once upon a time in china ii online
by: John Chidley-Hill
You’ve done it. You’ve watched Watchmen, the long awaited movie adaptation of arguably the best graphic novel ever written.
You loved it and want more. The only question is… Where do you go from here?
Obviously, a good place to start would be with the book itself. Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons masterpiece is the only graphic novel on TIME Magazine’s Top 100 English-language novels of the 20th century, and with just cause: Watchmen is a fantastic piece of graphic literature that merits all the high praise it receives.
The real marvel of it is that it’s one of the best examples of not just post-modern writing, but post-modern anything.
Looking at it from a critical perspective, Watchmen reads like a checklist of postmodernism: Realism? Yup. Deconstruction? You bet. Narratives within the narrative? Definitely. It was also one of the first true examples of post-modernism in comic books, and it re-shaped the medium in its image.
As a launching point for a new wave in sequential art, Watchmen can serve as a launching point for your own reading.
There are many books and themes that run through Alan Moore’s narrative. Obviously, Ayn Rand’s objectivist works are a heavy influence on the sociopath Rorschach. H.P. Lovecraft, Dylan Thomas, Bob Dylan, and Rudyard Kipling are all alluded to. Moore’s writing is so layered and draws from so many sources that many months of reading can be drawn from the text.
However, the value of Watchmen lies not in where it came from, but where comics went from there.
Batman: Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller, inked by Klaus Jansen
Frank Miller’s Batman: Dark Knight Returns
is forever linked to Watchmen. They have a lot in common: both were released in 1986 by DC Comics, both deconstruct the superhero genre, and both were hugely influential.
The “last” Batman story has Bruce Wayne coming out of retirement to clean up Gotham City and the United States. Realizing that the world has become a more extreme place, Batman re-evaluates his own objectivist leanings and grapples with the ensuing ethical dilemmas.
Miller’s narrative is more violent and harsh then Moore and Gibbons’ collaboration, but is also a sparkling example of postmodernism and an excellent companion piece to Watchmen.
The Question: Zen and Violence by Dennis O’Neil and Denys Cowan
Anyone wanting to see what an ongoing Rorschach title would be like should start here.
Hardcore comic fans know that most of the characters in Watchmen are based on the Charlton Comics stable of characters created by the late, great Steve Ditko. Famous for creating Spider-Man with Stan Lee, Ditko left Marvel Comics after a dispute over creator rights. The heroes he created at Charlton reflected his strong Randian beliefs.
Moore’s original pitch for Watchmen was going to use the recently acquired Charlton characters and place them in a more realistic setting.
DC decided that that stable of characters was too valuable a commodity, so Moore came up with pastiches to take their place. Faceless objectivist the Question developed into Rorschach.
Meanwhile, the Question ended up in the hands of Dennis O’Neil, a stalwart of DC Comics editorial and writing staff. He had the Question wrestle with his own morality and beliefs as he fought crime in Hub City, and eventually become a Zen master.
Zen and Violence is a collection of the first six issues of the under-rated 1987-1990 series.
Starman: Omnibus vol. 1 by James Robinson and Tony Harris
The two generations of heroes in Watchmen provide some of the most interesting and touching character developments in the series. In particular, the dynamic between the Nite Owls and the Silk Spectres are fascinating.
James Robinson and Tony Harris’ Starman ran from 1994-2000 and explores similar generational themes.
Ted Knight was the original Starman, a leading hero of the DC Universe who fought alongside Batman and Superman in the Justice Society of America in the 1940s. In the early 1990s, his son David became the new Starman to carry on the family tradition.
download dickie roberts former child star dvd
David is promptly killed by Kyle, the son of Ted’s long time enemy the Mist.
The elderly Starman has no choice but to turn to the black sheep of the family: his son Jack, an artist who deals in antiques and collectibles.
Charitably called a reluctant hero, Jack avenges his brother’s death and agrees to become the new Starman on two conditions: no spandex, and his father has to use his scientific resources for the betterment of mankind.
Widely considered one of the best comics of the 1990s, the Starman Omnibus vol. 1 collects the first 16 issues of this sensitive and thoughtful portrayal of the importance and responsibilities of family life.
The Boys: Name of the Game by Garth Ennis and Darrick Robinson
Early in Name of the Game, a young super-heroine orally services three super-heroes to gain membership on an elite peace-keeping team.
Simply put, Garth Ennis is not as subtle a writer as Alan Moore.
The Boys is a dark comedy about the sexual and personal peccadilloes of superheroes that continues the deconstructionist framework built by Moore in Watchmen.
Ennis lampoons a variety of super-heroes, usually in the crudest way imaginable, to show that anyone willing to put on a ridiculous uniform and engage in extreme acts of violence must be insane.
A smirking Watchmen for the new millennium, The Boys is not for the faint of heart.
Last 5 posts by John Hill
- FanExpo Coverage: J. Michael Straczynski - September 3rd, 2009
- Bing.com: Trying to keep up with the Big G - August 2nd, 2009
- Summertime is Perfect for Retro-Cartoon Watching - August 2nd, 2009
- Sellout Superheroes - August 2nd, 2009
- Archie, Betty, Veronica and the Nature of Comic Book Promotion - June 15th, 2009
