Happy Watchmen Day

Rorschach's Journal Turns Forty

Rorschach's Journal: October 12, 1985:

So begins Watchmen, my favorite graphic novel, and deservedly one of the most popular creative works of all time.

Plenty has been written about Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons's masterpiece and—to Moore's obvious displeasure—many pitiful adaptations, subpar series, and half-assed spinoffs have been created in Watchmen's wake.

Despite these downstream calamities, the OG graphic novel remains flat-out phenomenal. The narrative is timeless yet topical, the world-building is top notch, and the characters are complex, multifaceted, and deeply flawed (e.g., human).

Seeing as we've reached late-stage humanity, I strongly suggest you people read this classic comic series before we're all vaporized or asphyxiated. I revisit the story every fall and always find a new wrinkle to consider.

Personal Homage: I love Watchmen so much, in fact, the climactic moment in Leverage contains a powerful homage to the legendary graphic novel. If you're familiar with Watchmen, reading Leverage will be all the more enjoyable. You should definitely buy both.

Grab Your Copy: Of course you should support your local libraries and bookstores—[insert jerking off motion]—but, real talk, the kleptocrats have already won. Just snag a cheap copy from Amazon and promise me you'll read the damn thing.