The Annotated Watchmen, Doug Atkinson [fb2 epub reader txt] 📗

paragraph 3: I believe the date of Laurie's birth was

changed in the paperback. The typeface is slightly lighter.

Page 12, paragraph 3: Hooded Justice was likely killed by the

Comedian. (If Muller was Hooded Justice. There is no direct evidence for this

anywhere in the comic; but the Mayfair Games DC Heroes Module,

"Taking Out the Trash," agrees with this assessment, in the section co-written by

Moore.) Mason's statement about real life is later echoed by Veidt.

--

Chapter 4: "Watchmaker"

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 reoccurring 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 picture lying in the

dust on Mars. 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 Einstein.

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 8 minutes to midnight, and advances by one minute per issue.

Cover: The old photo of Janey Slater and Jon Osterman lying on the

sand of Mars.

Page 1, panel 1: Dr. Manhattan's skin is still the color he changed

it to in #3. He eventually lets it revert.

Panel 2: Dr. Manhattan has an unusual time sense: he seems to

experience past, present, and future events simultaneously. He will refer to

his knowledge of the future but will not attempt to act on this

knowledge.

Panels 9: The picture in the dust again.

Page 3, panel 3: The Times headline reads, "Atomic Bomb Dropped On

Hiroshima." (The Times probably became the Gazette at some

point.) The bomb was dropped on August 6th, so it's not unreasonable that they'd

find out on the morning of the 7th. (It's not clear if the Nagasaki bomb

was ever dropped or not; it's never mentioned, but then again, how often

is it mentioned in our world compared with Hiroshima?)

Page 4, panel 1: Wally Weaver is known later as "Dr. Manhattan's

pal." This may be a reference on Moore's part to "Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen."

Page 5, panel 1: The Bestiary, when it was new. Interesting that Jon

has this flash from the future. Notice the way the objects in panel 2

roughly mimic the layout of the people in panel 1.

Panel 4: The writing on the bulletin board, "At play amidst the

Strangeness and Charm," alludes to two properties of quarks, strangeness and

charm.

Panel 9: The picture in the dust.

Page 6, panel 3: The time the photo was taken.

Page 9, panel 3: Presley: Elvis Presley, real-world rock star.

Page 10, panel 1: Four years later, to the day, Dr. Manhattan fails

to prevent Kennedy's assassination.

Panel 4: Completely reassembled now. It is unclear whether or not

his blue skin is a matter of choice.

Page 12, panel 6: The symbol is a stylized version of a hydrogen

atom, the simplest atom possible (one proton and one electron.)

Panels 7-8: The name refers to the Manhattan Project, which designed

the first nuclear bomb.

Page 14, panel 1: The Red Cross charity event for Indian Famine

relief, shortly before Nite Owl's retirement, mentioned last issue.

Panel 2: The name of this "crime-den" is "Dante's," a reference to

the Italian author best known for the Divine Comedy, which included a

trip to Hell. The name and red lighting seem to be intended to invoke a

hellish atmosphere.

Panel 3: That may be Milton Glass in the back behind the two

uniformed men. Since he was also visible on panel 5 of the last page, it appears

that he stayed with Jon for a long time.

Page 15, panel 6: Just one of the technological by-products of Dr.

Manhattan. Rorschach's mask is another, and probably Archie is too.

(Does the industry depend on his continued presence, or has he set up the

means to synthesize more?)

Panel 7: Dealey Plaza in Dallas is where Kennedy was assassinated.

Page 16, panel 8: These are the same earrings we've seen Sally

wearing. Presumably there's some sort of magnetic means of keeping the nuclei

floating in the middle (and it's probably another technological by-

product).

Page 17, panel 1: The Crimebusters' first/only meeting. Jon wears

less and less of the costume as time goes on. (We saw the meeting in issue

2.)

Panel 3: A flashback to #3, page 4, panel 1. (Note Laurie's

earrings.)

Page 18, panel 2: Laurie could be anywhere from fifteen to seventeen,

depending on what source one accepts for her age.

Panel 6: Notice the time on the clock.

Page 19, panel 3: It has been said, outside the series, that earlier

Presidents were wise enough to realize how dangerous involving Dr.

Manhattan in international affairs could be. After this, relations

with the USSR and China fell apart.

Cuba: Refers to the failed U.S.-sponsored invasion of the Bay of

Pigs. Jon may mean that Kennedy avoided sending him in, or that he avoided

mentioning it anywhere. The former seems likelier, as our Kennedy was willing

to accept responsibility for the invasion's failure.

Panel 4: The woman clinging to Blake is apparently the same as the

one in issue #2.

