I'm a staunch believer in the adage "the book is better than the movie". I also think that movies are at their best when they have a book behind them. The characters and dialogue in a good novel are almost infallibly better than anything Hollywood can cook up. While the sprawling labyrinth of literature has made the world of film incalculably better, it seems of late that the movie industry is also helping it's source material find new heights. After 50 years in print the Lord of the Rings reached #1 on the bestseller list for the first time when the film adaptation hit theaters. Now we see a similar thing happening with Wacthmen, as the graphic novel rockets up the charts.

I've read my share of comics, but seeing the theatrical trailer for Watchmen and hearing the line "The most critically acclaimed comic of all time!" left me at a loss. I had never even heard of it. A little research upped the book's credentials, as I learned that it was also one of Time Magazines 100 best novels. Quite impressive. One review even called it the "Citizen Kane of Comics", which I believe it is.

The writing and complexity of this novel are head and shoulders above any other comic I've read. The reader will have to re-evaluate the characters again and again as new layers are revealed. Even dialogue at the very beginning of the novel takes on new meaning several times as the book progresses. All of the characters are well developed and interesting, and the character Rorschach in particular is an incredible literary achievement.

I was concerned that the artwork would look dated by todays standards, but it holds up very well. Dave Gibbon's excellent facial expressions and character art really add to the story.

The book does deal with some very dark subject matter, in addition to having nudity and some disturbing violence. In a memorable scene one of the heroes recalls his life to a psychologist, and the doctor's life falls into a downward spiral as he deals with what he has heard and the realization that he can't help his patient. The chapter concludes with Nietzsche's famous line "If you stare into the abyss it will stare back into you". It seems to me that the reader also stares into the abyss. It's a very well written book, but know what you're in for if you decide to read it.