The Annotated Watchmen by Doug Atkinson (good books for high schoolers txt) 📖

THE ANNOTATED WATCHMEN

by Doug Atkinson

Watchmen is a trademark of DC Comics Inc., copyright 1995.

These annotations copyright 1995 by Doug Atkinson. They may be freely

copied and distributed, provided the text is not altered.

INTRODUCTION

The Annotated Watchmen was written for several reasons. The series is packed with detail, more so than

almost any other, and much of that detail is easily missed. Much of the background of the world is not given

straight out, but has to be inferred. There are several ongoing motifs that are worth spotting. My goal in

annotating the series is to highlight and explain all these points.

The Annotations are intended for the secondtime reader, someone who's read through once, knows the basic

plot, but missed a lot of the detail and wants to find it. If you are reading them along with your first reading of

the series, you may find that it spoils some of the surprise. Caveat lector. (I have removed most of the blatant

spoilers from earlier editions.)

A few conventions are worth explaining. The reason I quote newspaper headlines and signs is that some of

them are hard to read, and I'm trying to save eyestrain on the reader's part. Although some of the headlines

have text larger than the dialogue, I decided to be consistent and quote them all.

References such as 4:12:2 are to issue:page:panel (so the example would refer to issue #4, page 12, panel 2).

Dates are used in the American convention of month/day/year, so 8/9/74 (Nixon's resignation) is August 9,

1974, not September 8.

All comments and feedback are welcome. I have removed specific acknowledgements with the intention of

adding them in one large chunk to the Appendix at some later date.

Doug Atkinson

douga@earlham.edu

Chapter 1: "At Midnight, All the Agents..."

Certain notes are true for each issue. Each one is written by

Alan Moore, drawn and lettered by Dave Gibbons, and colored by John

Higgins.

Moreover, each issue has a continuing motif, a reoccuring object

or pattern that is seen on the cover, the first and last page (usually),

and throughout the issue. This issue's motif is the blood-spattered

smiley-face button.

Another trend is the title, which is always an excerpt from an

apropos quote shown in its entirety in the last panel. This issue's title is

from Bob Dylan's "Desolation Row."

The clock appearing on the covers counts the minutes to

midnight, similar to the clock in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists,

which is an estimate of the world's closeness to nuclear war. The clock

stands at 11 minutes to midnight, and advances by one minute per issue.

Cover: First appearance of the blood-spattered smiley-face button.

The button belonged to the Comedian, who we first see in flashback on

page 2. The shape of the blood stain reappears in issues 11 and 12.

Page 1, panel 1: The narration is an excerpt from Rorschach's

journal. We will see the journal later in the series.

The blood is from the Comedian.

Panel 4: Possible symbolism: "Followed in the footsteps" as the sign

man tracks the blood on the sidewalk. Rorschach believes his father was

a war hero (see issue 6). He sees President Truman as a good man,

hard-working and honest; possibly his ordering the nuking of Hiroshima has

something to do with this, too.

Truman: Harry S Truman, President of the U.S. from 1945 to 1953,

taking office after the death of Franklin Roosevelt and elected to a second

term in 1948. He presided over the end of WWII, and ordered the atomic

bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. His image is generally of a sincere man,

who did what was necessary to end the war and served a good if

undistinguished term afterwards.

Panel 5: The vehicle with the triangle in the circle belongs to

Pyramid Deliveries. The triangle is a continuing theme; its significance

will be learned later on. Pyramid Deliveries is owned by Adrian Veidt

(Ozymandias); he seems to be everywhere in this series.

If the vehicles appear strange, it's because they are electrically

powered.

Panel 7: The first appearance of Joe Bourquin, who is a continuing

character.

Page 2, panel 1: The first appearance of Detective Steve Fine, who is

also a continuing character.

Panel 3: We see these flashbacks from another point of view in issue

11.

Panels 4-7: Edward Blake is in good shape because he's the Comedian.

His identity is not public knowledge; he is well-known in diplomatic

circles as Blake. As the Comedian, he has been employed by the government since

WWII.

Panel 7: Steve smokes hand-rolled cigarettes.

Panel 8: We see how he got the scar in issue 2.

In our world, Ford was vice-president from 1973 (when Spiro Agnew

resigned) to 1974, when Nixon resigned and he became president. In their

world, somebody, maybe the Comedian, snuffed Woodward and Bernstein before

they could report Watergate, and this, combined with Nixon's popularity

following the victory in Vietnam, led to his serving at least five

terms.

Page 3, panel 2: The theft of the money is curious. The murderer had

no need for it. If it was an attempt to make it look like a normal

burglary, it failed, and the murderer should have known that.

Panel 3: This shows the source of the blood-spatter on the button.

Panel 6: Note the unusual design of the pipe (?) the man in the

elevator is smoking. Variants of it appear elsewhere in the series.

