Who Watches the Watchmen?

Depending on the day of the week, Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' Watchmen might be my favorite comic book series of all time. It made Time Magazine's top 100 novels from 1923 to the present (2005): http://tinyurl.com/2d9zz5 That's NOVELS, not comic books. Not too shabby, eh? Some comic fans have decried the book for being "deconstructionist", and complain that it's geared strictly to an adult audience, but I'm of the mind that it's okay to have "mature" comic books. Reading them doesn't take away my enjoyment of the "fun" superhero books. By the way, Watchmen is fun too, and the artwork is amazing. I'm still discovering new things each time I re-read the series. This is a great page showing Dan's infatuation with Lauri. It also features the Owl Car - cool!! (Pencils, inks, and lettering by Dave Gibbons. Click for larger image.)

Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons - Watchmen

This was the first Watchmen page I bought. While it's probably the least expensive of the three I currently own, it is probably the best drawn page. It depicts two scenes at once; Lauri has realized that her relationship with Dr. Manhattan is over and decides to leave. Meanwhile, Janey Slater, Dr. Manhattans aged and former lover, tells a reporter about thier failed relationship and her realization that he's given her cancer. Alan Moore employs a literary trick here (common in his works, and especially Watchmen), by using the same dialoge to tell two different stories. It also features the lesbian cabdriver and Dr. Manhattan's ass. Great page. (Pencils, inks, and lettering by Dave Gibbons. Click for larger image.)

Funny story. I met Dave Gibbons at the San Diego Comicon in 2005 and had him sign this page for me. He turned it sideways and signed in the margin. When he lifted his hand, the second caption in panel two had lifted off the page completely and sat hanging from his wrist. He glanced up at me, caption still hanging, and gave me a worried look. Then we both started laughing. I said, if anyone was going to ruin my page, I hoped it would be him. He also asked me what the current market value of the page was. When I told him he replied "I don't think I got that much for doing the whole book!". Nice guy.

Sed quis custodiet ipsos custodes?

This page from Watchmen, featuring Rorschach, is one of the most sought after pieces in my collection. While he is certainly not my personal favorite character, he seems to be the one that made the biggest impression on comic book readers. The thing that makes this page so great (as explained to me by the seller) is that it's a page that features Rorschach being Rorschach. Lots of characterization going on here... (Dave Gibbons pencils, inks, and lettering. Click for larger image).

WHAT I WANT

Now that I've got your attention... I am an avid collector of original comic art. While I enjoy nearly all genres of the hobby, my primary focus is on books from the 1980's. My short want list:

The Dark Knight Returns
Watchmen
The Killing Joke

I'm also looking for John Byrne Fantastic Four and Alpha Flight art. If you have art from any of these books, please contact me! I also love talking to other collectors about art - so feel free to shoot me an email. I look forward to hearing from you! (click image above to email me)