Weekly Comic Review: Watchmen

[MockBot]

Automatically generated comment thread for Weekly Comic Review: Watchmen.

[executioneer]

walter kovacs is the baddest dude ever

[Hurude]

Hands down the best comic book ever, no question.

[thephantomgent]

i was always of the opinion that if there were two comics that should never be desecrated by being made into movies they would have to be watchmen and the spirit.
sigh, it's fearful times i live in now...

[Tetsu Deinonychus]

"Who watches the Watchmen?"

Watchmen is an amazing story, and a great example of just what a comic book can be.

The only other comic that I've read on this level (which I highly recommend) is the manga "Buddha" by Osamu Tezuka.

Anyway, I am not looking forward to the Watchmen movie. As everyone has said, the story is so thoroughly designed to take advantage of being a comic that there's no way a film could come close to being a decent adaptation.

A 12-24 episode animated series would be close, but still not the same (it still wouldn't have the 'articles' that fleshed things out).

I do have a question, though. What does the "Absolute Edition" have that the regular paper-back doesn't?

Also, did anyone know this was on Time magazine's 100 best novels list?

OK, I'll shut up, now.

[D-MoN]

Hey Prot, calling Liefeld an asshat is like saying Nickelback is fucking boring. I'm intreagued by Watchmen but mentioning the dreaded L name now has me laughing. Youngblood... the fuck were people thinking?

[BakaGaijin]

The screenshots of the movie look good, and I'm sure they'll stick to the plot (mostly), but a lot will be left out. If they keep the ending of the comic, use some nifty CGI for Dr. Manahattan, throw in as many visual easter-eggs as the comic does, and at least capture the themes; it could be enjoyable. Shit, The Incredibles was pretty damn close to the themes of Watchmen and that was a 90 min kids flick. It's possible, but no matter how good it is, fanboys will always find something to bitch about.

I also want to know if the "Absolute Edition" is really worth it. I have the trade paper-back, so I really can't justify blowing $100 on what I already have.

[rizzo]

Yeah, what's the difference between the Absolute Edition and the TPB that I already have? Is it hardcover and greatly better paper stock or something? I never could figure that out, so I just go with the cheaper TPB's.

[Mac Brookman]

This one is sadly still on my "to read" list, but at the very top as this is one of the few comics I just have to read as a non-comic fan.

[captain516]

the costumes from the movie look good (except of course, for Adrian's), which is a good sign. Hollywood has a history of F*cking up Moore's books (V for vendetta and League of Extraordinary gentlemen, which I liked, but were nothing like the books), so I'm still holding my breath.

[DaJoker]

Great read, took me a long time too getting around to reading it but when I did i couldn't put it down. Allan Moore is a certifiably insane genius.

[BurntToShreds]

The first time I actually read WatchmenI had checked it out from thelibrary. That really shows that this book is truly a work of literature. I can't wait to see the day that high-school English classes pick this up for their lesson plan.

[IHeartApathy]

I remember reading that Gerard Butler is going to be narrating a "Black Freighter" cartoon for this film. I doubt it'll be in the movie, but it will probably show up on the dvd.

[Purple Man]

You can read that comic a thousand times and still find something new each time. That's brilliance.

[Doctor_Who]

A couple hundred years from now Watchman will be as famous as Hamlet, I have no doubt. It's just that good.

Also, I can't believe you started your review with the phrase "In an alternate 1985" and yet resisted the temptation to make a joke about Biff Tannen.

[elementalblazer]

I was just reading the Watchmen in the Library just before I read this and they have the absolute Edition .

[Protoclown]

For everyone who asked what the difference is between the Absolute Edition and the normal trade paperback, to be honest there's not a lot of new content. There are some script excerpts in the back, several interesting pages of notes about the character creation from Alan Moore and some preliminary character designs from Dave Gibbons. Nothing to justify the price. The main appeal of the Absolute Edition is that it's presented in an over-sized format and they improved a lot of the coloring. It doesn't look computer colored like a lot of newer books, and many of the changes are subtle, but if you compare pages between both versions you will definitely see a vast improvement on the Absolute Edition. I think it's worth it because I'm a hardcore comic fan, and the best books deserve the best treatment. Casual readers would certainly be happy enough with the normal trade though.

