Normally I would not even want to review a series as a whole, but it is the only way I find logically appropriate for Watchmen. It is not a series I recommend reading in “parts,” but rather looking at it as a whole because it is the only suitable way to read it and hold it to its’ truest perfection. I find that, when in separate parts, I was just not enjoying the novel at all.   I found so much respect for how the characters were written. I didn’t feel like I was having a genre cliché put out before me. This was odd for me because I really have a distaste for reading or keeping up with “super heroes” that are nothing more than masked vigilante. They are starting to grow on me. The ability to easily relate to human flaw adds a sense of realism to them that I know I won’t get in a lot of other comics. Twelve issues to build a big cast of strongly written characters is a huge part of the respect. When I read the last issue, the finale was full of events and reactions that I was fully expecting from each character with one minor surprise.

Honestly, with no disrespect meant, I found the artwork to be amazingly detailed, but set in colors that were unappealing to my appetite which made things harder to read. Dr. Manhattan and everything to do with his story line really redeems this for me. Some really amazing pieces of art come from events surrounding him. But to completely go 180 on my previous statement, the creativity was amazing. There are so many things imagined up and well played out. Every little detail is followed through in the rest of the comics (even posters in the background and other little “Where’s Waldo’s” in the background).

My only strong distaste for the entire series was the comic-in-a-comic portions, and they are plentiful. Just the concept drives me crazy. Trying to pay attention to conversations going on while reading a Scrabbled comic within the comic. In a long roundabout way I do see the story within the comic’s comic to be relevant, but it took so much more effort to think about it and relate it.

Overall, I really loved this series. I easily give this an 8/10 as a whole. But avid “Heroes” watchers be ware, you might feel like you’ve been cheated (by Heroes that is).