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| Watchmen | 
 enlarge | Authors: Alan Moore, Dave Gibbons
Publisher: Titan Books Ltd
Category: Book
List Price: £17.99
Buy Used: £8.01
You Save: £9.98 (55%)
New (23) from £9.20
Avg. Customer Rating:  76 reviews
Sales Rank: 115
Media: Paperback
Pages: 424
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.4
Dimensions (in): 10 x 6.6 x 0.8
ISBN: 1852860243
Dewey Decimal Number: 741
EAN: 9781852860240
ASIN: 1852860243
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 Spellbinding, violent, funny & enthralling October 22, 2008
This is a superb story that is incredibly well told and for the most part surprisingly realistic. The writing is excellent with a great deal of variety of cross reference to give a more detailed, fleshed out tale.
This is very gripping and entertaining with a lot of well drawn characters. There's a lot of deep reaching into the minds of the costumed heroes and it is very realistically put together.
I found this an incredibly good read and it couldn't come more highly recommended.
 spend your money on frank miller instead October 11, 2008
1 out of 17 found this review helpful
best graphic novel ever written, superb ivestigation of a heroes psyche, amazginly written. This is why i bought this book. What reviewers forgot to inform me though was the total lack of entertainment!! Over elaborate story, unnecassary comic within in a comic pirate story line and total disregard for what a comic book is supposed to be - entertaining!
I felt this comic was hugely self important, almost pretentious.
Trust me just get frank millers back catalogue instead!
 AN AQUIRED TASTE September 23, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
I bought this comic based partly on the positive feedback it has received and the hype surrounding it; however such hype can create unrealistic expectations. That isn't to say Watchmen isn't a fantastic work of fiction, simply it wasn't what I expected.
The story begins with an intriguing murder mystery that helps to introduce one the books greatest characters, Rorschach. After this promising start the story slows down considerably with the majority of the book dedicated more to the development of the main characters rather than the story itself. The deliberate slow pacing and exploration of the inner landscape can make reading Watchmen difficult as developments in the main story take an age to develop.
Some of the characters in Watchmen are brilliantly realised and in the case of Rorschach and Dr. Manhattan are a joy to read about. Other characters such as the second Nite Owl are less interesting and are pretty unspectacular, both as a superhero and as a normal individual. This continued focus on the main characters could be considered one of the books greatest strengths. However for me it is in some areas a weakness with pacing and plot development sacrificed for a continued focus on the lives of the main characters. In an attempt to be genre defining Watchmen feels overly clever and self-indulgent in places.
Is Watchmen worth owning, that depends on what you want from this comic.
If you are looking for a comic with intricate characters with intricate relationships then Watchmen is perfect. However this internal exploration can be frustrating as developments in the main story arcs happen very slowly. If you prefer a comic with more pace and more action then Batman: The Dark Night Returns offers characters that are just as rich and well developed with none of the baggage.
 WATCHMEN September 16, 2008
I decided to buy this book after seeing the forthcoming movie trailer,it looked fantastic and I was really intrested in finding out what it was about,I wasn't disappointed,it is a crackin read,could not put it down,don't be put off just thinkin'it's just a comic this is a book that demands your total concentration,can't wait for the movie now!
Hasn't aged well... September 9, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Twenty years ago, Watchmen was undoubtedly the peak of the comic art form, a defining and influential work that gave credibility to the format of the graphic novel with its multiple overlapping narratives, its post-modern deconstructive outlook on the nature of comic superheroes, given psychological depth through realistic characterisation and documentary interludes, using them as a metaphor for covert US activity in the wider political world - a force with no accountability ("Who watches the Watchmen?") that can either deter or precipitate an international crisis.
Twenty years later as it is about to finally make its way onto the screen after numerous abortive attempts, Watchmen is however starting to show its age. The wordplay, juxtaposition of imagery, visual links and overlapping narratives that once seem sophisticated in the world of comics now seems very arch and even cheesy, but it's the dark tone of dread of an imminent nuclear Armageddon that dates the novel the most.
Watchmen's place in the history of comic art is assured, Moore almost single-handedly shifting the whole concept of graphic novels onto a more sophisticated adult level, but in comparison to modern indie, autobiographical, and European works, Watchmen's heavyweight treatment of the superhero theme now seems more than a little pompous.
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