Watchmen (Absolute Edition) [DELUXE EDITION] (Hardcover)

by Alan Moore (Author), Dave Gibbons (Illustrator)
Key Phrases: hooded justice, Moe Vernon, Captain Metropolis, New York (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Has any comic been as acclaimed as Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' Watchmen? Possibly only Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns, but Watchmen remains the critics' favorite. Why? Because Moore is a better writer, and Watchmen a more complex and dark and literate creation than Miller's fantastic, subversive take on the Batman myth. Moore, renowned for many other of the genre's finest creations (Saga of the Swamp Thing, V for Vendetta, and From Hell, with Eddie Campbell) first put out Watchmen in 12 issues for DC in 1986-87. It won a comic award at the time (the 1987 Jack Kirby Comics Industry Awards for Best Writer/Artist combination) and has continued to gather praise since.

The story concerns a group called the Crimebusters and a plot to kill and discredit them. Moore's characterization is as sophisticated as any novel's. Importantly the costumes do not get in the way of the storytelling; rather they allow Moore to investigate issues of power and control--indeed it was Watchmen, and to a lesser extent Dark Knight, that propelled the comic genre forward, making "adult" comics a reality. The artwork of Gibbons (best known for 2000AD's Rogue Trooper and DC's Green Lantern) is very fine too, echoing Moore's paranoid mood perfectly throughout. Packed with symbolism, some of the overlying themes (arms control, nuclear threat, vigilantes) have dated but the intelligent social and political commentary, the structure of the story itself, its intertextuality (chapters appended with excerpts from other "works" and "studies" on Moore's characters, or with excerpts from another comic book being read by a child within the story), the finepace of the writing and its humanity mean that Watchmen more than stands up--it keeps its crown as the best the genre has yet produced. --Mark Thwaite

A Q&A with Dave Gibbons on the Making of Watchmen

Question: You were tasked with drawing new illustrations of key shots from the new Watchmen film. Was it a difficult challenge to re-imagine your work in this movie format?

Dave Gibbons: I don’t think that I actually did many key shots from the film. I had to actually imagine them rather than exactly recreate what was going to be in the movie. But as far as the drawings I did for the licensing purposes, accuracy was the real key so that they looked exactly like the movie. Whereas doing the graphic novel was creating stuff afresh and being very creative, this was more the case of interpreting something that already existed. So it was rather more a commercial art job than a creative thing.

Q: How many scenes from the original graphic novel did you redraw in the new "movie" format?

DG: I kind of did them piecemeal, these licensing drawings. I did do a section of storyboarding for Zack Snyder. There is a part of the movie that isn’t in the graphic novel and he wanted to see how I would have drawn it, if it had been in the graphic novel. So I redid the storyboards as three pages of comic on the nine-panel grid, also getting it coloured by John Higgins so it looked authentic. But I think there were probably only 3 or 4 scenes that I drew, which were from the movie.

Q: What was your working method for producing these new illustrations from the film? And how has it changed from when you originally illustrated Watchmen?

DG: When you’re producing things from existing material, you have to look at and assemble the references... you know, keep looking backwards and forwards to make sure what you’re drawing is accurate to what’s in the photos. I did have lots of photos from the movie and in some cases I had more or less the illustration I was going to do in photo form, which made it a lot easier. On others I had to construct it from various references: really just the usual illustrator’s job of drawing something to reference. And on the original illustrations of Watchmen, I was free to come up with exactly the angles and exactly the costumes and everything that I wanted to. When you’ve designed a costume and drawn it a few times, you actually internalize it and you find you can draw it without having to refer to reference at all. So in some ways it’s more creative and in some ways it’s easier!

Q: In Watchmen: The Art of the Film, there are concept designs by other artists of their visions of your iconic characters. What do you think of their versions and did you offer any guidance while they were working on these?

DG: It’s always really interesting to see versions of your characters drawn by other artists. You tend to see things in them that you hadn’t noticed before. So I really enjoyed looking at those. I certainly didn’t offer them any guidance. The purpose of getting those kinds of drawings done is to get a fresh perspective on what exists. I noticed actually that they really stuck more closely to my original designs than those, but I really enjoyed seeing them.

Q: Watchmen: Portraits is Clay Enos’s stunning black and white collection of photos of each character from the Watchmen movie. What was it like looking through this book at all the characters you had conceived years ago now being brought to life by actors?

