Watchmen from my own perspective
Jul. 30th, 2008 04:49 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
thebitterguySeriously, I'll shut up about it someday, probably when I'm dead.
Okay, a lot of people are suddenly aware of the book, due to the impending movie. Or at least more aware than they would have been.
I was first introduced to it by an acquaintance about... oh... twenty some years ago. The book had just started coming out in single issues, and I drove to Maplecon, an Ottawa area convention, with one of my dad's nurses from his prison clinic and her son.
Actually, I was first introduced to it by some DC promotional material that showed the Comedian aiming a rifle out a window in Deely Plaza, and in an editorial that mentioned how Alan Moore had a great idea for using the Charleton characters, but if we used it we'd never be able to use the characters again! So stay tuned for Watchmen!
Anyway, after that I got a short intro to it by my traveling companion. I think issue #1 had just come out, so one of the most interesting character bits was Rorschach's tossing a guy down an elevator shaft.
Cut to... A year later.
Kingston had a series of comics stores. First off was Camelot Comics. I became a semi-regular there; whenever Pater would pick me up from school, he'd take me over and buy some funny books. It was located two blocks from my grade school, but we were verboten from leaving the school grounds. The guy there got grumpy one time when I picked up an issue of Love & Rockets. True, I can see how that would be bad.
Anyway, Camelot passed out of this world shortly, to be replaced (in the same location) by Cosmic Comics. The owner seemed a little more focused (he was older and wore glasses; I was a kid, these things meant thing back then) and I was a recognized customer there. So much so that he sent me to get his float from the bank around the corner one chilly winter morning. That stays with me. Cosmic was located next to the computer and electronics shop where I bought the very cheesy Marvel video games that were being released around that time. The shop eventually morphed into a video rental place, as they could make money on that.
One day, I saw at the counter a trade paperback copy of the Watchmen series I'd heard about. Tom, the cashier (who would eventually go on to own Comics Plus in Kingston), told me it was an excellent book, and offered me a discount as it had a bend in the corner. Sold!
And then, wow. The book has an effect when you first read it, regardless of your age. Admittedly, you miss stuff when you read it when you're just a kid. Homosexuality was a concept that didn't get discussed much at Holy Cross, either in or outside of class, so HJ & Nelly's relationship was a black void to me until I read Mayfair's rpg sourcebook for the universe, and just try to explain impotence to a teenager. No, go ahead, I dare you. They'll laugh you out of the building. Not getting an erection. That's crazy talk!
The book's been with me since then, an increasingly worn copy of the first printing trade. I've pulled it out with some regularity; sometimes to read it through entirely, sometimes to look at one bit or another. I still can't get into the damn bird stuff at the end of chapter four.
Anyway, over the past two decades, the book has become... worn. The front cover is not yet off, but it shows that it has traveled; seriously, it would be CGC graded in the fractions. Recently, Cynra took it with her to SDCC to get it signed by Dave Gibbons. In retrospect, I should have also sent her with my copy of For the Man Who Has Everything. I love that story.
I'll bet Gibbons was amused at how different he looked from his Bill Murray-esque author's photo, while Moore has changed little from then, no doubt thanks to his Yeti heritage. Well, as amused as anyone gets at looking at old photos of themselves. God, who thought photography was a good idea?
When she said that he was sketching in each book, I asked for a sketch of Dollar Bill. Primarily because I figured no one ever asked for a Dollar Bill sketch. I mean, why would they? He doesn't even get any LINES in the book. He poses for the photo, walks out the door, and next thing you know, shot in the head. So Dollar Bill needed some love.
Apparently, so few people do that he can't quite remember what he looked like, so he ended up looking inside to refresh his memory.
Apparently a few people commented on the aged qualities of the book. I've considered getting a replacement for it for a while. Well, not a replacement (definitely not now) but at least a supplemental that'll be better able to weather further reading. After loving my copy of the Absolute editon of The New Frontier, I'm contemplating getting a copy of the Absolute Watchmen (if I can find one; Chapters and Amazon.com are both coming up empty, but Amazon.ca looks like it might have a copy).
