I LOVE Watchmen the graphic novel; brilliant, brilliant piece of literature. But I have to say: The film still actually look better than the graphic novel panels. True to the original source material, yet completely enhanced, like Rorschach's pose in the window. I'm getting more and more excited about this movie!

And I like the redesign of Nite Owl's costume. Perhaps it's a tiny bit too much, but I'm forgiving. I understand his look in the graphic novel because it goes toward Dreiberg's whole midlife crisis thing, but for the movie, the armored Batman-look will appeal more to general audiences who are used to seeing such a thing in superhero movies, which is fine with me.

I'm a Marvel comics reader, so I haven't read the Watchmen yet. I'm very excited about the movie; the previews look excellent. But when I went out to buy the graphic novel, the art just isn't impressive which is key to the comics medium. It lacks the character of the Miller/Varley works that have come to movies.

For the love of god, can't we just say comic book? seriously.

Seriously, no we can't. Yes, they both tell their stories using illustration as the driving medium rather than long pages of prose. However, there actually is a difference between what most people consider a graphic novel and what is generally considered a comic book. Graphic novels generally have much stronger thematic and literary elements than your typical comic book. Graphic novels are absolutely not simply a series of comic books stapled together as some people seem to think. There are those that disdain anything with pictures, though. Their loss.

if this is printed twice, it is because the text captcha screwed up YET AGAIN.

I would add to what jdmimic said by saying graphic novels have a definite beginning, middle, and end while comics tend to be ongoing series and more akin to the soap opera. When most people hear the term comic they think of Superheroes or Archie. The term graphic novel includes not only Watchmen, Sin City, and Dark Knight Returns but also biographical work such as Maus and Persepolis. Watchmen takes the concept of the Superhero and stands it on its head. With a few exceptions, none of the heroes in Watchmen has super powers. They are ordinary human beings with the same flaws, desires, and opinions as anyone you could meet. Alan Moore explores their world with a depth never before seen in comics and rarely captured since in mainstream graphic novels. Even his own work doesn't compare. I am glad Fox and WB settled their legal disagreement over the film version and Watchmen will be brought to a wider audience.

It was originally published as a 12 issue comic book tho.

A Tale of Two Cities was also published monthly, but, once it was collected together, it became a novel.

Novels (graphic or otherwise) can be serialized and still be novels -- many great novels were first printed in serial form.

The key distinction is that they were written with a clear beginning, middle, and end -- all mapped out in advance.