DG: It’s rather interesting; you know if you look at the Watching the Watchmen book you can see these characters as fairly sketchy rough conceptual versions. Then when you look at Clay’s book you can actually see them right down to counting the number of pores on the skin on the end of their noses! It’s incredible high focus! It’s like zooming in through space and time to look at the surface of some moon of Saturn or something. I thoroughly enjoyed his book... it had a real artistic quality to it that was really so good. And of course to see these actors who so much are the embodiment of what I drew, that it’s a tremendous thrill to see them made flesh!

Q: Watchmen: The Film Companion features some stills from the animated version of The Black Freighter. What do you think of the look and design of this animated feature?

DG: It looks really interesting! Although I drew my version in the comic book in a kind of horror-comic style, these are very much in a savage manga style. I think they work really well... they’ve got the kind of manic intensity, which I think that work should have and I really can’t wait to see the whole feature. I’ve seen the trailer for it and that looks great and again they’ve used a lot of the compositions that I came up with but just translated them to this kind of very modern drawn animation.

Q: How much time did you spend on the set of Watchmen? Was it a surreal experience to see your work recreated like this?

DG: I was on the set of Watchmen for a couple of days and it really was surreal to walk through a door and then suddenly be in the presence of all these people in living breathing flesh! I was there for what you would call the Crimebusters meeting where they were all there in costume in the same room, which was incredible. They had obviously planned that so I would get to see everyone. It was surreal though quite a wonderful experience to see it come to life.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Review
"A work of ruthless psychological realism, it’s a landmark in the graphic novel medium. It would be a masterpiece in any."
–TIME, TIME MAGAZINE’s 100 best English-language novels from 1923 to the present --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 464 pages
• Publisher: DC Comics; Absolute edition (November 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1401207138
• ISBN-13: 978-1401207137
• Product Dimensions: 12.9 x 8.6 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (876 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #6,714 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #10 in	Books > Comics & Graphic Novels > Graphic Novels > Science Fiction
  #19 in	Books > Comics & Graphic Novels > Publishers > DC Comics
  #24 in	Books > Comics & Graphic Novels > Graphic Novels > Superheroes

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

273 of 292 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars P E R F E C T !, October 7, 2005

By	Vinson L. Watkins (Cleveland, OH United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I first read Watchmen issue by issue when it came out back in the mid 80s. In the past 20 years, I have read it more times than I can count and have purchased the trade paperback numerous times. I have lent it out, given it as a gift, and just plain worn it out.

So why buy the Absolute Edition?

Because it is the most gorgeous presentation of the story to date. First off, it's BIG. This edition reminds me of the sheer pleasure I once had as a kid reading oversized editions. Remember the giant-sized reprints of first editions or that humongous "Superman vs. Spider-Man?" It isn't quite that big and unwieldy, but it's big and Dave Gibbons' beautiful artwork and genious panel to panel drama is so much more enjoyable in this format. The panel backgrounds, as any fan knows, are filled with clues and details that are richer than has ever been done before or since in the medium. The backgrounds are so much more enjoyable at this size.

But the real star of this new edition is the amazing John Higgins. John Higgins is the colorist. The comic book medium has always placed the most limitations on the colorist who has had to deal with the realities of the printing process, sacrificing in every panel, trying to make dramatic and reproducible choices.

With this edition, Higgins has been able to do what was not possible when the original series was presented. The colors here are absolutely beautiful to behold. The original color schemes and the drama they invoked are here, but far smoother and more intense.

One of the most popular aspects of the story is the internal comic drama "Tales of the Black Freighter," a pirate comic that comments on the larger story. John Higgins colors these panels in the old school process of the golden age, using those old printing limitations to his advantage and making the Black Freighter panels a nostalgic delight while advancing the story in a new way. Bravo, Mr. Higgins! You have proven your worth and demonstrated why Watchmen is a graphic novel by Alan Moore, Dave Gibbons, and John Higgins. It was a delight to see your name on the spine where it has belonged all along.

This Absolute Edition of Watchmen is the most glorious version of this brilliant work. This is the ultimate proof that sequential art stories can be legitimate literature.

The book also offers wonderful material illustrating the fleshing out of the story all those years ago and how the storytellers began with the old Charleton characters only to evolve them into new characters with more depth and dimension than their inspirations.

