Exploration of Watchmen the Graphic Novel

Probably, when the writer Alan Moore together with his artist Dave Gibbons and a colorist John Higgins were creating Watchmen, they did not know it would be a bestseller one day or would be adapted in a movie. What is the secret of their success?Advertising We will write a custom critical writing sample on Exploration of Watchmen the Graphic Novel specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More I will try to answer this question in my paper. Watchmen is a graphic novel, in which verbal and visual elements are perfectly combined. A verbal element that includes the main heroes, central themes, and author’s main messages plays a more important role, while a visual element makes a story more vivid and involving. Watchmen: A Verbal Aspect To understand the importance of a verbal aspect in the novel, let me first discuss briefly the theme of superheroes and their extreme popularity. Superheroes have always been the main characters of almost all or, at least, the most famous comic books. They possess abilities, and very often personal traits that normal people do not. For both kids and adults, superheroes turn into champions always ready to fight for justice – this is what Jamie A. Hughes writes in The Journal of Popular Culture (39: 546-547). However, what do we see in Watchmen? Authors of this graphic novel make a unique attempt to â€Å"deconstruct the very idea of the hero† by â€Å"shattering this idealized reflection of humanity† (McLaughlin 101). They do it by mean of the character of Adrian Veidt or Ozymandias who becomes the main villain of the novel. One of the author’s main purposes was to show that by such medium as comics it is possible to show and make emphasis on some real world problems that exist in society. The main themes covered in the novel perfectly reflect some major 1980s issues that bothered Alan Moore. He saw â€Å"superheroes† of his times, Ronald Reagan or Marg aret Thatcher who were supposed to be watchmen, who had to control the world, and rescue it if necessary (Wright 273). Obviously, Moore was disappointed by those â€Å"superheroes†. Watchmen: A Visual Aspect It is said that the artist Dave Gibbons deviated from some widely accepted rules of drawing comic books. He used a so-called nine-panel grid system for making Watchmen, which he believed gave Alan Moore more control over the plot and storyline (Salisbury 80). Although somebody may find this style of creating comic books unique or special, I cannot fully agree that it contributes to the overall success of this novel greatly. Yes, all the characters are depicted in a simple and rather realistic way, which definitely makes reading the novel more captivating. However, from my point of view, Gibbon’s style does not differ significantly from other comics.Advertising Looking for critical writing on art and design? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper wi th 15% OFF Learn More I can agree with the role of the colorist John Higgins who I think managed to make this novel more lively and moody by using colors. Watchmen is done in so-called European style colors, secondary colors, which are not too bright, but still convey the mood of the main characters, their feelings, etc, perfectly (Duin, Richardson 460). What can be said in the conclusion? I am sure that millions of people will agree that Watchmen is not just a graphic novel. A brilliant combination of visual and verbal aspects can turn it into motion pictures in someone’s mind, and perhaps this is why the novel was successfully adapted into a movie. Yet, it is a novel that cannot be understood fully after the first reading. It is a work that should be re-read several times, and each time a reader will discover new meanings and themes in Watchmen. Bibliography Duin, Steve, Richardson, Mike. Comics Between the Panels. Milwaukie: Dark Horse Comics, 1998. Hughes, Jamie A. â€Å"Who Watches the Watchmen?: Ideology and â€Å"Real World† Superheroes†. The Journal of Popular Culture 39.4 (2006): 546-547. McLaughlin, Jeff. Comics as Philosophy. Mississippi: University Press of Mississippi, 2005. Salisbury, Mark. Artists on Comic Art. Michigan: Titan Books, 2000.Advertising We will write a custom critical writing sample on Exploration of Watchmen the Graphic Novel specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Wright, Bradford W. Comic Book Nation: The Transformation of Youth Culture in America. Baltimore, Maryland: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2001. This critical writing on Exploration of Watchmen the Graphic Novel was written and submitted by user Yusuf Evans to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Free Essays on Longitudes And Attitudes

