"The horror of this: in the end, it is simply a picture of empty meaningless blackness. We are alone. There is nothing else."
The first graphic novel I ever read was Jhonen Vasquez’s JTHM: Director’s Cut in high school, and I fell in love with Johnny as an anti-hero, and anti-heros in general. There’s something about the imperfections of these types of characters that make me enjoy the story completely.
That’s why I believe I enjoyed reading Watchmen so thoroughly. The characters, all of them, were so well developed, their stories so interesting, that I couldn’t put this graphic novel down. My absolute favorite story was Dr. Manhattan's. It was written very well, and I was able to see the depth of his character throughout his history and later on in the novel, as he became less and less human.
Other than Dr. Manhattan, none of the other masked heroes have super powers, but they all did what they could to help during a time when they were needed. And they were all, so very, very broken. None of the masked characters in Watchmen could ever be seen as fulfilled human beings, especially while they’re fighting crimes and the depravity of society.
The artwork of Watchmen was phenomenal, and after reading pages, I would take the time to relook at all of the art in this book.
And the storytelling, my was it completely captivating! I really could NOT put this graphic novel down, and when I finished it, it definitely made me want to see the movie and see how it compares to this.
Definitely looking forward to reading more graphic novels and comics in the near future.