Watchmen in On Reading Graphic Novels

Sep 28, 2007 Rindis rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: do-not-own

I heard of it when it came out of course. And a copy was loaned to the household a few years ago. My roommates throughly enjoyed it (I think at least one had read it before, it had just been years).

I puttered around with it in spurts and eventually got about halfway through before putting it down due to ennui.

The story doesn't really grab me, and there wasn't a single character I cared about. Right now, I can barely remember anything about it at all. I can't even remember what I thought of the a ...more

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Aug 23, 2007 Belinda rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: braincandy, intrigue, graphic-comics

I struggled with the rating on this one. If I was rating it purely by how much I liked it, it might have been a smidge lower. But what makes this one "amazing" is the incredibly painstaking layering of detail over detail over detail, along with the dovetailing of several stories at once. It's beautiful in the way that it's crafted.

My interest was piqued when Time Magazine added this to its list of the "Top 100 Novels." I doubt that it would make my personal top 100 list, but if I were forced to ...more

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Jul 23, 2007 Jace rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: comics

With a Watchmen movie on the horizon, I thought I would give this book another read. I'm having a difficult time imagining what type of movie this will make, especially considering that it contains maybe only 5 typical superhero action scenes in its over 400 pages. I can only conclude that Watchmen will make a terrible superhero movie because it's not actually a superhero comic. Watchmen is a commentary on Cold War hostilities--it's merely a coincidence that the main players happen to wear color ...more

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Nov 25, 2007 Alexander rated it really liked it · review of another edition

People speak of this book with too much reverence, I think---it's good, and perhaps I'll revise my opinion later, but I found it often a bit thick to get through, and too manic or hokey at times--like I could hear an old-fashioned silent film soundtrack vamping in my head but too much. I do think the structure of the thing is amazing, that much is true. But I found the dramatics of the story overheated---I didn't believe the characters, much of the time. As new work appears, it seems less striki ...more

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Jul 03, 2007 Synchro rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: must-read, graphic_novel, mature-reader, personal-favorites

This is an amazing piece of fiction. Every time i read it I see some new thing or gain a new insights. Must read even if you are not a comic book fan.

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