Who is Watching?

The day is nearly upon us as the Watchmen film arrives in the cinema. I feel a lot of trepidation in waiting to see this film as we doubtless about to be swamped with a lot hype. There is a tendency to forget how despised comics were before the break through of the Watchmen, Dark Knight, Hernandez Brothers' Love & Rockets and Maus. We have had Batman done twice from Miller's Dark Knight, but all the Alan Moore projects have proved 'too comprised' to the graphic format.

League of Extradordinary Gentlemen was hideous. From Hell didn't have the time to do justice to layers of the story. One of the best bits was when Gull rode round the London explaining the psychogeography to his accomplice. V for Vendetta was a terrible ending and the fight scene, why oh why.

The Watchmen is part of my history as I was there at the British Comic con, where Messrs Moore and Gibbons talked about the beginnings of the Watchmen and some of the up & coming story lines. One of the issues to look out was the Rorschach origin, which has identical panels from the centre pages (like a rorschach card) or the fantastic colouring, where a lamp's strobe effect lights and then darkens the next panel, before lighting up in the next. These little touches with great design and layout, alongside Alan's writing and dense plotting, made it truly great at the time as still does.

There are points in history that seem so strange looking back and although they can be described as epic changing, you sometimes wonder what all the fuss was about or why should that personage be so special. I find it difficult to describe the waiting for the next issue or the twists and turns of the story. It was like the serialisations of Dicken's work and the ships bringing the news of Little Nell (from the Old Curiosity Shop) to the States as readers waited to find out the next part of the story.

At the time, the comics audience (in the UK/USA, I should say) were waiting the great leap forward, but I think we have seen incremental increases over the period (of 20 years) and most shops have a graphic novel section. My libraries have a section as well and I can remember the thrill of finding it there for the first time. Although, I still have arguments with my family over the validity of comics and how it is 'not real art or childish'. One of the few things that will press the red button and stand well back.

Can the Watchmen be unwound from its comics beginnings and be re-imagined for a different auidence without unsettling the original fans? I think we will have just to wait and see.