These days, there is a distinction between comic books and graphic novels.
It wasn't always so.
The first of such things came on the scene in 1842. "The Adventures of Obadiah Oldbuck" by humorist Rodolphe Toffler appeared in a weekly magazine called Brother Jonathan.
In 1895, the Hearst newspaper chain ran a cartoon entitled "The Yellow Kid." It was so popular that it increased newspaper sales for the company, and they eventually published collected strips in book form.
The first comic book, "New Funnies," came out in 1933, featuring reprints of daily comic strips. That same year, Humor Publications printed the first book of original comics, "Detective Dan."
In 1938, comics had a defining moment. DC Publications released "Action Comics #1," featuring Superman, a superhero who fought for "truth, justice and the American way."
The rest is history. The baby boom came along, and kids made the comic book industry a staple of American entertainment.
As these boomers grew up, some let comic books become mere childhood memories. The comic business needed its own superhero and the graphic novel was born.
In 1978, Marvel Comics - run by the idiom's true genius, Stan Lee - released what is considered to be the first modern graphic novel, "The Silver Surfer." It was a huge success and other books in the new genre followed.
When Art Spiegelman's "Maus: A Survivor's Tale" - a story of the author's parents' Holocaust experiences - won a Pulitzer Prize in 1992, the graphic novel format gained much deserved credibility.
Recently, several motion pictures - "Sin City," "300" and "The Dark Knight" - have used graphic novels as their source material.
No film in this genre has been so eagerly anticipated, and prematurely maligned, as writer Alan Moore's "Watchmen." The movie has been in the works for nearly two decades with directors Terry Gilliam ("Brazil"), Darren Aronofsky ("The Wrestler") and Paul Greengrass (the "Bourne" series) attached. But it was the director of "300," Zack Snyder, who finally got the gig, and it is he who will suffer the slings and arrows of the hardcore fans of the novel.
There are a number of films based on great books that I am happy to say I saw before reading the printed works. Films rarely live up to a reader's imagination, and fans will pick apart any deviation from the original tome. I loved Stanley Kubrick's "The Shining" and then read the Stephen King novel and loved it as well. But many King fans were unhappy with Kubrick's screen version.
And so it is with "Watchmen." I've not read the graphic novel but will do so. When I learned the film approached three hours, I was worried. But the 162 minutes fly by, and Snyder's "Watchmen" ranks with "The Dark Night" and "Ironman" as one of the best superhero films.
There's no use in trying to describe the plot - this is an epic with many subplots, back stories and current ordeals.
The Watchmen are a ragtag group of superheroes (actually only Dr. Manhattan is really qualified to claim to be "super"), who are trying to keep the world safe from the evils that were popping up in post World War II America. Some people consider them heroes, and others consider them raucous vigilantes.
The basic story revolves around the recent murder of one of the Watchmen, a fellow known as The Comedian. The others are worried that someone is out to prove a point and exact revenge.
To say all hell breaks loose is somewhat of an understatement.
It's not a movie that will change your life, but it is absolutely entertaining escapism.
Be warned: There are scenes of excruciating, up-close violence. Dr. Manhattan, who glows in blue hues and can reach 200 feet tall, is naked most of the time, and it's full frontal. There are scenes of intense realism that are surely to be too much for a younger audience.
But the graphic novel genre always has been aimed at baby boomers who thought they had outgrown comic books.
If you haven't read the "Watchmen" series, don't until you see the movie. And don't listen to the naysayers.
Snyder's version gets the job done.
Oh, and the music choices that he makes - from "The Times They Are A-Changin'" to Leonard Cohen's "First We Take Manhattan" - are poignant and hilarious at the same time.
I can't wait to get the DVD.[[In-content Ad]]
Jim Wunderle owns Wunderle Sound Services and is a Springfield free-lance writer and musician. He can be reached at info@wunderlesound.com.
