Watchmen: The Complete Motion Comic
Blu-ray Edition
Directed by Jake Strider Hughes
Narrated by Tom Stechschulte
Based on the original work by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons
Warner Home Entertainment
Release Date: March 3, 2009

It would be logical to write off the Watchmen Motion Comic as yet another way for Warner Bros. to cash in on the recent Watchmen movie tie-in craze. That’s understandable, but going on the assumption that anyone putting out a product is primarily looking to turn a profit, what is the benefit of this motion comic and is it worth your time? Let’s find out.

For those of you not familiar with motion comics, it’s an animated version of a comic book that includes a narrative and musical score. So with the Watchmen Motion Comic, you get the original artwork by Dave Gibbons that was in the printed book with nothing changed except its presentation. Panels of art are panned in and out of, and the pieces of each panel are animated, making it look like a crude form of cartoon. A narrator speaks the dialogue from the word balloons while a musical score plays along with it.

Previous to the Watchmen Motion Comic, the only motion comics I’ve read were originals, which were not adapted from a previously printed edition (e.g., the motion comic book prequel for the I Am Legend movie). I find that comics created to be motion comics first are definitely enhancement over a printed version, but since the Watchmen comic book was released long before the concept of motion comics, I can’t say the same for its motion comic adaptation. That’s not a fault of the motion comic itself — I feel the same way towards old movies that are turned into Blu-ray (versus new movies created for high definition).

If you haven’t read the Watchmen graphic novel, then I suggest you do (that’s a given). But, perhaps you’re someone who just doesn’t enjoying reading all that much (I’ve known many people like this)? If you really feel like you will never read the graphic novel, then by all means, invest in the motion comic. Just because you don’t enjoy or maybe have the time to read doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have the pleasure of this amazing story.

I had my 15-year-old niece and 12-year-old nephew stay with me for the weekend and they really wanted to see the Watchmen movie, which was just released. Since it’s lengthy R-rated movie, I was concerned about the adult-themes — not so much because of what it would expose them to (that’s a whole other story), but rather if it would even interest them to begin with. Therefore, as a test, I put on the motion comic for them and after four episodes, they said they loved the story and definitely wanted to see the movie. After we saw the movie, they asked if I could get them the graphic novel (which I did); so, in the end, it was the convenience of the motion comic that allowed me to better introduced them to Watchmen and lead them to read the graphic novel.

For someone like me who’s read and dissected the original graphic novel by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons numerous times, the Watchmen Motion Comic is far from a necessary purchase and, like I mentioned, it’s not an improvement over the original version. But, surprisingly, I did find that it had something to offer even an already long-time fan like me.

I approached the Watchmen Motion Comic in the same way I do an audio book version of a printed book I’ve already read. I already know I enjoy the source material, but now I’ll have someone voice acting the parts out for me. In this case, there is one narrator, Tom Stechschulte, who does a good job on a whole providing the voices for so many characters. Unfortunately, at times it’s hard to distinguish one character from another and when Stechschulte has to do the women’s voices, that’s when it becomes almost laughable. Dustin Hoffman did a better job in Tootsie. This was distracting at first, but after the first few episodes, I became familiar with each character’s voice and learned to deal with the women sounding like transvestites.

The musical score is a major benefit to the narrative, like during episode when Dr. Manhattan is on Mars telling the heart-wrenching story of how he became a superhuman. After watching this scene in the movie this weekend, I can honestly say that the music for this in the motion comic was actually more suiting than the music in the movie.

Since the motion comic breaks up the panels of the printed graphic novel, it’s an easy follow-along to the story. The motion comic is divided into 13 episodes running over 5 hours, and I’ve watched through all of them three times already, each time picking up something new. That’s the nature of the original graphic novel, which is why it was worth reading so many times. Watching one of my favorite comic books stories come to life on my 32-inch high definition television is a definitely a bonus.

I have the Blu-ray copy, which I’m not sure is any better visually than the non high-definition version, but I can say that the picture is very crisp. Bonus features are few, with one short Watchmen movie video production journal (#4) with Dave Gibbons, which has been available online for months now, as well as a sneak peek at DC’s Wonder Woman animated DVD movie. The disc also comes with BD-Live, which I’ve yet to figure out (only recent got a Blu-ray player), but the packaging promises that this includes additional features. The Blu-ray packaging also comes with digital copy that can be downloaded for viewing on your computer or handheld device, which is always a plus, as well as a certificate for $7.50 movie ticket to see the Watchmen movie.