Watchmen

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Cover of the graphic novel Watchmen
Smiley , Comedians badge and symbol for the Watchmen series (the blood stain only appears when the comedian is murdered and cannot be seen on his logo)

Watchmen is a 1986/87 graphic novel by Alan Moore (text) and Dave Gibbons (drawings). It first appeared on DC Comics as a twelve-part series and was not only awarded several prizes in the comics area. The German edition of the series was first published in 1989 in six volumes by Carlsen Verlag , since then several reprints have followed . A film adaptation based on the comic series Watchmen came to cinemas in 2009. In 2019, HBO launched the television series Watchmen by Damon Lindelof .

The US magazine Time counted Watchmen in 2010 as the only comic to the 100 best English-language novels published from 1923 to 2005.

scenario

An alternate - fictional version of the USA in the 1980s. The Cold War continues, the Soviets are still the foreign policy opponents. Superheroes have been banned since an anti-superhero law from the 1970s called the Keene Act. The first of them appeared after the sensational success of the first Superman comic at the end of the 1930s: masked vigilantes without great skills who later came together as the "Minutemen" (named after the 18th century militia of the same name ). They gradually retired, voluntarily or involuntarily, by the 1950s. At the beginning of the 1960s, a new generation emerged with new technical skills and in some cases actual superpowers. Their vigilante justice brought them into discussion in the 1970s and the Keene Act recently presented them with the alternative of ceasing their activities or working for the government. Some stopped then ( Nite Owl II , Silk Specter II ), others have since worked in research ( Dr. Manhattan ) or for the secret service ( Comedian ), one ( Ozymandias ) dropped the mask publicly and made a fortune with it, one ( Rorschach ) went underground and fought - wanted by the police and hushed up by the media - the crime.

action

Galle crater (also called Happy Face ) can be seen when Dr. Manhattan chooses his exile on Mars

Former superhero The Comedian is murdered by a stranger. His colleague Rorschach goes in search of the culprit and soon senses a conspiracy when more superheroes are threatened: Dr. Manhattan flees to Mars after a scandal , an assassination attempt is carried out on Ozymandias , the former super villain Moloch (also Moloch the magician or Moloch the mystics ; real name: Edgar W. Jacobi) is shot and Rorschach himself lured into a trap. His arrest eventually wakes his former partner, Nite Owl II, out of retirement. He frees Rorschach together with Silk Specter II , and together they track down the real conspiracy, but without being able to prevent it: In order to weld humanity back together and save it from a nuclear war , Ozymandias destroys large parts of New York City .

main characters

All figures are newly developed - partly on the basis of little-known figures from the publisher Charlton Comics . Thus, you can read Watchmen without prior knowledge of other superhero stories, although prior knowledge and comparisons with other superhero comics increase the appeal. Moore also takes advantage of the lack of predefined hero résumés to provide each character with a biography that would work in a real world and process the elements of this real world, in which celebrities (which superheroes would also include) do merchandising and have alcohol problems Fight complexes, exploit their fame and much more.

First generation heroes ("Minutemen")

Captain Metropolis

His real name is Nelson Gardner. Before he made himself the superhero Captain Metropolis, he was in the US Navy . He tries the superhero Comedian, Rorschach, Ozymandias, the second Silk Specter, the second Nite Owl and Dr. To persuade Manhattan to create a new hero union with the Crimebusters , following the example of the old Minutemen hero association. But the comedian recognizes Gardner's real motive: Gardner tries to get over his increasing insignificance by establishing a club to dock with the celebrities and the radiant image of more successful superheroes. Nelson Gardner later dies in a car accident.

