Set Description:
CGC Watchmen Comics That I Own.
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| The gallery tab shows only items with images. Click the thumbnails to enlarge. |
| Slot: |
Watchmen 1 |
| Item: |
Watchmen 1 Signature |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
4238405001
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Owner Comments
September, 1986
"At Midnight, All the Agents..."
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:
NYPD Detectives Steve Fine and Joe Bourquin investigate the murder of Edward Blake, who was thrown out of his apartment window and fell many stories to his death. The detectives conclude that Blake's assailant(s) were rather strong, citing Blake's large and stronger physique as well as the strength of the glass window that Blake was thrown out of. The detectives decide to cover up the investigation in order to avoid interference from the vigilante Rorschach.
That night, however, Rorschach enters and searches Blake's apartment, finding a compartment containing weapons, a leather costume, and a picture of the Minutemen. Rorschach realizes that Edward Blake was the American government-sponsored costumed adventurer known as the Comedian.
Meanwhile, Dan Dreiberg is visiting Hollis Mason at the latter's home where they discuss their time as Nite Owl. After their discussion is over, Dan returns to his apartment to find his door broken in and Rorschach awaiting him while helping himself to a can of cold beans. Rorschach informs Dan of the Comedian's death, who proposes moving their discussion to the workshop in the basement where Dan stores his Nite Owl equipment. Rorschach tells Dan that he has been investigating Blake's death. Dan suggests that given Blake's services and history, his murder could have been a political killing in response to his actions in toppling Marxist Republics in South America. Rorschach proposes another theory that someone is attempting to eliminate costumed heroes. Dan is skeptical of this idea, but Rorschach points out that the Comedian had made a lot of enemies over the past forty years. Rorschach soon leaves but not before giving The Comedian's blood-stained smiley face badge that he found to Dan.
Rorschach later takes his investigation to a seedy bar called Happy Harry's, where the owner and patrons very fearfully know him well. He talks to Harry, asking who killed Edward Blake. A man named Steve mocks Rorschach, who then starts breaking the man's pinky and index fingers while continuing to ask the entire bar who killed Edward Blake. A man speaks up and claims that none of them know, so Rorschach releases Steve and leaves.
Rorschach visits Adrian Veidt, a retired hero formerly known as Ozymandias and a current billionaire, at his office. Veidt shares the same suggestion that Blake's murder was a political killing, perhaps committed by the Soviets. Rorschach considers otherwise, as the Soviets never dared to antagonize America because of the latter's possession of the superhuman operative Dr. Manhattan since 1965, and sticks to his costume killer theory. Veidt further explains that the Comedian had many political enemies other than the Soviets, claiming that Blake's reputation made him "practically a Nazi." Rorschach defends Blake from Veidt's remark, stating that Blake stood up for his country, never allowed anyone to retire him, and never sold his image - unlike Veidt. The billionaire remains unaffected by Rorschach's words, as he explains that he chose to retire prior to the passing of the Police Strike and the Keene Act that outlawed unsanctioned vigilantes.
Rorschach then goes to warn Doctor Manhattan and Laurie Juspeczyk at Rockefeller Military Research Center. The couple were already informed of Blake's murder by their government superiors in which Manhattan recalls that the C.I.A. suspects the Libyans were responsible. Manhattan remains unconcerned when Rorschach proposes his costume killer theory, explaining that he sees life and death as "unquantifiable abstracts." Laurie is very unsympathetic toward Blake, calling him a monster due to the fact that he had tried to rape her mother when they were both in the Minutemen. Her statements on Blake ends up in an argument with Rorschach. Due to upsetting Laurie, Manhattan teleports Rorschach outside of the facility.
Laurie decides to invite Dan Dreiberg out for dinner at Rafael's. Manhattan politely declines to join as he is occupied on finishing his research that would validate supersymmetrical theory. Laurie explains to Dan how she regrets her old life as the second Silk Spectre and her relationship with Jon. She mentions that the government kept her at Rockefeller Military Research Center to keep Jon relaxed and happy. Laurie and Dan then enjoy recalling the story of an old villain that only pretended to be a super-villain to get beaten up, laughing at their times as costumed heroes.
