Watchmen is a superhero graphic novel that has earned so many accolades — one of Time magazine’s best novels, Hugo award winner — because it transcends genre. It posits an alternate history where costumed vigilantes actually fight crime. Most are ordinary people augmented by physical prowess, high intelligence, technological gadgets or just a good PR person. Only one is a true superhero: Dr. Manhattan, who is transformed by a nuclear accident into a being capable of manipulating matter at the molecular level. As such, he is more god than superhero. Fortunately, he works for the U.S. government.

Watchmen weaves together the stories of several of these heroes, who in the telling become much more than vigilantes running around in silly costumes. Each one has human flaws and complicated motivations for putting on a cape and tights. One, a psychopath named the Comedian who also works for the government, is thrown from his apartment window to his death as the story begins. Another, a vigilante named Rorschach who hides behind a constantly shifting mask, suspects the Comedian was targeted because he wore a costume, and he begins investigating. This leads him to team up again with his old partner, Nite Owl, who hung up his costume when vigilantism was outlawed and has since lived an aimless life as a super-rich hermit. Together, they begin to unravel a complex conspiracy with a shocking ending.

Each character has a chapter devoted to them, and additional documents are provided as between-chapter filler to augment our understanding of who these people are and why they became superheroes. The narrative structure intertwines the past and present so that the plot advances while we learn each character’s back story. This complex structure adds dimension to the characters and helps us understand why they make the choices they ultimately do. For example, the Comedian’s psychotic nature is revealed little by little in the memories of those who attended his funeral. Dr. Manhattan’s story — one of my favorite chapters — jumps from moment to moment in a non-linear fashion, illustrating how he experiences time, with each moment happening simultaneously. Another unique structural element is the “comic book within a comic book”; one of the minor characters is reading a horror pirate comic as the story unfolds, and the events of the comic reflect — in more ways than one — what’s going on in the larger story.

Watchmen is one of those rare creations: absolutely engaging, a suspenseful page-turner, that also provides a lot of insight into who we are, why we need superheroes and what motivates someone to play god. I would definitely recommend reading it before the movie comes out next month.

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It didn’t end at all like I had expected, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

There are a lot of great lines in the book, but one that really stuck with me was one of the quotations at the end of a chapter:

“Battle not with monsters lest ye become a monster, and if you gaze into the abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.” – Nietzsche

I’m re-reading Watchmen, so I decided to make an icon.