|
The comic series Watchmen, by Alan Moore and Dave
Gibbons, is an "alternate timeline" story about an
America which seems familiar in many ways. Like the real
contemporary America, it is locked in struggle with Russia,
though its Cold War fortunes are a bit different thanks to a blue
superbeing named Dr. Manhattan. And like its real world
counterpart, it is a society slipping into decadence, as
chronicled by the brooding anti-hero, Rorshach.
The series takes place in the 1980s, and throughout it
flashbacks fill in the altered history. Against a backdrop of criminals
and vigilantes, nuclear tensions
between East and West, and alternate timeline punks
and yuppies, is set an ageless story about the
justness of authority and from where it is derived. How the story
unfolds reflects some of the prejudices and preoccupations of the
real timeline Reagan age.
You really should read Watchmen before learning much
more about it, then check out the annotation web site below.
|