Shelved Saturday #6. Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons

Fully Booked, only my favorite bookstore chain in Metro Manila partially on account of my nabbing a free copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows from them good folks who run it on the day of the book’s release, celebrated Free Comic Book Day today by giving out—you guessed it—free comic books and by putting all graphic novels, manga and other comics-related items on sale to boot. I journeyed to their Gateway branch this morning to claim my free comic book but, alas, they’d run out of stuff to give out when I arrived. But I was not one to stay crestfallen for longer than what’s reasonable for a well-read guy who incidentally hadn’t bought a single comic book before. So I just ignored the now empty, formerly comic books-laden table in front of me and fixed my attention on the sign inside the bookstore that said, “20% OFF ON ALL GRAPHIC NOVELS AND MANGA (except local and consigned items).”

I did the math.

Graphic novel = Watchmen.
Graphic novel = x - 0.20x, where x = exorbitant price.
Watchmen = SOLD = first comic book I ever bought.

I liked the film adaptation. Now that I have in my hands the legendary source material, I’m just eager to find out how great the greatest graphic novel of all time really is. Will it be as addicting as a canister of Pringles? I believe it will. Will it be as stimulating as a bar of Hershey’s? The review excerpts at the back of the book imply the possibility of it being such. Will I ever be forgiven for thinking up seriously dreadful similes? I accept my fate.