The Watchmen HBO series is excellent

I wanted to mention this before being completely overwhelmed by the holidays and then forgetting to do so in the new year: HBO’s recent series The Watchmen is excellent and well worth your time.

As I’ve mentioned before here, the original Watchmen is my favourite ‘superhero’ comic series of all time. But I was quite sceptical when HBO announced that it would be producing a series set in the same universe (to take place 34 years after the original story). Unsurprisingly, Alan Moore refused to be associated with it (although Watchmen co-creator Dave Gibbons was heavily involved). And the promotions for it that I watched over the summer were not terribly inspiring.

I am pleased to report that my misgivings were entirely misplaced. Not only is The Watchmen the best superhero television series that I’ve ever watched, it’s one of the best television series I’ve ever watched simpliciter. Every episode is superb—with episodes 3 (“She Was Killed by Space Junk”), 5 (“Little Fear of Lightning”), 6 (“The Extraordinary Being”) and 8 (“A God Walks into Abar”)—worthy of special mention in terms of innovation and vision.

The whole series ties together extremely well. The ending is refreshingly satisfying: it resolves the main storylines while leaving enough open to permit a second series. Thankfully, the ‘twists’—of which there are many—all make sense. The overall story and Watchmen universe is highly coherent and compelling. And the soundtrack (by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross) is magnificent.

Apparently, there may not be a second season. As a successful self-contained story, though, The Watchmen doesn’t need one. But I hope that the story continues nonetheless: I want to know the fate of poor Nite Owl!

Alan Moore retires

More than any other author, Alan Moore transformed the comic book genre from something (generally perceived to be) for ‘kids’ and ‘teens’ to a medium capable of telling adult stories (often quite dark, disturbing, and thought-provoking).

Now, it seems, he is done.

I’ve only read a fraction of Moore’s work—I’m not exactly a ‘comics’ guy, though I do enjoy them occasionally, and read many of the ‘greats’ (Moore, Gaiman, Miller, etc.) during the 1980s and 1990s. But I’ve probably read more of Moore’s work than that of any other ‘graphic novel’ author.

And I vividly recall reading The Watchmen series when it was first released in 1987—I was in high-school at the time—and being completely blown away by it. The Watchmen remains, in my view, the greatest single superheroes story ever told.