Reviews tagging 'Police brutality'

Watchmen by Alan Moore

11 reviews

byebrook's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

4.0

i get why my professor said “you can never just read Watchmen, you can only ever re-read it,” because even as you begin to read it the first time you will find yourself stopping and flipping back to the past moments you’ve read to uncover references you didn’t know were there at first.  like DAMN this comic is full of little easter eggs and niche references that you only see once you’ve started to read through. hell, the first pages contain a MASSIVE character easter-egg, and you don’t even bat an eye, because you have no clue yet. you can only go back an re-read that moment once your about halfway through the book, going “wait… i recognize him- is that..? no. way.” like there are so many of these moments, and it’s pretty damn brilliant in how they are done. especially when coupled with the fake in-universe prose pieces mixed throughout - like the pirate comics or the biography excerpts - i really like how it plays with the medium and genre of comics! 

overall, an interesting commentary on the ideas of heroes, humanity, morality, and who exactly watches those that watch us. while some aspects are definitely of-the-time and have aged less-than-stellar, i did enjoy this comic and analyzing what makes it tick.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, War, Blood, Torture, and Death

Moderate: Racism, Murder, Sexual assault, Antisemitism, Rape, and Cancer

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Vomit, Police brutality, Homophobia, Racism, Racial slurs, Misogyny, Fire/Fire injury, and Lesbophobia

scoobygirl93's review against another edition

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Genocide, War, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Abandonment, Addiction, Animal death, Cancer, Grief, Murder, Toxic friendship, Death, Gun violence, Police brutality, Rape, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Lesbophobia, Mental illness, Terminal illness, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Cursing, Child death, Homophobia, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Xenophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual violence, Blood, Classism, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, and Physical abuse

moranguinhos's review

adventurous dark sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Murder, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, War, Death, Rape, Violence, and Police brutality

chaoticbeing's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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

Had to read this for class. I’m one of the only people who have actually read it. It’s one of my favorite franchises of all time now. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Toxic friendship, Sexual assault, Grief, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Violence, Toxic relationship, Cursing, Sexual content, Gore, Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, Death, Police brutality, Injury/Injury detail, and Mental illness

Moderate: War, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Ableism, Alcohol, Homophobia, Xenophobia, Animal death, and Cancer

Minor: Genocide, Domestic abuse, Bullying, Antisemitism, and Racism

Dr. Manhattan starts a relationship with Laurie when she’s 16 and he’s in his 30s. This is acknowledged but Dr. Manhattan is never punished for it.

myclutteredbookshelf's review

challenging dark

4.0

I'm so conflicted about that ending. I mean, that's probably the point, but still...

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Gun violence, Animal death, Murder, Police brutality, and Blood

Moderate: Racism, Sexual assault, Vomit, Rape, Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, and War

Minor: Homophobia and Lesbophobia

theskyboi's review against another edition

This was definitely a comic book, as opposed to a graphic novel; I prefer the onscreen interpretation by Regina King.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, Racial slurs, Sexism, War, Ableism, Alcohol, Body shaming, Colonisation, Cursing, Death, Fatphobia, Misogyny, Racism, Sexual assault, and Violence

manjal's review

dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

THE GREATEST GRAPHIC NOVEL(COMIC BOOK) EVER, A 12 CHAPTER MASTERPIECE THAT REVOLUTIONIZED COMIC BOOKS AND LEFT AN INDELIBLE MARK ON LITERATURE AND MEDIA. ITS INTRICATE PLOT AND MORALLY COMPLEX CHARACTERS EXPLORE THEMES OF HEROISM, IDENTITY, AND MORALITY. ALAN MOORE'S CREATION ELEVATED THE GENRE, INSPIRING A NEW WAVE OF STORYTELLING THAT EMBRACES MATURITY AND MORAL AMBIGUITY. IT'S ABOUT AN ALTERNATE 1980S AMERICA, WHERE RETIRED SUPERHEROES CONFRONT A GLOBAL CONSPIRACY, FUSES GRITTY REALISM WITH FANTASY, PUSHING CREATIVE BOUNDARIES AND INFLUENCING GENERATIONS OF CREATORS. NOT RECOMMENDED TO NEW COMIC BOOK READERS

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, War, Bullying, Racism, Rape, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Police brutality, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Abandonment, Addiction, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Death of parent, Homophobia, Pregnancy, Grief, Domestic abuse, and Hate crime

Minor: Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Police brutality, Sexism, Stalking, Drug use, Misogyny, Self harm, Fire/Fire injury, Suicide, and Toxic relationship

thehobbitbarbie's review

challenging dark reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Cancer, Police brutality, Toxic relationship, Sexual harassment, Death, Gun violence, Infidelity, Terminal illness, War, Cursing, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Animal death, and Gore

Moderate: Addiction and Lesbophobia

abominablebas's review

dark funny tense slow-paced

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

5.0

?!?!?!??!?!??!??!?!?!?!?????!?!?!?

rip rorschach. rot in hell

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexual assault, Blood, Cancer, Genocide, Gore, Violence, Cursing, Medical content, Mental illness, Rape, Misogyny, Murder, and Police brutality

its watchmen. everything bad happens

brnineworms's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Murder, Racial slurs, Violence, Cancer, Cursing, Death, Animal death, Blood, Child abuse, and War

Moderate: Antisemitism, Body horror, Police brutality, Gore, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Ableism, Child death, Classism, Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, Racism, Stalking, Rape, Toxic relationship, Bullying, Drug use, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Adult/minor relationship, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Lesbophobia, and Xenophobia

Minor: Abortion, Cultural appropriation, Pedophilia, Alcohol, Confinement, Death of parent, Suicide, Vomit, Addiction, Alcoholism, Outing, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Excrement, Fatphobia, and Car accident