I want to give this a simultaneous 2 star and 4 star rating. A 3 star rating seems entirely inaccurate, but I have to work within the confines of the website here.

Why does this book deserve a 4 star rating? Story telling and visual presentation. I was literally on the edge of my seat while reading this work. The building of suspense with both written and visual narrative were undeniably masterful in their execution. The little details given to worldbuilding from the cryptic cover art, to the primary sources at the end of each chapter, vividly surrounds the reader in a fully realized universe. This combined with the shifts through time made for truly exciting reveals.

Why does this book deserve a 2 star rating? The plot and characters. If only the details of the plot were as great as the manner in which they were presented. This work, to me, is a clear example of style over substance. While a number of different heroic approaches to serve the greater good are presented, essentially all of the characters are caught up in their own self-serving forms of morality, which render all purported arguments moot. Their colorful costumes fail to hide their own greater underlying vanities, and it is all but impossible to find any merit or meaning in the ideologies they choose to tout.

I would still recommend Watchmen. Enjoy the ride, but nothing revealed should be taken as a life-shattering 'truth bomb.'