19 February 09
How Watchmen Changed the Perception of Comics
In celebration of the much-anticipated film Watchmen, I’m going to dedicate a few posts over the next couple of weeks to the art and storytelling -form of comic books.
Unless you’re a comic book reader you’re probably wondering why there’s so much hype around this film. Simply put, when this comic book was originally published in 1986-1987 it transformed the medium and began the long road to transforming the public’s perception of the medium.
Up until then comic books where largely looked at as cartoons about men in tights. Watchmen deconstructed the superhero paradigm, added mature themes, and leveraged the medium to tell its story in a way that no other could. It garnered praise both in and out of the industry, and is the only graphic novel to be recognized by Time in their list of “the 100 best English-Language novels from 1923 to the present”. Watchmen was the first comic book to elevate the medium to literature.
The term “graphic novel” is also worth a mention. The twelve-issue series was collected and reprinted and marketed as a graphic novel. This brought comic books out of the comic book stores and magazine racks onto the shelves of book stores and libraries. Gaining visibility to new audiences.
If you’re interested a more in-depth look at the significance of Watchmen can be found here. But really the proof is in the pudding, go out and pick up a copy and see for yourself.
A few months ago I was listening to an episode of Business Week’s Innovation of the Week podcast where David Turner from the branding agency 
Looking to sound smart in front of clients or at cocktail parties? No problem. The books that can help you are easy to spot at your local bookstore. The serif typefaces give them the a scholarly look. The no-nonsense white canvas says “I mean business” and makes the buzz-word titles easy to spot. The sound bite on the cover gives you the immediate satisfaction of feeling smarter before you’ve even opened the book.