The Watchmen

Kevin Coolidge

“Their mission is to watch over humanity...but who is watching the watchmen?”

Excerpt from the diary of Captain Sparrow, new costumed vigilante: October 13th, 1985: I awake with my muscles stiff and sore, this all night crime fighting is tough work. I pop a couple of Tylenol™, swearing to track down the Tylenol Killer for making me work the childproof cap this early in my day. I turn on the evening news to see President Nixon announcing that the Russians are running rampant through Afghanistan. What's next, Pakistan? I switch off the news. I'm going to have a busy night ahead of me. Pimps, pornographers, predators – the criminal element is always stronger prior to a period of anticipated war or bloodshed, that and the full moon. I think I'll drop the cloak. It really completes the costume, but in practice I am always tripping over it, or getting it caught in things. It's going to be a long night, and I need to be streamlined. If it wasn’t for me and my costumed kin, this city would burn…

Welcome to the world of the Watchmen, an alternate reality which closely mirrors the contemporary world of the 1980s. Watchmen, published by DC comics, was originally a twelve-issue comic book limited series created by writer Alan Moore, artist Dave Gibbons, and colorist John Higgins. After the series concluded, the individual issues were collected and sold in trade paperback form. This book then went on to win a Hugo award in 1988, and was voted one of Time Magazine’s best English-language novels from 1923 to the present.

In Moore’s world, superheroes are real and very human. They have altered real world events – such as the Vietnam War, and the presidency of Richard Nixon, and increased tensions between the Superpowers. Superheroes have become unpopular among the public, which has led to the passage of the Keene Act in 1977. Now costumed vigilantes have been outlawed, and most are in retirement, or working for the government.

The story starts with the death of the Comedian, a government-sanctioned costumed hero. With the police having no leads, costumed vigilante Rorschach decides to probe further. Rorschach discovers a plot to kill off and/or discredit costumed adventurers, and sets out to warn four of his retired comrades.

Moore's characterization is as sophisticated as any novel. With Watchmen, Alan Moore’s intention was to present several "radically opposing ways" to perceive the world. He wanted to show heroes in an ambivalent light. Moore said, "What we wanted to do was show all of these people, warts and all. Show that even the worst of them had something going for them, and even the best of them had their flaws.”

Moore helped energize the comic book genre in the 80’s with V For Vendetta, Swamp Thing, and From Hell, but in his masterpiece Watchmen, the comic book medium “came of age”. Moore commented that he was able to purge himself of his nostalgia for superheroes, and instead he found an interest in real human beings. Perhaps, we have given a little too much power to our own leaders. Have we put too much faith in our own heroes? Have we given up our own personal responsibility to our own “watchmen” who are supposed to rescue us from our own fate? And just who is watching the watchmen???

Brother to dragons? Or a companion of owls? Email me at frommyshelf@epix.net. If you loved the Watchmen, you might want to check out the movie opening March 6, 2009. Teleport to http://frommyshelf.blogspot.com to find out the identities of past columns. Hobo is the hero of his own story in, “Hobo Finds A Home” a children’s book about a cat and his epic journey.