I’m making my way through the “Watchmen” trade paperback version. Please no spoilers, I haven’t finished it yet!
Between the sections are little articles and stuff, from the world of the book. Were these in the original comics?
Yes, each issue ended with the same excerpts. They really add to the story, and I’m always surprised to hear about new readers skipping over these. (Not that I’m saying you are!)
The content of the softcover Watchmen collection was pretty much identical to the original issues. There was also a hardcover edition which had some extra material such as excerpts from Alan Moore’s scripts and some foreign cover illustrations.
They’re essential to full enjoyment of the series, IMO. They supply much-needed background on the world and the characters. Skipping them would be much like skipping a few pages of the story – you’re going to miss something and regret it.
SmackFu, I envy you. I read (and loved) Watchmen when it came out, and had to wait for each issue. You get to read them all at once.
Well, you CAN just go back and reread them… but to really soak it all up, you really ought to read each magazine/book/article excerpt after each comic segment, before moving to the NEXT comic segment. That’s how it was originally intended to be read, and Brainiac’s quite correct in his remarks about how they’re necessary to the whole experience; there’s details in each article that become blossomingly clear as you read on. Some of this stuff will also go off in your head like bombs on the second reading… 
One of the milestones in “comics as literature,” and a real relic of the Cold War. Great stuff.
I read Watchmen last month for the first time. Awesome experience.
Ranks right up there with when I also saw Buffy the Vampire Slayer, seasons 1-3 on DVD (first timer, also)
Meh. . .you can’t really blame new readers for getting restless when they hit one of Moore’s textual diarrhea outbreaks. 100% agree with you how much these sections enhance the story and I generally love background stuff, but he did the same thing in From Hell- do you remember the one chapter/issue where Gull just went on and on and ON about the history of London and Freemasonry? It was fascinating! It also became an endurance test!
Plus, there’s something vaguely disingenuous in relying on straight text so heavily in a comic book format. Let’s be honest, readers are expecting a balance of words and pictures in any graphic novel. You almost feel like you were lured to the long straight-text parts under false pretenses.