I entered the universe of Watchmen knowing only one thing: there’s a naked blue man. Beyond that I knew nothing of the plot, other characters, or how to say Rorschach (when he was called ‘Raw Shark’ was one of my favorite parts). Three chapters in I was frustrated with all the characters (mostly with Dr. Manhattan), I found that none of them… Read more →
Tag: Dr. Manhattan
Bystander Apathy
While Watchmen does not provide the full (or correct) story of Kitty Genovese, it does, however, show characters who seem to have been affected by this phenomena. If the Bystander effect, or apathy, were practiced by the main protagonists of Watchmen would hardly be prevailed upon to act in heroic ways. In fact, the entire cast of ‘heroes’ seemed to have formed based… Read more →
A Grain of Truth: The Science Behind Dr. Manhattan
When it comes to superpowers in the comic book world most are built on the readers ability to suspend their disbelief and accept the idea that superhuman characters are able to fly, shoot lasers out of their eyes, and have x-ray vision. One suspension of disbelief are the powers of Dr. Manhattan in Watchmen. A physics professor at the University of… Read more →
Watchmen and the Never Ending Nature of Superhero Stories
A reason that superhero comics stories can be hard to get into are their long running nature. For example, if you’re a Superman fan and want to get into his comics, where do you start? Do you begin with Action Comics #1 from DC Comics’ recent New 52 reboot or Superman #1 or Superman Unchained from the same reboot? Or do you go further back and start with Grant Morrison and Frank… Read more →
Loves of Listless Long Lives
Reading through both Watchmen and the Sandman series, I noticed a peculiar fact. The characters that are essentially immortal for the most part seem to have horrible love lives. Is it because of their powers and responsibilities, or is it something else? I’m going to focus on four characters between these two series. First off, there’s Element Girl, a minor… Read more →