The Novel~Tea Book Club discussion
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December 2009: Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons
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Great movie! I have read the graphic novel but I didn't feel it until the movie! I am excited to hear what others say about it.
Have read other graphic novels but never this one - am really looking forward to it.
OK...here is a pep talk to anyone struggling with this book. I am talking strategy and tactics here. When I was at University and had anything I couldn't get through on my book list I would often skip chapters and move to something different. The bonus with Moore's book is that he has several chapters in 'writen' format rather than in comic format. The first character Rorschach isn't such a nice guy but you may find that if you work on some other chapters you can read his bit out of sequence and it will be easier.
Just don't give up or I won't have anyone to chat to about this book.
I found this a little hard to get into since I have never read a graphic novel. I enjoyed the just text chapters also. It help to keep my interest.I honestly enjoyed the movie more however, I think if I would have watched the movie first then read the book it would have been easier to understand and I may have enjoyed it a little more.
It took me awhile to undersand what the smiley face was about. Once I did, I understood the book better.
Did anyone else have difficulty getting into it?
I struggled a bit - but having a look on wikipedia about this and some of the symbology helped more. Wish Laurie played more of a significant role - but that is my criticism of this and the comic book genre: very few non-objectified female characters.Found the doomsday clock thing intriguing and the implication that Nixon might have been involved somehow in JFK's assasination.
The artwork and colouring seem a bit dated but it wasn't done recently and it is easier to build and innovate based on what exists (and this was the first) than to create it.
I found this graphic novel interesting, but somewhat lacking. It seemed to have all the right elements (superpowers, drama, history, and inner/outer conflicts), but it still felt flat to me. The graphics were well done, but the colour was very dull and depressing. The female characters were terribly composed and very dissapointing. All this said, however, I did enjoy the non-linear style and the symbolism. It is a good, not great, graphic novel that is worth reading.
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Watchmen (1986)
by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons
Our book group was divided on the graphic novel: Watchmen. Half of us enjoyed Watchmen and the other half was unable to finish the book.
Those of us that did enjoy Watchmen found that it was a dark story with well drawn characters and an interesting non-linear story line. The graphic novel Watchmen was completely different from what we are used to reading and as such, a breath of fresh air to our literary experience. Of particular interest was the character of Rorschach and his inner/outer struggles, which made for fascinating reading.
The rest of our group found Watchmen literally unreadable. The non-linear style was confusing, the graphics distracting, and the colouring was very dull. The story was depressing and at times even mind-numbing.
We all agreed that it would have been interesting to learn more about the female characters within the story, which were unfortunately type-cast to an extreme.
Our rating: 3/5 stars.
Synopsis: This stunning graphic novel chronicles the fall from grace of a group of super heroes plagued by all too human failings. The concept of the super hero is dissected and inverted as strangely realistic characters are stalked by an unknown assassin. Originally published as a 12-issue series in 1986 and 1987, WATCHMEN remains one of DC Comics' most popular graphic novels.
Awards: Hugo Award for Other Forms (1988) and Locus Award (1988)