Notes:
-Signed by: Dave Gibbons on 06/30/2023
-This issue is reprinted in the Watchmen trade paperback and Absolute hardcover edition.
-The title of this issue is taken from Bob Dylan's "Desolation Row." The lyrics of the song appears at the ending of this issue: "At midnight, all the agents and superhuman crew, go out and round up everyone who knows more than they do."
-Rorschach's initial statement in his journal: "Dog carcass in alley this morning, tire tread on burst stomach," foreshadows the incident that led to Rorschach becoming a more unhinged vigilante in issue #6.
-The Doomsayer holding the "The End is Nigh" sign on page 4 makes sporadic appearances throughout the course of the series until his significance and true identity is revealed in issue #5.
-A newspaper headline reading "Russia Protests US Adventurism in Afghanistan" is a reversed version of real-world events in which (at the time of the publishing of Watchmen) the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in 1979 and ended in 1989, and was opposed by the United States and other nations. This later becomes important in the story in issue #3.
-The last page of the issue reverses the composition of the first page, with the viewpoint traveling from close-up of the smiley-face button to a high vantage point.
-The Doomsday Clock shows 12 minutes before midnight, the same time that is displayed on the front and back covers of the issue.
Trivia:
-The phrase "Who Watches the Watchmen?" is first seen spray-painted on the bay door of Hollis Mason's auto-garage (pp. 9). The phrase appears sporadically throughout the title and is popularly recognized as a tagline for the series as a whole.
-In the foreground where Detectives Fine and Bourquin are leaving the apartment building (1:4:3) there is a headline on the newspaper states "Vietnam 51st State: Official!" The results of the Vietnam War in the world of Watchmen is later elaborate in issue #4.
-On Hollis Mason's bookshelf, right next to two copies of Under the Hood, is Philip Wylie's science fiction novel Gladiator. The book has been cited as the inspiration for Superman.
-The can of Heinz baked beans Rorschach is eating (1:10:8) has "58" just visible (likely for "58 varieties"). In our world the founder of the Heinz corporation decided in 1892 on the tag line "57 varieties" for his products.
-On the building's window sill where Rorschach is standing on is a "Stick with Dick in 84" poster (1:14:4). This is an appeal to vote for Richard Nixon for his fifth term in office as President of the United States, his first term having commenced in January of 1969. Nixon's unlimited term of office is explain in issue #4.
-In front of Happy Harry's (1:14:5) is a newspaper with the headline: "Congress Approves Lunar Silos". This seems to indicate that the Outer Space Treaty, which prohibit weapons of mass destruction in orbit of Earth, either abrogated or never came into effect.
-In Veidt's office is a poster for his benefit performance for Indian Famine Relief. Veidt gives his televised performance in issue #7.
-On Veidt's desk is a New York Gazette with the headline, "Nuclear Doomsday Clock Stands at Five to Twelve Warn Experts" and "Geneva Talks: U.S. Refuses to Discuss Dr. Manhattan." The "Geneva Talks" is likely an allusion to the Geneva meeting between U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet General Mikhail Gorbachev in November 1985 to discuss the international arms race.
-Gluino, as mentioned by Manhattan, is the supersymmetric partner of gluon, the exchange for strong force between quarks. Supersymmetry predicts the existence of gluons, and the discovery of a gluino would go a long way toward confirming the theory. In the real world, without the assistance of Dr. Manhattan, research continues through the use of the CERN Large Hadron Collider, the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, and other high-energy facilities. "Bestiary" is a scientific vernacular for a listing of the subatomic particles that make up all matter.
-Rorschach's musing that Veidt is "possibly homosexual," is a sign of the mid-1980's (as of the writing of Watchmen) when American conservatives (such as Rorschach) largely disapproved of homosexuality and even believed the AIDS epidemic, which came to the forefront at that time, was a homosexual disease.
