MAPACA

Mid-Atlantic Popular &
American Culture Association

Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons created The Watchmen, a group of heroes unlike anything the comics universe had experienced before. Originally serialized and published from 1986-1987 Watchmen 1-12 were converted into the graphic novel Watchmen, which stunned audiences. These superheroes were not only not super, but they were also vastly un-heroic. The Watchmen lie, cheat and, some, have highly skewed moral compasses, yet when they are placed together they are able to hold one another in check. They represent a system of checks and balances in personality and psychology. Without any one individual member of The Watchmen they would all fall apart as can be seen throughout the graphic novel. Unlike most popular preceding superhero stories, Watchmen only sees two characters get the clichéd happy ending and the group is unable to stop the major catastrophe. Watchmen represents real danger to the inhabitants of the Watchmen universe and to the Watchmen themselves. These characters, aside from Dr. Manhattan, are flesh and blood, They are not immortals. It is in this humanity that the majority of the group draws their strength. This paper seeks to examine the relative power of each individual character of The Watchmen and how the other characters either keep that power in check, or allow it to run rampant. It is important to clarify that ‘power’ in this case does not solely represent abilities or physical strength. I define power, for this paper, as the ability to enact change. Watchmen is predicated on the fact that superheroes have the ability to change negative situations into positive outcomes; however, the Watchmen have just as much power to create their own negative situations. Without their unique group dynamic, the Watchmen would resemble villains more than heroes.