The story means a lot because it talks about the fears I can remember when I was young. A lot of people talk of Generation X and their slacker mentality. I think there's probably a certain fatalism to blame for that. We were raised to be aware that our world was dangling by a string; a well placed flock of geese, or a bundle of balloons, and we're game over. One of Watchmen's strengths is how it plays to that particular zeitgeist. My friend Gabe had a piece he wrote once about the effect of an oncoming nuclear armageddon on the people who grew up in its shadow.
I've read pieces where younger people (in their 20s) don't get the whole pre-apocalyptic vibe. That's fortunate.
Okay, a lot of people are suddenly aware of the book, due to the impending movie. Or at least more aware than they would have been.
I was first introduced to it by an acquaintance about... oh... twenty some years ago. The book had just started coming out in single issues, and I drove to Maplecon, an Ottawa area convention, with one of my dad's nurses from his prison clinic and her son.
Actually, I was first introduced to it by some DC promotional material that showed the Comedian aiming a rifle out a window in Deely Plaza, and in an editorial that mentioned how Alan Moore had a great idea for using the Charleton characters, but if we used it we'd never be able to use the characters again! So stay tuned for Watchmen!
Anyway, after that I got a short intro to it by my traveling companion. I think issue #1 had just come out, so one of the most interesting character bits was Rorschach's tossing a guy down an elevator shaft.
Cut to... A year later.
Kingston had a series of comics stores. First off was Camelot Comics. I became a semi-regular there; whenever Pater would pick me up from school, he'd take me over and buy some funny books. It was located two blocks from my grade school, but we were verboten from leaving the school grounds. The guy there got grumpy one time when I picked up an issue of Love & Rockets. True, I can see how that would be bad.
Anyway, Camelot passed out of this world shortly, to be replaced (in the same location) by Cosmic Comics. The owner seemed a little more focused (he was older and wore glasses; I was a kid, these things meant thing back then) and I was a recognized customer there. So much so that he sent me to get his float from the bank around the corner one chilly winter morning. That stays with me. Cosmic was located next to the computer and electronics shop where I bought the very cheesy Marvel video games that were being released around that time. The shop eventually morphed into a video rental place, as they could make money on that.
One day, I saw at the counter a trade paperback copy of the Watchmen series I'd heard about. Tom, the cashier (who would eventually go on to own Comics Plus in Kingston), told me it was an excellent book, and offered me a discount as it had a bend in the corner. Sold!
And then, wow. The book has an effect when you first read it, regardless of your age. Admittedly, you miss stuff when you read it when you're just a kid. Homosexuality was a concept that didn't get discussed much at Holy Cross, either in or outside of class, so HJ & Nelly's relationship was a black void to me until I read Mayfair's rpg sourcebook for the universe, and just try to explain impotence to a teenager. No, go ahead, I dare you. They'll laugh you out of the building. Not getting an erection. That's crazy talk!
The book's been with me since then, an increasingly worn copy of the first printing trade. I've pulled it out with some regularity; sometimes to read it through entirely, sometimes to look at one bit or another. I still can't get into the damn bird stuff at the end of chapter four.
Anyway, over the past two decades, the book has become... worn. The front cover is not yet off, but it shows that it has traveled; seriously, it would be CGC graded in the fractions. Recently, Cynra took it with her to SDCC to get it signed by Dave Gibbons. In retrospect, I should have also sent her with my copy of For the Man Who Has Everything. I love that story.
I'll bet Gibbons was amused at how different he looked from his Bill Murray-esque author's photo, while Moore has changed little from then, no doubt thanks to his Yeti heritage. Well, as amused as anyone gets at looking at old photos of themselves. God, who thought photography was a good idea?
When she said that he was sketching in each book, I asked for a sketch of Dollar Bill. Primarily because I figured no one ever asked for a Dollar Bill sketch. I mean, why would they? He doesn't even get any LINES in the book. He poses for the photo, walks out the door, and next thing you know, shot in the head. So Dollar Bill needed some love.
Apparently, so few people do that he can't quite remember what he looked like, so he ended up looking inside to refresh his memory.
