The graphic Novel I decided to read was Watchmen by Alan Moore. Me being a big fan of superheroes and having seen the movie, I was intrigued to read the novel on paper. Right off the bat the story begins with a death that sets the tone of the entire novel (Dark and serious). The Novel then follows a group know as the Watchmen as they progress in uncovering the mysterious death of a team member. Until they ultimately discover it was one of their own.
First thing I analyzed about the novel was clarity. The story was clear cut from start to end. Easy to read text and art that worked harmoniously. The use of text was placed where needed and there are pages that don’t have any text that carried the story smoothly as well.
The crafting of the panel layout was in a neat and linear order, clear cut rectangles. The crafting of the art was was done so beautifully. The use of multiple horizontal panels to show one scene as appose to one horizontal panel visually did the same job. Looking directly at the multi panels, your eyes start to eliminate the gutters and sync the panels into one.
Continuing to speak about the craftsmanship of the novel, the use of color is very unique. Alan Moore uses this saturated filter to create the sense seriousness. But he also uses the color yellow to brightly highlight and contrast certain aspects of the art.
Additionally Moore’s us of absence text adds another layer of story telling that is done so well through the art. The clarity in which things are shot from the panels with the point of views, close ups, worm eye, establishing shot and wide view are amazingly done.
Overall I totally recommend reading this novel if you’re looking for a different style and take on superheroes. These characters are now hitting mainstream and part of the DC universe, so its only a matter of time before we see these characters on the big screen yet again.
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