.... compared to, say, Gary Leach or Alan Davis on MIRACLEMAN, or Bissette/Tottleben in SWAMP THING, where you see a great number of innovative page layouts and outstanding visual narrative.
So... Gibbons' WATCHMEN work wasn't so great.
The lack of "innovative" page layouts was
intentional on Moore and Gibbons' part:
- Gibbons said he deliberately constructed the visual look of Watchmen so that each page would be identifiable as part of that particular series and "not some other comic book".[36] He made a concerted effort to draw the characters in a manner different than that commonly seen in comics.[36] The artist tried to draw the series with "a particular weight of line, using a hard, stiff pen that didn't have much modulation in terms of thick and thin" which he hoped "would differentiate it from the usual lush, fluid kind of comic book line".[37] In a 2009 interview, Moore recalled that he took advantage of Gibbons' training as a former surveyor for "including incredible amounts of detail in every tiny panel, so we could choreograph every little thing"
Structurally, certain aspects of Watchmen deviated from the norm in comic books at the time, particularly the panel layout and the coloring. Instead of panels of various sizes, the creators divided each page into a nine-panel grid.[19] Gibbons favored the nine-panel grid system due to its "authority".[37] Moore accepted the use of the nine-panel grid format, which "gave him a level of control over the storytelling he hadn't had previously", according to Gibbons. "There was this element of the pacing and visual impact that he could now predict and use to dramatic effect."[35] Bhob Stewart of The Comics Journal mentioned to Gibbons in 1987, that the page layouts recalled those of EC Comics, in addition to the art itself, which Stewart felt particularly echoed that of John Severin.[23] Gibbons agreed that the echoing of the EC-style layouts "was a very deliberate thing", although his inspiration was rather Harvey Kurtzman,[22] but it was altered enough to give the series a unique look.[23] The artist also cited Steve Ditko's work on early issues of The Amazing Spider-Man as an influence,[39] as well as Doctor Strange, where "even at his most psychedelic [he] would still keep a pretty straight page layout".[17]
The cover of each issue serves as the first panel to the story. Gibbons said, "The cover of the Watchmen is in the real world and looks quite real, but it's starting to turn into a comic book, a portal to another dimension."[11] The covers were designed as close-ups that focused on a single detail with no human elements present.[16] The creators on occasion experimented with the layout of the issue contents. Gibbons drew issue five, titled "Fearful Symmetry", so the first page mirrors the last (in terms of frame disposition), with the following pages mirroring each other before the center-spread is (broadly) symmetrical in layout.