-In Rafael's, there are several fashionable women wearing the knot-top hairstyle, suggesting its pervasiveness; their eye makeup is based on the Eye of Horus, suggesting Veidt's obsession with Ancient Egypt. In the foreground are two seated men who are an openly gay couple, something rarely seen in upscale straight restaurants in 1985 in the real world.
-Spaghetti Africaine, as mentioned by Laurie, is not a specific type of recipe; rather, it is a fanciful name for spaghetti with a sauce featuring African or Creole spices.
Quotes:
"The accumulated filth of all their sex and murder will foam up about their waists and all the whores and politicians will look up and shout "Save us!"... and I'll look down and whisper "No." — Rorschach
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| Slot: |
Watchmen 3 |
| Item: |
Watchmen 3 Signature |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
4232408001
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Owner Comments
November, 1986
"The Judge of All the Earth"
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:
Doctor Manhattan is having problems with his relationship with Laurie when he multiplies himself and she finds out that 'one of him' had been working while she was being romantic with another. Laurie walks out on Manhattan, going to meet up with Dan Dreiberg.
Meanwhile, Manhattan's ex-wife Janey Slater is giving an interview with a news editor of the Nova Express. She states that she has cancer that she presumably received through a connection with Manhattan.
Manhattan gets dressed and transports from his home to his television interview where he meets up with a government official named Forbes telling him what to, and what not to say. One of the questions that he cannot say is about his involvement with the Russians in Afghanistan. Then, one of the audience members is Doug Roth of Nova Express who asks Manhattan about his relationships with his colleague Wally Weaver, Slater, and his former nemesis Edgar Jacobi, if he knew that all of them had a fatal form of cancer, among others. Manhattan is left stunned and even more unsettled when Roth accuses him of being responsible for their inflictions. Forbes quickly intervenes and stops the interview, but while he and Manhattan are leaving, Roth and other reporters swarm around Manhattan and bombard him with questions. A very distressed Manhattan yells "I said leave me alone!" and transports everyone outside of the building.
Laurie meets up with Dan who gave her some coffee and they talk about her troublesome relationship and where she will stay that night. She then decides on a hotel and walks with Dan to Hollis Mason's place. But while walking through an alleyway they are almost mugged by a gang of knot-tops. They effortlessly take out the gangsters. Leaving the alleyway, Laurie decides to go find a hotel by herself and leave Dan alone. Once arriving at Hollis' place, Hollis shows Dan the interview of Manhattan's incident on television.
Manhattan arrives back at his home to find out that it is being quarantined. He decides that he is leaving, telling a soldier to leave a message for Laurie and his superiors. He said he is going to Arizona, and then Mars. He goes to the Gila Flats test base in Arizona, where he took a picture of himself and Janey Slater many years ago at a carnival. On Mars, he explores in childish excitement and then finds a rock to sit on.
Laurie goes back to the base to find that everything is being taken away by military personnel in hazmat suits and she is told by Forbes that she is ordered to undergo a cancer scan and is asked about whether she has put Manhattan in emotional stress. Unaware of Manhattan's incident, she is offended by Forbes for considering herself responsible for something until the man, deeply exasperated, snaps to her that she is no longer welcome to the base since his superiors believe that Manhattan is not coming back in which his absence has severe global consequences.
The next day, Dan awakes from his bed to find Rorschach has broken into his home (again), and he shows Dan a newspaper with the front page of Manhattan's departure from Earth. This news also makes Rorschach being more convinced of his mask-killer theory.
That night, the news vendor receives the evening edition and is shocked to read the headlines. Anxiously, he gives the kid a copy of Tales of the Black Freighter for free, and even his cap. The headline he read is "Russians Invade Afghanistan".
Notes:
-Signed by: Dave Gibbons on 06/30/2023
-The title of the issue is taken from Genesis chapter 18, verse 25. The passage appears at the end of the issue: "Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?"
