COMIC DETAILS
|
Comic Description:
|
Watchmen 2 Signature
|
|
Grade:
|
9.8
|
|
Page Quality:
|
WHITE
|
|
Certification #:
|
4427654001
|
|
Owner:
|
The Captain
|
SET DETAILS
Owner's Description
October, 1986
"Absent Friends"
Alan Moore - Writer
Dave Gibbons - Penciler
Dave Gibbons - Cover Artist
Dave Gibbons - Inkers
John Higgins - Colorist
Dave Gibbons - Letterer
Len Wein & Barbara Kesel - Editors
Dick Giordano - Executive Editor
Synopsis:
Laurie Juspeczyk visits the Nepenthe Gardens retirement home to see her mother, Sally, the original Silk Spectre. She only came because she's been forced to visit, transported by Jon since she hadn't wanted to attend the funeral of Eddie Blake. Sally shows a large sense of sympathy for Blake.
During her conversation with Laurie, Sally remembers the night that the Minutemen were taking their group photo in 1940. The group discussed the war in Europe, until the original Nite Owl stopped the discussion and they all headed down to the Owl's Nest, except for Sally who stays behind to change her clothes. The Comedian stepped into the room and interrupts her, attempting to sexually assault her to which Sally clawed his face. Blake brutally attacked her, intending to rape her, before Hooded Justice walked in. He viciously attacked Eddie, but lets him go when Eddie says to him "This is what you like, huh? This is what gets you hot..."
Notes:
-Signed by: Dave Gibbons on 05/22/2024
-The title of the issue is taken from Elvis Costello's "The Comedians." A passage from "The Comedians" appears at the end of the issue: "And I'm up while the down is breaking, even though my heart is aching. I should be drinking a toast to absent friends instead of these comedians."
-The End-Is-Nigh man is seen outside the gate of the cemetery.
-Rorschach's word balloon at the Minutemen meeting noticeably matches those of the other character's; it has not yet developed the jagged borders.
-The Comedian's (accurate) rant about Doctor Manhattan not caring for Laurie Juspeczyk much like he did with Janey Slater foreshadows what will happen in Manhattan and Laurie's deteriorating relationship.
-When Edgar Jacobi returns to his home, there is a newspaper bearing the headline: "Soviets Will Not Tolerate U.S. Adventurism in Afghanistan." This is previously foreshadowed in issue #1 and ultimately becomes prominent in issue #3.
-On page 7, panel 6, when Hooded Justice prevents Blake from raping Sally Jupiter, Blake bleeds on his yellow jumpsuit in the same position he wears the badge at the time of his death.
-On page 14, when Blake is slashed across the face by the pregnant Vietnamese woman, some of his blood falls on the smiley badge.
Trivia:
-Nepenthe Gardens is named after Nepenthe, a drug that brings happiness and forgetfulness in some Greek legends. This could be stated as the purpose of such rest homes, but can also be seen as an ironic statement, since it is common for residents in these homes to become sorrowful and feel emotional pain at their solitude and separation from their families.
-In the Minutemen photo op (2:5:1) there is a newspaper headline: "Scientists Make First Artificial Wonder Element: Plutonium." Plutonium was first produced and isolated on December 14, 1940 and later used in the development of the first nuclear weapon in the Manhattan Project. However, its discovery was not announced until 1948 because of wartime security measures. This also foreshadows the coming of Doctor Manhattan.
-Silhouette's remark about the Poles aimed at Sally Jupiter (who changed her name from Juspeczyk to Jupiter) directly relates to Laurie's comment to Rorschach in issue #1 that her mother changed her name so nobody would know she was Polish. During the period between World War I and World War II, anti-Polish sentiment ran high in Germany, and some of the German disdain spilled over to America, which had a large population of both German and Polish immigrants.
-On Sally Jupiter's table (2:8:5) is a Nova Express headline: "How Sick is Dick? After 3rd Presidential Heart Op?" In the real world, Richard Nixon fell ill to phlebitis in 1974 before recovering in early 1975. He died on 8 August 1994, from a stroke caused by the atrial fibrillation from which he had suffered for many years.
-The painting of Sally Jupiter (2:8:6) is done by Alberto Vargas, a real-world pin-up artist of the early to mid-twentieth century.
-Sally paraphrases (2:8:7) Matthew 5:45: "That ye may by the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust." (King James Version)
-The priest overseeing the funeral rite is reading from The Book of Common Prayer.
-The newspaper that The Comedian is reading (2:9:5) bears the headlines: "French Withdraw Military Commitment from NATO" and "Heart Transplant Patient Stable." France withdrawn from all NATO military activities in June 1966 after French President Charles de Gaulle grew frustrated by the United States' strong role in the organization and what he perceived as a special relationship between it and the United Kingdom. The first human-to-human heart transplant was performed by Professor Christiaan Barnard in 3 December 1967; however, the patient Louis Washkansky lived only for eighteen days. Apparently, due to science and technology is more advanced in the world of Watchmen, this version of the heart transplant was more successful.
-On Captain Metropolis' presentation board that he mentions as "new social evils" - promiscuity, anti-war demonstrations, "black unrest", drugs - clearly reflects on his conservative and racist views which were mentioned in Under the Hood.
-In Doctor Manhattan's flashback to Vietnam, Richard Nixon is seen giving two "V for victory" gestures. This mannerism commonly associated with him in real life, where he struck the same pose just before boarding the Marine helicopter that took him from the White House following his resignation from the Presidency. Nixon's posing with the helicopter is based on the well known photograph taken by Dutch photojournalist Hubert van Es of an American helicopter evacuating South Vietnamese civilians on the day before the collapse of Saigon during the final days of the Vietnam War.
-The Comedian's remark, "I mean, if we'd lost this war . . . I think it might have driven us a little crazy, y'know? As a country," is a comment on the reality of the Vietnam War, in stark contrast to the war in the world of Watchmen.
-The Comedian's dismissive remark "Saigon number ten, New York number one, okay?" In the pidgin language used for exchanges between Americans and Vietnamese during the war, "number one" means "the best" and "number ten" meant "the worst".
-The Gordon's Gin logo on the mirror (2:14:6) is cropped to show only "Gord," creating a resonance with Alexander the Great's challenge of the Gordian Knot—a motif that will be repeated later in the story. The cut-off word is what happen to The Comedian's "gored" face.
-During the Police Strike riots in Daniel Dreiberg's flashback (2:17:6), a newspaper headline reads, "Cops Say 'Let Them Do It' Senator Keene Proposes Emergency Bill."
-The phrase "Who Watches the Watchmen?" is seen spray-painted by rioters during the Police Strike in Dreiberg's flashback.
-The drug Laetril used by Jacobi is a real-world drug, marketed as a cancer cure but ultimately found to be fraudulent as explained by Rorschach.
-When Rorschach walked pass the peep show, the theatre showcase a sign reading "Enola Gay and the Little Boys." This is a reference to the first atomic bomb used in World War II and the plane that dropped it. This ties in with Ozymandias' theories in issue #10 about increased warlike imagery in times of international tension.
-Rorschach's Pagliacci story is the Italian opera of the same name by Ruggero Leoncavallo. The story related in the journal entry was originally told about English comedian Joseph Grimaldi who is known as the King of the Clowns.
Quotes:
"It don't matter squat because inside thirty years the nukes are gonna be flyin' like maybugs... and then Ozzy here is gonna be the smartest man on the cinder. Now, pardon me, but I got an appointment." — The Comedian
|
|
|