Customer Reviews
Read it before the movie comes out! - By: The Kinniburgh Kid, 01 Sep 2008 
This is a great book.
Forget the comic book format; this is very good, imaginative, intelligent story telling with real depth & complexity.
The movie will no doubt be stunning, but read this before you see it.
ONE FOR THE AGES - By: Mrs. K. J. Phelps, 30 Aug 2008 Anyone who knows me knows that I am a slow reader as i have quite little patience, so when I bought watchmen I figured it would take me some weeks to finish but no i finished it within 2 days this is due to the captivating charaters & amazing twists & turns, brilliant writing & amazing images. cannot wait for the moviein 2009 THIS IS ONE TO BUY!!!!
An alternate world as convincing as any - By: Paul Kirby, 19 Aug 2008 
Inevitably over-rated after all that has been said & written about it, & about Alan Moore, this remains a necessary touchstone for anyone interestedin the overlap between traditional fiction & graphic novels (ok, comics). Not quite as compelling as From Hellin its attempt at the serious, this is richly peopled & paints an alternate world as convincing as any, & occassionally more convincing that the one we're actually stuck with. If you're interestedin where & why the imperfect, even damaged, super-heros that now pop everywhere came from, this is as good a place as any to start.
Outstanding, a gripping read - By: brainleek007, 14 Aug 2008 Watchmen rocks, big time.
I've only recently started reading graphic novels & what a place to start!!
Watchmen is written for a more mature audience & reflects more of the real worldin its grittiness & atmosphere. There is no happy ending, none of the heroes, bar one (who is almost a god I suppose), have special powers other than being at the peak of human developmentin certain areas. Some are great athletes, some are very smart - some are both & most are pretty handyin a scrap.
The story starts with Rorschach investigating the murder of a man, Robert Blake,in the process of which Rorschach learns was a superhero called The Comedian. The plot revolves around Rorschach's deepening investigation & uncovering a plot which whilst horrendous may actually be the lesser of two evils - that's for the reader to decide.
The charactersin the book are clear cut (and some not necessarily after a reader's affection as most superheroes are), take for instance Rorschach who had an abusive mother & a rough upringing & has grown into a man who is utterly uncompromisingin his use of violence. He will do pretty much anything to anyone who prevents him reaching his goals. He's a true anti-hero. The story is filled with characters like this, some are almost Nazi's, others lean towards more traditional superhero values & it's interesting to see how the plot develops with this mix of characters who are all there to try & 'help' humanity.
The setting of the story isin an alternate 1985 where Richard Nixon is still president & the world is heading towards a nuclear holocaust. It's dark, gloomy, depressing & very atmospheric.
The artwork is fantastic too. There's a limited colour palette used which lends a unique look to proceedings. To me it looks like a traditional comic, which is no bad thing, as opposed to some comics which look like watercolour drawings.
It's difficult to carry on without revealing the plot but I found myself reading quickly just to find out what was going to happen. I'm reading it again already to see what I missed!
The ending is not what I expected. I was still expecting loosed ends to be tied up neatly, this is a comic book after all!! But, no, there is no such neatness provided & the last few pages leave things open & also show the death of a major character. The ending is brilliant actually.
The story deals with serious issues & is philosophical, thoughtful & emotionally deep. It's easy to see now why it was so revolutionaryin its genre.
Essential *****
I think I liked it... - By: S. Dawson, 11 Aug 2008 
I have to be honest & say I am not a big reader of graphic novels, & the last one I read by Alan Moore ('From Hell') I really didn't like. This time I'm a little conflicted, I didn't exactly love the story but I was taken with the idea of it being an alternative version of history with a different take on the whole superhero mythos. There was a lot going on & at times I did get a little lost (particularly with Veidt's explanation for everything) & occasionally distracted by the comic-within-a-comic plot (which I sort of preferred to the main story). I'm glad I read it though as it's nice to read something different for a change.