-On the newsstand is an issue of the New Frontier headline reading "Missing Writer: Castro to Blame?" and a photo of Max Shea, who first appears in issue #8.
-Doctor Manhattan's interview to the ABC program, as Dr. Jonathan Osterman, reveals his real name.
-The repairman that fixes Daniel Dreiberg's door reappears in issues #11 and #12.
-The host Benny Anger reappears in issue #7.
-The Doomsday Clock on the last page of the issue stands now at 11:51.
Trivia:
-The ad on the back of the comic that the boy is reading is for "The Veidt Method," Adrian Veidt's equivalent of the Charles Atlas ads in which were prominently advertised in comic books and boys' magazines from the 1940s.
-Across the street from the newsstand are the offices of the Promethean Cab Company, which employs the cab driver Joey. The company is a reference to the Greek titan Prometheus who defied Zeus' will by giving fire to humanity.
-The repairman's company, Gordian Knot Lock Co, is a reference to the metaphorical legend associated with the Macedonian king Alexander the Great. It can be presumed that the company is owned by Adrian Veidt, who has a personal fascination with Alexander the Great and tells the legend of the Gordian Knot in issue #11. Ironically, Dan's door lock made by Gordian Knot is broken by Rorschach.
-Dan Dreiberg finds only one sugar cube left in his box (3:8:5) as Rorschach has taken the rest in issue #1.
-Dan's line "Here's looking at you, kid." is taken from the movie Casablanca and foreshadows Dan and Laurie's intimacy and relationship later in the story.
-Dan and Laurie walk past a movie poster of This Island Earth, in which aliens come to Earth in order to bring scientists back to their planet Metaluna and attempt to save it from destruction by their enemies (3:11:2). This movie could serve as a metaphor for what Ozymandias is doing behind the scenes in order to achieve a very similar goal in the conclusion of Watchmen.
-The phrase "Who Watches the Watchmen?" appears as graffiti on an alley wall where the Knot Tops are stalking Dan and Laurie.
-The sign for the New Frontiersman reads "In your hearts, you know it's right." to which someone has added "wing" to disparage the newspaper's right-wing tone. This is a reference to 1964's conservative U.S. Presidential candidate Barry Goldwater, who used this phrase, minus the addition, as a slogan. Goldwater's slogan was modified by Lyndon B. Johnson supporters to "In Your Heart, You Know He Might."
-The man putting up the radiation trefoil symbol on Dr. Manhattan's door is singing a rendition of "Walking on the Moon" by The Police. This foreshadows Dr. Manhattan's trip to Mars.
-On the fallen Gila Flats sign reads "Per Dolorem Ad Astra." The Latin phrase means "Through Sadness/Pain/Anguish To The Stars." This reflects Dr. Manhattan's reasons for leaving Earth.
-The writing on the bulletin board at Gila Flats reads "At play amidst the strangeness and charm." "Strangeness" and "charm" are properties of quarks.
-On the newsstand is the latest New Frontiersman, which features the headline "Our Country's Protector Smeared by the Kremlin."
-The news vendor's comments: "Superheroes are finished" confirms the fact that superhero comics have never been popular in the world of Watchmen with real superheroes, and instead replaced by pirate comics. He mentions Superman and "Flash-Man" (our world's Flash; either the news vendor has a faulty memory, or the worlds had diverged enough by 1940 to produce a minor change like this). His comment also directly addresses what is happening within the world of Watchmen as masked heroes are being picked off one by one.
Quotes:
"Dan, living with him, you don't know what it's like... The way he looks at things like he doesn't remember what they are and doesn't particularly care... This world, the real world, to him, it's like walking through the mist, and all the people are like shadows... just shadows in the fog." — Laurie Juspeczyk
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| Slot: |
Watchmen 4 |
| Item: |
Watchmen 4 Signature |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
4232408002
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Owner Comments
"Watchmaker"
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:
On Mars, Dr. Manhattan drops the photograph of himself and Janey Slater on Martian soil and revisits various turning points in his life.
