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4.78k reviews for:

Watchmen

Alan Moore

4.3 AVERAGE

adventurous dark tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

This story is so well-written it makes me mad. Watchmen feels like a story most writers aspire to create but never will.

It's colossal, intricate, and deserves the often-repeated accolade "elevates the genre." Watchmen starts of with a brutal murder, and you're left feeling sorry for the victim. But as the story unfolds and new facts are brought to light, characters are shown in different shades of grey: heroes become villains, villains become sympathetic, and everyone has their own perspective and ideas on what is right and what is wrong.

Unfortunately, the story does all feel like too much for Moore to handle perfectly the entire time, and it loses some steam in the second half, and even jumps the shark a bit at the end. But overall, Watchmen has a reputation as being the thinking adult's super hero comic book, and it deserves that reputation.
challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Do we need “heroes” or not? If so, what kind of heroes should they be? Where in society and psyche should they be located, and what should their relationship be to the truth and the rest of us? The pendulum swings, but these are the questions that keep Watchmen relevant today. That, and the existential threat brought on by the nuclear age.
challenging dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
dark tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated
dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced