User blog:Gjf1xle/At Midnight All the Agents

The seminal first issue of the series that put graphic novels and comic books on its ear. Courtesy of Alan Moore, Dave Gibbons and the gang at DC, this series is remarkably complex, indelibly dark and literally un-put-downable. The first issue sets the table for the events that transpire for the next 11 issues and brings to the fore several seemingly unrelated events that are eventually interwoven. Things to keep in mind:

1. Very dystopian, the noir, Cold War feel capitalized on the political situation in the real world in those days. The Soviet Union, although weakened, was still very much a threat to world peace during the Reagan Administration. Watchmen 12 (the final issue) was released two years before the Soviets pulled out of Afghanistan after a decade in that country. Little did we know we'd be there a dozen years later, and we still are now.

2. You have to see and read everything; every panel, every expression, every word or thought balloon and all of the supplemental material. That includes the title of the issue, the source of the title, "Under the Hood", the delivery vehicles, the clothing, the costuming, everything. Not one panel goes to waste and you would do well to re-read it a few times. There may be a tendency to get "caught in the verbiage", but the visual art (aside from thoughts, dialogue and journal entries) are just as important to the medium of graphic art. 3. The style of the book is key to the enjoyment and understanding of the plot, multi-layered and complex though it is. The nine-panel grid style utilized by Moore and Gibbons was largely sacrosanct, although there were exception throughout the series. This aesthetic style of "balance" belies a very asymetric (read: atypical) look at "super" heroes, super hero sub-cultures, the format of comic books vis-a-vis "real" life in America and American culture as a whole; and this from a couple of Brits who have the New Yawk vibe nailed.