A Literary Analysis of Watchmen by Alan Moore Essay

The Comedian's Smile In 1986, a graphic novel emerged in the U.S. that reflected thetension of society during the Cold War. Watchmen, written by Alan Moore andillustrated by David Gibbons, presents a complex but revealing narrativethat shattered the traditional superhero concept and critiqued contemporaryanxieties of the Cold War. The powerful account that Watchmen affords isdue to David Gibbons' use of detailed facial expressions, elaboratesettings and dark color schemes that correlate well with Alan Moore's darkand intricate narrative. Watchmen is set in an alternate U.S. during theCold War when a nuclear apocalypse looms near and masked vigilantes areforced to retire by the Keene Act which banned all vigilante work outsideof the government. The narrative is driven by an investigation into themurder of a government-sanctioned hero, Edward "The Comedian" Blake. EdwardBlake is pivotal because his death causes other masked adventurers to comeout of retirement and investigate his murder, eventually uncovering aruthless plan to kill millions in order to prevent nuclear apocalypse. TheWatchmen film, recently adapted by Zack Snyder and crew, stays largelyfaithful to the plot and characters of the graphic novel. While the novelwas published when Cold War anxieties were prevalent, the film was releasedwhen society was more removed from the threat of nuclear apocalypse. Thesocio-cultural differences of the 20th and 21st centuries can be delineatedto inform significant shifts in society's perception of war through,unpacking the changes in views of war, analyzing how Edward Blake isportrayed within the respective expressive techniques of the two forms ofWatchmen, and explaining how contrasting scenes in these genres reflect theviews of different generations. War in the late 20th century was at a standstill due to the impendingdoom of nuclear war. The mass development of nuclear weapons andconflicting political ideologies of the U.S. and...