peonyreading 's review for:

Watchmen (2019 Edition) by Alan Moore

4.0

adventurous challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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I loved the nuances of how so many of the plot points and actions taken by the characters were morally gray, but I agree with other reviews that I feel as though it could have been something even more nuanced or fleshed out not in graphic novel form, or at least if it was better organized? The comic within a comic sections were tough to pay attention to in the midst of the action going on, and I would have preferred if those were interludes between the action or between chapters so I could focus on them and not have to jump back and forth. This could also just be my style of reading, and I'm not normally a graphic novel or comic book reader to begin with.

I also felt like the pacing was a bit off, the first quarter (roughly) of it was good and paced well, then it kind of fell off until around the halfway mark where it picked up again, then it dropped off again slightly until the last quarter where it really picked up in the climax. Again, this could have been well-paced in comparison to other graphic novels, but I'm not a graphic novel reader so the pacing came off to me as a bit strange at times. In addition I could also see some of the twists coming, although only a few pages or earlier in the chapter before they were revealed (does that count as seeing them coming?).

Overall I did really enjoy it (especially the Dan/Laurie/Jon subplots, and Rorschach's character as a whole), it's a solid 4/5 for me and I can see why it's so highly regarded.