Unplugged Wednesday: Watchmen

Watchmen is one of those books that is good the first time you read it, but every subsequent time it seems to get better. The story takes place in the 1980s, masked vigilantes have been outlawed by the Keene Act - all except those who have decided to work for the government. In the beginning of the book, the Comedian (one of the government's heroes) is murdered. The book then follows the musings of the one illegal vigilante still on the streets - Rorschach. Rorschach becomes convinced that the Comedian's murder is part of a plot to kill off or get rid of all the masked heroes. Without going into spoiler territory, that's it in a nutshell. The problem is, no simple explanation really works for this book.

When a comic deals with issues like rape, miracles, and sanity, it begins to transcend the stereotype of the superhero comic that we all know. Alan Moore is an incredible writer in the comic medium and Watchmen is where he really let it all out. Each panel and issue is expertly choreographed to fit within the greater story so that the next time you come back and read through, you can see all the foreshadowing and bits and clues that you may have missed on previous reads.

With all that being said, Rorschach is one of the greatest protagonists ever. You may not like his style or his creepy monotone voice (as they call it in the book), but he knows what he believes and nothing is going to stop him from pursuing what he believes to be right. His character gets even more interesting when you begin to learn his backstory and the events that led him to his decision to become a vigilante. Rorschach isn't the only good character in the story though, each character is well developed and sympathetic, which makes it hard late in the story when you have to choose who you want to root for.

The best thing I can say about Watchmen is that even though you can do what I'm doing now and try to sway or interest you into reading it, the book really comes into its own when you are able to discuss it with another reader. There is few things as satisfying as having a good talk about the characters and what they represent in our world or how could things have been resolved differently in the story, etc.

Watchmen truly is a classic that deserves its place in everyone's shelf of honor. Read it, but don't put too much hope in the movie. Terry Gilliam once said that it was unfilmable, and I think I agree.... but I can be proven wrong.