WATCHMEN
THE DELUXE EDITION
GRAPHIC NOVEL REVIEW

		Review by E.C.McMullen Jr.
WATCHMEN MOVIE REVIEW FIGHT CENSORSHIP SUPPORT CBLDF WATCHMEN: THE DELUXE EDITION - 1986-1987 Writer: Alan Moore Artist: Dave Gibbons First Pub; Sept. 1986 DC. Reissue: Nov. 27, 2020 DC Comics $39.99 US ISBN: 978-1-401238-96-4

So you've seen the movie but have you read the book?

As always when reviewing the classics (ALIEN: THE ILLUSTRATED STORY, JOHNNY THE HOMICIDAL MANIAC), I gotta step real mild as if it was new. It doesn't matter how old something is when its always new to someone.

Here we go.

It was 1985. Republican president Ronald Reagan was in his second term, having won by a landslide, and two of DC comics top talents wanted to tell a tale about Hero masked vigilantes with a world of personal problems and actual Superheroes subservient to an all powerful Republican President.

Such fiction was perfect for its time which, Superheroes not withstanding, was being told repeatedly and hitting the New York Times best seller list with regularity.

DC Comics wanted a piece of that action and Frank Miller and Alan Moore, inspired by their era, wanted to give it to them.

So Frank reinvented the then faltering BATMAN with THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS and Alan Moore chose to create his own version of the Justice League with WATCHMEN. And in 1985, BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS and WATCHMEN were DC Comics One-Two punch.

According to artist, Dave Gibbons, WATCHMEN began or maybe coalesced around the Comic Heroes of the dead and soon to be buried Charlton Comics (which Alan Moore came to within a breath of using before he had to create his own) and inciting inspiration from Bob Dylan's song, Desperation Row.

At midnight all the agents
and the superhuman crew

Come out and round up everyone
who knows more than they do

That was the spark that lit the fuse for Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons. They had an idea of what they wanted to write (because at that time, Every publisher was already publishing it including their employers!), but they needed an edge, a pace, a fresh way to unveil the story and an ethos for why the story would move that way.

What could they do that would make their story different from everyone else with such novels on the New York Times Best seller list?

Superheroes!

Yeah, but, what could they do that would make their story different from Frank Miller? Frank's already using the current president, Ronald Reagan, and DC is letting him reinvent their cash cow - er - bat - er - man - Batman.

How about if we have an alternate history where Richard Nixon is still president?

WATCHMEN is about a second generation of Vigilante heroes, descended in spirit and ambition from a first generation, Minutemen, that were also mere heroes. No "Supers" involved.

Most of the second generation have no superpowers, but the villains don't need to know that.

The first generation had Nazis to fight. They had clearly demarcated lines of Ayn Rand Good and Evil, Right and Wrong.

In Moore and Gibbons' alternate history, where the U.S. won the Vietnam War, there are no Democrats, Liberal or otherwise. There are only Right wing Republicans and they are cartoonishly evil, and there are few of them. Everyone who isn't a Republican is just average, everyday people.

It's the everyday people who let this happen!

Worse, the Republicans are driving us toward World War III because the Soviets invaded Afghanistan1. Within the comic story there was no Lyndon Baines Johnson after the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Richard M. Nixon is still in power in 1985 from all of the goodwill for winning in Vietnam in 1971. He leveraged that goodwill into rescinding the 22nd Amendment, and because the press is Right wing instead of Left wing, they provide cover for every scandal that is created by, or happens to a Republican, including the Watergate cover-up.

In WATCHMEN, the press is a Right wing version of who they have always been.

A few years after the end of the Vietnam War, the WATCHMEN broke up. The 1977 Keene Act against Supers made vigilante justice illegal - you are not allowed to defend yourself or protect others - and they all went their separate ways.

A wildly bizarre un-Rightwing thing to do but that's how Moore wrote it, so anyway...

