The Annotated Watchmen by Doug Atkinson (good books for high schoolers txt) 📖
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the cops gave him last issue. The bruise is from the kick on 5:28:4.
Panel 7: Obviously this is what Rorschach sees. It is explained
later this issue.
Panel 8: Rorschach's been through this before and knows how to fake
out the examiner. (It's not hard to feed expected answers on this sort of
test, especially if the examiner wants to see improvement like Mal does. If
you're interested in learning how to give answers on the real
Rorschach tests, read the book Big Secrets by William Poundstone.)
Page 3, panels 1-2: Note the similarity between this blot, the
silhouette, and the "Hiroshima Lovers" graffiti.
Panel 8: On page 11 of issue 5 he said his landlady reminded him of
his mother. The resemblance is clear.
Page 4, panels 8-9: Back into the blot from the flashback. (This
issue uses this type of transition heavily.)
Page 7, panel 1: Compare the fruit on his face to the blot on page 1.
Page 8, panel 2: The speaker is Mal's wife, Gloria.
Panel 6: Their shadows, particularly here, echo the "Hiroshima
lovers."
Panel 8: Notice that the fountain pen is making an inkblot. (A white
inkblot? Gibbons seems to have missed inking it.) Although the
coffee cup reads "Dad," we never see their children.
Panel 9: The note reads, "Mal: One for you? G." The notepad is his
notes: the words "murder" and "'Good.'" are recognizable, from panels 2-3.
Page 9, panel 7: Walter sees Rorschach as something more than an
identity he takes on. (Remember, he refers to his mask as his "face.") See
page 15. This is not an uncommon theme among costumed heroes; Batman, in
particular, has frequently been shown as having a slight split personality
between the Batman and Wayne identities. For more on the idea of an identity
taking on a life of its own, and in fact becomes a world-view, read Matt
Wagner's GRENDEL series, especially issues 1-15 and 25-34.
Page 10, panel 1: Rorschach has never shown much of an interest in
women; he seems to be fairly asexual, in fact. (Or he may be homosexual and
in deep denial about it.)
Panel 6: "Woman Killed While Neighbors Look On."
Panel 7: This event happened in the real world.
Page 11, panels 7-9: The card from page 1 again. Mal is beginning to
get the point, but is denying it to himself.
Page 13, panels 1-3: The coffeemaker is another foreshadowing of the
motif from issue #9. In panel 2, the "Gopain" is a Veidt product.
Panel 4: The coffee drip is producing a shape similar to the
"butterfly" card.
Panel 5: Notice the time on the clock.
Page 14, panels 1-2: The notepad reads "face that I could bear to
look at in the mirror" (from page 10).
Panel 4: Compare the way he talked at the Crimebusters meeting in #2;
he actually used articles and complete sentences. He's changed a lot,
like he says.
Page 15, panel 6: The headline reads, "Keene Act Passed: Vigilantes
Illegal." The sign reads, "Badges Not Masks." Most of "Who Watches
the Watchmen" is on the wall. A Gunga Diner is just to Rorschach's left.
Page 16, panel 1: Mal is working on a Sunday. Clearly he's really
into this case.
Panel 5: We see this from the other point of view on page 3 of issue
8.Panel 6: More of the lovers graffiti.
Pages 17-18: The card reappears.
Page 18: This is the kidnapping referred to in issue #2, page 18.
Page 19: Could the dressmaker's dummies remind him of Kitty Genovese?
Page 22, panel 1: The street address is symmetrical. The dogs are
named after the male main characters of the "Flintstones" TV series.
Panel 5: Notice the time on the clock.
Page 26, panels 4-6: Once again, the card.
Page 27, panel 1: The watch salesman is a minor continuing character;
this is his first appearance.
Panel 2: "Nixon Promises Maximum Force." No President in our world
would be this belligerent, this quickly; he evidently doesn't want to show any
reaction to Jon's disappearance. Backing down would be a show of
weakness. (Understanding this is key to understanding the series' ending.) The
radiation symbol is in the background.
Panel 3: The graffiti again. Note the Mmeltdowns wrapper Bernie is
throwing away.
Pages 29-32: Rorschach's file.
Page 29, paragraph 3: The "Sweet Chariot" sugar is from Dreiberg's
apartment (issue #1); the rose is from the end of issue #2; the
notebook is later explained to be the rough draft of his journal; the cologne was
swiped from Dan's apartment in #3; and the pepper is from the end of
issue #5. We saw him using the flashlight in the beginning of #1.
Pages 30-31: The "Charlton Home" name may be a tribute to the
inspirations for the main characters, published by Charlton Comics.