Longitudes and Attitudes: Review and Reaction Prior to September 11, along with many other college students, I led a sheltered life-having no knowledge about current events and foreign affairs. Not a worry in the world other than getting that last assignment in on time before heading out with my friends for the evening. I don’t know if it is me gaining maturity and becoming more interested or the media focusing intensely on national security, but I have become more aware and involved in these issues. So when I first heard about this assignment, I was excited to learn about the past and present of the war on terror. The first thing I looked for when opening this book was how and when the author proved his credibility. Did he have any political influences on his columns? He immediately explained himself as the foreign affairs columnist for The New York Times. He also assured the reader that there were no outside influences on the content of his columns. The author stated that the only person who saw the column each week prior to it being published was the copy editor who only edits them for grammar and spelling, but does not have any say about the opinion he adopts. But being he was working for the New York Times, did he feel the need to defend America rather than analyze both sides of the conflicts? He did defend America the entire time, providing both a strong opinion and the raw facts for the reader to analyze and opinionate on his or her own. The purpose of this book is to help the reader understand why the west and the Arab worlds are so divided. It explains all the reason why some cultures in the Arab world are against America-how they were brought up to hate America. It shows how children in some worlds are taught only about religion and beliefs, and not about educating themselves for their future. Friedman included in this book a letter from former President Bill Clinton written to the Arab Street. In this... Free Essays on Longitudes And Attitudes Free Essays on Longitudes And Attitudes Longitudes and Attitudes: Review and Reaction Prior to September 11, along with many other college students, I led a sheltered life-having no knowledge about current events and foreign affairs. Not a worry in the world other than getting that last assignment in on time before heading out with my friends for the evening. I don’t know if it is me gaining maturity and becoming more interested or the media focusing intensely on national security, but I have become more aware and involved in these issues. So when I first heard about this assignment, I was excited to learn about the past and present of the war on terror. The first thing I looked for when opening this book was how and when the author proved his credibility. Did he have any political influences on his columns? He immediately explained himself as the foreign affairs columnist for The New York Times. He also assured the reader that there were no outside influences on the content of his columns. The author stated that the only person who saw the column each week prior to it being published was the copy editor who only edits them for grammar and spelling, but does not have any say about the opinion he adopts. But being he was working for the New York Times, did he feel the need to defend America rather than analyze both sides of the conflicts? He did defend America the entire time, providing both a strong opinion and the raw facts for the reader to analyze and opinionate on his or her own. The purpose of this book is to help the reader understand why the west and the Arab worlds are so divided. It explains all the reason why some cultures in the Arab world are against America-how they were brought up to hate America. It shows how children in some worlds are taught only about religion and beliefs, and not about educating themselves for their future. Friedman included in this book a letter from former President Bill Clinton written to the Arab Street. In this...

What field of business should you pursue based on your personality

What field of business should you pursue based on your personality So you’re thinking about pursuing business but have no clue where you would fit in best? Should you become a public accountant, a digital marketer, or maybe even human resources? The possibilities are endless in business. You are bound to find your perfect match based on what you enjoy doing. This quiz is perfect in helping you decide where your skills will shine in the business field.  Source [ Playbuzz ]

Service Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Service Management - Essay Example Queues that have the highest number of customers deal with depositing, withdrawing, or payment of bills. The customers on any given queue wait for the same service or differ slightly (Vohra 2006). Service primarily refers to the activity the customers’ line for. Service delivery from the tellers differs as some of them specialize on one task while others multitask. The service feature is, therefore, determined by the design of the servicing system and service distribution. Service distribution defines the number of customers that the teller serves in a given period. The number of tellers/servers refers to the staff that is employed to respond to the queue. The size of the queue is by large determined by the number of tellers that are on duty (Vohra 2006). The most important level for measurement in service management in the bank queues is the mean time that any customer waits before being served. The measurement will help determine if the customers are satisfied with the service. The measurement will also help the bank to determine if it needs to hire additional