On August 7th of 1945, sixteen-year-old Jon Osterman is in the middle of assembling a watch when his father, a watchmaker, shows him the news of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. Confronted with the undeniable facts of the theory of relativity, the elder Osterman declares his profession outdated and throws his son's watch-making parts out the windows, urging Jon to instead pursue a career studying nuclear physics. Jon does so in which he attended Princeton University in 1948, and graduated with a Ph.D in atomic physics in 1958.
By 1959, Jon is employed at Gila Flats in Arizona, where experiments are being performed concerning the 'intrinsic fields' of physical objects. He meets Professor Milton Glass, his colleague Wally Weaver, and his love interest Janey Slater. During a trip to New Jersey, Jon and Janey visit an amusement park. There, Janey's watchbrand breaks, and is accidentally stepped on by a fat man. Jon decides to fix the watch and finally consummate his relationship with Janey.
One month later, in August, shortly after his thirtieth birthday, Jon plans to give Janey the repaired watch, only to discover he has left it in his lab coat which is inside the intrinsic field experiment test chamber. When retrieving his coat inside the chamber, he is accidentally locked in. Once Professor Glass and the others found Jon, they are shocked and horrified. Glass tells John that the chamber's door has locked automatically and the generators have already begun warming up to begin an experiment: removing the intrinsic field from cell block fifteen. Jon is locked in and the door cannot be opened or override the countdown. Jon could only accept death and examines the watch he has put back together while his colleagues - except Janey, who cannot bear to see the last moment and flees the room - watch in horror as the countdown reaches zero. Jon is disintegrated in a flash of light.
A month later, a series of strange events occur at Gila Flats involving the apparitions of a disembodied human circulatory nervous system, a circulatory, and a muscled skeleton that lasts for seconds. The residents believed the facility to be haunted until on November 22nd, Jon returns as a tall, hairless, naked, blue-skinned man with incredible abilities. Jon returns to his life with Janey but remains somewhat emotionless and distant among his peers.
A year later, on February 1960, the American government recruited Jon as their military asset and touted him before the public as "Dr. Manhattan," the first super-hero. He is also provided with a costume which he grudgingly accepts, though he refuses to accept the icon design which is provided for him (this being a stylized orbital model of the atom). Instead, Jon chooses as his emblem a representation of a hydrogen atom, whose simplicity he declares to be something that kindles his respect; accordingly, he painlessly burns the mark into his forehead. Despite being considered America's greatest weapon, Jon wasn't able to prevent certain disasters such as the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, even though he is aware it is going to happen as he meets the President.
By 1966, during the first and only meeting of the Crimebusters, Jon fell in love with the then sixteen-year-old Silk Spectre, Laurie Juspeczyk, and bitterly ended his marriage with Janey. By 1970, Jon's true name is revealed to the public as his father had passed away in 1969 and there is no reason to conceal it.
In 1971, Jon was requested by President Richard Nixon in intervening in the Vietnam War alongside the Comedian. Within two months, the United States had won the war and forever tipped the balance of the Cold War in the West's favor. In 1975, Nixon proposed a new constitutional amendment that would allow the President to have an extended term in office. Amidst all this, Adrian Veidt publicly reveal his identity as Ozymandias and announced his retirement from costumed heroics. Veidt invited Jon and Laurie to visit his Antarctic retreat Karnak. During a conversation between Veidt and Jon, the world has radically changed in the last fifteen years from quantum physics to transportation all thanks to Jon.
Notes:
-Signed by: Dave Gibbons on 06/30/2023
-Albert Einstein's quote at the end of the issue refers to quantum mechanics: "The release of atom power has changed everything except our way of thinking... The solution to this problem lies in the heart of mankind. If only I had known, I should have become a watchmaker." 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 to the famous "argument from design," stating that the universe is a complex creation that must have a creator. The metaphor was first proposed by William Paley in his work Natural Theology; his example was that of finding a watch somewhere, and that its complexity implied a watchmaker. This term has come to symbolize an intelligent creator, and thus is particularly appropriate to Dr. Manhattan, as he is "The Judge of All the Earth."
