A place for those who "Trust the Fungus"

Many of you people here may know a certain Alan Moore Graphic Novel by the name of Watchmen. If your one of those people, then you most likely think it is one of the best graphic novels of DC (Besides The Dark Knight Returns ).

But I however am one of those people who think that while Watchmen certainly is an iteresting and superior graphic novel to other DC titles, calling it the best graphic novel of all time would be pushing it.


But we're not here to just talk about the comic, we're also taking about the Zack Snyder movie adaption that came out 2 years ago. So what will we do? compare them of course.

Now to be honest I've only read the graphic novel in its entirety, I haven't seen all of the movie but I can tell you what I have seen and what I've seen so far is a pretty good adaption of Watchmen.

One thing I can say is that the movie, or the director's cut at least, is surprisingly much more brutal than the comic, and if you've read the graphic novel and seen the movie you'll know what I mean exactly.

But which is better? I don't think I can have an opinion on that exactly since I've only seen a few clips but what do you think?

The graphic novel is vastly superior simply because its story is better suited for that medium. Everything is typically executed much better than that of the film, excepting for the ultimate climax. While awesome, it's pretty dated, extreme and full of holes.

The film isn't bad, but it adhered too faithfully to the novel. It's almost word-for-word, scene-for-scene the same exact story. That's fine for the written medium as you're in it for the long-haul and get much more mental stimulation, but for film it's just to hard to follow that much story while doing nothing but sitting.

Additionally, the film is much more graphic in terms of violence and sex. It may or may not be a parody of itself, but it really does come across as missing the point of the novel. It also didn't really add anything to the story; in fact, it almost detracted from the established themes.

Long story short: you may end up enjoying the film for what it is and what it managed to accomplish considering the source, but the graphic novel will always be superior despite its flaws.

Personally I liked the movie better, if for no other reason because it summed up in two and a half hours what the book said in twelve chapters.

Also, I was glad they changed the antagonist's ridiculous plan in the book to a more practical plan in the movie...which is probably why Alan Moore is so mad-- Zack Snyder came up with a better plot device than he (Alan Moore) could.

GoChaunceyGo wrote:Also, I was glad they changed the antagonist's ridiculous plan in the book to a more practical plan in the movie...which is probably why Alan Moore is so mad-- Zack Snyder came up with a better plot device than he (Alan Moore) could.

The antagonist's plan in the novel is ridiculously awesome. It just doesn't hold up to any form of scrutiny and as such was thankfully changed for the film. It was the only acceptable change they could have made.

The only way they're going to top "Watchmen" (the movie) is by having Zack Snyder adapt Frank Miller's "The Dark Knight Returns," which is the only graphic novel better than "Watchmen." I read that many years ago Francis Ford Coppola was set to direct an adaptation of "TDKR" with Clint Eastwood as an aging Batman, which would have been amazing. They would have to change a lot if they did it today, though. Mainly the whole 'planes crashing into buildings' scene towards the end, which I'm sure would unnerve a lot of people...

This isn't exactly the most appropriate thread for this, but I figure it fits here better than just creating a new topic.

According to io9 via Bleeding Cool, concept drawings of The Comedian and Nite Owl for the oft-discussed prequel to Watchmen have been leaked. Check them out at the provided sites or below. Comments?