Panel 6: Notice where the drool is splashing on the smiley-face

button.

Page 21, panel 1: The main headline reads, "Third Term for Dick?"

referring to the amendment repealing the 22nd amendment (which limits

Presidents to 2 terms). The secondary headline reads, "Ozymandias Quits: Smartest

Man in World Goes Public."

Panel 4: More Dr. Manhattan spinoffs. The airships have periodically

been seen around New York earlier. The key word here may be "safe:" part

of the reason for the decline of dirigibles was the destruction of the

hydrogen-powered Hindenburg.

Panels 5-6: This provides a significant glimpse into Adrian's mind.

Page 22, panels 2-6: The riots before the Keene act (in Washington

this time). The signs read: "Give Us Our Police Back!" "Badges Not Masks,"

and "Ban Vigilantes Now." The building in panels 3 and 6 is the White

House.

Page 23, panel 3: The Iranian hostage situation occurred when student

militants seized the U.S. Embassy in Teheran in 1979. Apparently the

situation was solved much more quickly in their world.

Page 24, panel 3: The picture in the dust again.

Panel 4: A Gunga Diner is the background: note the Mmeltdowns and

Nostalgia ads, the "Four More Years" sign, the issue of the New Frontiersman,

the airships in the background, the ball-pipe, and the time on the

clock. New York is taking on the familiar shape of the series. The hat the man

on the left is wearing is a Veidt product. (The vents on the sides suggest

that there's something interesting about that hat; maybe it has a built-in

radio, or maybe it's air-conditioned.)

Panel 7: The watch is frozen at the same time Janey's was (assuming

the hand on the right is the minute hand).

Page 25, panel 2: A flashback to #2. Note that Jon is not

omniscient; he may be able to see things happening anywhere, but he's still limited

in his interpretational abilities. The man in the coat is Moloch.

Panels 3-8: Flashbacks to #3.

Page 28, panel 3: The picture one last time.

Panel 6: Einstein's quote refers, not to the atomic bomb, but to

quantum mechanics; quantum mechanics destroyed any view of our universe as

deterministic, and Einstein didn't care for the resulting uncertainty. This is

particularly ironic, since Dr. Manhattan's time sense suggests that

his universe is indeed deterministic.

The title of this issue, "Watchmaker," refers also to the famous

"argument from design," saying that the universe as a complex creation must

have a creator. The metaphor was first proposed by William Paley in

Natural Theology; his example was that of finding a watch somewhere, and

that its complexity implied a matchmaker. This term has come to symbolize an

intelligent creator, and thus is particularly appropriate to Dr.

Manhattan, as is "The Judge of All the Earth."

Pages 29-32: "Dr. Manhattan: Super-Powers and the Superpowers" by

Milton Glass, who directed the Gila Flats institute. A summary of Dr.

Manhattan's strategic importance.

�

--

Chapter 5: "Fearful Symmetry"

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

skull-and-crossbones, and mirror images in general.

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 William Blake's poem "The Tyger."

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 7 minutes to midnight, and advances by one minute per issue.

Cover: Reflection of the "The Rumrunner" neon sign outside Moloch's

window. The "RR" symbol and the bones give us a skull-and-crossbones, and the

RR is a mirror image. The "Forecast: Cloudy, heavy rain later" line on the

paper is symbolic foreshadowing. Rorschach is reflected at the very top.

A note on the layout of this issue: The entire issue's story pages

are a mirror image. Page 1 reflects page 28, page 2 reflects page 27, and

so forth; the two-page spread on pages 14-15 is where the "mirror"

lies. Each page is a reflection both of layout and content.

Page 1, panel 1: The sign reflected again. That's a copy of the

Gazette with the "Russians Invade Afghanistan" headline, and a Gunga Diner

takeout box.

Panel 9: The speaker is Moloch.

Page 3, panel 4: Note the broken Gordian Knot lock. It must be

freshly broken; Moloch wouldn't have been able to close it if it were like

that.

Panel 6: Checking the refrigerator, remembering issue #2.

Panel 9: Rorschach signs all his notes with the "blot" symbol. He

doesn't write very well, as shown later; it's possible, though, that he used

the capital "H" because it has horizontal symmetry.

Page 5, panel 5: Rorschach is correct in this assumption; the list in

question was the cancer list. More later.

Panel 6: Rorschach either believes in checking every possible lead,

no matter how remote, or is a raving paranoid. The likelihood that

Moloch could be behind all this is somewhat farfetched.

Page 6, panel 5: The Chrysler Building is visible in the background.

Panel 6: We see the island