| Watchmen Absolute Edition |  | Authors: Alan Moore, Dave Gibbons
Publisher: DC
Category: Book
List Price: £75.00
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Rating:  reviews
Media: Hardcover
Edition: New title
Pages: 464
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 5.5
Dimensions (in): 12.9 x 8.6 x 1.8
ISBN: 1401207138
Dewey Decimal Number: 741.5
UPC: 761941249575
EAN: 9781401207137
Publication Date: November 2005
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.co.uk Review
Has any comic been as lauded as Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' Watchmen? Possibly only Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns but Watchmen remains the critics' favourite. Why? Because Moore is a better writer, and Watchmen a more complex and dark and literate creation than Miller's fantastic, subversive take on the Batman myth. Moore, renowned for many other of the genre's finest creations (Saga of the Swamp Thing, V for Vendetta, and recently From Hell, with Eddie Campbell) first put out Watchmen in 12 issues for DC in 1986-87. It won a comic award at the time (the 1987 Jack Kirby Comics Industry Awards for Best Writer/Artist combination) and has continued to garner praise since.The story concerns a group called the Crimebusters and a plot to kill and discredit them. Moore's characterisation is as sophisticated as any novel's. Importantly the costumes do not get in the way of the storytelling, rather they allow Moore to investigate issues of power and control--indeed it was Watchmen, and to a lesser extent Dark Knight, that propelled the comic genre forward, making "adult" comics a reality. The artwork of Gibbons (best known for 2000AD's Rogue Trooper and DC's Green Lantern) is very fine too, echoing Moore's paranoid mood perfectly throughout. Packed with symbolism, some of the overlying themes (arms control, nuclear threat, vigilantes) have dated but the intelligent social and political commentary, the structure of the story itself, its intertextuality (chapters appended with excerpts from other "works" and "studies" on Moore's characters, or with excerpts from another comic book being read by a child within the story), the fine pace of the writing and its humanity mean that Watchmen more than stands up--it retains its crown as the best the genre has yet produced. --Mark Thwaite
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| Customer Reviews:
 A timeless, rich classic August 15, 2010
Adriano1977 (Egelsbach (Hessen), Deutschland)
Watchmen chronicles the appearance of costumed vigilantes in America in the 30s, asks itself and its readership about what would it really take to become one, and deals with the consequences of the appearance of the true superhuman. And it poses the ages-old question, starihht from Juvenale's satires: "Who watchs the watchmen?"
Well, the answer is in the physical existence of the book itself: We, the readers, do.
In awe, horror, fear, disgust, wonder, amazement, confusion, terror, excitement, lust, kinship and denial. Like any true classic, it creaes a whole art form and genre in and of itself, while covering the wole spectrum of human experience and feelings.
The sperhero is a very apt metaphor and allegory of what people subconsciously are or would like to be. That's why Watchmen resonates so deeply with so many people. There's Dan Dreiberg/Nite Owl II masquerading his insecurities behind the costumed vigilante's persona; Silk Spectre II basically livbing out her mother's fantasies until developing a taste for it on her own; Kovacs's/Rorschach's denial and self-delusion and refusal of a world that only hurts you carried to appalling uncompromising extremes; Hooded Justice's sadism; Nite Owl I's living out juvenile comic book fantasies; the Comedian's use of the mask to get away with anything, hide from the horror of the worlds and at the same time point at its fallacies by baring them for all to see, while still being the one to actually get the joke and eventually be the butt-end of it; Captain Metropolis's barely masked fascism and racism; Veidt's superiority complex and desire to be always the best at any cost.
And the one and only real superhuman of the book, Does this mean only wackos would be driven to superheroics? Not in my opinion. This reminds me of Philip K. Dick's Clans of the Alphane Moon in which seven groups of mental patients break out of custody on their forgotten asylum planet and build a crazy civilisation, staggeringly similar to our own! Dick's little book is a satire and a divertissement more than anything, and I remember an interview with Moore stating the same of Wtachmen, which would be confirmed by the book's closing quote.
After all, with its alternative history, black humour, and a masked vigilante Comedian as a linchpin character, what could it be?
And once again, as with every true classic, its allegories and insights are timeless, so that Moore stating in a recent interview that the modern superhero has much to do with America's obsession for tactical superiority is literally confirmed by Dr. Manhattan allowing just that here. This and contemporary works also confirm what Moore said about superhero comics still stuck int the loop Watchmen (and to a lesser exent Mller's Dark Knight) creaed some 25 years ago.
Commenting upon the insane technical prowess that the authors, Moore and artist Dave Gibbons show here, would turn this into a full lown essay and I am sure nobody's even read tis far... But to the few who soldier on 'd like to recommend to watch every oanel and picture closely and repeatedly, taking their time and frequently coming back to previous pages: They'll be rewarded by a plethora of details and transitions that do not disturb the reading but enrich it when not acknowledged, and that enhance your enjoyment of it once fully noticed! Especially noteworthy is the comic-inside-a-comic Tales Of The Black Freighter. The story in itself, and the way it is intertwined with the main story and commented upon in it, provide at least two more layers of signification, meaning and interpretation.
This timeless masterpiece belongs on the honour shelf of every sensible reader's bookshelf!
This is the marker by whiuch all serious comics are judged August 12, 2010
Henry Ives (UK)
It's the best. No ifs, no buts, this is to comics what The Republic is to philosophy or Citizen Kane is to film. All great graphic novels are compared to this, judged by the standard it set. I'm shocked that it's Amazon score isn't a perfect 5 stars.
Don't believe the anti-hype, you HAVE to read this.
The place to start if you haven't read a graphic novel before August 12, 2010
Hotblack (The end of the universe)
A truly astounding work. It deserves to be judged alongside the great works of literature, although it won't be. Every bit as sharp, clever, dramatic and acutely observed as Pride and Prejudice or Vanity Fair. Not merely a comic or a great book that was made into a very good film. If you've never read a graphic novel, this is the only place to start.
deep and subtly different from the film July 27, 2010
DoctorMonkey (London)
I'm a slight comic book fan and a rather big fan of the film of this who had been hoping for a few years to receive this as a present... This comic book shows that the film was close to the original plot and really moved well
Excellent graphic novel in all ways and heartily recommended
The best there is! July 19, 2010
Jamie-J
Put quite simply, Watchmen is the greatest Graphic novel ever written. Furthermore, Alan Moore is right up there with the very best writers in the world (and i'm not just talking about the comics industry here).
The many layers within the book, that unfold as the story progresses, keep the story building at a rate that continues to build and build until its final moving climax.
Moores characterisation is exquisite, expanding his deeply floored (but all the more human for it) personalities in such a way that it is impossible for the reader not to care about them. Watchmen is one of only two books i have ever read (the other being Dean Koonz, Watchers), where i have actually been deeply upset at finishing the book, because the experience has been so enjoyable that i just wanted the story to go on and on.
For anyone who has never experienced Watchmen, do yourself a favour, pick up a copy and start reading, you won't be able to put it down again, i promise you.
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