The knowledge that Nixon is in office because they did his dirty work in Vietnam and won the war weighs on nearly all of the WATCHMEN, save for The Comedian and Doctor Manhattan (who needed none of the other WATCHMEN to win the war Police Action), who still work for the government despite the Keene Act.

Doctor Manhattan, with his gruesome origin story, is who keeps Nixon in power by giving a permanent edge to the U.S. over the Soviet Union. Dr. Manhattan is practically a god with powers far beyond a "Superman" (doesn't exist in this DC Comics Universe) and no real weakness like kryptonite. Manhattan protects the U.S. and the U.S. funds his research. Manhattan is overwhelmed by his curiosity with nearly everything.

Unfortunately the all powerful Dr. Manhattan is the weakest of the group: both emotionally and intellectually. This character knows nothing of science because Alan Moore (at that time) knew little to nothing of science. So all of Dr. Manhattan's "inventions" and power are as genius as a Genie granting wishes.

The only other WATCHMAN who remains in the fight is Walter Kovacs aka Rorschach. He thinks nothing of the Keene Act. He's a wanted criminal because he refused to surrender. He still fights crime in New York vigilante-style and, while he can't stop organized crime, for an average guy he does an amazing job of suppressing it, much to the anger of the mob and the police who do their bidding.

WATCHMEN begins with two slacker, barely interested NYC cops investigating the death of one Edward Blake. A huge, muscular man that someone defenestrated (threw out of a window to his death). Blake was clearly a powerful man, and from the photos in his apartment he had politically powerful friends. How many people did it take to beat a huge guy like that and throw him out the window? It couldn't have been one person, could it?

And if it was a single person, who is that damn strong?

As it turns out, that's exactly what Rorschach wants to know. Eddie Blake was The Comedian. He and Rorschach were once WATCHMEN.

Rorschach pays a visit to the remaining survivors of that group, starting with Dan Drieberg, the one time WATCHMEN Superhero, NITE OWL II (having replaced the first NITE OWL, Hollis T. Mason, who fought in WWII but grew too old to keep it going).

When Dan isn't spending those rare moments with Rorschach he spends a day or so out of the week with Hollis Mason. For Dan, Hollis lived in a better world of fighting clearly evil Nazis.

The fact is, in Dan's own time there are still clearly demarcated lines of Good and Evil. Drieberg just hasn't got the strength of character to fight evil. He's waiting for someone else to do it. Hollis stopped the fight when he got too old. Dan stopped when he got too cowardly.

Strength of character is all Rorschach has and to him everything is precisely in black and white.

The team hasn't interacted with each other much over the years. Dan is concerned that Rorschach may have been seen entering his old brownstone. Rorschach's warrants keeps him off the grid. But of course, everyone knows he's in the city, somewhere.

Dan sees his old friend Rorschach eating food from his garbage can and feels pity for him. Rorschach sees his old friend Dan living an empty life, blanketed in fear and feels sorry for him. When Dan tries to lighten the mood, reminiscing about the good old days of crime fighting and wondering what happened to them, Rorschach walks of, reminding Dan that "You quit."

Rorschach goes looking for answers and starts with a few bars known for specifically attracting a criminal element. There are no innocents here, only those looking to hire a few thugs for a dishonest job, or criminals looking for the next dishonest job, or those who are just laying low.

Every time Rorschach enters one of these bars all of the tough guys lose their nerve, look away, leave if Rorschach will let them, or just wait. Rorschach has questions and nobody is going to snitch. But Rorschach is also unmercifully brutal in how he gets his answers. It will take a lot of pain and injury to convince him that nobody has his answers.

Rorschach is hardcore because Alan Moore based him on a Charlton Comics character created by Steve Ditko, and Ditko and Charlton could be notoriously hardcore.
Underground Comic cartoonists adored him.

Getting nowhere but solidifying his reputation, Rorschach visits Adrian Veidt.

Unlike the underworld denizens, Rorschach feels a sense of loyalty toward his fellow ex-WATCHMEN, even they don't want his loyalty and even if he doesn't like them, so his questions are asked without harm or threat.