Trivia:
-Manhattan's comments on Haley's Comet, which was actually sailing through the sky in 1986, may refer to how comets were seen as bad omens. This would be yet another symbol of the approaching "end of days" within Watchmen.
-Professor Glass is seen having a slide rule in his pocket (4:4:1).
-The fat man that steps on Janey's watch and breaks it is symbolic of the atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki, which was nicknamed "Fat Man." This is the pivotal experience that results in the creation of Dr. Manhattan.
-The image of the cracked watch face and the time at which it stopped (4:6:9) is mirrored later in this issue by a watch face used as a cover image of Time magazine for a remembrance of the 50th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima. These watches represent the death of innocence (represented by Jon Osterman and by our world prior to the dropping of atomic bombs on Japan) and the birth of a nuclear age (represented by Dr. Manhattan and the use of atomic bombs on Japan by the United States in the real world). This broken watch is the final catalyst that forces Jon onto his path of godhood.
-The name of Moloch's crime den is "Dante's". This is a reference to the Italian author best known for the Divine Comedy, which included a trip to Hell.
-The painting that Dr. Manhattan is studying is "The Persistence of Memory" by Salvador Dali (4:16:3).
-During Manhattan's meeting with President Nixon, Manhattan recalls John F. Kennedy "avoiding any mention of Cuba." in 1961. This refers to the failed U.S.-sponsored invasion of the Bay of Pigs Invasion which failed to overthrow Fidel Castro and his government in 1961 and became an international embarrassment for U.S. foreign policy in which Kennedy was willing to accept responsibility for the invasion's failure.
-During Manhattan and Laurie's visit to Adrian Veidt's Antarctic retreat, Veidt mentions one of Manhattan's technological achievements for making fast and safe airships; hence why airships are commonly seen in the world of Watchmen while in the real-world passenger-carrying rigid airships had been declining because of being potentially hazardous, such as the Hindenburg disaster in 1937.
-The Iranian hostage situation occurred when student militants seized the U.S. Embassy in Tehran in 1979. Apparently, the situation was solved much more quickly in the world of Watchmen.
-In real life, Time magazine did in fact commemorate the bombing of Hiroshima with a special issue, dated 29 July 1985. However, the issue's cover featured a mushroom cloud, not a broken watch.
-The Nodus Gordii Mountains are an actual mountain range on Mars. Nodus Gordii translates from the Latin to "Gordian Knot".
Quotes:
"A world grows up around me. Am I shaping it, or do its predetermined contours guide my hand? In 1945, the bombs are falling on Japan, the cogs are falling in Brooklyn, seeds of the future, sown carelessly... Without me, things would have been different. If the fat man hadn't crushed the watch if I hadn't been in the test chamber... Am I to blame, then? Or the fat man? Or my father, for choosing my career? Which of us is responsible? Who makes the world? Perhaps the world is not made. Perhaps nothing is made. Perhaps it simply is, has been, will always be there... a clock without a craftsman." — Doctor Manhattan
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| Slot: |
Watchmen 5 |
| Item: |
Watchmen 5 Signature |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
4232408003
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Owner Comments
January, 1987
"Fearful Symmetry"
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:
Moloch wakes up to hear someone intrude his home and picks up a gun for safety. Remembering his last encounter with Rorschach, he checks the refrigerator and inside finds a note that reads "Behind You". Moloch turns around to be confronted by Rorschach, who then interrogates him about The Comedian's visit to Moloch's a week before his murder, and makes a reference to Moloch being one of the many victims given cancer allegedly by Dr. Manhattan. After threatening Moloch by locking him in the fridge, Rorschach realizes that Moloch has no part for discrediting Manhattan. He then instructs Moloch to leave a note in a trashcan with any information discrediting Dr. Manhattan.
