Graphic Novel Review - Absolute Watchmen

It's been nearly 25 years since this series was first published, and since so much has been written on and about it, dissecting every minute detail and exploring the mythos behind it I hesitated reviewing it here. That is, until I bought and held this edition in my hands. Its story must be told! I'm going to focus mainly on the presentation of this book. Obviously the story and art are considered quality enough to be given the 'Absolute' treatment from DC Comics. They've done this on a quite a few titles since the first printing of Absolute Watchmen was released. As far as my opinion goes, I feel Watchmen is one of the most important series ever written and should be on every person's must read list for graphic novels. There is a reason it makes most critics Top Ten lists. It was also the first time I read a comic and noted who the writer was and that I wanted to follow everything this particular writer did from then on out. Before then I followed series, not artists and writers.

I will give the story one criticism that I don't share but came from a peer of mine that I felt was valid enough to state here. Watchmen was written as an alternate history but is steeped in Cold War feelings of the time (1985). Newer or younger readers may not have the same appreciation for the events and paranoia that era brought on, thus lessening the impact of the story overall. Personally, re-reading this with current events being as they are now, I'm just as chilled at the political and social sentiments echoed in Watchmen.

The real nitty-gritty of this volume though is the new presentation. I appreciated critique I had read once regarding the newer, smaller Sin City volumes and I concur they are great but are too small for the art. Absolute Watchmen avoids that by going the oversized route so Dave Gibbon's art can be appreciated on an all new level. Instead of the standard 6 ¾ x 10 ¼ inch size for comics and reprint editions, Absolute Watchmen sizes in at 8 ½ x 13 inches, about a quarter bigger overall, but by the time page stock is included it looks more like a third larger. Slipcase included, it weighs about six pounds! The oversized artwork brings out details that I had never even seen before, shocking considering I've probably read this series six or seven times through. Watchmen has always been a detailed series and now it can be seen even better. Dave Gibbons personally supervised the color reproduction to his original vision, with the blessing of colorist Jon Higgins.

Best yet are the extras at the end of the book. DC has reprinted everything that was included on the Graphitti Designs edition that has been out of print for years. Included are Alan Moore's and Dave Gibbons thoughts and afterwords on producing the series, a sampling of the scripts, background information on every character and just about every promotional piece of art produced for this series, including overseas art and the portfolio album art. The oversized edition makes everything stand out even juicier!

The hardcover looks almost identical to the standard trade edition, though the blood splotch close-up is glossy over the matte paper stock of the cover producing a really nice and subtle effect. The slipcase is a stark black with the yellow happy face on front, a countdown clock on back (also in yellow) and "Absolute Watchmen" on the spine with smaller versions of the happy face and clock above and below respectively. "Absolute" is in a bold red color and "Watchmen" is in yellow and the fonts used are from the original editions. Again, Dave Gibbons designed every aspect of this edition according to the back flap.This is probably the nicest purchase I've made in years. It's a hefty $75.00 price tag but every dollar is accounted for in presentation, story, art and extras.