Watchmen: The Context, Elements And Characters

A comprehensive examination of the major components of the comic book series, Watchmen. Written by Alan Moore. Illustrated, inked and lettered by Dave Gibbons. Coloured by John Higgins. Edited by Len Wein and Barbara Kesel (nee Randall). Published by DC between 1986 and 1987.
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#Comics #Watchmen #AlanMoore #DaveGibbons #DCComics #BronzeAge

[@MikaylaJLaird]

Your work is being shared in the Serious Alan Moore Scholar group. Congrates!

[@StrangeBrainParts]

Wow...I have to admit, I'm not sure what to say to that. Other than: Welcome, members of the super secret group of Alan Moore scholars! I hope my humble video offering is reasonably enjoyable.

[@zainmudassir2964]

Wow

[@subrosa4792]

Both elusive and exclusive!

[@maxhydekyle2425]

"Two people staring at each other with fake smiles" and paying their friends to stab the other side's friends.

[@StrangeBrainParts]

I wish I thought of that line. I would have used it. :)

[@debrachambers1304]

Due to its nature as a formal experiment, I think any movie/TV show adaptation/spin off true to the spirit of WATCHMEN would have to be a formal experiment exploring its medium.

[@Koopaklown]

There's something about you talking about the works of Alan Moore and Grant Morrison that I really enjoy. Probably because you bring up the big stuff like Watchmen and Doom Patrol, but also give just as much attention to the smaller stuff like 1963 and Zenith. As always, keep up the great content! Until Next Time!

[@StrangeBrainParts]

Thank you! There's a lot of solid work that falls through the cracks. The well known stuff is interesting (that's why it's well known) but there's TONS of stuff by larger and lesser known creators that is just as interesting. Call me weird, but I think there's a place for a channel that looks at that work alongside the other well known work. :)

[@Aeon2Flux]

That shadow image of the girls playing jump rope burned into the wall is devastating.

[@unrulysimian3897]

Overly aggressive idiots trying to save the world one punch at a time. Yet another well-thought out, well presented entry, Sir. Always interesting to see your analysis. 🏆

[@StrangeBrainParts]

Thank you once again, sir! Some Overlord trivia: Saving the world one punch at a time is how I've referred to superheroes for at least twenty year. I'd have to check but I think I slipped that line into a few other videos, too. Heh.

[@jakenap7184]

Would love to see you comment on From Hell. Your Alan Moore and Morrison work is brilliant

[@zr3506]

I always thought that superheroes in Watchmen mirrow popularity of comic books. Hooded Justice and Minutmen are DC that make superheroes popular but in 50s nobody cares about them anymore. Then Dr Manhattan comes along and just like the Marvel makes superheroes popular again.

[@femmedracula6857]

Wow I can't believe you put the cover of V #1 in there. Cool extremely 80s reference!

[@enocescalona]

i would love to see you take a look at the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen comic series

[@coaroas9243]

One of the better breakdowns I've heard.

[@theraptor6973]

I have to say WOW! This is the best video easy on Watchmen I'v seen so far. Love your other videos. ;)

[@jonmeltzer1361]

And now,, October 2022, it's getting very near time for the squid to show up. :-(

[@denshewman]

God bless you for remembering Prism! I thought i was the only one...

[@StrangeBrainParts]

I am/was a Canadian alive during the 80's. And addicted to radio. Prism was everywhere and hard to forget. Hell, I'm still a Spaceship Superstar. Ha ha ha.

[@denshewman]

@@StrangeBrainParts Ha! That is amazing. Didn't realize they were Canadian. Now I have to listen to them again!

[@sirmount2636]

I loved this analysis. Although I would say that I perceived the reset clock as beginning a new day.

[@loubaker6861]

Interesting and insightful as always. Ever consider a video on Frank Millers original run on Daredevil, Black Panthers run in Jungle Action, or Alan Moores work on Tom Strong Promethea, Tomorrow Stories, or Top Ten, or something about Alex Toths work anywhere?

[@StrangeBrainParts]

Yes! Every single one of the topics you've suggested I intend to get to at some point. If I had to guess which would come first it would be Jungle Action, followed by Promethea or the ABC line in general.

[@subrosa4792]

I would love to hear your thoughts about Promethea!

[@ctbinary42]

This was absolutely fantastic. You summed up why the movie was so bad in the first minute! "Watchmen is a product of the 80s." Living through the 80s I distinctly remember the political tension between the US and the USSR and Watchmen has that in abundance! It's a different world with different issues now and although I think Watchmen still holds relevance, the tension that permeates the graphic novel is dampened slightly by time. Thanks for these videos that show comics as a vast medium, not only superheroes

[@StrangeBrainParts]

I do agree that Watchmen does encapsulate the political tension and zeitgeist of the 80's very succinctly. Like yourself, I remember those times well and the series never fails to bring those memories back. It's a bit of a time capsule in that respect. But without, you know, the rose-coloured nostalgia.

[@coaroas9243]

@@StrangeBrainParts , but there was Nostalgia!

[@sentryw4rd]

08:05 The Threepenny Opera isnt set in a clearly defined time, but modern Brecht scholars think it is set around Queen Victorias coronation, not King Edwards.