Comedian

Guns by Comedian (from the 2009 film )

Edward Blake, as the "comedian" is called with his real name, belonged to the first generation of superheroes at the age of 16. He escaped the ban on vigilantes in the 1970s because - like Dr. Manhattan - works for the government anyway. As a model mercenary, he fought with unimaginable brutality in the Vietnam War , which the USA won in this story, freed - also differently than in reality - the hostages in the Tehran embassy , and with evident joy put down riots. Blake is cynical and irascible. His government mandate is not a matter of the heart for him, but a license for unrestrained violence in a world in which there is no good and bad for him anyway - and of whose ruin he is already convinced. It is therefore also he who disrupts the efforts to establish a union of the second generation of superheroes when Ozymandias, the “smartest person in the world”, wants to usurp the leadership: “In a few years the nuclear missiles will be flying around here like Cockchafer. And our Ozymandias here is then the smartest person on the ashes. Take care, you jokes. "

In spite of all this, the comedian is not a dumb bully, but always proves an unmasking insight. He quickly sees through Hooded Justice's sexual motives for the hunt for criminals, he openly states that Captain Metropolis only wants to get over his age, his loss of meaning and his gut with the attempt of a second hero union. And when he was in the presence of Dr. Manhattan in Vietnam shoots his pregnant lover in a fit of rage after she has injured him with a bottle, he justifies himself coldly but accurately: “Yes, I shot her. And you watched. You could have turned the gun into steam, or the bullet into mercury, or the bottle into snowflakes! You could easily have teleported us to fucking Australia ... and you didn't lift a finger! You don't give a damn about human life anymore. I'll see it for you. "

His assassination triggers the events in the Watchmen series .

Dollar bill

William "Bill" Benjamin Brady (born July 4, 1917 in Nebraska ) is a tragic supporting character, whose fate is revealed in Hollis Mason's memoir. At the height of the first wave of superheroes in the 1940s, a bank hired its own hero as a publicity stunt and protective measure - the Dollar Bill. The trained athlete is shot dead by a robber in a robbery, defenseless and helpless after his cloak got tangled in the revolving door of the bank. Looking back, Mason speculates that Bill could still be alive if his costume hadn't been designed by marketing strategists, but by Bill himself. He, Mason, had always decided against the effective but dangerous cloaks for similar reasons.

Hooded Justice

The first of the “real” superheroes in Watchmen. His name remains anonymous until the end, but it is revealed that he had a mock affair with the first Silk Specter, apparently to hide his homosexuality. He disappears shortly after refusing to reveal his identity in the McCarthy era . Hollis Mason (the first Nite Owl) writes in his memoir "Under the Mask" that behind Hooded Justice there was possibly a circus performer named Rolf Müller, because they were both the same height and stature and Rolf Müller disappeared around the same time as Hooded Justice.

Mothman

Supporting character, his real name is Byron Lewis. His superhero costume was a moth costume that enabled him to glide in the air. Retired after alcoholism. He is in psychiatry.

Nite Owl

Hollis J. Mason (* 1916; † October 31, 1985) was a police officer before and during his life as a masked adventurer, his identity as a hero for various reasons. For one, it was out of nostalgia for the pulp novels , which was encouraged by the appearance of the first superhero comics. On the other hand, due to the strict moral standards of his grandfather, with whom he had lived with his family in his childhood, he had the feeling that he had to do something important and right.

Mason reveals these motives (whose views can be found in the manuscript of his memoirs inserted between the individual chapters of the comic) as well as the reasons for his resignation. On the one hand, he writes, the masked villains were missing more and more - and with them the right to exist, in two respects. Because without super villains you not only don't need the hero anymore, the hero would also feel stupid if he was the only one running around in a strange costume. However, the main reason for his withdrawal is the appearance of Dr. Manhattan, the first real superhero in 1960. Mason makes a very careful distinction here: He and his colleagues of the first generation are only "Costumed Heroes" or "Masked Adventurers" for him, Manhattan is the first "Superhero" (superhero). And his, Masons, efforts had seemed increasingly inadequate to him in a world where someone like Manhattan could do virtually anything, while the only thing he, Mason, had to offer was "a good left hook."

