Alan Moore Is A Good Storyteller
Posted on September 8, 2008 - Filed Under Inspiration
This weekend I read Watchmen, a graphic novel by Alan Moore. I would normally say comic book, but the story is so compelling and complex piece of fiction that it is definitely a novel. Alan Moore, who wanted to transcend the perceptions of the comic book medium as something juvenile, created Watchmen as an attempt to make “a superhero Moby Dick; something that had that sort of weight, that sort of density.”
It worked. And it’s a great piece of story-telling. It’s odd. It’s honest. It’s frightening. Watchmen is set in an alternate 1985 America in which costumed superheroes are part of the fabric of everyday society, and the Doomsday Clock (which charts the USA’s tension with the Soviet Union) is ticking closer to nuclear war.
When one of his former colleagues is murdered, the washed up but determined masked vigilante Rorschach sets out to uncover a plot to kill and discredit all past and present superheroes. As he reconnects with his former crime-fighting legion - a ragtag group of retired superheroes - Rorschach glimpses a wide-ranging and disturbing conspiracy with links to their shared past and catastrophic consequences for the future. Their mission is to watch over humanity… but who is watching the Watchmen?
Watchmen has turned out to be the most popular graphic novel of all time for good reason. Plus, it’s going to be an awesome movie:
So much of marketing and business is based on being able to tell compelling stories. If you’re in need of inspiration in that realm, I highly recommend you read “Watchmen”. Trust me, it’s not a juvenile Archie comic.
- Christian
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