Alan Moore
1986-87
Around 420 pages
And now for something completely different! We have our first and only graphic novel on the List, which is not a medium that I know anything about, and truthfully, don't care about in the slightest. But this was a good pick if we have to represent books with pictures, and is more fun than anything Sebald ever came up with.
New York City detectives are investigating the murder of Edward Blake. With the police being as useless as this genre requires, costumed vigilante Rorschach decides to investigate. Rorschach deduces Blake to have been the true identity of The Comedian, a costumed hero employed by the U.S. government, after finding his costume and signature smiley-face pin badge. Rorschach believes he has discovered a plot to terminate costumed adventurers and sets about warning four of his retired colleagues.
So this felt way too long, but I understand that it is a serialized work, and not meant to be binged. I don't really enjoy superhero works. I hate it when they are quippy and have zero stakes, and I hate when they take themselves really seriously when they are dressing up in silly costumes. This leaned on the more serious side, although we weren't quite in Joker territory thankfully.
I'm not the intended audience, but I'm sure this slaps for people who like comics. The only superhero I'll support is Buffy Summers.
RATING: ****-
Interesting Facts:
Interesting Facts:
On Time's List of the 100 Best Novels as one of the best English language novels published since 1923.
Watchmen was one of the two comic books, alongside Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, that inspired designer Vincent Connare when he created the Comic Sans font.
UP NEXT: Marya by Joyce Carol Oates
2 comments:
It is interesting reading graphic novels as I read comic books all through my childhood. I actually think I will check this out!
Not sure what I was expecting this to be before I read it, but this wasn't it. Really liked it though.
I thought it was interesting that for a lot of people Watchmen represents a powerful indictment of modern society & politics, and see it as taking some very clear positions on these subjects. And yet, reading about how it was written, it seems that it was actually not intended that way at all. An atmospheric piece of work creating oblique concepts becomes a blank canvas upon which people project their own opinions.
All of which has me wondering if the bible is on this list and, if it were, whom the author would be listed as.
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