So you’ve seen the trailers, the television spots, and the posters (the many, many posters). You’ve heard the buzz through news articles, blogs, and friends or family. You may have heard things like how the original graphic novel was important and groundbreaking and that a movie adaptation was considered unfilmable for years.
So what?
Really, if you’re not a comics geek or someone who has already sought out a copy of Watchmen to read in advance of the film, you probably not only don’t know much about it, but probably don’t much care, either.
So…how to connect those two sides?
Well, chances are that the people who know nothing about Watchmen but might consider seeing it anyway would do so because it’s clearly a superheroey movie, and they’ve seen and enjoyed other superheroey movies. The recent proliferation of popular comic book-based television shows and films (especially the more mature ones like The Dark Knight) has really paved the way for grown-up stories like Watchmen. We’ve really seen a pretty natural transition from simpler, more well-known properties like Spider-man through to where we are today, with complex, nuanced plots and sometimes difficult themes. Hollywood is clearly willing to gamble that audiences are ready to take superheroes seriously, and the success of The Dark Knight indicates that they’re probably right.
That said, while most people are probably ready, there are those who (like my wife) are interested in getting a leg up on what this movie is all about by not only reading the source material beforehand, but by getting a crash course in the superhero genre as originally presented in comics (rather than relying only on Hollywood’s adapted interpretation of the genre).
So, if you or anyone else you know is interested in taking said crash course, here’s a small, simple curriculum I’ve put together. All of these should be available at your local library.
- Rising Stars, volumes 1-3, by J. Michael Straczynski. The Rising Stars trilogy is first on the list for it’s exploration of traditional comic book character archetypes. These books balance an incredibly large, diverse cast of characters in a story that unfolds over a long period of time. Given that Watchmen exists as a deconstruction of the superhero genre, understanding the various types of characters inherent to that genre is key.
- The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, volume 1, by Alan Moore. I chose to include LXG for a couple of reasons. First and most importantly, it’s a high-quality example of Alan Moore’s writing style (so for that and other reasons, please do NOT shortchange yourself by watching the movie instead of reading the book). He has a unique way with dialogue and tends to write far more complex and intelligent stories than most other writers. It’s easier for readers to digest the different things happening in Watchmen when they are already used to the author’s style. Secondly, LXG characters aren’t each working solo as most of the characters in Rising Stars do; LXG is a “team book,” and there’s a neat dynamic to characters when they’re in situations requiring close interaction and teamwork than books involving characters operating by themselves, and it’s a dynamic that plays heavily into Watchmen as well.
- The Incredibles, by Brad Bird. Okay, so maybe this is a cheater entry, but yes, I’m referring to the Pixar film. While it may seem an odd choice, once you’ve watched it again and then read Watchmen, you’ll see why it’s on the list.
That’s it! Short and sweet. With a month and a day to go until the release of what to many geeks is the ultimate comic book movie, that’s still enough time to figure out what all the fuss is about. Also, if you’re interested, I’ve posted previously concerning things like the plot, the challenges of adapting it, and the impact of the book. Enjoy!
What do you think? Going to do any reading before the movie? If you’ve already read it, is there anything else you’d recommend for the curriculum?
I’m not sure I understand why you’d need something else than just reading Watchmen?
Good point, and probably something I should’ve talked about a bit more. I’ve heard from more than one person who, responding to the buzz, picked up a copy and read it cold with little previous superhero comic experience other than what they’d seen in movies (they hadn’t ever actually read a superhero comic). These people have almost all had similar reactions: they enjoyed the book, but “probably not as much as if I was more familiar with the genre.”
Granted, the question exists regarding whether you need to be familiar with the printed incarnations to enjoy the film versions of things. I tend to err on the side of caution, and knowing the level of detail in Watchmen, not to mention its heavy elements of symbolism, cultural context, and even genre satire, my opinion is that for a film to even remotely pull this off, it will have to be extremely faithful to the book or be a massive failure.
At that point, I would recommend that for maximum appreciation, viewers should be familiar with it going in, and from that stems the suggestion for prerequisite recommended reading.
By way of brief testimonial, my wife (currently in the midst of LXG and who had never really picked up a comic book before) has said she’s glad that she took up the challenge. She’s mentioned she’s been learning about some of the visual “jargon” that goes into the storytelling process through the printed graphic medium — things like pacing and structure and visual symbolism — as well as grasping better some of the character archetypes and plot devices that Watchmen then takes apart.
Anyway, I’m sure that’s more answer than you were looking for, but that was my reasoning. Obviously it’s up to each reader/viewer to make their own call. This was just for comic book newbies. It’s kind of like recommending Mark Twain or John Steinbeck prior to Fyodor Dostoevsky.
I agree that reading the comic book would help immensely in watching Watchmen, and that’s largely because there’s a lot of background detail that they won’t even be able to cover (all the “under the hood” stuff, for example.)
I could imagine your newbie friends being put off by some of the storytelling elements. All the “Black Freighter” sequences in the book are hard for me to understand, for one.
But I hadn’t considered people who haven’t really read any comics. I mean, I thought that was universal!
I recently re-read Watchmen and I liked it a lot more the second time around. So many more little details to glean…
Good suggestions for people new to the superhero genre. And now I want to read Rising Stars again. Straczynski is so good at the multiple-character-management thing. I think that’s why I like Babylon 5 so much, despite it being a little hokey at times. It’s an epic, five-season story that spans centuries and galaxies, but it’s ultimately about all the individual characters’ motivations and beliefs; their struggles and triumphs. When done as well as JMS does, a story told through so many unique viewpoints is very compelling and realistic (in a human-condition sense).
Very good advice! Still debating about reading the book before the movie.