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

come from the beating

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