Who Watches the Watchmen?

I love superheroes. Batman is my favorite. I like that he is an ordinary (albeit wealthy) man who seeks revenge over his parents death. I am not that keen on Superman. He is an alien. I think that is hard to relate to.

I have decided to start reading comics. I never read comics before, except the occasional Archie. I figured that I would begin my journey with one of the best: Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons.

Did you see the movie? Well I am sure that you would guess that the book is better. (Side note: Is there any movies that are better than the books? Discuss.) It is amazing the things that they can do in the comic as opposed to the movie. They have nine panels (generally) per page to tell the story. They juxtaposition two separate scenes perfectly. They can even show something while someone somewhere else is talking over.

Do we need an example? In the book there is two minor characters, a boy reading a comic and a man who sells newspapers. In panel 1 you see what the boy is reading and the man is talking over it. The next is opposite. What the man is talking about and what the boy is reading about parallels each other, rather disturbingly.

Superheroes. I like that "normal" people see some injustice and they go out to right it. In Watchmen, they are all "normal" people besides Dr. Manhattan. I wish that I could do what they do. Every time I try to get justice, I get fucked. I try to do the right thing, but, as they say, nice guys finish last. It's the truest cliche I know.

------SPOILER ALERT!!--------

Near the end of the book Adrian says "What does fighting crime mean, exactly? Does it mean upholding the law when a woman shoplifts to feed her children, or does it mean struggling to uncover the ones who, quite legally, have brought about her poverty?" I think this pretty much sums up the book and maybe life? This is why Adrian decides that it is worth three million lives to save the rest of the world. Was he wrong? Would you or I do the same, with the same power and resources?

It helps me understand different points of view. Lets take abortion. I strongly believe that the woman should have the right to choose what happens to her own body. I am 100% primarily concerned about the woman. It is easy to say that Pro-Lifers are the enemy and that they are wrong. But, if we look at their point of view, they believe that abortion is murder. It is a moral issue. If I saw something that I felt was immoral, I too would fight it. (Granted I wouldn't go bombing clinics.) But you see what I mean? Actually, if we put the clinic bombings into the mix, is it that big of jump to relate them to Adrian?

The last thing I want to talk about is the end. At the end, everyone is united against a common enemy. I want compare that to 9/11. Not the attacks, but to the nation during the following months. Everyone put aside their differences and became Americans. Our country was truly united states. We were united against a common enemy and the outpouring of patriotism was overwhelming. Have you ever seen so many flags as you did during those months? I haven't.