did the art for Frank Miller's "Give Me Liberty" and Alan Moore's "The Killing Joke", finally showing us the Joker's heart-breaking origin."Watching the Watchmen" pummels you with original artwork, thumbnail sketches, and discarded concepts. Did you know Rorschach originally had a full body ink blot suit? Wasn't pretty. Or that Ozymandias' look was inspired by Julio Iglesias? Get this- The Comedian's face was modeled after Groucho Marx!
Seriously, it seems Dave Gibbons throws nothing away, and if it has to do with The Watchmen, he packed it into this book. Even the few pieces of "Watchmenabilia" that were produced are here. They made a downright adorable set of Watchmen lead figures back in the day to accompany a role-playing game, I think when I'm done with this, I'm gonna go looking for it on ebay!
One thing you won't find in this book is any of the scandal or legal battles that came along with The Watchmen. Gibbons said he wanted this book to be "a celebration of an artistic undertaking", so if you're looking for Alan Moore tirades, look elsewhere.
This book is huge, and you will spend a lot of time pouring over the sketches and storyboards, it retails for $39.95, and I have to say it's worth it. Most agree The Watchmen is the greatest graphic Novel of all time, and if you loved it like so many do, you need this book. Hurm.
