Absolute Batman: The Court of Owls – Collects Batman #1–11. Includes bonus material. Release date: December 8, 2015. ISBN 978-1401259105

They are not meant to be sympathetic, they are meant to be human. They are as flawed and conflicted as any of us, and while we may sometimes agree with them, as often, we find them distant and unstable. While many readers enjoy the book purely on its artistic merit, the strength of the writing, and the well-paced plot, others disregard the work when they are unable to recognize what makes it revolutionary. One might as well try to read Paradise Lost with no knowledge of the Bible, or watch Looney Toons without a familiarity with 1940's pop culture. Adrian Veidt mentions the fact that Richard Nixon was in Dallas on the day President John F. Kennedy was murdered. This actually happened. In the same occasion, someone comments on Washington Post journalists Woodward and Bernstein being found dead, resulting in the Watergate being violently avoided in the universe of Watchmen, where Nixon was re-elected many times over. I originally thought that Watchmen didn't initially impress me because it was the first graphic novel I'd read as an adult. Maybe I didn't have enough experience with all the actual garbage out there and couldn't yet appreciate Moore's genius. B&N.com: Watchmen was named by Time magazine as one of the 100 best English-language novels of all time; most notably, it was the only graphic novel on the list. What was your reaction when you heard the news?

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In Watchmen, Moore shows us a world that has gone completely mad. Not only is the escalation of Cold War hostilities and the idea of nuclear annihilation insane, but the characters driving this tale are all touched with madness. Nixon, the perfect mixture of power and paranoia, has managed to remain President through the '80s. Everyone's favorite hero, Rorschach, is a violent, delusional sociopath. Even the pragmatic Dr. Manhattan cannot escape the manic nature of the human condition. It's a mad, mad, mad, mad world and Moore depicts its darkest corners. Moore stated in 1985 that if the limited series was well-received, he and Gibbons would possibly create a 12-issue prequel series called Minutemen featuring the 1940s superhero group from the story. [40] DC offered Moore and Gibbons chances to publish prequels to the series, such as Rorschach's Journal or The Comedian's Vietnam War Diary, as well as hinting at the possibility of other authors using the same universe. Tales of the Comedian's Vietnam War experiences were floated because The 'Nam was popular at the time, while another suggestion was, according to Gibbons, for a "Nite Owl/Rorschach team" (in the manner of Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)). Neither man felt the stories would have gone anywhere, with Moore particularly adamant that DC not go forward with stories by other individuals. [96] Gibbons was more attracted to the idea of a Minutemen series because it would have "[paid] homage to the simplicity and unsophisticated nature of Golden Age comic books—with the added dramatic interest that it would be a story whose conclusion is already known. It would be, perhaps, interesting to see how we got to the conclusion." [44] Absolute All-Star Batman and Robin, the Boy Wonder – Collects All Star Batman & Robin, the Boy Wonder #1–10. Includes bonus material. Release date: July 8, 2014. ISBN 978-1401247638 A commercial success, Watchmen has received critical acclaim both in the comics and mainstream press. Watchmen was recognized in Time 's List of the 100 Best Novels as one of the best English language novels published since 1923. In a retrospective review, the BBC's Nicholas Barber described it as "the moment comic books grew up". [1] Moore opposed this idea, stating, "I tend to think that, no, comics hadn't grown up. There were a few titles that were more adult than people were used to. But the majority of comics titles were pretty much the same as they'd ever been. It wasn't comics growing up. I think it was more comics meeting the emotional age of the audience coming the other way." [2] When the story begins, the existence of Doctor Manhattan has given the U.S. a strategic advantage over the Soviet Union, which has dramatically increased Cold War tensions. Eventually, by 1977, superheroes grow unpopular among the police and the public, leading them to be outlawed with the passage of the Keene Act. While many of the heroes retired, Doctor Manhattan and another superhero, known as The Comedian, operate as government-sanctioned agents. Another named Rorschach continues to operate outside the law. [49] Plot [ edit ]

Absolute Batman: Incorporated – Reprints Batman Incorporated (vol. 1) #1–8, Batman Incorporated: Leviathan Rises, Batman, Incorporated (vol. 2) #1–13, and Batman Incorporated Special. Release date: January 7, 2015. ISBN 978-1-4012-0426-6 Absolute Transmetropolitan Vol. 2 – Collects Transmetropolitan #19–39 and Filth of the City. Release date: May 24, 2016. ISBN 978-1401261153 Absolute Sandman Vol. 1 – Collects The Sandman #1–20. Extras include Neil Gaiman's original series pitch, character designs charting the visual development of Dream, script and pencils for The Sandman #19 ("A Midsummer Night's Dream"), and Gaiman's prose summary of the first seven issues from The Sandman #8, which features story beats not in the original comics. Release date: October 11, 2006. ISBN 1-4012-1082-1The Comic Journal 's Top 100 English-Language Comics of the 20th Century". The Comics Journal. February 15, 1999. Archived from the original on June 20, 2009 . Retrieved September 24, 2008. DG: Alan and I have always had a friendly and enjoyable working relationship and it's never less than fun. Challenging and hard work, but still fun! Alan is a very giving and perceptive collaborator, always tailoring his scripts to the strengths of his artists. Absolute Y: The Last Man Vol. 3 – Collects Y: The Last Man #41–60. Release date: July 4, 2017. ISBN 978-1401271008 Absolute Justice League: Origin – Reprinting Justice League: Origin, part of The New 52, by Geoff Johns and Jim Lee. Release date: October 3, 2017. ISBN 978-1401274375

Yes, I'm 100% sure this was absolutely groundbreaking when it first came out, but looking at it now more than 10 years after I first read it? Absolute Wonder Woman: Gods and Mortals – Collects Wonder Woman (vol. 2) #01-14 by George Pérez, with bonus content from Who's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe #26 and Who's Who Update '87 #01-03. Release date: March 1, 2022. ISBN 9781779511553 Absolute Flashpoint – Collects Flashpoint #1–5. Includes scripts, design sketches and more. Release date: January 15, 2019. ISBN 978-1401286262 Absolute WildC.A.T.s by Jim Lee – Collects WildC.A.T.s #1–13, 31, 50; Cyberforce #1–3; WildC.A.T.s/X-MEN: The Silver Age #1; WildC.A.T.s Adventures #1 and WILDCATS (WorldStorm) #1 by Jim Lee. Includes sketches, concept designs and variant covers. Release date: March 13, 2018. ISBN 978-1401274955 Absolute Justice League: The World's Greatest Super-Heroes – Reprinting Justice League: The World's Greatest Super-Heroes by Paul Dini and Alex Ross. First edition released in July 2005. Second edition released on November 7, 2017. ISBN 978-1401273705Watchmen was published in single-issue form over the course of 1986 and 1987. The limited series was a commercial success, and its sales helped DC Comics briefly overtake its competitor Marvel Comics in the comic book direct market. [69] The series' publishing schedule ran into delays because it was scheduled with three issues completed instead of the six editor Len Wein believed were necessary. Further delays were caused when later issues each took more than a month to complete. [43] One contemporaneous report noted that although DC solicited issue #12 for publication in April 1987, it became apparent "it [wouldn't] debut until July or August". [42]

Bensam, Richard (October 2010). Minutes to Midnight: Twelve Essays on Watchmen. ISBN 978-0-578-06076-7.Some of it was mildly interesting, however, none of it ultimately pushed the plot forward. I didn't mind the stuff about Sally Jupiter but it could have been cut in half. I didn't need all of that nonsense.