My brother lent to me his copy of the comic book (aka "graphic novel") Watchmen. The plot follows the background and intertwining storylines of a band of super heroes in an alternate 1985 Amercia amidst the context of imminent, nuclear war. Deep character back stories, multiple sub plots and the ambiguous moralities of both the protagonist anti-heroes and anti-villains all drive the story telling.

I have never been interested in comics myself. Spiderman, Superman have the same appeal Saturday morning cartoons. Though admittedly actively ignorant of both Spiderman and Superman for my comparison I'll treat them as examples of event-driven, traditional "comics." Watchmen is a different flavor than these and I'll risk cliche when I call it "a thinking person's" comic.

Like all comics, Watchmen's story telling is enhanced by its graphic format. Four paragraphs describing a character are replaced by three comic frames or the artful font chosen to display a narrative. Forshadowing is achieved visually in a few cases which turns out to be more fun than the traditionally explicit, glossed-over references instituted in novels for the same effect. As a comic the storyline is free form and non-linear; plot devices that would otherwise be unwieldy or heavy-handed in a novel are free flowing here.

For example there is a very enjoyable parallel story-within-a-story (actually comic-within-a-comic) inside Watchmen entitled The Black Freighter serving as allegory to the major plot's progression. I'm unsure if this device would be successful (or even possible?) if Watchmen was anything but a comic. The movie excised The Black Freighter in its adaptation along with other events that apparently did not work when converted to the film's linearized story line.

As comic-disinterested as I am I really enjoyed Watchmen. I highly recommend it to anyone who has never read a graphic novel or is simply open to reading an excellent specimen of one. I think I may try my hand at other comics now (but I'm still not interested in Superman or Spiderman!).