Adrian was once a WATCHMAN named Ozymandias. He retired two years before the Keene Act and has since enriched himself by becoming a celebrity. He was already wealthy, so he owns the companies that manufacture the action figures of him. When Veidt hears the news about the Comedian he's indifferent. Though he retails his heroic glory days, marketing himself as a much bigger deal in the WATCHMEN than he ever was, he feels only contempt for his fellow vigilantes.

There are only two left on Rorschach's list. Dr. Manhattan and Laurie Juspeczyk aka Miss Jupiter aka Silk Spectre II: are a couple these days. Working for the government, Dr. Manhattan already knows the Comedian is dead. He also makes it clear that the life or death of any human means nothing to him. Laurie on the other hand, despises the Comedian because he once tried to rape her Mother, breaking the woman's ribs in the act.

Dr. Manhattan has a seemingly unlimited, godlike ability with physics, though that doesn't mean that he actually knows everything - or anything. However, he wants to and his research is more important to him than his relationship with Laurie or her budding romantic involvement with a sloppy slob like Dan Drieberg.

Laurie and Dan both miss being WATCHMEN and both pretend they don't.

Meanwhile, somebody is killing the old masked Vigilantes and there is no one around to stop the killer or who even wants to.

Of course, there's a funeral for the Comedian and as the former WATCHMEN meet and reminisce, a few secrets begin to worm their way out of the narrative they all live by.

Meanwhile, the headlines are all about the Doomsday Clock at 5 minutes to midnight.

No matter how his former compatriots felt about Edward Blake, the Comedian, his death was the trigger on everything that is about to happen. Rorschach chooses to be the bullet that trigger fired. In their own ways, Adrian, Dan, Manhattan, and Laurie are in the path of that bullet.

BUT -

Who pulled the trigger? Who threw Blake out of the window? Who is killing the masked vigilantes?

Who Watches the WATCHMEN?

As you'd expect of everything from Alan Moore, WATCHMEN is exceedingly liberal and entirely of its time.

From time to time I catch grief for writing a review that some readers deem too political. And its always over stories or movies or albums that are entirely political.

That's the way its always going to be wit an Alan Moore tale.

So this mid-eighties story of its time, where they only possible way to end the threat of a nuclear war against Russia was to embrace Socialism and put a strongman fascist into power: One who would commit genocide for the greater good, was wholley embraced by liberalism then like it is now. There was no other way the Left of the era wanted to consider, because for them, any other way was naive fantasy.

War is bad but Genocide is good because humanity deserves to be hated.

In the 1950s through the 1980s WATCHMEN was hardly alone in this. Whenever Publishers or Hollywood dealt with the subject, embracing nihilism and accepting genocide was always the endgame to the subject: A CANTICLE FOR LEIBOWITZ, ON THE BEACH, ALAS BABYLON, THE PLANET OF THE APES, COLOSSUS: THE FORBIN PROJECT, BENEATH THE PLANET OF THE APES, A BOY AND HIS DOG, THE TERMINATOR.

The only possible way for humanity to survive was through an Alien intervention, one that carried a god-like, Police State mentality nd the threat of genocide: THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL, 2001 A SPACE ODYSSEY, Frank Miller's BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS, 2010, THE ABYSS.

OR -

Humanity nihilistic-ly poisoning itself to death: THE LAST MAN ON EARTH, ON THE BEACH, SOYLENT GREEN, THX-1138, MAD MAX, BLADE RUNNER, TERMINATOR 2.

Don't get me wrong, there are lots of apocalyptic stories, novels, and movies, and I've wrote a few myself, but the nuclear option and pollution books and movies are all about how humanity deserves what its got coming. They all have that suicidally sanctimonious bent that craves oppression as a solution.

That said, while WATCHMEN fit perfectly within its era, Moore and Gibbons found that unique edge, that pace they were looking for and blew us all away.