Meanwhile, Steven Fine and Joe Bourquin are at the scene of a murder-suicide in which a man, fearing nuclear holocaust, had murdered his two daughters before taking his own life in front of his wife. After having finished questioning the wife, the detectives leave while Bourquin advise Fine to not let this incident ruin his day.
The newspaper vendor talks about World War III with a delivery man, who puts forward the idea that in World War III, as opposed to World War II, there will be no place to run to. The vendor muses on the delivery man's words before dismissing the likelihood of a nuclear holocaust and starts complaining how the war is disrupting his newspaper deliveries.
During this time, Dan and Laurie are having lunch at a diner. Laurie tells Dan that she has no home to go to and her expense account is suspended by the government, as they saw no further use for her after Dr. Manhattan had left Earth. Sympathetically, Dan offers Laurie to stay at his place. As Laurie and Dan leave the diner, they are observed by an unmasked Rorschach, who waits for news from Moloch, via a secret message.
Adrian Veidt is about to meet with representatives from a toy company who are proposing new characters in their Ozymandias line. While walking with his secretary, a gunman attempts to shoot Veidt but fatally shoots the secretary. Veidt fights and quickly subdues the gunman, who eventually bites into a suicide capsule to prevent Veidt discovering who sent him.
At police headquarters, Fine and Bourquin are looking over evidence taken from the murder-suicide case, reflecting on the recent attempt on Veidt's life, and trying to do paperwork on Edward Blake's murder. They then receive a phone call from an anonymous tip who gives them information on the whereabouts of "Raw Shark".
Rorschach arrives at Moloch's place in which Moloch wanted to see him. He only finds Moloch murdered, with a bullet in his head. Suddenly, the police with Detectives Fine and Bourquin have surrounded the building and demand Rorschach to come out and surrender. Rorschach realizes he has fallen into a trap and attempts to escape. After subduing several SWAT members, Rorschach jumps out of the window and lands on the street where he is immediately overwhelmed by the police. He is then unmasked, revealing him to be the doomsayer who has been appearing sporadically in the city.
Notes:
-Signed by: Dave Gibbons on 06/30/2023
-The title of this issue is based on the phrase from William Blake's poem "The Tyger". Also, one of the policemen cautiously entering Jacobi's home states "here be tygers," which could also mean the practice of filling in unknown areas on old maps with "Here be dragons."
-On page 7, panel 1, the poster featuring Buddha with a yellow sun behind his head is spattered with a spot of blood. The blood marks the sun in the same position as the blood on The Comedian's smiley face badge, and also covers the Buddha's left eye. On page 15, in the scene where Ozymandias is beating his would-be assassin, some blood flies in front of the yellow flower on Ozymandias' lapel, making it resemble the smile button.
-Rorschach's remark that his landlady "reminds [him] of his mother" foreshadows revelations that are to come in the next issue.
-Veidt's comment that the ancient Egyptians saw death "as launching on a voyage of spiritual discovery" is part of his philosophy (5:13:6). One can assume, and foreshadows the end of Watchmen, which is brought about by Veidt and his Egyptian philosophy of death.
-Rorschach's speech bubble changes into a normal speech bubble once he is unmasked.
Trivia:
-The Grateful Dead poster in the background (5:7:6) and later taken as police evidence is for the album "AOXOMOXOA," which is a palindrome that is also a mirror image, reinforcing the primary theme of this issue.
-The "Who Watches the Watchmen?" graffiti appears next to the "Hiroshima lovers" graffiti (5:11:5).
-Rorschach pass by a movie poster of Things to Come (5:18:2).
