As my second cerebral processor was doing whatever it does while my primary one is busy doing work, I was reflecting on The Watchmen. Why? I don’t know. I haven’t been watching or reading anything related to comics or superheroes lately. I read the graphic novel in college, on the advice of a friend. He also told me that it was so complicated, there was a second book that explained all the references. I eventually found a copy of that book at a book store, and thumbed through it, but never bought it. I was astonished at how much lied under the surface, which I hadn’t noticed, and I always felt I was a pretty attentive reader.
I just looked and see now that you can get an “annotated” version of the book with those notes in the margins. I wouldn’t mind getting a full-color hardback version of this, but the point of this post is just the amazement of making a piece of art that is so complex, nuanced, and multi-layered that there’s actual utility in making a book like this. I mean, there are some movies that invite this level of introspection, notably Primer, but I can’t think of a lot of others. (I mean, sure, Tenet, but that’s because it needs to be explained, and then you’re forced to conclude that, no, it really did suck.) I can’t think of any other piece of art that deserves this kind of treatment.
