“Watchmen” is not an ordinary comic book series. It is so much more because it covers a wide variety of topics, some sensitive, some depicting the 1980s eerily familiar to ours. Despite age everyone can read this maxiseries as it is easy to follow and interesting to ponder over. For those who wish to read between the lines (or in this case the pictures! Pun intended) many hidden remarks, symbolism and wordplay can be found.
Taking place during the Cold War in America this book has achieved a cult book status over the years. We have all seen movies and read books about superheroes. “Watchmen” focuses on superheroes, antiheroes, character development and deconstruction. What you visually see and read do not represent the reality.
The plot is narrated by Rorschach, an antihero, who subjectively introduces the reader into an alternate reality of 1985. The Doomsday Clock is set at 11:55 p.m. and another World War is on the brink of starting. A retired superhero is murdered but no one cares. Superheroes are a thing of the past and now being a masked vigilante is highly looked down upon. The once great Ozymandias, Silk Spectre and Nite Owl, to name a few, are ridiculed household names earning or having earned a fortune and fame for their once highly valued crime fighting days. Rorschach decides to investigate The Comedian’s murder. He involves one by one ex-superheroes and their heirs to his cause. What he discovers is very unsettling. As the Doomsday Clock draws closer to midnight the people formerly known as superheroes face a difficult choice that might change the world forever.
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DC Comics, 2005
Check from the e-catalogue ESTER
Birgit Kirsipuu
Sääse branch library