Friends versus Family Dilemma Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Friends versus Family Dilemma - Coursework Example Adolescence is a phase of life when children begin to feel a fluttering in their wings and try to become independent. They make friends and start spending more time with them. Not only that but they also begin to get emotionally attached to their friends. This attachment makes their parents and family members uncomfortable. Children’s desire for independence makes their parents insecure. They feel that instead of giving importance to the family, children are giving importance to friends. No parent likes to see their children get away from their emotional blanket. Parents feel that by spending more time with their friends, there is a possibility of their children going away from them and also getting influenced by friend’s ideas and values. This fear of losing their child to friends makes them put restrictions on the child. However, the problem is that parents do not understand that when children grow up and reach teenage, their social and emotional needs change. What te enagers need is friendship and not security. Parents are the means through which a child gets exposure to the social world. Parents provide their children with unconditional love, support, security, and shelter. They do their best to fulfill all the basic physical, mental, emotional and social needs of a child. Child’s moral values, culture, traditions and thinking pattern are inculcated by his parents. Parents expect that their child should make them proud by doing the right things in life. Because of this expectation, they become protective towards their child. They fear that if their child tries to be free from their protection, he will forget all the traditional and cultural values that they have taught him.     

Animal Habitat Destruction in Seattle Research Paper

Animal Habitat Destruction in Seattle - Research Paper Example The seaport city has approximately 85 square miles on undeveloped areas that have predominantly native vegetation that provides favorable habitat for wildlife. Even though the city is developed, the available network of habitat provides a significant support for the wildlife species especially the threatened species such as bald eagle and Chinook salmon (Jacob, 2012). The increased habitat destruction has resulted into establishment of Seattle Department of Parks and Recreation lands that is responsible for ensuring that the city’s habitat is maintained in the natural way (Pierce, 2003). According to American Lung Association, Seattle area is among the dirtiest areas in terms of fine particle pollution. These include microscopic dust, chemicals, diesel exhaust, aerosols, and metals. The aim of this paper is to discuss the Seattle animal habitat destruction by touching on the reasons that lead to habitat destruction, the impact of habitat destruction and most important the solu tions of it. As the human population around Seattle region increase, the demand for fish and other forms of food varieties has increased. For example, salmon, which is the cultural icon in the area, has been used as the source of food resulting to their decrease (Arbault and Sastrapradja, 1995). Thus, the demand for food has been one of the causes of decrease in the number of animals. Seattle is a developed city that has various business activities and production facilities. As a result, there is extensive ocean water pollution due to the chemicals produced from the factories. Water pollution in Seattle region originates from human activities within the streets of the city that produce wastes that are carried to the ocean. Other pollutants that directly affect fish species in Seattle include pesticides and petrochemicals including gas and oil. Additionally, the nitrogen, phosphorus and animal waste cause algae blooms. Once they develop, the blooms occupy patches of the

What is meant by the 'Star System' illustrate the workings of the Essay

What is meant by the 'Star System' illustrate the workings of the system by analysing the image of one star from the period 1930-1960 - Essay Example The star system created and promoted film stars by creating personas for them. In the process new names and backgrounds were created. Cary Grant, Joan Crawford and Rock Hudson were film stars who were created by the Hollywood star system. The system expected men to be gentlemen and women to wear stylish clothes when leaving the house. There were special clauses within the actors’ contracts which called for strict moral regulations to be adhered to (de Cordova, 52, 2000). The star’s public image was fiercely guarded by the Hollywood executives. Any scandals or incidents that damaged the star’s image were covered up. Sham dates were introduced for actors who were homosexual. Actors and actresses were matched together in order to create a public image of a romantic couple. Money was given to witnesses to hide incidents of drugs, adultery, drinking and divorce. Some tabloid papers were on the Hollywood payroll which exclusively reported on the stars to update their public image. Celebrity scandals were hushed up by giving money to tabloid papers and journals (Walker, 57, 1970). During the initial years of the film industry, actors and actresses were reluctant to perform in films. They felt embarrassment in working for movies. The film industry was considered at the level of carnivals and freak shows. Only silent movies were considered to be acceptable. Producers also feared that by working for films actors would gain more fame and prestige. Thomas Edison’s Motion Picture Patents Company forced companies to follow their rules and equipment during the design of films. The Motion Picture Patents Company did not promote stars. The star system eventually arose from the public desire to know the names of the actors. Film audiences gave their own nicknames to performers in movies they liked (McDonald, 77, 2000). Star promotion was first done by Carl Laemmle when he acquired Lawrence from Biograph. He promoted the star by spreading rumors of her being killed in