Apparently a few people commented on the aged qualities of the book. I've considered getting a replacement for it for a while. Well, not a replacement (definitely not now) but at least a supplemental that'll be better able to weather further reading. After loving my copy of the Absolute editon of The New Frontier, I'm contemplating getting a copy of the Absolute Watchmen (if I can find one; Chapters and Amazon.com are both coming up empty, but Amazon.ca looks like it might have a copy).
The story means a lot because it talks about the fears I can remember when I was young. A lot of people talk of Generation X and their slacker mentality. I think there's probably a certain fatalism to blame for that. We were raised to be aware that our world was dangling by a string; a well placed flock of geese, or a bundle of balloons, and we're game over. One of Watchmen's strengths is how it plays to that particular zeitgeist. My friend Gabe had a piece he wrote once about the effect of an oncoming nuclear armageddon on the people who grew up in its shadow.
I've read pieces where younger people (in their 20s) don't get the whole pre-apocalyptic vibe. That's fortunate.
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no subject
Date: 2008-07-30 09:02 pm (UTC)Also - good post.
no subject
Date: 2008-07-31 01:52 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-07-31 07:38 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-07-30 09:07 pm (UTC)Most excellent post, my friend. I very much enjoyed reading this.
no subject
Date: 2008-07-30 09:20 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-07-30 09:09 pm (UTC)You shoulda kicked his ass: Hopey woulda. 8)
no subject
Date: 2008-07-30 09:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-07-30 09:21 pm (UTC)btw - re Absolute things, I just picked up the first volume in DH's "Absolute-like" reprints of the Hellboy material. Wow. So.... anybody want used copies of the Hellboy trades? 8) (Actually, I'll prolly pass them on to someone in my gaming group... )
no subject
Date: 2008-07-31 01:50 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-07-30 09:23 pm (UTC)http://culturalsnafu.wordpress.com/2007/05/04/destroying-possibilities/
Great post Justin.
no subject
Date: 2008-07-31 03:31 pm (UTC)Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed it.
no subject
Date: 2008-07-30 09:45 pm (UTC)I think an ad in Dragon for said book was my first exposure to Watchmen- I'd missed the comic on account of I didn't buy many DC comics, and I don't think my mom would have approved one with rape, murder, and prostitutes for a 7 year old.
I picked up the trade a few years back when I decided I needed to read some of these major stories. For reading it ~20 years after publication, and for being on the outer edge of Generation X, I thought the story worked for me.
As others have said, good post.
no subject
Date: 2008-07-31 03:37 pm (UTC)The RPG sourcebook filled in a lot of blanks for me, even though the modules were okay at best.
no subject
Date: 2008-07-30 10:27 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-07-30 10:29 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-07-30 10:34 pm (UTC)Kids today (that's how old I am, I now say "Kids today") may have environmental concerns, especially as the task of cleaning up the planet has been pretty much dumped on their laps by governments filled with, well, people my age and older) but I'm sure they don't get what it was like in the early eighties where it seemed that your world could be destroyed by the merest happenstance (like, for example, an unfortunate joke from the most powerful man on the planet (http://www.videosift.com/video/Ronald-Regans-We-Bomb-Russia-in-5-Minutes-quote) )
Popular culture was so much more nihilistic back then, what with punk, the Mad Max films (and their Italian knock-offs) and post-holocaust rpgs (remember "Aftermath"?)
no subject
Date: 2008-07-31 06:36 am (UTC)Thankfully, the cold war ended when I was still fairly young (I was in high school in 1991, when the August Coup and, later, the Christmas Day statement from GHWB that the Cold War was officially over, occurred), so I wasn't nearly as paranoid or fatalistic as some people a few years older than me. The time in which I grew up definitely informed who I am today, however. I don't get that worked up over current events, partially because I've got a certain sense of inevitability with regards to certain developments, and partially because I've got the perspective that at least we're not under constant threat of mutually assured destruction a la Doctor Strangelove.
no subject
Date: 2008-07-31 04:09 pm (UTC)They even did a PA supplement for their monster game.
