With all the deserved, yet still inadequate, praise for its
groundbreaking format, its incendiary storytelling and its genre-busting influence,
pretty much everyone misses the fact how well Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons
conjured a world that was only slightly futuristic and all too believable. Yes,
there might have been a supernatural, omnipotent hero, there might have been an
airship fashioned as an owl, and there is also teleportation to Mars, mention
of electric vehicles and so much more. Yes, it fudges deliberately historical
order, by making Nixon stay as President for the fifth term, by making America
grab a stalemate victory in Vietnam and even solving the Cold War by one
staggering final coup. But somehow, even with the heartbreakingly flawed utopia
all around, ‘Watchmen’ presented a world, a milieu which we could all relate
to.
The original intention of Moore was to radically alter the
public perspective of the comic book hero- the concept of the superhero. In
Moore’s view, the superhero was a flawed entity- a person inside whom the multiple
shadows of delusional megalomania, self-centered indifference and animalistic violence collided with each other. This perspective and viewpoint itself goes
against the set template of the superhero, created and sustained so far by
America itself. However, in this regard itself, the novel nudges the envelope
further, not just limited to the twisted personas of its central protagonists
but also to the politics of the scenario around them.
The story begins with the murder of a former vigilante- later
revealed as one of America’s brutish strongman in the larger scope of
international affairs. From the JFK assassination to Watergate Scandal to even
the Iranian hostage crisis, Edward Blake turns up as the main protagonist of
each of these events- in the employ of a government which chooses to overlook
the man’s shockingly nihilist nature- his psychopathic and racist tendencies. However,
while Blake is often popular inside the political circles, and even lauded
publicly for his rescue of the diplomats from Iran, the narrative starts with
his murder and with fellow vigilante Rorschach musing and then deliberating
over the possibility of a ‘mask killer’ theory.
Throughout the storyline, Moore and Gibbons relish every
opportunity to let the readers guess about the said theory. This is best
evidenced in the way how both writer and artist scatter clues and random people
around in the early issues of the series- a knot-top gang assaults Nite Owl 2
and Silk Spectre, when stripped of their disguises; a left-wing newspaper
publicly decries Dr. Manhattan for allegedly harming his closest friends with
radioactivity and an unknown assassin takes a hit on public hero-cum-wise
billionaire Adrian Veidt aka Ozymandias. Meanwhile, Rorschach himself is framed
for murder and even the cops are hell-bent on nailing retired vigilantes.
It is in this supposed public animosity towards the concept
of the superhero that ‘Watchmen’ uses to explore the paradigm-altering
alternative political viewpoint emerging in the country in the late 80s. As
revealed in the plot, the public are alarmed when the law enforcement declares
a strike and then rally against the ‘heroes’. After the subsequent riots, the
Keene Act is passed and all vigilantes- except for Manhattan and Blake-are
declared as illegal. The only reason why Manhattan and Blake are allowed to
operate is because they are deemed as vital assets to America’s stance in The
Cold War.
This juncture of the book perfectly elaborates USA’s
ambiguous ideas of nationalism and democracy. The staunchly anti-communist
politics of the 50s incriminate a good deal of the masked crime-fighters of the
same timeline but the politics of the 70s and the subsequent mass paranoia over
vigilantism suggest a twisted sort of communism- in supposedly protecting the
proletariat and the police force. Then again, both Manhattan and Blake are used
as weapons for the country’s vile purposes.
What further expands this element is also the way how Moore
and Gibbons make use of the journalism and its stance in the war between the
two wings. Best evidenced is the clash between the fictional Nova Express and
the New Frontiersman- two papers holding radically opposing viewpoints of
culture. Nova Express suggests a communist, left-wing version of the country,
sponsoring a utopia of peace and unity while blatantly rejecting the idea of
the superhero- a normally patriotic symbol-as not only outdated but also
dangerous. Meanwhile, the latter newspaper is bluntly right-wing and radical,
its anti-Soviet opinions espoused best by its cranky editor, who insists on a
staunchly American way of life. Moore captures this collision with brilliant,
perceptive nuance- the editor’s choice of American burgers, for instance as
well as the editorial praising the heroes and lambasting the rival publication
as communist in tone.