[@Matthew-ve7uv]

You don't seem to understand Manhattan's view of time, though. He very specifically doesn't have the power to change fate. It's like how we know every event in Watchmen, but are powerless to change them -- he's read the book (in the instant of his creation), same as us; but every word and line is set in stone no matter how much we are aware of the contents.

[@person14876]

Strange brains parts uploads. Me: clicks

[@StrangeBrainParts]

Person 1 comments. Strange Brain Parts responds. Thanks, by the wa!. I do appreciate you taking a look at my humble video offerings.

[@Thenameless1]

20:06 This description of Veidt genuinely made me laugh because it made like a wire cross in my brain and just reminded me of the quote from The Fairly Odd Parents: "He's going to destroy the earth, for the funny!"

[@davidlow862]

16:09 The single greatest panel in comic book history. Prove me wrong, lol.

[@billhasadeathwish2470]

Great stuff. I’ve seen this broken down a lot and this seemed to have some new info

[@rottensquid]

Krystalnacht in the book was the name of a band that was playing in Madison Square Garden the night of Adrian Veidt's attack, along with a band called Pale Horse. Their fans were "top knots," Moore's analog for skinheads. In the 80s, white supremacist skinheads were a huge subculture, so it makes sense Moore would see them as part of the landscape of global self-destruction.

[@jacob_ian_decoursey_the_author]

Thank you for making this at last! 👏 👏 👏 👏 👏 👏 👏 👏 👏 👏 👏 👏 👏 👏 👏 Bravo! Wonderful analysis that truly does the work justice.

[@StrangeBrainParts]

Thank you, sir. It had to be done. This and my view regarding diversity are probably the most consistent requests over the last few years.

[@fredrikgranstrom6743]

Great channel

[@pedrovieira-ri7lk]

Maus?

[@glennfleming]

I wish you'd write articles for my comics magazine 'Comics Unlimited'!!!

[@Gigas0101]

My only criticism of this examination is you pronounce it nuke-u-lar. Apart from that nitpick, a deep and thoughtful breakdown of Watchmen, thank you.

[@StrangeBrainParts]

Thank you. One day I will learn to say that word correctly. Sadly, none of those days occurred during the production of this video.

[@Matthew-ve7uv]

Wow, I love the interpretation of the ending -- so much better than "choose your own," which was always too hacky for Watchmen. I mean it's probably not what Moore had in mind, but I really want to believe it was; but since it could have been, and is entirely justified by the text, I'm going to believe it was.

[@sethkumar3037]

Any 2000 AD coverage of the other titles outside of Judge Dredd would be requested

[@sethkumar3037]

Slaine, Strontium Dogs

[@StrangeBrainParts]

Agreed! I would add Nemesis The Warlock to that list too.

[@andrescorcoll1477]

Doomsday clock in 2024: 90 seconds to midnight....

[@guillesuperior]

Nobody cares

[@dennismason3740]

@Strange Brain Parts - it's "noo-klee-urr" NOT "nuke-you-lure". It basically is pronounced the way it is spelled. "Nu-cle-ar".

[@DCMarvelMultiverse]

I get the feeling more and more that if you really wanted to adapt this right, one must watch Dr. Strangelove, Taxi Driver, and Chris Nolan films first.

[@zinncomicsandart8811]

Personally I think Rorschack is the best character because he is honest . He is who he is , he stands for what he thinks is right even though his worldview is pretty screwed . At the end only R and the Comedian cannot live with the knowledge of the evil that has been done , yet the rest of the characters view themselves as morally superior to them . In that same line of thought Dr. Manhattan is the worst character thinking himself above the need for morality . I don't know if this was intended , but it reflects on society as a whole , judging others and thinking their way is superior and more morally correct than anyone with a different perspective from their own .Also people in power thinking that they are above both the law and the need for being moral . Like Dr. M they imagine themselves as being on a God like level above the meer mortals ...

[@MutantsInDisguise]

Rorschach and The Comedian are both human garbage, though.

[@CosmoShidan]

I've been having some thoughts on Silk Spectre II for awhile now, but it seems like she was a missed opportunity other than a walking statement that women are sex objects in superherodom. Also, in Alan Moore's From Hell, The Killing Joke, and Necronomicon, and For the Man Who has Everything, is it just me or does he have an occasional problem when it comes to writing female characters?

[@cha5]

I always thought in From Hell Moore & Campbell did a better job of capturing the lives of Polly Nichols, Anne Chapman, Liz Stride, Cathrine Eddows and Mary Kelly than just about any other fictional version of the Ripper Killings myself.

[@CosmoShidan]

@@cha5 I'll have to get around to reading it. Thanks for replying!

[@subrosa4792]

He did a great job with Promethea. He’s a feminist. But I agree that Silk Specter could have been a better character if she had more depth.

[@daelen.cclark]

I’ve called this book “How not to be a superhero”.

[@dcmarvelcomicfans9458]

This was an excellent review of the comic and you also explain why I don't like Zack Snyder's Watchmen he made some unnecessary changes

[@incognitofool6516]

And this is exactly why Dooms Day Clock has no right to exist. It is masturbatory fanfiction, made by people who will never understand Moore and Gibbon's material.

[@alecaquino4306]

"Ten minutes into the future, in a stronger, loving universe..." Bwahahaha. What pretentious drivel!

[@theunknowngamer5477]

The Comics Journal, especially the Harlan Ellison war in the waaay back issues, should interest you. Lots of history and snob etiquette and death to Marvel.