There's a ton of stuff I haven't told you. Plenty that other websites will have an entire thesis on. If you are a fan of this site then you already know that I don't write reviews like that. I'm only giving you enough to whet your appetite.

Speaking of appetites, some food for thought -

I've often alluded to stories and movies that were all telling the same basic story (THE MIDWICH CUCKOOS / VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED, WHO GOES THERE? / THE THING, THE BODY SNATCHERS / INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS, THE PUPPET MASTERS) as still being individually unique and worthwhile by using my lasagna analogy.

You can have 100 restaurants in your city all making and serving lasagna, but the fact is, despite the size of the place, the service, the paintings on the wall, and the location, only a few are going to make that lasagna taste so good it will be memorable.

In 1986 Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons were master chefs at the top of their form when they created the memorable WATCHMEN.

Five Fanboys all the way!

This review copyright 2024 E.C.McMullen Jr.

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For those who scroll...

The Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan

The U.S. press struggled mightily to build up President Jimmy Carter as a powerful heroic figure. Straight necked, broad shouldered, barrel chested, and V waist - but it never worked out because, as nice as he might be in real life, In every video and photo Jimmy was pencil-necked, stooped, slump shouldered, and often bent. His consistent behavior was obviously weak, indecisive, and he easily pushed around by his incompetent staff.

On the other hand, Jimmy's own Mother, Lillian, a strong woman and real No-Nonsense type, was no help. She dearly loved her sons but she'd never pretend they were something they weren't.

Jimmy's little brother Billy was a beer-drinking Good Ol' Boy, who was easily swayed by all the corporate money coming his way to put his name on anything and everything.

It was supposed to be the new brand, Billy Beer, but his hand was in the way and folks mistook it for Pabst Blue Ribbon: Which, it might have been.

Corporate sponsorships which didn't last long due to Billy getting drunk in public, publically dunking on his famous brother (the only reason anyone gave a damn about Billy), getting into fights in public, and even for 1977, telling sexist, racial jokes anywhere and everywhere.

Then on April 20, 1979, as the press stood on the shore for a much needed PR repair photo-op, their tough, strong president, serenely sitting in a boat and fishing in a pond on his property, suddenly grabbed a paddle and began beating a rabbit who was swimming by.

Despite the beating and Jimmy's best efforts, the rabbit continued swimming and made its way past the prez and safely to shore.

The press, stunned, later asked the President why he did that. They were loyally ready to believe any tale he told. But Jimmy, still so traumatized by the moment, told them how frightening the rabbit - that they all saw first hand - was.

Imagine the looks the Leader of the Free World must have seen on their faces.

Attempting to excuse his terror, the Commander-In-Chief only made things worse when he launched into a tale of the Killer Rabbit (This is no ordinary rabbit! It will do You a turn!), describing it "hissing menacingly, its teeth flashing and nostrils flared".

O.M.G.

The fact that Jimmy told this story to the foreign press as well meant the U.S. press couldn't cover for him this time. Despite all of the saber rattling by the Soviets, trouble brewing in Iran, Cuba and Panama openly mocking him, they had to report it.

Despite the media's best attempts to prop him up, Jimmy lost face before the world. Iran took note and on Nov. 4, 1979, Iranian students invaded the U.S. embassy and took hostages. Every speech and action Jimmy Carter made in response only demonstrated how far out of his depth he was.

Even the new Iranian leader, Ayatollah Khomeini, ticked off the benefits of having American hostages before an impotent sitting American president, telling the world, "This has united our people. Our opponents do not dare act against us."

The USSR saw all of this as its General Secretary, Leonid Brezhnev, openly scoffed at the weakling United States of America, built up their forces for an invasion, and on Christmas Eve 1979, exactly 20 days after Carter announced his re-election campaign, they invaded Afghanistan (in retaliation for the March '79 Herat Uprising).

But WATCHMEN is an alt-history of our reality so, yeah, Republicans caused it all.