Watchmen

Three words. Best. Book. EVER!!! When I saw the trailer for the movie, I was all like: "Wow! That looks cool!" Well, I told my friend that I was going to see it, but he said the book was way better. I took his word for it, and got it. As soon as I picked it up, I was immersed into the intricate story, believable characters, and the food for thought that it brings to readers. It begins in an alternate 1985 where Richard Nixon is still President. In this alternate world, masked vigilantism has been celebrated and supported until 1977 when the Keene Act was passed, outlawing vigilante justice. Now back to 1985. A man named Edward Blake has just been beaten severely and thrown out of a high rise building. After his murder, a vigilante who didn't hang up the mask named Rorschach (Named for his blotchy, shifting mask) investigates the scene of the crime. He discovers that he's a former partner in crime fighting called the Comedian. Because he was government sponsored, Comedian wasn't forced to step down. Was it a political killing? Comedian made lots of enemies in wars and political clashes. Maybe the murderer was a burglar. Rorschach doesn't buy it. No, he has a theory of his own: someone's killing former masks. He tries to warn other heroes, including the nostalgic Nite Owl II, the government sponsored and distant Dr. Manhattan, the super smart Ozymandias, and the childhood deprived Silk Spectre II. The plot twists and turns, taking the characters and reader on a complex roller coaster ride of a story. Violence: 9.5/10 You name it, this book's got it. And boy, does it not hold back! Attempted rape, dogs with heads split in half, implied butchery of children, and nuclear explosions taking lives of millions, the list goes on and on. This book is clearly not for the weak stomached or young readers. Sex: 8/10 Dr. Manhattan doesn't wear any clothing, resulting in male frontal and posterior nudity that is neither sexual nor graphic. Implied sexual contact with partial nudity and one close-up of a woman's breasts. Several instances of female nudity in the background of panels, but you'd have to look hard. We see a child's disturbing (though abstract) drawing of his prostitute mother and an unknown man having sex. (The penis and vagina are concealed by a messy scribble of pubic hair.) Two side characters are implied to be lesbians. Several references to rape, prostitutes, and child pornography. Language: 5/10 Some instances of Sh*t, B*tch, A**, H*ll, D*mn, and Crap. Scatterings of religious exclamations. Drinking, Drugs, and Smoking: 4/10 References to thugs taking drugs. The Comedian drinks a bit. Silk Spectre II smokes on occasion.