Why Watchmen is Truely Graphic Literature

It took me a lot longer than it should have to give Watchmen a read. I'd been hearing comic aficionados reference it as one of the pinnacles of comic writing for years, and even ignorantly expounded its virtues upon others when hearing the comic format come under attack. It was just last summer, though, that I finally decided to spend the money and finally give it a read; and what I saw blew me away.

I knew that I wanted to use mixed verbs in the above sentence, but I honestly couldn't decide which order to put them in.

You see, in terms of narrative, Watchmen is far deeper than your typical comic book, and is much more similar to a traditional novel. For one thing, it's not high in action. It's primarily a study on the psychological effects of vigilantism on its practitioners and the general public. For another thing, it lacks an easily identified hero. Sure, there are protagonists, and they happen to be (mostly former) masked crime fighters, but it's not purely a strong sense of justice that motivates their exploits. Watchmen makes no qualms about the fact that many in its cast took on this burden out of a desire to feel power over others; a grating sense of paranoia; desire for money or fame; and even a sense of sexual freedom. Watchmen's cast is adult. It is resonant, and honest, and refreshing, and it really makes you think about yourself.

If this wasn't enough to differentiate Watchmen from your typical comic fare, Watchmen also takes time to touch on the unimaginable ramifications of even a single "super being" coming into existence and the exceptional costs of true peace.

At the same time, Watchmen's visual aspect is far too powerful to ignore. It's not a work that would retain its full impact without its graphic component. There are portions of the book, for example, Walter Kovac's Rorschach test, where Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons juxtapose text and imagery in a way that invokes an intense response. The inclusion of the pirate comic that just wouldn't make sense in a purely textual format, and long, wordless passages that do as much to help us understand the characters and world better than any other possible method could also require that Watchmen be a graphic novel.

There's a Watchmen movie in production right now (I believe the picture I used is from its viral marketing campaign), and despite the incredibly promising nature, I don't think it will work. There's too much content in Watchmen and too many shifts in style to jam into a two, or even three hour movie; and there's not enough action to make it the type of special effects blockbuster that the general populous will expect from a comic book adaptation.

I feel that, if Watchmen is to be brought into cinema in any way, it needs to be in the form of a Band of Brothers style mini-series. Ideally, it could be 12 chapters, one for each original issue. It shouldn't need any storyboard beyond the comics, and it would need to incorporate material from the Pirate Comic and the between chapters material. It would need to remain adult (pretty much relegating it to HBO/Showtime, the only corporations that would touch it anyway). Steep orders, but it's what's needed to truly pay tribute to this masterpiece.

And I do feel comfortable calling it that. I've lent my copy to three friends, none of whom are involved with comic books. Two of them now own their own copy, and we reference it frequently. It's that good. Watchmen reinvigorated my faith in the graphic medium. As I get money, I fully intend to delve into other important bastions of this hobby (starting with some of Neil Gaiman's Sandman series). You owe it to yourself to check it out.