Q. What is Watchmen?
A. Watchmen is perhaps the most highly acclaimed comic book series ever. Collected together in one book-length volume (a graphic novel), it's regarded as the very best of that medium and TIME magazine calls it one of the 100 greatest novels of the 20th Century.
Q. Great, but what's Watchmen about?
A. It's a murder mystery, conspiracy theory and a superhero story. It's set in an alternate 1980's where Batman-like or Captain America-like superheroes exist in the real world. They fight crime, help us win wars, and keep the balance between the Soviet Union and the USA. In this reality, we won the Vietnam war, Nixon is in his fourth or fifth term in office and the threat of nuclear war looms.
There were two generations of superheroes: the first batch in the 1940's and a second group in the 1970's. Now (1985) both groups have been retired because masked vigilantes are now outlawed. The mystery is that these former heroes are beginning to disappear, getting murdered and such. But why?
Q. Are these super heroes super-powered?
A. Except for one, none of the masked heroes are super-powered. They are regular people with special training and conditioning but not supernatural. Only the naked blue guy, Dr. Manhattan, has supernatural powers. And his presence is single-handedly preventing nuclear war.
Q. Why is Watchmen so highly regarded?
A. It was psychologically realistic before most comic books every stopped to ask the question, "why is this guy running around in tights?" Every single character has believable, indentifiable issues and baggage. Shouldn't someone like Batman get some counseling? Couldn't a real Superman work full time on solving the world's problems instead of working at a newspaper and changing clothes in phone booths? How weird do you have to be to actually dress up at night and fight crime?
Reviewers like to say "Watchmen deconstructs the genre." What they mean is that it examines all the motives and reactions of the characters as if they were real people with real problems. And it's done really, really well. In fact, the plot and characterization is way, way above average by almost anyone's standards.
Q. Is this kid friendly? Should my kids read the book or see the movie?
A. NO, NO, for goodness sake NO! This is very adult material. The book deals with attempted rape, several murders, a prison riot, and adult relationships. I wouldn't want anyone under 18 to read/watch this for two reasons. 1) It's has too much adult content, i.e. language, violence, and some sexuality. 2) It's going to be over the head of all but the most mature kids. The book deals with accountability, despair, futility, callousness and cruelty (and how much is justifiable); one of the main characters is a bona fide sociopath. It's also the only comic book I'd ever read that dealt with impotence, both literally and figuratively. More than that, the book is going to be more meaningful to those who can remember the fear of nuclear war, like what we felt in the 1980's and earlier. You'd have to almost 30 now to genuinely remember those feelings.
I believe Watchmen is a good novel, maybe one I'd recommend in a college literature class. It's really that good. But my boys won't be reading it anytime soon, as far as I'm concerned. When they each reach a point where they can process and handle adult themes, then we'll see. In my opinion, dark material like this isn't as much entertainment as it is an observation on civics and morality. I'd treat it more like Schindler's List or Saving Private Ryan. I'd discuss it, watch it and think about it like Silence of the Lambs or even the more philosophical aspects of a film like Forrest Gump. This isn't really a popcorn-eating kind of story.
It's a good story but it's a very serious one.
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