After his playing days, he opened a car repair shop, writes his already mentioned memoirs (titled Under the Hood , dt. Under the mask ) and meets regularly with his successor, whom he had after seeing the talent willingly left his name . Hollis Mason was slain in his apartment on October 31, 1985 by members of the Knot Tops gang after a fight because they mistakenly mistook him for the Nite Owl who helped Rorschach escape from prison.

silhouette

Ursula Zandt became a heroine in 1939 and immediately joined the “Minutemen”. She was later expelled from the group on the recommendation of Silk Specters Manager because of her homosexuality in order to avoid bad publicity after that fact became public. She and her lover were murdered six weeks later.

Silk Specter

Sally Juspeczyk is the real name of Silk Specter, the first superhero. She gives her last name with "Jupiter" to disguise her Polish origin. Like the other adventurers of the first generation, Juspeczyk does not have any special skills, but looks exceptionally seductive. The comedian tries to rape her .

Juspeczyk later marries her agent Laurence Schexnayder, who wants to give her a film career - which, however, fails. Daughter Laurel comes from the time of this marriage, who trains Sally to become the second Silk Specter, but suspiciously prevents contact between Laurel and the comedian, as this is her biological father.

At the time of the Watchmen plot, the late sixties / early seventies lives in a residential complex attached to a retirement home, mourns the old days and sees the traumatizing rape attempt by Edward Blake (the comedian) in a milder, transfigured light.

Second generation heroes ("Crimebusters")

At a heroes' meeting scheduled by him, in which the comedian from the Minutemen also takes part, Captain Metropolis proposes the creation of a new group of heroes under the name Crimebusters , which ultimately does not materialize.

Dr. Manhattan

Icon of Dr. Manhattan (stylized hydrogen atom , according to Bohr's atomic model )

The atomic physicist Jonathan "Jon" Osterman suffers a laboratory accident in which literally all the atoms in his body are torn apart. However, he manages to put himself back together again, albeit in the form of a hairless, blue-skinned man with super powers. He is the only protagonist who has superhuman powers. He has, among other things, the gift of precognition (only in connection with his own person), transmutation , telekinesis and teleportation , which result from his apparently complete control of matter and energy.

Time doesn't matter to Manhattan. The past, present, and future of him and those close to him are present to him. In this respect, he considers the future to be immutable. His consequence: he dedicates himself to research on behalf of the government. Because he has lost interest in the prosecution of crimes, it is too insignificant for him, also because it makes little sense to hunt down criminals if only what will happen anyway is happening. The question that excites him much more is why : So he uses his superpowers for physical experiments.

With Dr. Manhattan, Alan Moore plays through the thoughts of the hero with actual superpowers - and the effect of those forces on the hero himself: Unlike Rorschach, Dr. Manhattan does not show the longing for justice - Manhattan is a superhero without any interest in heroism, he is simply because he received superpowers of unimaginable proportions through an accident. And these forces in turn influence him too. Due to the new perspective, through the insight into the elementary connections of the universe, conventional connections or interpersonal relationships are increasingly losing importance for him. That's why his long-time girlfriend Janey Slater breaks up with him; Manhattan also finds nothing in multiplying his body during sex with his new partner Laurie Juspeczyk in order to be able to do further research in the laboratory at the same time. He can no longer see a degradation of partnership and romance in this, no longer understand their anger when his multiple parallel occupations are exposed. And what's more, he later loses all interest in saving humanity, which he can attribute only marginal importance in view of the cosmos.

His increasing distance from humanity is also reflected in his clothing. If he wears a full body costume at the beginning of his superhero career, he later covers his body less and less until he spends most of the time naked. He only wears conventional clothing for his few official appearances.

