Friday, October 1, 2010

Watchmen - Alan Moore

Watchmen
Watchmen - Alan Moore
Paperback / 408 pages
Published 2005


Goodreads Summary:  It all begins with the paranoid delusions of a half-insane hero called Rorschach. But is Rorschach really insane or has he in fact uncovered a plot to murder super-heroes and, even worse, millions of innocent civilians? On the run from the law, Rorschach reunites with his former teammates in a desperate attempt to save the world and their lives, but what they uncover will shock them to their very core and change the face of the planet! Following two generations of masked superheroes from the close of World War II to the icy shadow of the Cold War comes this groundbreaking comic story -- the story of The Watchmen.

This was my first comic novel, and it was much better than I had expected.  I am not big into superheros or any of that stuff, but I had heard so much hype about this book I figured that I would give it a shot.  

Honestly, for the first 100 pages I was lost.  I didn't really understand what was going on, but I also found it hard to follow.  I am so used to reading novels, and comic novels are so different.  Instead of getting a lot of descriptions, in a comic novel you get all of the pictures.  I felt like that slowed me down a lot because I had to keep reading the blurbs, and then looking at the picture, and then going back to the blurb again because my ADD got the best of me.  

After about 100 pages, I think I started to get the hang of it.  I received this comment from Man of La Book, and it really hit home about a quarter of the way through.  He said "Graphic novles are a medium to tell a story. Like everything else, some are great (Kingdom Come, Sandman) some...not so much."  Once I looked at it like that and realized that Alan Moore is just using the pictures and what not to tell me the story, I think it was a little easier to get through.




I still don't think I got everything that was happening, and I'm sure there is a lot that I missed.  I really enjoyed the parts with Dr. Manhattan and Laurel Jupiter -- it was romantic and sweet.




While this wasn't my favorite book, I did enjoy the new experience.  I would recommend this book to anyone that has never read a comic novel, just for the experience, and for anyone that does enjoy comic novels.  




3 stars.




Happy Reading



6 comments:

Laura Massey said...

This has been sitting on my bookshelf waiting for me to get to it for far too long. Good thing it's part of my current challenge! I'll actually get to read it!

Unknown said...

Laura -- That's funny -- It was on my shelf for the longest time, but I just wasn't sure I would like it, so I never picked it up. I'm glad that I did. Like I said, it was such a cool experience to read something like that. I really hope you enjoy it and I look forward to reading your blog post about it! :)

Heather said...

LOL, I really, really loved reading this review of a graphic novel by a non-graphic novel reader! And boy did you start out with a doozy! I read this one because it's kind of the Catcher in the Rye of Graphic Novels... almost EVERYONE has read it... so I figured, "Man, I'd better read it too."

And honestly... while interesting... it was not one of my favorites. The ideas in it were a little out there, not to mention out-dated.

I would have recommended a different starter for someone who has never read a Graphic Novel!! (Sandman is AMAZING... but often very graphic in its content... so if you don't like that kind of thing... beware)

I'm a new follower... and while I haven't reviewed any of the graphic novels I've read yet, I have read many, lol, so if you ever want to stop by and chat about them, please do!

Check out my Book Blogger Hop, Follow Friday and Giveaway HERE!!

Unknown said...

Heather - Thank you so much for stopping by. It is great to hear from someone that has read a lot of graphic novels, and see what they have to say. I'm glad it wasn't just me thinking that a lot of the plot was kind of far-fetched (even for fantasy). I will have to give Sandman a try -- after a break...

Happy Reading!
BrandiHeather

Anonymous said...

I haven't read the graphic novel but I did see the movie twice and I didn't fully get it all until the second time around. I can only imagine how difficult it was to get through in the beginning with the graphic novel. I think the concepts and ideas this story is trying to convey would be best dealt with in a novel as opposed to a graphic one or movie.

Unknown said...

@mcgriffmusings - It was really hard to get into!! I'm hoping that the movie is decent, because everyone keeps telling me to check that out since I've read the book. I will definitely let everyone know what I think!

Happy Reading, and thanks for stopping by!

brandiheather

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