quisnam lego custodis

Over the weekend, with in laws in town, I decided it was about time to read "Watchmen", the landmark graphic novel from the eighties by Moore and Gibbons. Although I had known of and was familiar with the overall story, I had not gotten around to actually reading it. I really don't have a good excuse for not doing it earlier. Just busy in the eighties, I guess.

While I don't agree with several of the themes presented by Moore and Gibbons, I do admire the sheer audacity of attempting to redefine such an established art form in one fell swoop. And the artwork is marvelously old school, complex with repeating themes and motifs that belie its deceptively simple 3x3 layout. ( A wise choice, as too many dilettantes have tried to "redefine" comics by using inventive artistic techniques tied to pedestrian stories.

You still have two years before Hollywood decimates it with the big screen version (and, no, I don't reflexively label every Hollywood production as lame, but I don't see how the original story can stay intact till the end after having been in development for TWENTY YEARS.) If you've read it, you can see why I don't imagine the ending will remain intact.

So, for most of you, dust it off and give it a read (or dust them off if, like my sister, you have the original issues).