Nite Owl II

Ship of Nite Owl (from the 2009 film )

Real name: Daniel Dreiberg. Dreiberg is the introverted counterpart to Batman (and numerous superheroes knitted according to a similar basic pattern): A wealthy man who equipped his character "Nite Owl" with a lot of gimmicks . An owl ship ("Owlship", called "Archimedes" or "Archie" by Nite Owl himself), various owl suits for diving etc. help Dreiberg, who has no superpowers. In the meantime he has withdrawn, occasionally goes into his basement, which is reminiscent of the Batman cave, to mourn the good old days, and otherwise doesn't really know what to do with his time. He is more rational than his ex-partner Rorschach, which is why he withdrew without contradiction when the anti-superhero law was passed, which the fanatic Rorschach resented.

The role of the "Nite Owl" also serves to overcome his self-doubt. This is particularly evident in his relationship with former heroic colleague Juspeczyk, where he only achieves sexual performance when he is wearing his owl costume.

Ozymandias

Ozymandias (Adrian Alexander Veidt) is the "smartest man in the world". The genius retired as a superhero before the government banned it and founded a multi-billion dollar company. Veidt sells perfume under his name, but also "Ozymandias" action figures . Veidt embodies a kind of “Superman-God-Dilemma” in Watchmen : If a hero is all powerful, if he knows the way and has the means to save the world - how far would he go and how far can he go? Can he make sacrifices? What legitimation does he have for this?

Veidt has this world rescue plan and decides to implement it. He knows moral scruples, but suppresses them for reasons of reason - this becomes particularly clear at the end when Veidt (despite the success of his plan) unsettles Dr. Manhattan asks whether he, Veidt, has now done the right thing. Manhattan can't answer that question - so the answer is left to the reader.

Rorschach

Rorschach as graffito

Rorschach (actually: Walter Kovacs) is a disturbed personality who is characterized by pure black and white thinking. He is the son of a prostitute who failed an abortion attempt. He has no super powers or special equipment, he is just very experienced in street fighting and an excellent detective. It also puts an extreme brutality of the day and wins his information by torture of criminals and suspects. Its characteristic is a mask with a constantly changing pattern, which is similar to the patterns from a Rorschach test . Rorschach is unable to compromise, is fanatical, unnecessarily brutal and moves between mild sociopathy and a serious mental disorder . The character is based on the DC / Charlton superhero The Question .

Rorschach has nothing glamorous, nothing admirable. He feeds on cold canned beans and sugar cubes, which he occasionally devours. He hardly sleeps, and when he takes off his mask for a moment, he looks extremely neglected. He also smells bad - just like someone who hunts criminals day and night. After his arrest, Rorschach reveals to the court psychologist that his heroic career is divided into two parts. At first he was a crime fighter out of simple conviction, Walter Kovacs, who disguised himself to hunt criminals. Only after an extremely gruesome kidnapping case did he actually become Rorschach through and through, who could no longer look the other way in the face of crime and corruption. And who can no longer see flowers and butterflies in the Rorschach spots held against him by the psychologist, but only the horrific atrocities that he has experienced in his career as a criminal. Since then he is no longer someone who occasionally disguises himself as Rorschach, but Rorschach, who occasionally takes off his "face" (the mask) and disguises himself as Walter Kovacs.

The parallels to Comedian / Blake are clear, who draws the exact opposite conclusion from the same knowledge as Rorschach: While Rorschach is being eaten up by his almost unattainable obligation to fight for justice, the comedian concludes that he as an individual cannot change anything anyway - and thus getting the greatest possible fun out of his role just as well.

The story is also graphically framed by the unequal duo Comedian / Blake and Rorschach / Kovacs: The first panel shows the comedian's blood-stained smiley button and the first person to appear is Kovacs. The final panel shows a smiley face logo (with a blood-red splash of ketchup) on the t-shirt of a stupid editorial assistant who reaches for the diary that Kovacs sent to this editorial office before his death.