D-Mon: If my mentioning Rob Liefeld's name distracted you, just pretend I mentioned someone else. I was merely invoking the name of a crap artist to contrast to Gibbons. If you haven't read Watchmen, you definitely should.

BakaGaijin: I'm willing to give the Watchmen movie a chance, but I'm not getting my hopes up. I actually enjoyed V For Vendetta, despite it being a dumbed down version of the book.

BurntToShreds: These days you can find quite a lot of comics in libraries, whether good or not, so that alone is not necessarily a mark of quality. I guess I'm saying just be wary of other things you might see in the library. And there are college courses that teach Watchmen.

IHeartApathy: See, that concerns me. I heard they were going to do an animated Black Freighter short film that would be an extra on the DVD. It's such an important part of the story though that I wonder how the movie will suffer from its absence.

Doctor_Who: That's a damn good point about the Biff Tannen joke. I really dropped the ball there, didn't I?

[Nick]

Man, I hope the movie doesn't suck.

[Tetsu Deinonychus]

I'm kinda glad I got the regular edition then, because I don't care much for "over-sized format". If a book is too big it makes in uncomfortable to hold.

On the other hand, all the "behind the scenes" stuff does sound really cool.

I don't have my hopes up about the movie, but lately I've been thinking that I am pretty curious as to what the characters look like in live-action. I hope they keep the costume design similar to the original.

[Relaxing Dragon]

I love Watchmen, it's my favorite comic by Moore. It's all been said here what's so great about it, from the interesting characters to the compelling story to the symbolism, symbolism, and more symbolism (Moore seems to love it. Or, depending on who you talk to, he doesn't and people are just seeing more than there is to see. That would be my friend's perspective, at least). Gotta love Rorschach (even if it did take me two read-throughs to understand how to pronounce his name. His sense of humor is also a bit strange, but I love it), the Nite Owl's good too, both of them (I shed a tear at the- well, don't want to spoil that. Once you've read it, you'll know what I'm talking about), and I really dig The Comedian (his Vietnam scenes are all classic parts of the book).

Interestingly enough, I think I liked the little book segments and psyche evaluation and what not between the comics more than the comics themselves (well, it varies from read-through to read-through). I really love how Moore went all out on this world, and I would buy a copy of Under the Hood in a heartbeat.

And then there's the movie. I did get a fair amount of enjoyment out of LXG, and I really love V for Vendetta (sure, it's pretty dumbed down in some aspects, like it was pointed out, but it's still a really good movie), but I'm really nervous about Watchmen. There simpl is too much there to present onscreen. The early costume designs look pretty good, though, so that's something (oh, and Protoclown, Snyder said in an interview that he wanted to include The Black Freighter, but it would only be in there in such a way that it could be removed and put on the DVD if need be. At least, I think that's what he said; there's a link on Wiki). Oh well, just crossing my fingers now and hoping for the best.

[BakaGaijin]

I had to re-read it this weekend. After a re-read, I can't really say if it'll make a good movie or not. If they stick to the story, I think "non-fans" might find the ending a little improbable in test screenings and the studio might force a more Hollywood ending. If so, it'll suck. Also, the Black Freighter will be difficult to incorporate, which is a shame because of its importance. And, lastly, the comic has more flashbacks and past references than 6 back-to-back Family Guy episodes. That will surely be hard to pull off. If they do it, I'll be pleased... even if it's lacking in some of the detail. I'm not getting my hopes up about this either. (PS - I like V for Vendetta the movie too. League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and From Hell both sucked as movies, though).

[Butters]

Great comic.

I was sort of iffy about the Black Freighter parts though. When I was reading through, I was intrigued by the characters and the mystery, but then would get sidetracked and annoyed when they cut to the Black Freighter. I suppose it was meant to relate to the story of one of the characters, but I didn't really dig it.

[Guitar Woman]

First half was great, second half wasn't.

Still worth reading, though!