The number one reason why I love comics.

It is this magnificent scene and dialog from Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' highly touted Watchmen (1986) - known by many as arguably the greatest comic book of all time and the only graphic novel that was included in TIME Magazine's Top 100 Novels.

 

(Click on the images to enlarge.) 

 

 

 

 

Beautiful prose, amazing artwork, and a whole lot of meaning than any other title in the medium packed in just 10 panels.

And this is not even the whole 12-issue book itself. 

If you haven't read Watchmen yet, please do pick it up and read it before you die. Its one of the greatest stories mankind will ever have and one of the rare books that gets better and better after every re-read. Its just that damn good.

Comic Book Review: Superman: 'For The Man Who Has Everything'

 "For The Man Who Has Everything"

Written by Alan Moore

Illustrated by Dave Gibbons

Published by DC Comics

Before Alan Moore alienated himself away from DC Comics, he was on a roll writing the greatest comic book novels we could ever imagine and  literally "owned" every other writer back then. And in 1986, he did some of the best superhero stories, including this one which was published in Superman Annual # 11.

It is Superman's birthday, so Wonder Woman and Batman together with Robin (Jason Todd) decided to go to the Fortress of Solitude to greet the Man of Steel and surprise him with some gifts. Instead, they were the ones surprised with great horror as they see Clark in a state of limbo, with an alien plant on his chest, wrapped around his torso.

Apparently, this is the doing of the evil alien known as Mongul, and as he shows himself to the heroes, he explains what is the thing that has caused Superman to go in to a coma state: the plant is known as "Black Mercy" and it basically creates a very realistic dreamworld for the host based on his/her's deepest desires - and in Superman's case: he is living on Krypton with his father Jor-El and Lara very much alive, and he's also got a loving wife and two kids - a dream he is having trouble to let go.

From there, its up to Wonder Woman, Batman, and Robin to figure out everything and hope that they could save their friend before Mongul kills them all and continues on with his plans of conquering the world.

Saw "Watchmen" For The Nth Time...

After watching Zack Snyder's masterfully filmed comic book movie Watchmen (based on the critically acclaimed graphic novel by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons) a gazillion times, I'm still enjoying it. And even though the movie has its fair share of critics, most notably one of the co-creators of the graphic novel where it was based from - the great Alan Moore - I have to say that it was a success and undoubtedly one of the best comic book movies. 

Synopsis via IMDB:

In a gritty and alternate 1985 the glory days of costumed vigilantes have been brought to a close by a government crackdown, but after one of the masked veterans is brutally murdered an investigation into the killer is initiated. The reunited heroes set out to prevent their own destruction, but in doing so discover a deeper and far more diabolical plot. 

Trust me, that snyopsis is deceiving. Deceiving in the sense that it was described as having too simple of a plot. My friends, this movie is MORE than that.