Words on Watchmen

A first impression of Watchmen: The coloring is absolutely amazing. The colorist, John Higgins, manages to take a dark story and make it so colorful and bright. The gray statue is not gray to Higgins, it is a mix of greens and purples that blend together to resemble stone. On the pages he has a common checkerboard type structure, where the corners and center box are a red hue and the other four boxes are blue. He does this with various combinations often because the different colors represent two different times or two different places at the same time. Either way, the way he uses mostly vibrant hues turns this dark story into something much more fantastical, but still dark and creepy and stunning. 

The story itself was a bit difficult to follow, as I was reading it sporadically: 3 pages on the subway, 15 pages during my lunch break, 20 pages before I go to bed, and so on. The story has many layers, following a number of characters (Rorschach, Jon, Dan, Adrien) as well as numerous stories (the excerpts at the end of each chapter, the pirate comic, the wars in the news...) which made it difficult to digest in the way that I was reading. However, the writing was very impressive, especially in the last few pages of each chapter. I also enjoyed the short quotes, sometimes by singers, that ended each chapter. There are many many allusions in the story, most of which I'm sure I didnt catch. However, I did notice numerous references to the Gordian Knot. Also, I enjoyed the consistency of the environment with the Gunga Diner wrappers and signs all about as well as graffiti that said "Who Watches the Watchmen." 

Rorschach is definitely my favorite character. He is depressed and sad, he ends up dead in the end, but he is the most consistent. Of course, I very much enjoy his costume too, though they leave it unexplained, I like that his face changes with every scene. My favorite chapter was the sixth, where Rorschach is in jail being analyzed by Malcolm. I think Rorschach's story is the most interesting and affective, the way he ended up with this costume and his perspective both were really fascinating and emotional for such a monotone man. He is quite bad ass in the jail too. 

In the end, I found Watchmen very enjoyable. Sometimes it was hard to get through, but I enjoyed the challenge. The author, Alan Moore, twisted the story in a way that left me completely unaware of how the plot would end. Too, the story ends with a moral dilemma: to kill few to save many, or do nothing and save no one? Is Adrien truly evil or his good? Is Rorschach weak because he is unable to, like Adrien says, get past the black and white of his own perspective? (I did think it was a bit abrupt that Jon kills Rorschach like that) I could certainly read this book again, and I look forward to seeing it on the big screen!