Panel 7: This panel is an example of a continuing narrative device

throughout the series: a narration box applying to the rest of the

panel, although it's not directly related. This is used to good effect in

the "Tales of the Black Freighter" sections, for example.

Page 4, panel 1: Knot-tops are a popular hairstyle, especially common

among certain street gangs. More speculation later. KT-28 seems to be a

popular street drug; the users refer to them as "Katies." 'Luudes are

qualuudes, a real-world drug.

Panel 2: Visible in the background is a geodesic dome. There are at

least three of them in New York; one is called the Astrodome.

Panel 3: First appearance an issue of "Tales of the Black Freighter."

Note the other things on the newsstand: two pirate comics ("X-Ships" may

be a joke on X-MEN) and a New York Times with "Vietnam 51st State:

Official!" as the headline. As is demonstrated later, in this world pirate

comics supplanted super-hero comics as the principal product of the

industry.

Seeing the Times is curious; the paper of choice in New York is the

Gazette, which appears to be the same paper under another name.

Could it be an error on Gibbons' part?

Panel 5: First appearance of the Gunga Diner. The person in the

lower right-hand corner has a Knot-top.

The Gunga Diner is this world's equivalent of McDonald's, as the

ever-present fast-food restaurant. It was founded by an Indian who left

the country during the famine in the '60's (see the poster on page 17).

If this newsstand is meant to be the same one that appears again

starting with #3, it is misplaced (see notes for issue #5).

This panel is the first appearance of a reference to "Mmeltdowns," a

popular candy. (See Ozymandias's interpretation in issue #10, page

8.)

Notice the 25-cent fare on the taxi.

Panel 8: The sign man is apparently left-handed. Right-handed people

generally wear their watches on the left wrist, so they can wind them

with their right hand.

Page 5, panel 1: The first appearance of a dirigible, apparently a

common means of transportation in this series. (We never see one in

anything other than a distant shot, though.)

Panel 3: The button reappears. Rorschach is left-handed, as seen

here and panel 6.

Panel 6: This is Rorschach's gas-powered grappling gun, built for him

by Daniel Dreiberg (Nite Owl II). The cartridge is carbon dioxide

(CO2).

Page 6, panel 1: Here we see Rorschach's mask for the first time.

Notice that the patterns are constantly shifting; the mask is formed by "two

viscous fluids between two layers latex, heat and pressure

sensitive."

Rorschach's name comes from Dr. Hermann Rorschach, who invented a

psychological test based on interpretations of inkblots. Inkblots

are formed by pouring ink onto a piece of paper, folding it, and

unfolding it, producing a symmetrical image. The actual Rorschach test uses ten

cards with multi-colored blots.

Also, notice again the geodesic dome in the background; this may be

the Astrodome. Its purpose is never mentioned, apart from being the site

of a charity event Ozymandias performed at; but it's identified in issue

7, page 23. (This structure does not exist in our New York; there is a

building named the Astrodome, but it's in Houston. The dome is named

after the Houston Astros; could there be a New York Astros in their

universe?)

Page 8, panel 1: This is the Comedian's equipment and second costume.

The picture on the left (which we see more clearly later) is a group shot

of the Minutemen, a 1940's crimefighting team of which Blake was a

member for a while. (More on his past in issue 2.)

Panel 2: Although the patterns on the mask shift, he does have a few

repeating themes; one of them is the "surprise/shock face" shown

here. It is indicative of Rorschach's personality that, even though he didn't

know Blake's identity until now, he still searched the apartment

thoroughly and suspected the hidden panel in the closet.

Page 9, panels 1-3: The man pictured and speaking is Hollis Mason,

the first Nite Owl. He is speaking to Dan Dreiberg, who took up his

name. Mason was the second costumed adventurer. On his wall are various

pictures and clippings from his career; one is seen to read "Hero Retires:

Opens Own Auto Business." Note the time on his clock. Phantom is his dog.

This panel shows another common device in the series; focusing on an

image and shifting the scene around it (in this case, the Minutemen

photo). This is a cinematic device, adapted for the comics medium.

Panel 4: The statuette on the left was presented to Mason upon his

retirement. The books are: Two copies of his autobiography, _Under

the Hood_; Automobile Maintenance; and Gladiator by Philip Wylie (one

of the first novels about a superhero, and partial inspiration for

Superman).

Note the owl items. The thing on the left of the mantelpiece bears a

passing resemblance to the lantern of the first Green Lantern, a DC

Comics character, but this may be coincidence.

Panel 6: The "Pale Horse" graffiti refers to a popular band.

Panel 7: "Who Watches the Watchmen" was popular graffiti around the

time of the Keene act. It comes from the Latin phrase "Quis custodiet ipsos

custodes," a quote from Juvenal's Satires and, of course, is the

source of the title