Silk Specter II

Laurel "Laurie" Jane Juspeczyk never really wanted a superhero job. She was pushed into the role by her mother, the first Silk Specter, who steered her career like the mothers of tennis stars or models. Juspeczyk has also withdrawn and now lives with Dr. Manhattans and suffers from its growing spirituality, which brings them close to Daniel Dreiberg. The two later become a couple.

title

Watchmen logo

The title Watchmen refers to a quote by the Roman author Juvenal from his satire VI, verse 347: "Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?", In English: "Who will watch over the watchmen?" In the present tense, this saying (“Who watches the Watchmen?”), Which is never fully depicted in the panels , dominates the street images of the “monitored” cities in the comic as graffiti, in which there is no group (e.g. a team of superheroes ) this name occurs.

Graphic design

A graffito, as can also be seen in the comic itself

Writer Alan Moore and illustrator Dave Gibbons designed Watchmen to highlight the unique qualities of the comic medium and its strengths. Moore said in a 1986 interview, "What I want to explore are the areas where comics have been successful when no other medium has worked." He also underlined the differences between comics and films. Moore said Watchmen was designed so that it should be read four to five times and that contexts and allusions would only become apparent after a few readings. Dave Gibbons notes, “As Watchmen advanced , the narration became much more essential than the actual narration. What drives the story is the MacGuffins , tricks ... So the story itself isn't of much impact ... it's not really the most interesting thing about Watchmen. When we actually started telling the story, that was where real creativity came into play. "

Gibbons said he purposely designed Watchmen so that each page should be recognizable as part of that particular series, and "not any other comic book." He tried to deliberately draw the characters differently than usual in comics. The illustrator drew the series with “a special line width, using a hard, stiff pen that didn't allow much variation in line width,” which he hoped “would set it apart from the usual rich, fluid comic book lines ". In a 2009 interview, Moore recalled using Gibbons' reviewer training to "put an incredible amount of detail into each small panel so that we could choreograph every little detail." Gibbons describes the series as "a comic about comics". He felt, "Alan is more concerned with the social consequences [of superhero presence] and I'm more concerned with the technical consequences." The alternate story allowed Gibbons to change details of the American landscape, such as electric vehicles, slightly different buildings, and "electric Fire hydrants ”instead of fire water hydrants. This, according to Moore, "may give American readers the opportunity to see their own culture in different ways as an outsider would." Gibbons noted that this setting was liberating for him because he didn't rely primarily on reference books.

Colourist John Higgins used a "darker" palette and preferred mixed colors. Moore stated that he "always liked John's colorations, but always associated him with airbrushing," which he did not want for Watchmen ; Higgins therefore decided to evenly color Watchmen in the European style. Moore said Higgins paid particular attention to the lighting and subtle color changes. In issue six, Higgins started with warm and cheerful hues and darkened them through the issue to give the story a somber and bleak feel.

In other media

motion pictures

A film version of the material had been under discussion since the late 1980s. Sam Hamm was already writing a script at the time, but it was never implemented. Even Terry Gilliam was a time in conversation, but did not want to implement in the form of a single film the comic. In 2005 Darren Aronofsky was scheduled to be the director, but was unable to implement Watchmen due to overlapping times with another film project . Eventually, Zack Snyder took over the direction. The theatrical release of Watchmen - Die Wächter was in Germany on March 5, 2009, in the USA the film opened one day later. Internationally, the film was only moderately successful.

Other screen adaptations of successful Alan Moore comics include From Hell (2001), The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003) and V for Vendetta (2005).

Motion comic

An animated film of the comic was released in 2008 and 2009. This is a motion comic with twelve episodes in one season, each of which lasts around 25 to 30 minutes and faithfully reproduces the story of the comic. The original comic pages were animated and dubbed to create a comic-like atmosphere.

Video games

In 2009 the publisher Warner Bros. released the video games Watchmen: The End Is Nigh and Watchmen: The End Is Nigh Part 2, developed by Deadline Games . Both games can be played on Microsoft Windows , PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 platforms .

Television series

A television series based on the comic book under the title Watchmen has been appearing on HBO since 2019 .

