re-reading the WATCHMEN thread

[Monstro]

what movie is better, Watchmen or V?

[goldust40]

"I pity the fool" who reads WATCHMEN the first time now, in 2009, because all the things that were special about it have been copied, reused, assimilated again and again in the past 22 years in comics have robbed it of its revolutionary power.

 

 

Its like reading ECs today for the first time. We have seen, read and heard so many of the plotlines in TV and movies already that you yawn at even the most gruesome or twisty ended stories.

 

Does WATCHMENs failure to remain so powerfully extraordinary 20 years later diminish it? Maybe. Maybe great art should always shock and surprise us. I was still blown away by Moores mastery of storytellling devices, plotting and characterization. And I was still let down by the ending...

 

Face it, "kids" - - Moore did his job so well you are now too spoiled by well-crafted comics to appreciate it!

 

Moore and Gibbons's attention to detail and nuance remains unsurpassed, in my opinion, regardless of Watchmen's breadth of influence over the years since its publication. It still rewards repeat readings (I read it every year). The series took chances in as much as it could be inaccessible and was often deliberately banal - I don't recall any other series that demanded that much from the reader, or took that much trouble over every panel. And I thought the ending was excellent.

 

As for E.C.s, obviously a lot of their plots have dated or passed into the realm of hokum, but a lot of them still play well, perhaps due to the dark humor or excellent art, or the fact that some of them are redolent of their era. It all depends on the reader...

[Aman619]

yes the ECs are beautiful comics, among the best ever created for their sheer high level of craft.

 

But when I finally read through all of them in the 80s, I was kinda bored and constantly waiting for "the great ones" And for an ending I couldnt see coming a mile away/ That was what I was getting at.

[nocutename]

Sure I re-read it, just like I am re-reading a thread about this same topic...

that was created a few weeks ago.

 

 

Search button,...

 

it's a good thing.

 

 

 

 

I would have replied but it was not titled correctly. Perhaps if the word watchmen was in the title it would have caugh my attention.

[goldust40]

yes the ECs are beautiful comics, among the best ever created for their sheer high level of craft.

 

But when I finally read through all of them in the 80s, I was kinda bored and constantly waiting for "the great ones" And for an ending I couldnt see coming a mile away/ That was what I was getting at.

 

I dunno, I was surprised once or twice.

[greggy]

yes the ECs are beautiful comics, among the best ever created for their sheer high level of craft.

 

But when I finally read through all of them in the 80s, I was kinda bored and constantly waiting for "the great ones" And for an ending I couldnt see coming a mile away/ That was what I was getting at.

 

I dunno, I was surprised once or twice.

You're slow though.

[JohnT]

Sure I re-read it, just like I am re-reading a thread about this same topic...

that was created a few weeks ago.

 

 

Search button,...

 

it's a good thing.

 

 

 

 

Not spending so much time here that such things cause you worry is also a good thing.

 

 

Funny post....and true.

[JohnT]

Sure I re-read it, just like I am re-reading a thread about this same topic...

that was created a few weeks ago.

 

 

Search button,...

 

it's a good thing.

 

 

 

 

Not spending so much time here that such things cause you worry is also a good thing.

 

 

It's all about having the proper board etiquette by showing a little props to

the person before you.

 

Or I don't know, maybe their question has been already answered in the other thread...

 

But what is really puzzling is - Why would anyone give a ratsass (like yourself)

that supposively doesn't "spend so much time here" to make a comment on my comment...

 

So basically feel free to STFU, or please remind me when you have something you want to post

about so I can make sure that I create several exact threads to make sure yours gets ignored too.

 

Have a nice day!

 

 

 

[goldust40]

yes the ECs are beautiful comics, among the best ever created for their sheer high level of craft.

 

But when I finally read through all of them in the 80s, I was kinda bored and constantly waiting for "the great ones" And for an ending I couldnt see coming a mile away/ That was what I was getting at.

 

I dunno, I was surprised once or twice.

You're slow though.

 

 

[JohnT]

It's interesting to hear the different opinions. I'm surprised that so many people think Watchmen was not as good as its reputation.

 

I read it for the first time about six months ago. I've mostly been out of the loop for the last couple of decades, since I haven't bought a new comic or graphic novel since the 80's. But I heard so many people call it the best, or one of the best comics ever, I really wanted to experience it.