Page 31, "Charlton Home" section, paragraphs 3-4: Compare this to his
comments on good men in #1.
Page 32: The symbolism of the dream should be obvious. This sheet
must bemisdated; '63 was seven years after he left the Home.
--
Chapter 7: "A Brother to Dragons"
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.
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 reflection in the
oval.
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 Job 30:29.
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 5 minutes to midnight.
Cover: Dreiberg's ship, "Archie," reflected in his goggles. The
smear in the dust is reminiscent of the smiley-face motif.
Page 1, panel 1: The reflection in the oval.
Panel 7: The smear Laurie is making mirrors the one in the first
panel.
Page 3, panel 1: Dan is replacing the Sweet Chariot sugar Rorschach
took.
Panels 2, 4, 6: Flashback to issues #1 and 3. Panel 4 is seen in a
mirror. (All three panels are from Dan's POV.)
Panel 7: On the right are Dan's trophies.
Page 4, panel 5: While Laurie's judgment is harsh, it is true that
Rorschach is very suspicious.
Panel 9: A reflection in an oval.
Page 5, panel 1: Another reflection in an oval.
Page 7, panels 2-4: Not quite a reflection in an oval, but close.
Panel 5: The Sword in the Stone is a book by T.H. White, concerning
the childhood of King Arthur.
Page 9, panel 2: Big Figure appears in the next issue.
Page 10, panels 2-3: Devo is a real band.
Panel 9: Reflection in an oval.
Page 11, panel 3: Clearly Laurie has no problem with her Polish
background, unlike her mother.
Panel 4: Confirming the theory that the cancer list is a setup; if
Dr. Manhattan were carcinogenic enough to affect Moloch, he would
certainly have affected Laurie by now.
Page 12, panel 1: Godfrey and his assistant reappear later.
Panel 3: This places the date as the 25th. "This afternoon?" Since
they're watching the six o'clock news (look at the clock in 7:13:5 and
7:15:3), this is an odd way to phrase it--it should probably be past tense.
Panel 8: Hiroshima week (the 40th anniversary) was only two months
before the start of the series, so naturally it would be close to Dan's
mind.
Pages 13-15: These pages have one of the best examples in the series
of ironic background dialogue, commenting on the foreground. Read the
stuff from the TV as commentary on what Dan and Laurie are doing.
Page 13, panel 1: This is a reference to the real-world group
"Manhattan Transfer."
Panels 4-7: The background information here is important setup for
later events.
Panels 8-9: The background is a commercial for Nostalgia. This may
be Nat King Cole's song "Unforgettable."
Pages 14-15: This is the event all the Ozymandias Famine Relief
posters are a reference to. (Famine in India is a common thread in the series,
since there was another benefit for it in the early '50s. This may be
intended to replace the real-world famine in eastern Africa occurring around
this time.
Page 15: Though it may be a little unkind to point this out, look at
the times in panels 3-6 and look at how long they keep trying: 6:40,
nearly 11:00, sometime after midnight, 1:59 AM...
Panel 4: Benny Anger returns. Note that Red D'Eath has a knot top
and leather jacket; he seems to be the one popularizing the style, since
Aline, a Pale Horse fan but not a gang member, wears it in issue #11.
Red D'Eath's name refers, probably, to Edgar Allen Poe's short story
"The Masque of the Red Death."
Panel 5: A Mmeltdowns ad.
Panel 9: A reflection in an oval.
Page 17, panel 6: The "Hiroshima Lovers" imagery again.
Page 18, panel 2: The Chrysler Building is in the background. This
whole page is Dan's POV.
Panel 3: The finger streak in the mist hearkens back to the cover;
the streak, the two raindrops, and the cloud form the spattered
smiley-face image.
Panel 9: Another reflection.
Page 25, panel 7: As identified later, this is Billy Holliday's
"You're My Thrill."
Page 26, panel 7: A reflection in an oval.
Page 27, panel 13: The street view here demonstrates that there are
at least three geodesic domes in the city.
Page 28, panel 4: Another reflection. "Come out of the closet" is a
common phrase for revealing one's homosexuality; others writers have
commented that some superhero comics may be seen as a metaphor for the
homosexual lifestyle. (We will note that out of 13 costumed characters in the
series, three are known homosexuals, although two of them seem to be
unhealthy about it.)
Panel 9: Archie, with the smoke and the moon behind him, makes
another smiley-face.
Pages 29-32: An excerpt from the _Journal of the American
Ornithological Society._ Note that this is the least informative backup feature in
the series, telling us nothing new.
--
Chapter 8: "Old Ghosts"
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.
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 statuette of Nite
Owl; more generally, there is a theme of reminisces of the past.
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
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