There are also several pages of script. Anyone who has ever seen a comic book script will be amazed by the density of Alan Moore describing a single panel. One feels like quite the insider to read these pages. Each panel description reads as if an impossibly picky art collector were writing a detailed letter to Dave Gibbons to commission a painting and told him everything he wanted in a great empassioned gush. And Mr. Gibbons delivered time after time, giving far more than even Moore had asked. Wow! This is how it's done, ladies and gentlemen.

This is the greatest version of the greatest story ever told in the history of this beautiful, yet underrated medium. A must for any collector. A must for any lover of great art. A must for any lover of great storytelling.

100 of 108 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars simply about this edition, October 13, 2005

By	j_3_h (NY) - See all my reviews

If you don't already know, the other reviews will fill you in on the Watchmen's story and it's significance to the comic medium. I'm here to tell you about this edition of the book, which is basically an oversized version of the long out of print Graphitti Designs hardcover version complete with all of that edition's exclusive extras (which is fantastic since that out of print volume goes for major bucks on Ebay when it does rarely surface). Until now, that Graphitti Designs edition was the one to own...This tops it due to it's oversized pages and superior quality printing.

Want to see how this story was originally about about Captain Atom, Blue Beetle, and the Question (along with other Charlton characters) and how it changed to what it is? There is a very indepth look at the original proposal included here.

Want to see early Gibbon's art? it's here. How about rarely seen teaser strips published long before the first issue? Again included. Alan Moore's script samples? You got it.

Bottom line, I can't think of anything that could possibly be done or included that would make a superior edition to this.

366 of 424 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Quis custodiet ipsos custodes (Who watches the watchmen?), October 7, 2000

By	Lawrance M. Bernabo (The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)

This review is from: Watchmen (Paperback)

Comic books superheroes are basically fascist vigilantes, with Superman and his dedication to truth, justice and the American way being the exception that proves the rule. Both "Watchmen" and "The Dark Knight Returns," the two greatest examples of graphic storytelling, deal explicitly with the underlying fear the ordinary citizenry have of the demi-gods they worship. The one inherent advantage that "Watchman" has over Frank Miller's classic tale is that it requires no knowledge of the existing mythos of its characters because Dr. Manhattan, Ozymandias, Rorschach, Nite Owl, Silk Spectre, the Comedian and the rest of the former members of the Crimebusters.

The brainchild of writer Alan Moore ("Swamp Thing," "V for Vendetta," "From Hell") and artist Dave Gibbons ("Rogue Trooper," "Doctor Who," "Green Lantern"), "Watchmen" was originally published by DC Comics in twelve issues in 1986-87. Moore and Gibbons won the Best Writer/Artist combination award at the 1987 Jack Kirby Comics Industry Awards ceremony. The central story in "Watchmen" is quite simple: apparently someone is killing off or discrediting the former Crimebusters. The remaining members end up coming together to discover the who and the why behind it all, and the payoff to the mystery is most satisfactory. But what makes "Watchmen" so special is the breadth and depth of both the characters and their respective subplots: Dr. Manhattan dealing with his responsibility to humanity given his god-like powers; Nite Owl having trouble leaving his secret identity behind; Rorschach being examined by a psychiatrist. Each chapter offers a specific focus on one of the characters, yet advances the overall narrative.

Beyond that the intricate narrative, Moore and Gibbons offer two additional levels to the story. First, each chapter is followed by a "non-comic" section that develops more of the backstories, such as numerous excerpts from Hollis Mason's autobiography "Under the Hood" or Professor Mitlon Glass' "Dr. Manhattan: Super-Powers and the Superpowers," an interview with Adrian Veidt, or reports from the police files of Walter Joseph Kovacs. Second, almost every issue has scenes from "Tales of the Black Freighter," a comic-book being read by a kid near a newsstand, which offers an allegorical perspective on the main plot line.

"Watchmen" certainly nudged the comics industry in the right direction towards greater sophistication and intelligence, although a full appreciation of its significance is always going to be lost on the bean counters. The Book Club Edition of "Watchmen" offers the teaser: "He's America's ultimate weapon . . . and he's about to desert to Mars." As a representation of the work as a whole that description is simply stupid, especially since it is followed by a glowing recommendation by Harlan Ellison that concludes "anyone who misses this milestone event in the genre of the fantastic is a myopic dope." If you ever spent time reading and enjoying any superhero comic book, you will appreciate what you find in "Watchmen."