I read Watchmen by Alan Moore. Watchmen is a graphic novel about the reality of superheroes and how humanity is, at its core, flawed. It dives deep into superheroes who in reality are not perfect but have very real, and sometimes very disturbing problems. It starts with a member of the Watchmen, a retired superhero team, getting killed. This sets off former member Rorschach who feels something is not right and senses a larger conspiracy. Meanwhile, an omnipotent being known as Doctor Manhattan decides to leave Earth due to his fleeting interest in humanity. All the while tensions between the United States and Russia are constantly rising toward an all-out nuclear war and with Doctor Manhattan gone, Russia decides to speed up the doomsday clock. Rorschach recruits members of the Watchmen over time who help convince Doctor Manhattan to return. They follow a series of leads that point them in the direction of a former Watchmen. This former Watchmen reveals his plan to bring world peace, but will in turn kill millions. Rorschach and company then discover that he has already activated his plan and there is no way to stop it. The book ends leaving you to determine if the former Watchmen was in the right or if he is just another supervillain. Numerous themes are displayed throughout such as nihilism, whether ends justify means, patriotism, fate, ethics and morality, and more. I fell in love with the book almost instantly because of the many themes and deep characters. I have a deep fondness for flawed heroes because it makes them seem real. No one is perfect, it is just not possible. So for heroes to have problems and be debatably good or bad is super fun to read about. I also enjoy how the “villain” could also be seen as a hero and how his plan was not stopped. This helps show how sometimes the heroes fail and not everything is always solved, again making it feel real. I could not stop reading it because of how suspenseful it is. Every time something started to calm down and you thought the book would get boring there would be an incredible twist. After finishing my jaw dropped and I sat in my seat for about five whole minutes processing what I had just read. The ending could not have been better. I also felt I gained something after reading it due to all the themes present and how it reflects our society and still stays relevant. It certainly was ahead of its time with the Russian conflicts, the threat of nuclear war, debatable heroes, and the questionability of who we give power and praise. In conclusion, I found this to be one of the best books I have ever read. It hit a lot of targets I have in my idea of a perfect book. I can not think of any negatives except that at times it could be kind of graphic or disturbing. Other than that I would not hesitate at all to refer it to someone. It truly is a masterpiece.
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