Continued from part 3, page 1...

But was Watchmen really meant to be taken as political commentary? Some may feel I am reading things into the story that isn't there. Some may say it is I, rather than Watchmen's writer, who is placing politics into a comic book. To answer to that I will quote the writer of the series, Alan Moore, to show that politics was, indeed, the main point that was trying to be promulgated. And a certain kind of politics, at that. A kind meant to denigrate and undermine our way of life.

Said Moore, "I also wanted to write about power politics. Ronald Reagan was president. But I worried that readers might switch off if they thought I was attacking someone they admired. For me, the 80s were worrying. "Mutually assured destruction." "Voodoo economics." A culture of complacency. I was writing about the times I lived in."5

As you can see, it isn't me who is attempting to crow bar politics into a comic book. It was meant to be a political commentary by the creators of the work in the first place. Therefore, I am treating it as seriously as they meant the work to be taken.

Further, Watchmen has been bandied about as an important event in comic book history -- as mentioned in the prelude. Many is the cultural historian who will place this series along side that of the gritty Batman series, The Dark Knight Returns (Frank Miller, 1985-86), as industry changing. Most comic book industry commentators peg Watchmen and The Dark Knight Returns as seminal events in comicdom.

The series won honors and awards, as well. Winning numerous Kirby and Eisner awards from the comic industry, as well as a special achievement Hugo Award in 1987. Recently, Time Magazine placed the book on its list of the top 100 novels in 2005. Saying in part that it is, "Told with ruthless psychological realism, in fugal, overlapping plot lines and gorgeous, cinematic panels rich with repeating motifs, Watchmen is a heart-pounding, heartbreaking read and a watershed in the evolution of a young medium".6

Additionally, the series is under development for the big screen (as of 2006), though several attempts in the past have failed. Thus Watchmen is making a sort of come back into recognition.
Also, several writers, movie, and TV producers claim Watchmen was an influence on their work. Neil Gaiman (writer), Joss Whedon (TV producer -Buffy the Vampire Slayer), Damon Lindelof (co-creator of Lost), Darren Aronofsky and Richard Kelly (TV producers) all give Watchmen high marks.7

For even more acclaim for the series, on the back of the compiled, one volume version of Watchmen one will see printed these lines:

"Watchmen is peerless"- Mikal Gilmore, Rolling Stone

"A brilliant piece of fiction"- Richard Gehr, The Village Voice

"The first great humane act in super-hero comics"- Steve Edgell, Escape

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So, who is this Alan Moore, Godfather of these "gritty" comics?

Alan Moore, the writer of Watchmen, was born in Northampton, England in 1953 to a left wing, working class English family. "My family voted labor, and that was back when Labor was a socialist party," he said in a 2000 interview conducted by Barry Kavanagh.8

Moore credits fellow comic book writer/artist, Steve Ditko, more than any other, as his leading influence as a young comic book enthusiast. Though Moore says he consciously refuted Ditko's politics he says he loved the older man's work.

"Steve Ditko is completely at the other end of the political spectrum from me. I wouldn't say that I was far left in terms of Communism, but I am an anarchist, which is 180° away from Steve Ditko's position," Moore told John Cooke in another interview in 2000.9

There is no denying, of course, that in the days before Marvel started giving their characters more "real world" problems, comics were establishment vehicles. It should be recalled that in the 40s comics were at the forefront in battling the Nazis and Japanese during WWII. There were also plenty of titles that worried us over the communist menace after WWII was won. Super-heroes were upright, moral individuals who never had a harsh word for anyone but the bad guys.

And, as the counter culture days of the 1960s turned into the pessimism of 1970s, a darker turn was bound to emerge from the comic book industry as it already had in literature and at the theater; Broadway and Hollywood alike.

Of course, "adult" comics had been around in the underground for decades. But "adult" comics more often meant sex and drugs as opposed to more serious story lines in those early days of expansion.

This climate was built for a writer like Alan Moore. The pump was primed and the industry stood ready to attempt to take a step away from its traditional role of lighter fare. Additionally, the culture in America also stood ready to accept such a product. So, with Moore's background and political proclivities as well as the shift in the mood of the country in mind we delve into the story of Watchmen.

Click to continue to Part 4, book 1...

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