This is one of the few times my personal views will really skew a post on this site. I really shouldn’t even be posting this as it is so non-musically related, but hell it’s my ship and I’ll turn the rudder when I want to! First the music business: this may be the best use of Machina-era Smashing Pumpkins track…EVER (Nolen from Double Dagger agrees).

Watchmen is, in my eyes, one of the greatest works of fiction in any genre. Following the tortured existence of superheroes in an alternate reality 1985 Cold War USA, characters such as Rorschach, a vigilante force-of-nature whose only superpower seems to be tenacity and resilience, make the work truly engrossing. It puts brutally realistic and flawed characters in extremely unrealistic situations, while addressing universal themes and philosophical struggles.

One of the few works truly deserving the descriptor epic (it would seem I am in good company, as Time magazine agrees in its All-time 100 Novels feature in 2005). The news-stand meta-commentary and analysis running concurrently with the main storyline. Intrigue. Love. Death, unceremonious and final which is such a rarity in the graphic novel/comic book genre. For me, this work is probably the most compelling argument for the validity and power of the graphic storytelling medium, proving that it is just as valid as any other method of storytelling and can carry as much weight. In fact, the visual elements by Gibbons are so well done, so integral to the pacing and meaning of the work, it’s hard to imagine ever writing this story without the aid of visuals. Which bodes well for the film adaptation forthcoming from 300 director Zak Snyder. His attention to detail and fantastically accurate reproduction of scenes from the graphic novel onto the big screen will likely be a big asset.

If you saw The Dark Knight this weekend in a mainstream theater, then you’ve already seen this and probably though “WTF is this about?” If you haven’t then please, take a gander at this.

Now start salivating and praying this is more substance and less flash than Hollywood is used to.