‘Watchmen’ suggests that the heat of the Cold War- and the
threat of eventual domination by the Soviet Union-divided America into two
opposing factions. One faction is decidedly socialist- refuting the stubborn
bourgeois values and preferring an optimistic vision of a world in peace. The
second faction is one which is trying to hold on to the old values of pulpy
patriotism as a respite from the fears of nuclear war. In the middle of them
are people totally left in predicament- the knot-top gangs, the newspaperman Bernie and
even the central heroes themselves.
Moore does an excellent job of capturing the differing
opinions and perspectives of each of the characters as well. And each of these
opinions reflects America’s multi-dimensional take on the Cold War and the
nuclear race. Ozymandias is every bit a delusional self-styled messiah, who believes
that all people below him have irrelevant and decadent political stances, while
Blake is more well-versed through the brutal sardonic nature of the war around
him and considers the former as merely irrelevant in the conflict. Dr.
Manhattan is stoic while Silk Spectre is often naively prone to panic and while
Nite Owl fears the inevitable, to his own detriment, Rorschach is one who stays
fearlessly committed to what he believes to be righteous and good. Each of
these characters’ perspectives on the chaotic world around them reflects a
dimension of America’s response to the inevitability of nuclear conflict- cynicism,
disinterest, mass hysteria, bravado and more. And there are conflicting political opinions from them as well- Blake decidedly right-wing, Ozymandias the cultured communist, Rorschach lauding the bombing of Japan, something viewed with stoic coldness by Manhattan.
Also remarkable is the artwork. Gibbons makes sure to capture Moore’s riveting
plot threads in neatly divided, separate styles and yet each of the overlapping
visual styles often stay parallel in similarity. The dirty, grimy world of
Rorschach for instance stands in perfect contrast to the insulated, suburban
world of Nite Owl 2, and yet both worlds are desolate and marked with
disillusionment about the larger state of affairs. Manhattan’s view of the
world around him is often defined in rigid lines and also fantastical and
other-worldly, as if reflecting his detachment from humanity.
Meanwhile
Ozymandias’ world is grandiose, kingly and aristocratic in its choice of
allegorical decorations. Gibbons also creates a neon-lit New York of the chaotic
streets- a city teeming with political posters, advertisements, drug-crazed
gangs, paranoid loners and so much more, oozing with violent crime, lurid sexuality and even poetic obsession- in the form of a silhouette of lovers painted in an alley. Towards the end, when all the side
characters-from Bernie to the torn psychologist Malcolm Long and his estranged
wife- converge in heated quarrel on a sidewalk, Gibbons portrays it as the
emotional upsurge of Moore’s narrative- the crucial point at which all the
conflicting opinions of America towards the Cold War and its certainty come
together for showdown. The brilliantly detailed panels not only root the more fantastical elements in shattering reality; they also make the alternate USA of the story more credible than ever.
More than America’s stance in the conflict, ‘Watchmen’ is
also a striking critique of American culture, of fashions and fads and of the
widening generation gap between the old and the new. Moore did not only bust
the superhero concept by exposing its autocratic and psychopathic tendencies-
he also brilliantly and masterfully exposed its seamier side as well. This is
best evidenced in his portrait of Silk Spectre, a 40s era costumed adventurer
whose public image is then sexualized in the form of pornographic cinema and
literature. And the book is also equally powerful in its indictment of American
society’s pigheaded attitude towards homosexuality- as evidenced in the
traits of its characters Hooded Justice and The Silhouette.
Also powerfully explored are the older generation’s
apprehensions towards the ever-changing cultural climate of the country, from
older, retired crime-fighters lamenting the sorry state of changes like rock
and roll and new fashion trends to the other aging characters refuting
post-modern indulgences. Moore’s searing narrative style and brilliant interweaving of supplemental material, quotes and lyrics
from eclectic sources, from Bob Dylan songs reiterating the massive shadow of
the turbulent 60s to Biblical verses to theoretical statements by Einstein,
Jung and Nietzsche further goes on to capture and personify each of the main
characters’ perspectives- on the war, on their country and its culture and
lifestyle. It would not be far-fetched to say that ‘Watchmen’, Moore and
Gibbon’s unforgettably spectacular creation, was, is and will always be about
America and the self-willed destruction of the American Dream.
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