WATCHMEN (Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons) - August 28/08

Though almost oppressively dense and filled with incredibly superfluous elements (that whole Pirate thing... seriously, wtf?), Watchmen is basically an entertaining story about several has-been superheroes and a plot to destroy the world. Moore has populated the book with a number of indelible characters - my favorite being Rorschach - and it's hard not to be impressed by the work that he's clearly put into this thing. Still, there's just too much going on here and it's ultimately impossible not to think that the whole thing would've worked better if cut in half. **1/2 out of ****