Watchmen at the Library

Time magazine, in the year 2005, compiled a list of what they believed to be the 'greatest' English language novels written since the year 1923. The only graphic novel, or a novel written in the format of a comic book, was Watchmen.

Watchmen is arguably the most critically acclaimed mainstream comic book/graphic novel of all time. Released in 1986 as a twelve issue miniseries, Watchmen was later compiled into a graphic novel format. The series was written by Alan Moore, with art by Dave Gibbons. The world of Watchmen is that of an Earth with masked superheroes, only one of which actually has super powers. The setting is rather dytopian, with the USA and the USSR poised on the edge of a nuclear holocaust.

Watchmen was one of several comics to come out in the mid/late 1980's that had a profound effect on the industry. Watchmen, and related comics such as the Dark Knight Returns, saw the world of super heroes more in shades of grey rather than black or white. This saw a rise in popularity of 'anti-heroes' such as Lobo, the Punisher, and Wolverine for much of the next few decades. Watchmen also paved the way for the explosive growth of the graphic novel. Indeed, the graphic novel format is so popular that most comics are written in six or twelve story arcs so that they can be easily republished in graphic novel format.

Finally, Watchmen was eventually adapted as a film, which was noted for its violence and graphic content. It was also noted for remaining very faithful to the comic.

The library has a copy of Watchmen. Please drop by to check it out if you are interested.

JWF