I shudder to think that I'm "Kids todaying" a lot. Particularly to some of my co-workers. I think someone will have a good book to be written on the effect of the "Impending Nuclear Holocaust" vibe during the cold war.
no subject
Date: 2008-07-30 11:04 pm (UTC)Between the recent pub for the movie along with twitter/lj mentions of Watchmen by you and mysticalforest I started rereading my individual issues :) this week. I actually came to the series late, around the time of issue 10 or 11, but easily back filled the collection.
I have many of the same impressions as you: the story gains menaning as you age, and a punk kid couldn't really understand it as new. I've also seen the reviews and comments of people who can't understand the context of the time it was written in.
no subject
Date: 2008-07-31 04:10 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-07-31 12:08 am (UTC)I don't get why this is such a big deal.
I am perhaps a rarity in the geek circles, in that I did not grow up reading comic books (you can call them "graphic novels" all you like, they're just thicker comic books, IMHO, trying to get some sort of mainstream cred).
I only bought The Watchmen about two weeks ago, after I watched the trailer for the movie. I'd never read it before.
Many of the people around here rave about it. I don't understand that. It's OK, but as far as I am concerned, for the most part, it's a slow and often tedious story, where nothing much happens in a whole chapter. I don't find any of the characters in it particularly engaging, and some of them just seem pointless and/or downright annoying.
Right now, I'm totally failing to see why this book is such a big deal.
Call me a heretic if you like, but part of me is regretting dropping the $30 on it now.
no subject
Date: 2008-07-31 12:39 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-07-31 12:43 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-07-31 12:44 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-07-31 12:50 am (UTC)When I read something, I expect to be engaged by it. I want to get caught up in the plot, and to care about the characters and their actions.
Watchmen provides me with little to none of this. It's a bunch of former costumed heroes moping around and feeling mostly sorry for themselves. There's the whole kid on the corner reading a comic he hasn't paid for (and which - at the point I'm at) seems to bear little or no relevance to the rest of the storyline.
I find the only mildly interesting character is Rorschach, because he actually gives a shit about what's going on and is doing something about it.
I bought the book because I saw the movie trailer, thought it looked interesting and wanted to know more. The book has, so far, failed completely to deliver that to me.
no subject
Date: 2008-07-31 01:15 am (UTC)Yeah, so what engages you? What's it missing?
Watchmen provides me with little to none of this. It's a bunch of former costumed heroes moping around and feeling mostly sorry for themselves. There's the whole kid on the corner reading a comic he hasn't paid for (and which - at the point I'm at) seems to bear little or no relevance to the rest of the storyline.
You see no connection between a man separated from civilisation in a dangerous sea and any of the main characters?
no subject
Date: 2008-07-31 01:33 am (UTC)You see no connection between a man separated from civilisation in a dangerous sea and any of the main characters?
Very little, no. I don't see any of the other characters doing something as morally reprehensible (and stupid) as building a raft from corpses in order to save his own arse in a move that's almost destined to failure from the outset.
Let me ask you something: why is it such a problem that I don't like it much? Why are you trying so hard to convert me?
no subject
Date: 2008-07-31 01:41 am (UTC)Shooting a pregnant woman doesn't count?
Let me ask you something: why is it such a problem that I don't like it much? Why are you trying so hard to convert me?
I was bored on the internet?
no subject
Date: 2008-07-31 01:47 am (UTC)As far as I am aware, at the point I'm up to in the story, I don't recall anyone shooting a pregnant woman. I don't even remember a pregnant woman, let alone anyone shooting her. As I said in my original comment, I haven't finished reading it yet.
To be honest, I'm not even sure I'm going to finish reading it. It's too much like a chore sometimes.
I was bored on the internet?
Sigh. I knew I should have known better than to feed the troll.
no subject
Date: 2008-07-31 02:59 am (UTC)Probably the same reason you posted your dislike in the first place.
no subject
Date: 2008-07-31 04:25 am (UTC)...you're not to the end yet, are you?
no subject
Date: 2008-07-31 03:00 am (UTC)I've read pieces where younger people (in their 20s) don't get the whole pre-apocalyptic vibe. That's fortunate.
Probably something to do with the apocalypse being less scary than expected.
no subject
Date: 2008-07-31 04:09 pm (UTC)FOR NOW.