Watchmen

This wasn't my first time reading Watchmen, but it had been awhile since I'd last read it (since before 2001 for sure). It's funny how things go through phases of topicality; I know that last time I read it, I thought it was kind of dated, with its plot elements of war in Afghanistan and Russian military aggression. Sadly, the world has recently gotten caught up in such events again, making Watchmen seem all the more current on this reading.

Aside from that, there's not too much to say about Watchmen that hasn't been said a thousand times already - it's clearly the most important superhero comic since Showcase #4, if not Action #1, and has fundamentally altered the way that people think about and write about superheroes. As such, it's easy to lose track of how revolutionary it must have been when it came out - to someone who grew up reading the ‘grim and gritty' heroes of the late 80s and 90s, or has seen films like The Incredibles, the story contained in these pages would seem like just another comic story that's been told time and time again.

Luckily, however, there's more to the story than just the plot; Moore and Gibbons have created an immensely detailed world in this book, and you definitely feel like it's part of a larger world (even though it isn't), and one that has been uniquely affected by the presence of super-heroes in it to a degree that other super-populated worlds never seem to be. Add to that an ongoing debate about human nature and morality, held by shamanistic creatures that are both human and inhuman at the same time, and you're left with something that will stand the test of time as a work of literature, but is also quite firmly a work of comics literature rather than ‘regular' literature.

And, amazingly enough, the villian wins. In doing so, he saves the world, but at the same time, it's quite the accomplishment. :o)