Watchmen showcases some of Alan Moore's best writing--in content as well as form. Watchmen features some of the most believable characters ever crafted in comics. I mean, isn't that exactly what retired superheroes *would* do; sit around with dusty medals and newspaper clippings, trying to capture past glories, even (dare I say it) wallowing in Nostalgia? Reading it now, the Cold War setting seems quaint and dated, but the nascent utopia at the end bears a resemblance to the heady millenial fervor prevalent in the U.S. today.

Of particular interest in are the numerous double (and sometimes triple) entendres. The best examples of these entendres are in the Black Freighter sequences. Bernard's commentary while reading the newspaper provides what can only be described as a prose counterpoint to the Tales of the Black Freighter comic that Bernie is reading. Moore uses this technique extensively in the series, to devastating effect.

But there are so many immaculate elements, it would be foolish to try to list them all--the seques alone are to weep. When one considers that Alan Moore also wrote all of the miscellaneous articles, clippings, memos, etc. sandwiched in between issues, one begins to get an idea of how prolific and *gifted* Moore really is. The beautiful artwork of Dave Gibbons does so much more for Watchmen than make it pretty to look at. The juxtaposition of images, the running motifs in each issue, the masterful imagery (I'm sure the symbolism of Dr. Manhattan's saunter across the pool was lost on no one), Gibbons's work perfectly complements Alan Moore's prose, seamlessly joining to create a work that is beyond words, beyond pictures, beyond comics.