“Watchmen” by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons

Here’s another ground breaking comic book, the authors use the format to show the story and stuff behind the story. Literally nothing is an accident here. Fun fact: Chapter V “Fearful Symmetry” is symmetrical (check p.14-15). There’s a lot here, so I’m going to be bouncing around and looking at different aspects of the story that I found interesting.

It’s written in a way where we’re bouncing from one perspective to another, through time and flashbacks, even through Rorschach’s journal and random snippets of books and newspapers at the end of the chapters. Which can be disorienting, but I didn’t have too much of a problem with it since it’s pretty clear who’s talking when. It’s just putting it together that can be difficult.

A special case is a comic book that a kid’s reading. It’s presented in parallel to the novel and about a guy shipwrecked that then rides back to his town on the backs of his dead shipmates and goes wacko. It’s cleverly used to reflect the story.

Other stories of minor characters are also present and tie in, like the psychologist or the couple by the newspaper stand. Also, the recurring Hiroshima lovers that foreshadow the ending.

What’s really fascinating about this way of narrating is that this is how Dr. Manhattan perceives time. Not from all of these different perspectives, but the bouncing from past to future to present sure. The way the other characters see time is also screwed, they’re all old, more parodies of superheroes than anything else. And they aren’t super, just good at kicking butt. Most of them are living in the past.

To take a closer look at the characters, Dr. Manhattan is basically a god among men. He’s altering atoms, seeing time all together, teleporting, he essentially is god. He wants to help man, but grows tired of it eventually since we are so clearly lost.

Rorschach wears a mask that is a Rorschach blot, always changing. Showing how he thinks that life is random and the only meaning is what we impose on it. He believes in fighting for what’s right, but still thinks that it’s all pointless in the end.

The Comedian is an amoral adventurer who sees the truth about the world and doesn’t really care. He knows that it sucks but has 0 desire to make it better and just keeps on keeping on.

Names are also central to this story. Superheroes have their real name, their super name, their nicknames, it’s impossible to keep it all straight! They’re all living with different identities and personalities, testing their limits. One goes mad, others die, how can these humans keep it up?

Of course, the title comes from the phrase: “Who watches the watchmen?”

Watchmen are never named as a crime fighting group, but this quote and concept are central. The story starts with people wanting the masked adventurers to step down, deciding that they want only the police to take care of it. Since they don’t trust the superheroes anymore (the “watchmen” in this case) they want a body that they trust (the police) to take care of crime fighting.

Later on, Ozymandias’ plan goes unchecked, until the Nite Owl and Rorschach find out. But even then, it’s decided that it has to be kept under wraps in order to preserve the peace. How do we know that peacekeepers are following the same rules they hold everyone to?

At the end, we find out that Ozymandias wanted to unite the world, comparing himself to Alexander the Great. But Dr. Manhattan reminds him that nothing lasts forever, in the end, it will just go back to how it’s always been.

The arms race is also very present here, there’s a statement about the atomic clock being close to midnight at some point, and indeed every chapter has a clock that ticks down from 11 to 12. Spoiler alert: 12 is the end.

Then the story ends ambiguously, Ozymindias’ plan could go swimmingly, or Rorschach’s journal could go public.