Why do fans love 'Watchmen'? Because it's just plain cool
"Watchmen" is everywhere. TV commercials. On the covers of magazines. And in news headlines. Action figures of its superhero characters have sold out minutes after hitting stores. Unless you are among the legion of fans who consider "Watchmen" a major milestone in comic history, all of this buzz might seem confusing.
Fans have embraced the 12-part comic-book series by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, released in 1986 and 1987 by DC Comics, because of its character development, artwork, maturity and storytelling. And it's just plain cool. It's a mandatory part of their collections. It is such a complex work that fans have had to wait years for a movie version of the tale that confronts deep societal questions.
Praise goes beyond the comic world. In 2005, "Watchmen" was named by Time magazine as one of the top 100 English-language novels released since 1923.
A comic book joined the likes of "1984," by George Orwell; "The Lord of the Rings," by J.R.R. Tolkien; "Gone With the Wind," by Margaret Mitchell; "The Sun Also Rises," by Ernest Hemingway; "Slaughterhouse-Five," by Kurt Vonnegut; and "The Grapes of Wrath," by John Steinbeck.
If you're not a fan of comic books, you probably wonder why it was on the list, which was compiled by Time magazine's critics Lev Grossman and Richard Lacayo.
Grossman wrote that "Watchmen" is "a heart-pounding, heartbreaking read and a watershed in the evolution of a young medium."
And on Friday, "Watchmen" hit movie theaters.
So, for those of you who know little to nothing about "Watchmen," here's a little background to help you understand.
Q: What is "Watchmen"?
A: "Watchmen" tells the story of a group of superheroes trying to solve the mystery of who is killing the members of its crime-fighting group. This story unfolds in the mid-'80s against a backdrop of the Cold War. These are not your traditional superheroes, such as Superman. Moore and Gibbons asked comic-book readers to consider the following: What happens when superheroes are as mentally unstable as the people they are hunting?
One of the most jolting sequences in "Watchmen" comes when the superhero known as the Comedian confronts a Vietnamese woman he has gotten pregnant. His solution to the problem is to gun down the woman and her unborn baby. He's not a nice guy through-and-through.
There also are incidents of rape, child mutilation and murder involving the supposed "good guys." It all leads to one question: How far can a person go when the actions are done in the name of doing good?
Q: Why is "Watchmen" different?
A: "Watchmen" attacked the very foundation of the comic-book universe. Ever since the late '30s, fans of comic books have accepted one premise: Vigilantes can be tolerated as long as they are working for the common good.
DC Comics, the grandfather of the superhero genre, showed that whether it was a superpowered visitor from another planet (Superman) or a billionaire (Batman) with a cave full of cool gadgets underneath his playboy mansion, comic-book readers embraced their crime-fighting antics.
Marvel Comics adopted the same approach. Its heroes, such as Spider-Man, were given a few more foibles and flaws. At the heart, they were still a vigilante force decked out in colorful Spandex.
No one questioned the fact the heroes worked outside the law.
Then Moore and Gibbons took a left turn in that thinking with "Watchmen." The lines between good and evil weren't as much blurred as entangled. Those who set themselves up as defenders of the helpless had no problem brutally turning on the weak. The effort to find justice often got twisted by the delusions of a mind on the verge of madness. Each of those changes was a complete reversal of the previously accepted world of superheroes.
Gibbons suggests that "Watchmen's" blistering commentary about those who set themselves up as leaders comes from his British upbringing.
"There is something about the Brits -- that is, we have a slightly disrespectful air toward authority. There is something about the superhero that could occasionally seem to be pompous," Gibbons said a couple weeks ago when he and others connected with the film were talking with movie critics.
Gareb Shamus, publisher of Wizard Entertainment, a leading monitor of the comic-book world, is one of the rabid fans of "Watchmen." His passion for the work is so deep he owns the cover art for each of the 12 comic books.
Shamus said "Watchmen" is important in comic-book history because it was more than a superhero comic book. It showed the familiar genre in a new light: Good guys could have serious, even repugnant, flaws.
" 'Watchmen' became absolutely one of the most influential books to hit comic books when it was released in 1986. It became an instant classic. You can't get into this industry without owning and reading the book," Shamus says.
Q: Is it just rabid comic readers who love "Watchmen"?
A: "Watchmen" has won the comic- book industry's top honors. It picked up three Jack Kirby Awards for excellence in comics in 1987. The next year, it claimed three Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, another salute to comic-book excellence.
Praise for "Watchmen" has not been limited to the comic-book world. It also picked up a special-achievement Hugo, an award for the best in science fiction, in 1988. It is the only graphic novel to win a Hugo.
Q: Did "Watchmen" destroy the superhero comic-book genre?
A: Gibbons suggests it is just the opposite. He says that both he and Moore have a deep love of the traditional comic-book superhero. That was the only way they could make an intellectual assault on the format.
"If we had been simply cynically dismissive about them, or sarcastic about them, then the book would have not been the same. It would have had a nasty atmosphere to it," Gibbons says. "I would like to think that although we deal with some very grim things, it shows our love and concern for the genre."
Gibbons calls the approach he and Moore took to creating "Watchmen" as a "weird mutation" of the superhero comic form. Their creation caught the attention of the comic world. Many other comics began to take darker and more realistic approaches to the genre. Such superhero stalwarts as Batman and Daredevil were just a few of the comic-book characters to become involved in more grim and gritty stories.
Q: Why hasn't "Watchmen" been made into a film until now?
A: The complexity that earned "Watchmen" so much praise became a curse for those who tried to adapt it into a feature film. Many considered it to be impossible to adapt to film because of the tone, subject matter and complicated plot structure.
Director Zack Snyder finally has accomplished what many thought was impossible.
Snyder, who previously turned Frank Miller's "300" into a successful feature film, calls the printed version of "Watchmen"
"an intellectual, visceral experience."
He knew any effort to water down "Watchmen" would not be acceptable to the legions of fans who revere the work. Snyder had to fight to be able to make his version R-rated instead of the PG-13 rating the studio wanted.
Q: How did "Watchmen" finally get made?
A: Seven scripts were written. All failed to capture the complexity of the work. The solution was to go back and be as loyal as possible to the source material. "Watchmen" screenwriter Alex Tse was such an admirer of "Watchmen" that he now admits he would have been willing to work on the script for free. Tse and David Hayter worked to bring "Watchmen" from printed form to the screen.
"It is complex and literate. There is a lot to it," Hayter says. "What has become clear is that everyone involved in making the film were huge fans of the original work. It is rare when you get all of these artistic egos coming together to serve a story that is already architecturally perfect."
This story was originally published March 9, 2009 at 9:01 PM with the headline "Why do fans love 'Watchmen'? Because it's just plain cool."