the vynsane asylum

Just finished reading Watchmen. It's only my second read, but I caught a lot of things I didn't before. Like in the scene of mass carnage, how the corpses are positioned in such a way that it looks like newsvendor Bernard tried to save the kid Bernard who's been reading Tales from the Black Freighter. And the positioning of the papers and signage in those scenes. Damn, the symbolism. Ads for Veidt's self-improvement program, headlines of war, references to the Horseman of Death and the Gordian Knot, as well as Gunga Din.

One major question haunts me: it's clear that Veidt has, at least, doubts about what he's done. But one line leads me to think he knows he's in the wrong, because he's clearly lying about what's happened. He tells Rorschach and Nite Owl that his three servants got drunk and opened the dome, when we saw just shortly before that he drugged them (presumably--they conk out mighty quickly) and killed them. In his position, why lie? He's been honest about everything else. Has it just become so second nature for him to kill that he does it without thinking, and, at some level, he realizes it's wrong?

The big question, though--the one I hope DC Comics never tries to answer--is whether Rorschach's journal goes to press or gets destroyed. That's for the individual to decide, much like the questions about the morality of Veidt's master plan.

I'm slowly making my way through the book. I'm up to the part where Dr. Manhattan is on Mars looking at the photograph. Those excerpts from the original Night Owl's autobiography are pretty cool.

Ran wrote:I'm slowly making my way through the book. I'm up to the part where Dr. Manhattan is on Mars looking at the photograph.

that's my favorite chapter of the entire series. it really gives you a feeling for his mindset and how time works for him.

I like how the Owl Ship was "radar invisible" before the existence of stealth aircraft were revealed to the general public.

Almost done. Does the tie in with the Pirate comic make sense in the end? It is kind of a cool, but it is also sort of distracting.

Ran wrote:Almost done. Does the tie in with the Pirate comic make sense in the end? It is kind of a cool, but it is also sort of distracting.

You don't need to read The Black Freighter at all. I guess it parallels the core story.

My father said he's been reading some novel (sort of a historical fiction type book) about the comic industry. He couldn't remember the title, but he is going to let me borrow it when he's done. Since he seemed interested, I lent my copy of the Watchmen. He read part of it yesterday and liked it so far.

Ran wrote:...some novel (sort of a historical fiction type book) about the comic industry.

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier And Clay? If so, you need to borrow it. If not, you should get a copy and read it.

anarky wrote:

Ran wrote:...some novel (sort of a historical fiction type book) about the comic industry.

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier And Clay? If so, you need to borrow it. If not, you should get a copy and read it.

Comic Book Historical Fiction sure sounds like Kavalier And Clay.

I love that book. Too bad the movie is stuck in permanent limbo.

He said the book is kind of slow but very interesting. It talks about how the comic industry separated from the newspapers and worked its way into movies and radio. I'm sure my father will get me the exact title soon.

Sounds more like reality than fiction.

And not too much like Kavalier and Clay from what I recall.

http://robot6.comicbookresources.com/20 ... -prequels/

I hope this is false.

No shit, every single individual involved in this will be dead to me forevermore. I don't fucking care if one of the books is written by Larry Hama, pencilled by Walt Simonson, and inked by Andrew Wildman, with a cover by Mike Mignola, and another is by Neil Gaiman and the entire assembled creative team of Fables. Watchmen is Watchmen. Anything else claiming to be Watchmen is bullshit.

I'm ambivalent. Much in the same way Ghostbusters II's mediocrity doesn't have any effect on the original's awesomeness. Or that the OT is still cool and fun to watch despite the existence of the PT. Or Dark Knight Returns/DK Strikes. Or Sean Connery/Roger Moore. Or Jaws/Jaws:The Revenge. The examples are endless.

Any attempt at further Watchmen stories will not detract from the original.

It will not detract from the original.

It will just be shit.