“Watchmen” by Alan Moore, Book Review Example

Differently from the previous book, Watchmen takes us back to the past, to the times of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union. I have always been interested in the political and social aspects of this conflict, but Moore takes a different perspective in his novel, giving life to superheroes and flying cars. The country is guarded by masked heroes, who have no super powers and are simply humans with their vices and weaknesses. In my opinion, the world that is described in the book is miserable and depressing. Though the author raises many questions on humanity, the story itself is violent, as far as the superheroes, who are the crime fighters, are not simply the good guys that we are so used to. What I enjoyed about this graphic novel is its main theme. The author emphasizes that evil must be punished and that simple human beings, even without any supernatural abilities, can unite and successfully clean this world from the villains. Nevertheless, the government calls for all heroes to uncover their masks and soon they become outlaws. The world is at stake and falling apart, but the heroes that everyone was praying for, have been forbidden to show themselves. This is an extremely breath-taking story, which, however, does not have a happy end, which makes it even more realistic. I strongly recommend this graphic novel, as far as this is probably the first novel ever written about the psychological side of superheroes, their inner world, and history. It actually tries to define what turns a person into a hero and what effects and influences the nature of a hero.