WATCHMEN: Too Convergent?

Stolengood

Banned
My question is... is Watchmen, the premier graphic novel of the 20th century and a cornerstone of AH, too convergent with its original timeline?

Tell me what you think. :)
 
No. Having some vigilantes operating in NYC wouldn't have many butterflies.

Dr. Manhattan would. But he didn't do much other than win Vietnam and deter.
 

Stolengood

Banned
But Soviet invasion of Afghanistan? That was kind of predicated on a few things that probably might've only happened IOTL...
 
It's a work of semi-mainstream fiction, and therefore can't be focused on butterflies. The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan is a well known event for the reader to understand the implications of. It doesn't require a lot of background. However, if the Soviet's were to invade the Congo or some other place, valuable page space would need to be spent on providing background and information that wouldn't further the story.
 
But Soviet invasion of Afghanistan? That was kind of predicated on a few things that probably might've only happened IOTL...

Still the circumstances seems to be much different from OTL. It isn´t outright sayed in the book, but we can assume that Afghanstan may be a US-allied nation ITTL.
 

Flubber

Banned
It's a work of semi-mainstream fiction, and therefore can't be focused on butterflies.


THIS.

In order to make the work more accessible, Moore had to make it more convergent. We continually argue about butterflies and plausibility here while the average reader thinks Turtledove is the master of alternate history. :rolleyes:

As for it being a "cornerstone" of AH, that's a bit of a stretch. It's about costumed vigilantes and a superhero. If it were posted here it would be in the ASB forum.

About the last term anyone uses to describe "Watchmen" is "alternate history".
 
THIS.

In order to make the work more accessible, Moore had to make it more convergent. We continually argue about butterflies and plausibility here while the average reader thinks Turtledove is the master of alternate history. :rolleyes:

As for it being a "cornerstone" of AH, that's a bit of a stretch. It's about costumed vigilantes and a superhero. If it were posted here it would be in the ASB forum.

About the last term anyone uses to describe "Watchmen" is "alternate history".

Yes. For one thing, if it were an AH work, then JFK or LBJ would have already used Dr. Manhattan for Vietnam and other stuff, rather than putting it off until Nixon came in.

The story needed to have Nixon as President (-for-Life).
 
Who says Nixon didn't win in '60 in the Watchmenverse? It's been awhile since I've read it, but I don't recall a year specified.
 
Dr Manhattan meets President Kennedy, so Nixon must have lost the 1960 election.

I think Moore having Nixon stay on as President after 1972 was one of the more ridiculous things in the series.
 
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