I watched it more than once later. Once I was intrigued by a phrase, the essence of which was that the film, first of all, is good because of the original source, that is the comic book. I was fired up with the idea of reading a comic book, but apparently, I didn't catch fire so much, because I read my first comic book only this year. But I will not continue to call the "Watchmen" a comic book. I've seen comics on bookstalls and most of them are mediocre stories with equally mediocre illustrations. "Watchmen" is something else, and the naming of "graphic novel" suits it much more.

The author of the novel is the cult writer Alan Moore. The artist was Dave Gibbons. Their duet is the perfect hit. This story was published throughout the year - from autumn 1986 to autumn 1987. The action takes place in the America of the 80s, and in an alternate reality, where some of the events of the story are changed. The main characters of the book are people who have decided to fight crime. But, unlike the classic characters of DS, Marvel and other publishers, they do not have any superpowers (only one character is an exception). It immediately captivates and they really want to empathize. However, some characters look very much like their other colleagues in the workshop. For example, Dan Dreiberg aka Night Owl is practically a copy of Wayne, that is Batman. Actually, these and other "similarities" were conceived by Moore from the very beginning. 

By the time the novel begins, the superheroes no longer protect the city as a single team - it has disintegrated due to a number of reasons, which you will learn about directly in the work itself. Everyone lives their own lives until they find the corpse of one of them. This is the catalyst for the whole story. Alan Moore did a great job on the plot, every character is revealed. Of course, Rorschach, a man with a difficult fate, will become a favourite of many. This novel is definitely not intended for children and "18+" make themselves felt. Sometimes brutally, sometimes openly, but very sincerely and not fake.

Structurally, the novel is a traditional illustration with text. The illustrations are made at an amazing level. amazing drawing of details. But sometimes such a classical structure is interrupted by the usual text, which complements the story and reveals the characters more, but, as for me, is not particularly needed. So, there are various newspaper sketches, excerpts from the autobiography of a member from the old composition of the Keepers, and so on. It's curious, but it didn't give me anything, either in terms of the disclosure of the plot, or in the emotional component. There is also a story within a story in the novel. We are shown a young man who reads a comic about pirates. The story told in this fictional comic is no less dramatic and cruel than in the main storyline. At the end of the chapter, some kind of quote is given that perfectly fits this particular chapter.

The book contains a lot of references to both American and world culture. Many things, of course, will be noticed by an attentive reader himself, but something will really be difficult to understand. To do this, at the end of the novel there is a commentary on the chapters, motives and details that could have been overlooked.

I did not regret reading this work. Alan Moore discusses the topic of good and evil, the uniqueness of each individual, his place in the universe, choice and much, much more. In general, in my library, the "Watchmen" feel quite comfortable in the company of works by Dostoevsky, Kaverin, Bulgakov, King and others.