WATCHMEN : It?s a different world out there, somewhat?

by Butch Maniego

I grew up reading comic books. That and those cartoons on endless repeats on the boob tube was how I learned to speak and talk call center English. And for most of my childhood, it was perfectly alright and in fact, considered good form to follow a few titles (and for some, more than a few) even though the dollar exchange rate soon turned this passion into a rather expensive hobby.

But when you reach the latter stages of high school and college, it was already considered kind of a ?geeky? pursuit?these small, colored books of about 32 or so pages?and thus reading and following them closely lost a lot of its luster. Which is why my love affair with the medium ended abruptly when the ?80s came and I was already neck-deep in college reading, ahem, real books.

Little did I know that these tiny, colored storybooks of my youth, some of which contained takes which were as complex as any of the classics that were considered prescribed reading, would transform itself in the space of a few years and become respectable with a new name?graphic novel.

Although the form?usually pictures which became part of the narrative element of the author instead of merely words? had been around in some form since the 19th century, it was not until the late 1970s with the publication of Will Eisner?s A Contract with God, and Other Tenement Stories that the format became established as a very legitimate literary form.

In its early days, these books were often published in a limited- series comic boom serial and should it meet with some success, soon becomes a single volume soft-cover book which is sold in upscale bookstores and specialty shops. And the ?80s saw the entry of the industry titans such as Marvel and DC into the fray which led to even more accessibility for these titles. One title, Maus, by Art Spigelman even won a Pulitzer Prize and later in the year, The Dark Knight?a very dark re-fashioning of the Batman mythos, by Frank Miller, was published.

And then a year later came Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons? landmark The Watchmen which has become the most acclaimed graphic novel ever published and became staple reading for the ?smart? set. Set in a world where the so-called ?doomsday? clock was perenially set at five minutes to midnight, the stylish tale follows the story of a group of costumed crimefighters, who I hesitate to call superheroes because the truth is that only one of them, Dr. Manhattan, possesses special powers.

In the world of The Watchmen, these self-styled but outlawed heroes who are as humanly flawed as they come, need to stick together when someone murders ?The Comedian,? and Rorshach, whose face is just a puzzle of dots, is convinced that they will soon be exterminated one by one.

Throughout the book, in which the illustrations really captivate one?s attention and bring you into the dark and seedy world, back stories are told and complex inter-relationships revealed. There are also a pair of mini-stories within the narrative Tales of the Black Freighter and the Hollis Mason autobiography Under the Hood that detailed the formation of the Minutemen back in the ?40s.

Love, friendship, camaraderie, confusion, betrayal and all the other ingredients that are tools of the trade of the literary geniuses of the past are on full display, and even more so since not only do you have to imagine what is happening, the graphic nature of the illustrations lay them bare for you. As to whether or not this is actually preferrable is a matter of taste.

The title had been in development for many years but finally, Zack Snyder was able to fashion a two-hour, 40-plus-minute version of the epic which while not likely to become the monster box-office success, should be successful in introducing even more people to the still-evolving graphic novel format.

The Watchmen will no doubt be watched by a whole lot more people than will ever pick up its source material.