Watchmen 101

(Left to Right) Nite Owl, Dr. Manhattan and Rorschach all make it to the big screen as the “Watchmen” movie premiers March 6.

They watch over us… and judging by the hype, many of us will be watching them when “Watchmen” hits theaters on Friday.

Zack Snyder’s film adaptation of Alan Moore (“V for Vendetta,” “League of Extraordinary Gentlemen”) and Dave Gibbons’ (“Green Lantern Corps: Recharge”) Hugo Award-winning comic arrives on Friday, an exciting prospect for both fans of the comic and newcomers alike.

But why all the fuss over what appears to be another comic flick, this time about masked psychopaths and a naked blue guy?

The source material makes for some damn fine fiction, that’s why.

You see, “Watchmen” was to superhero comics in 1986 what “The Dark Knight” was to superhero movies in 2008.

Just months prior to the release of the first issue of “Watchmen,” DC Comics had already shown it was willing to defy comic traditions with its (literally) Earth-shattering “Crisis on Infinite Earths” mini-series.

From Batman to Superman, “Crisis” redefined practically all of DC Comic’s main comic lines, taking the typically epic good-guys-team-up-and-beat-the-big-bad-guy approach to the next level.

But revolutionary or not, “Crisis” was still about the same colorful spandex and capes that had been around since the 1930s.

With the finale to “Crisis” fresh in mind, comics fans were caught off guard when “Watchmen” hit store shelves in 1986. In its collected form, “Watchmen” came to be one of the first graphic novels, and, alongside Frank Miller’s “The Dark Knight Returns,” it was one of the first comics to take a more gritty approach to the squeaky-clean superhero genre.

Keep in mind, this is at a time when the idea of a graphic novels section at the local bookstore would have seemed blasphemous and the term “graphic novel” itself sounded pretentious and nerdy.

(It still does, but that’s beside the point.)

“Watchmen” takes a radically different approach to the superhero comic, breaking down the superhero concept to its core and building it back up.

Set in an alternate 1985, the “Watchmen” world sees costumed vigilantes outlawed after mass paranoia, President Nixon still in office, the U.S. military possessing the world’s only superpowered being and the constant threat of war with the Soviets.

“Watchmen” asks the reader: In a world where Russia and the U.S. are on the brink of annihilating the planet because “God exists and he’s American,” what good is dressing in a cape and beating up thugs in an alley?

In this kind of world, what does it really take to change the world for the better?

Moore weaves the main storyline with excerpts of publications from the “Watchmen” world at the end of each chapter, ranging from a former masked hero’s autobiography, Q&As with primary characters and clippings from a staunchly anti-Soviet newsletter. These documents expanding on the story’s universe without making it feel like a manufactured world.

Gibbons’ art and panel layouts (with digital re-coloring by John Higgins in the latest collections), meanwhile, are sharp and flow very naturally, mostly sticking to a traditional nine-panel layout on each page.  The distinct color scheme, which is the visual opposite of the typical primary color palette seen in superhero comics at the time, lends it an air of mystery and at many points, dreariness.

And we wouldn’t have it any other way.

Although the primary cast’s costumes have been redesigned to a more modern look from the 80’s-inspired ensembles of the original,  signs point to Snyder retaining the look and feel of “Watchmen’s” trademark scenes, as he did in “300.”

Unfortunately, some omissions have been made: “Tales of the Black Freighter,” a pirate comic story-within-a-story which parallels the main plot, is nowhere in the film, but will be made into a separate animated feature starring “300″’s Gerard Butler. Likewise, all of the autobiographical and informational excerpts from “Watchmen” will be included in the “Tales of the Black Freighter” release, as a documentary titled “Under the Hood.”

The biggest omission, at least within fan circles, is the series of significant plot threads which leads to the comic’s ending being omitted and a new ending taking the original’s place, with Snyder citing pacing as the reason.

With the movie relying so much on extended action sequences and added slow motion effects, one has to wonder if a few less slow-mo shots would have allowed for the comic’s original ending..

Nonetheless, Snyder’s adaptation seems to be a faithful one, with a careful eye to detail and brilliant marketing. A tie-in Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 game titled “Watchmen: The End is Nigh” was released Wednesday, serving as a prequel to the film, while two art books- one based on the film’s concept art and another on the original graphic novel have been released in the past few months.

When the hype dies down, you should borrow or buy “Watchmen,” even if you were thoroughly rocked by Snyder’s adaptation.

A story as richly constructed as Moore’s doesn’t quite fit into a full-length feature film. And whether you read comics as a young one or have never picked up a comic, this one is well worth exploring.

“Watchmen” is available as a paperback and hardcover 12-chapter graphic novel and an oversized “Absolute Watchmen” edition with supplementary art and materials.

The film opens at midnight tonight in local theaters with an extended director’s cut due in July.