#2 in Comics
Watchmen
- 424
- Pages
- about 8 h
- Reading time
- Film 2009 +4
- On screen
- NPR Top 100 Science Fiction and Fantasy Books
- Eisner Award for Best Limited Series
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Our view
“Watchmen” turns the superhero story against itself, making of it a dark, tense murder mystery wrapped in a conspiracy. Alan Moore wrote it and Dave Gibbons drew it, and because the characters were created for this book alone, the story is free to take them wherever it must. It suits readers who want a comic that questions its genre instead of celebrating it.
Worth knowing Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons published it as twelve monthly issues in 1986–87; the characters began as reworkings of heroes DC had bought from Charlton Comics. It is the only graphic novel on Time’s list of the 100 best novels since 1923, and it won a Hugo in 1988. Moore refuses credit on adaptations, including Zack Snyder’s 2009 film and HBO’s 2019 sequel series. The comic within the comic and the prose appendices are part of the design, so read it slowly.
The view of the BookRank editors, written from readers’ ratings and comments. It does not affect the score or the book’s place in a ranking.
About the book
Watchmen is a comic book limited series by the British creative team of writer Alan Moore, artist Dave Gibbons, and colorist John Higgins. It was published monthly by DC Comics in 1986 and 1987 before being collected in a single-volume edition in 1987. Watchmen originated from a story proposal Moore submitted to DC featuring superhero characters that the company had acquired from Charlton Comics. As Moore's proposed story would have left many of the characters unusable for future stories, managing editor Dick Giordano convinced Moore to create original characters instead.
Reading order · Watchmen
Full order & progress →- WatchmenThis book
8.98.9 / 10 - Watchmen #2: Absent FriendsWatchmen #2: Absent Friends–Not ranked yet
- Watchmen #3: The Judge of All the EarthWatchmen #3: The Judge of All the Earth–Not ranked yet
- Watchmen #6: The Abyss Gazes AlsoWatchmen #6: The Abyss Gazes Also–Not ranked yet
- Watchmen #7: A Brother to DragonsWatchmen #7: A Brother to Dragons–Not ranked yet
- Watchmen #9: The Darkness of Mere BeingWatchmen #9: The Darkness of Mere Being–Not ranked yet
- Watchmen #10: Two Souls ApartWatchmen #10: Two Souls Apart–Not ranked yet
- Watchmen #12: A Stronger Loving WorldWatchmen #12: A Stronger Loving World–Not ranked yet
On screen
This book has been adapted for the screen 5 times — from 2008 to 2024.
- FilmWatchmenIMDb
- SeriesWatchmenIMDb
- SeriesWatchmen: Motion ComicIMDb
- FilmWatchmen Chapter 1IMDb
- FilmWatchmen Chapter IIIMDb
Adaptation data: Wikidata · On screen →
Where the score comes from
The sources average 8.9 across 2,237 ratings. With that many, the reader vote carries 94% of the weight and the score stays at 8.9 — the Comics average of 8.5 barely moves it.
| Source | Average | Ratings | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open Library | 8.9 | 239 | 11% |
| Hardcover | 8.9 | 2K | 89% |
Frequently asked
How long is Watchmen?
It has 424 pages — longer than 88% of the ranked books in Comics.
In this book
Themes this book shares with others — each leads to the best books on it.
If you liked this
Same shelf — Comics — with scores between 8.5 and 9.0, closest to this book.
