Reviews tagging 'Forced institutionalization'

Watchmen by Alan Moore

2 reviews

steveatwaywords's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5


This ambitious and nearly flawless work has already made history and there is little I want to add here to that: it's complex and tightly-woven with nuanced and genuine characters acting as best they are able. As clumsy and human as they are, their physical and emotional frailties are foremost at focus as they try to do nothing less than every superhero comic: save the world.

Moore's alternate history is (especially today) too too plausible, and the dozens of different readings his characters make of it could as easily be applied to today's news. He details only one of the key differences between universes, however, and that is the step a few individuals make from reading 1930s hero comics to themselves donning vigilante costumes. After that, the political and sociological changes seem relatively inevitable.

And that, as many have argued, offers us a deeper and unsettling look at our affinity for superheroes, the nature of justice and authority and legitimacy, of our collective psychological desperations created by and answered by marketing lifestyles. And, in the truths spoken by Dr. Manhattan, how utterly trivial and uninteresting it all is.

So why not a full 5 stars?  The storytelling and artwork are fine enough, the complete work ambitious enough, its execution almost as much. And it's the almost. As immersive as Watchmen is, there are several moments when readers are thrown out of it, where the authorial crafting is too obviously authorial crafting. I'm thinking of a parallel pirate comic that is read at a newsstand, as a for instance, or chapters where each page is a different scenic moment which all (seemingly coincidentally but cosmically) align in word and concept. They are clever, and calculated . . . and so also first clever and calculated, second impactful as narrative. Moore is too excited to show us what he can do, and that excitement--especially for me--was loud enough to disturb the reading.

A quibble, perhaps, but Moore has gone on to do other works. A mesmerizing standard for graphic novels which follow, Watchmen's imitators in later years still pale.
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brnineworms's review against another edition

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adventurous dark medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

What can I say about Watchmen that hasn’t been said already? You don’t need me to tell you it’s good. Its reputation as a well-crafted masterpiece and an exemplary demonstration of the comic book medium/superhero genre precedes it. The characters are complex and compelling, the story has depth and pathos, the artwork has a good amount of detail and strikes a healthy balance between realism and stylisation. Each chapter is followed by an extract from an in-universe autobiography, magazine article, or other such document. Not only does that introduce some lore, it’s also a welcome break in format which prevents the regular panels becoming monotonous.
I don’t want to say too much about the story, partly for the sake of avoiding spoilers but also because I want to avoid underselling it. It’s hard-hitting and intricate. I knew it’d be good but even with my expectations set high it blew me away.
A must-read. If you’ve already read it, read it again. 
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