‘Watchmen’
From 1986-87, DC Comics released the “Watchmen” series created by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons. I remember devouring it in high school in between laps of my brother racing giant slalom down Howelsen Hill. The critically acclaimed work led me to other monumental graphic novels and comics such as Moore’s “Batman: The Killing Joke” and Neil Gaiman’s “The Sandman.”
Gritty and dark, “Watchmen” shows a parallel world where regular people exist as superhero vigilantes, Vietnam is the 51st state and Nixon removed term limits. Film director Zach Snyder did a flawed, but passable, adaptation of the comic in 2009. Yet rather than reboot or retell, HBO’s show is a continuation of the original series in the year 2019. It may be present day, but cellphones don’t exist, Robert Redford has been president for decades and every car is electric thanks to Doctor Manhattan.
While some original crime fighters make an appearance in the form of Jeremy Irons and Jean Smart, the show focuses on a cop played by Regina King. Though masked vigilantes were outlawed, the police in Tulsa, Oklahoma, are allowed to adopt altar egos to protect their identity and families. Like the book, the action starts off when one of their own is killed, and the plot twists and turns from there.
Those cliffhangers and reveals are a trademark of the show’s creator, Damon Lindelof, the mastermind behind “The Leftovers” and “Lost.” (I will always defend that series, including the finale.) Tying it together is hauntingly beautiful music by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross of Nine Inch Nails along with tracks from David Bowie, Frank Sinatra, The Ink Spots and more.
Who watches the watchmen? I do, and with the finale airing Sunday, Dec. 15, so should you.