 

To my surprise, I didn't really warm up to it. The biggest disappointment was that it really wasn't very profound. It was just about some bad guy who decides he's going to kill a bunch of people in a misguided attempt to cleanse humanity. I guess that's a decent storyline, but not amazing or profound.

 

I did like the concept of heros being regular, imperfect citizens, but their stories didn't capture my interest in the way that Peter Parker's humanness captures my interest. I guess I didn't really like them that much, and their attempt to be heroes weren't explored in any depth.

 

I too found the book hard to follow, and I repeatedly had to backtrack to figure out who was who. That got irritating.

 

And yes, the ending was a letdown.

 

Finally, I think a classic comic has to have jawdroppingly great art. And Watchmen didn't have that.

 

Despite all of my complaints, I recognize that it was a good story well told. Just not what I was hoping for, I guess.

[rodan57]

I did like the concept of heros being regular, imperfect citizens, but their stories didn't capture my interest in the way that Peter Parker's humanness captures my interest. I guess I didn't really like them that much, and their attempt to be heroes weren't explored in any depth. .... Despite all of my complaints, I recognize that it was a good story well told. Just not what I was hoping for, I guess.

 

I was sort of thinking the same thing about Peter Parker. I am rereading the Watchmen and I also have a copy of ASM #42 sitting on a table nearby. I reread the Spider-Man as a break between Watchman issues. That Spider-Man book is a very fine read... "Face it, tiger... You've just hit the jackpot!"

[BaltimoreLauren]

I read it in December to refresh my memory, and then a week ago so it would still be fresh in my mind.

[Bonds25]

I read it when it came out, and didn't remember anything about it. I just re-read the entire series, and was highly impressed. Definitely one of the best comics I've ever read.

[Jeffro.]

Has anybody actually re-read the Watchmen recently?

 

I'm reading it for the first time right now. And I was around collecting when the minis series was released. I just haven't read it until now.

[Comicopolis]

I need to read it again - wish I had the time!

 

All the long posts on these boards eat up some much reading time!

[VintageComics]

Has anybody actually re-read the Watchmen recently?

 

I'm reading it for the first time right now. And I was around collecting when the minis series was released. I just haven't read it until now.

 

I read it about 3 months ago for the first time.

 

Going to reread it in the next week or so and see how it holds up against the movie as it was pretty complex and I don't remember all the little nuances.

[jools&jim]

Long story short: I got back into comics in the 1980s (or, more precisely, walked back inside a comic book store) because of Dark Knight, and then Watchmen, without really liking or enjoying either of them.

 

The Dark Knight was ugly and brutal…just plain mean. And Watchmen, in serial installments at least, was borderline incomprehensible. (If you don’t believe me and have not read the series nor seen the movie, here’s a fun experiment to try: read the first chapter tonight, wait a month or two before reading the second chapter, and repeat six times.) And when I finally did read the whole thing all at once in trade paperback form, I thought the plot was silly, the politics naïve, and the relentless pessimism and nihilism wearying. So much for “dulce et utile”, eh?

 

I plan to re-read Watchmen again very soon. But my educated guess is that the first comic book for self-proclaimed comic book fetishists will seem a lot less bold (and a lot more turgid) than it once did, and that its stylistic innovations and artistic pretensions—having been annexed and then bludgeoned to death by legions of soulless and inferior imitators—will now simply annoy me. Worse yet is that, after Watchmen, et al., there were “graphic novels” and there were “comic books”. Which reminds me of something else I learned in the ‘80s:

 

“Sanitation expert and a maintenance engineer

Garbage man, a janitor and you my dear;

A real union flight attendant, my oh my

You ain't nothin' but a waitress in the sky…”

 

Ah, well…

 

I also can’t shake the feeling that any comic book which is now routinely taught in some college English Literature courses will quite likely be about as enjoyable as most of the boring and tedious college English Literature courses I took back in the ‘80s when I first read it. But in a roundabout way, I do have Watchmen to thank for my Lee and Kirby FF run (which I completed thanks to those newfound ‘80s comic book stores)…so maybe it wasn’t all bad.

 

And of course, we are still talking about it...