Awards

Watchmen has been awarded several prizes not only from the comic area, including

  • 1987 Kirby Award , Best Finite Series, Best New Series, Best Writer, Best Writer / Artist
  • 1988 Eisner Award , Best Finite Series, Best Graphic Album, Best Writer, Best Writer / Artist
  • 1988 Hugo Award , special award
  • 1990 Max and Moritz Prize for the best German-language comic book publications
  • 2005 Time news magazine named Time's Top 100 English Language Novels since 1923 list
  • 2006 Eisner Award, Best Archival Collection / Project ( Absolute Watchmen )

Background: Before Watchmen

Before Watchmen logo

In 2012 and 2013, DC Comics published several miniseries and individual editions under the title Before Watchmen , which dealt with some of the main characters from Watchmen and highlighted their backgrounds. The authors of the original, copywriter Alan Moore and illustrator Dave Gibbons, were not involved in these prequels .

Continuation: Doomsday Clock

Doomsday Clock logo

From 2018 to 2020 the US series Doomsday Clock appeared , in which the story of Watchmen was continued. Dr. Manhattan came to Earth from Superman and Batman and changed reality there, which resulted in the so-called DC Rebirth (2016/17). To save his earth, Ozymandias Dr. Manhattan there. Rorschach and the comedian also got there.

German-language editions

Watchmen

Nuclear War Clock from Watchmen

Before Watchmen

In May 2013, Panini Comics published an excerpt from US Before Watchmen: Minutemen # 1 and from US Before Watchmen: Rorschach # 1 in a booklet on the Free Comics Day in German-speaking countries . The entire series was released the following month.

Reprint:

  • Before Watchmen Deluxe # 1, Panini Comics , 2018, ISBN 978-3-7416-0987-9 (with the editions on Minutemen , Ozymandias and Moloch )
  • Before Watchmen Deluxe # 2, Panini Comics, 2019, ISBN 978-3-7416-1027-1 (with Comedian , Silk Specter, and Dr. Manhattan editions )
  • Before Watchmen Deluxe # 3, Panini Comics, 2019, ISBN 978-3-7416-1293-0 (with the editions of Nite-Owl , Rorschach and Dollar Bill )

Doomsday Clock

Nuclear War Clock from Doomsday Clock

In May 2019, Panini Comics published an excerpt from US Doomsday Clock # 2 in a booklet on Free Comic Day in German-speaking countries . The entire series began to be released the month before.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b James Kelly: TIME'S List of the 100 Best Novels. In: Time . January 6, 2010, accessed September 3, 2019 .
  2. ^ A b Before Watchmen: Crimson Corsair , Panini Comics, Stuttgart 2013.
  3. ↑ a b Michael Brake: Heroes in tights. In: arte magazine , February 2014.
  4. ↑ Vincent Eno, El Csawza: Vincent Eno and El Csawza meet comics megastar Alan Moore. In: Strange Things Are Happening , May / June 1988 (English).
  5. ^ Salisbury, p. 82.
  6. ↑ a b Salisbury, p. 77.
  7. ^ Salisbury, p. 80.
  8. ^ Adam Rogers: Legendary Comics Writer Alan Moore on Superheroes, The League, and Making Magic. In: Wired .com. February 23, 2009, accessed February 25, 2009 .
  9. ^ Bhob Stewart: Dave Gibbons: Pebbles in a Landscape. In: The Comics Journal. July 1987 (English).
  10. ^ A Portal to Another Dimension. In: The Comics Journal. July 1987 (English).
  11. ↑ Jeff Jensen: Watchmen: An Oral History (3 of 6). In: Entertainment Weekly . October 21, 2005. Accessed October 8, 2008.
  12. ↑ Jeff Jensen: Watchmen: An Oral History (2 of 6). In: Entertainment Weekly . October 21, 2005. Accessed May 28, 2006.
  13. ↑ Watchmen. IMDb , 2008, accessed October 5, 2013 .