Neither graphic novels (or comics) and super-heroes have fascinated me since I was 'old enough'. The only super-hero, if we can agree to call him that, whose adventures I followed was Phantom. The only other comics I read were Tintin and Asterix, these don't include my discussion so far as I love these and clearly are not super-heroes. After a while these too dropped off my reading list. I admit to having read a few of Batman, Superman and Spiderman comics but have no memory of any character or incident in those picture-books. On the other hand I do recall Hero and Devil from Phantom. A way of putting it would be 'I wouldn't be caught dead with a superhero comic book'.
Why I do dislike comics and superheroes? The problem with both, comics and superheroes, is that they seem to be rely on commercial success purely on a fan base. No one outside the fan base ever recommends anything. Ever heard Salman Rushdie say how super-hero comics inspired him to take up writing? It's a plain fact that any literary great or those following great literature simply don't talk of comics and super-heroes. Why waste time reading them has been my philosophy?
An event that could have changed my opinion was the release of Zack Snyder's film titled '300'. It didn't help. If there is one film I'd like to single out as the worst movie-watching experience I have had it has to be this. There are no words to describe my feelings for this film. My happiness knew no bounds when Roger Ebert watched the film recently, he missed it when it hit the theaters, and gave it a poor review. Not a single person who mattered thought much of the film.
A few years later another event took place. 'Watchmen' released and Roger Ebert gave it four stars, that's the best he rates a film. Would this be Akshay Nanjangud's Comicsgate?
Now Roger Ebert had given it four stars, along with other people 'who mattered' and the film didn't exactly set the cash registers ringing. What's this? This film had everything going for it to touch the 'fan base' but didn't. I had to read the book and watch the film.
Everyone in UC, Davis wanted to read the book around the time the film was in the theaters. I couldn't keep the book at home as long as I'd have liked when it was in running in the theaters and only now did I get it long enough to read it.
I thank Alan Moore, Dave Gibbons and John Higgins for this memorable experience. 'Watchmen' is the non-comic-book-readers' and non-super-hero-followers' super-hero-comic-book. It is my super-hero graphic novel.
Since I am reading a comic book after a very long time the first few pages appealed to me. When I followed the illustrations it was like watching a film in which a panning camera captures the setting. Much of the book is illustrated keeping like this. Maybe this is how all comics are, but what would I know.
Although the illustrations seemed to be working on me I didn't enjoy the first chapter. The dialog in this chapter was too hackeneyed for me. Seemed straight out of an eighties action film. It was the portion written out with no illustrations after the first chapter that did the trick. It was Hollis Mason's life and his unique career choice that got my attention. After that I had a feeling this is going to be a different super-hero comic-book.
Then I was enjoying the book until Dr. Manhattan happened. After setting up a plethora of human-beings under masks we suddenly had to deal with a real super-hero. But then the writers surprised me by putting Jon into the political scenario of that era, an imaginative explanation of how Jon seemed to be helping control the arms race but was actually the cause. Around the same time I learned of the formation of the 'Minutemen'. Plenty of stuff just kept happening, disintegration of 'Minutemen' and formation of a similar units years later, a parallel and predictable comic within a comic, sex, etc. Plenty of stuff. Amidst all this the reader is introduced to the vigilantes. Rorschach is my favorite. Psycho on the outside, intelligent on the inside. Walter likes to view the world in two shades, black and white. He likes to keep it simple. He does what is right everytime, even if it would cost him his life.
What did 'Watchmen' do for me? Will I start reading the comics of Superman, Batman, Spiderman, The Hulk? No way! I didn't enjoy 'Watchmen' as a superhero story. It is not that at its core. It's about people. Middle aged human beings who have revert for a few days to a clandestine life they led years ago. It's about the miracle of existence of life on Earth. It's about the mad arms race and the nuclear threat that loomed after the Second World War. It's about morals. It's about Yoga, mental and phycical exercise, quantum mechanics, Vietnam, Richard Nixon......Which super-hero comic will deliver this with such quality? This might be my last such read until someone, read people 'who matter', convinces me otherwise.
Why I do dislike comics and superheroes? The problem with both, comics and superheroes, is that they seem to be rely on commercial success purely on a fan base. No one outside the fan base ever recommends anything. Ever heard Salman Rushdie say how super-hero comics inspired him to take up writing? It's a plain fact that any literary great or those following great literature simply don't talk of comics and super-heroes. Why waste time reading them has been my philosophy?
An event that could have changed my opinion was the release of Zack Snyder's film titled '300'. It didn't help. If there is one film I'd like to single out as the worst movie-watching experience I have had it has to be this. There are no words to describe my feelings for this film. My happiness knew no bounds when Roger Ebert watched the film recently, he missed it when it hit the theaters, and gave it a poor review. Not a single person who mattered thought much of the film.
A few years later another event took place. 'Watchmen' released and Roger Ebert gave it four stars, that's the best he rates a film. Would this be Akshay Nanjangud's Comicsgate?
Now Roger Ebert had given it four stars, along with other people 'who mattered' and the film didn't exactly set the cash registers ringing. What's this? This film had everything going for it to touch the 'fan base' but didn't. I had to read the book and watch the film.
Everyone in UC, Davis wanted to read the book around the time the film was in the theaters. I couldn't keep the book at home as long as I'd have liked when it was in running in the theaters and only now did I get it long enough to read it.
I thank Alan Moore, Dave Gibbons and John Higgins for this memorable experience. 'Watchmen' is the non-comic-book-readers' and non-super-hero-followers' super-hero-comic-book. It is my super-hero graphic novel.
Since I am reading a comic book after a very long time the first few pages appealed to me. When I followed the illustrations it was like watching a film in which a panning camera captures the setting. Much of the book is illustrated keeping like this. Maybe this is how all comics are, but what would I know.
Although the illustrations seemed to be working on me I didn't enjoy the first chapter. The dialog in this chapter was too hackeneyed for me. Seemed straight out of an eighties action film. It was the portion written out with no illustrations after the first chapter that did the trick. It was Hollis Mason's life and his unique career choice that got my attention. After that I had a feeling this is going to be a different super-hero comic-book.
Then I was enjoying the book until Dr. Manhattan happened. After setting up a plethora of human-beings under masks we suddenly had to deal with a real super-hero. But then the writers surprised me by putting Jon into the political scenario of that era, an imaginative explanation of how Jon seemed to be helping control the arms race but was actually the cause. Around the same time I learned of the formation of the 'Minutemen'. Plenty of stuff just kept happening, disintegration of 'Minutemen' and formation of a similar units years later, a parallel and predictable comic within a comic, sex, etc. Plenty of stuff. Amidst all this the reader is introduced to the vigilantes. Rorschach is my favorite. Psycho on the outside, intelligent on the inside. Walter likes to view the world in two shades, black and white. He likes to keep it simple. He does what is right everytime, even if it would cost him his life.
What did 'Watchmen' do for me? Will I start reading the comics of Superman, Batman, Spiderman, The Hulk? No way! I didn't enjoy 'Watchmen' as a superhero story. It is not that at its core. It's about people. Middle aged human beings who have revert for a few days to a clandestine life they led years ago. It's about the miracle of existence of life on Earth. It's about the mad arms race and the nuclear threat that loomed after the Second World War. It's about morals. It's about Yoga, mental and phycical exercise, quantum mechanics, Vietnam, Richard Nixon......Which super-hero comic will deliver this with such quality? This might be my last such read until someone, read people 'who matter', convinces me otherwise.