Quotes:
"Call the toy people and cancel the extension of the Ozymandias line. If they ask why, just tell them I don't have any enemies." — Adrian Veidt
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| Slot: |
Watchmen 6 |
| Item: |
Watchmen 6 Signature |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
4232408004
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Owner Comments
February, 1987
"The Abyss Gazes Also"
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:
On October 25th, clinical psychologist, Dr. Malcolm Long, examines Rorschach, whose public identity is Walter Kovacs, at Sing-Sing. Dr. Long hopes that he has the chance of helping Walter and as well finding out why he is so alienated and emotionally withdrawn.
Revealed through flashbacks and Dr. Long's notes, Walter was born in 1940 to Sylvia Kovacs. His father is unknown. His mother was a prostitute who resented his interference in her business and abused him viciously. At age 10, Walter attacked two bullies that had cruelly abused him, partially blinding one with the bully's own lit cigarette. This incident lead the authorities to investigate Walter's home life and removed him from his mother's custody. Walter became a ward of the state and his life improved with excellence in schoolwork, although he is usually a quiet child.
On October 26th, Dr. Long continues his session with Walter and asks him to talk about his alter ego Rorschach. Walter suddenly tells Dr. Long that he doesn't like him for not understanding "pain" but agrees to tell about Rorschach. In 1956, Walter left the Children's home and became an unskilled laborer in the garment industry. Working in this capacity, in 1962 he grew fascinated by a new fabric made possible through technologies developed by Doctor Manhattan. Two viscous liquids, one black and one white, between two layers of latex, continually shifted in response to heat and pressure, forming symmetrical patterns like a Rorschach inkblot test while never mixing to produce a grey color. Walter learned of the fabric when a young woman chose not to buy a dress that she had ordered made from it; subsequently, Walter took the dress home and experimented with the fabric. He learned to cut the fabric and maintain the seal using heated scissors. By March 1964, Walter learned about the murder of Kitty Genovese in which she was raped and killed in front of a building full of tenants who didn't bother to help her. The murder convinced Walter to finally be ashamed of humanity.
Dr. Long tries to conclude that the Genovese murder made Walter think that humanity is rotten and tries to reason that there are good people like himself. But Walter dismisses Dr. Long's claims and asks why he bothers to spend time with him rather than the other violent inmates. When Dr. Long tries to explain that he wants to help Walter, Walter believes otherwise and sees that Dr. Long wants to diagnose a more famous person to get to be known in the journals and know what makes him sick. Before being taken back to his cell, Walter enigmatically tells Dr. Long that he will soon find out what makes him sick. On the same day, Walter escaped an attempt on his life in the cafeteria by calmly and wordlessly grabbing a pot full of boiling cooking grease and hurling it into the assailant's face. Walter was hauled to solitary confinement and the assailant suffered from his burns. As he was being dragged away, Walter spoke to the other inmates: "None of you understand. I'm not locked in here with you. You're locked up in here with me."
The next day, Dr. Long picks up where Walter left off on becoming Rorschach. Dr. Long assumes that the Genovese murder inspired Walter to become Rorschach, but Walter replies that he wasn't Rorschach then. In his words, he was "Kovacs pretending to be Rorschach." At that time he was considered "soft" because he left criminals to live prior to 1975. In 1965, Rorschach was acquainted with Nite Owl II and became partners in bringing down street gangs and important criminal figures such as The Big Figure. But Walter considered Nite Owl and other costumed crime fighters to be soft and that none of them lasted long, except for the Comedian whom Walter considered to truly understand how the world work. By the end of the interview, Walter states people like Rorschach and the Comedian do it "because [they] have to. We do it because we are compelled."
Dr. Long now knows that Walter wasn't compelled to become Rorschach not because of his childhood or the Genovese murder that caused him to overreact to the injustice in the world, but something else. All the while his evaluation of Walter becomes an obsession for him and consequently causing damage to his marriage.
On October 28th, Dr. Long tries some more blot tests with Walter, as Dr. Long knows that his patient has been holding back on what he actually sees. Walter looks at one and answers that he sees a dog's head split in half. Walter then reveals to Dr. Long the 1975 kidnapping case of six-year-old Blaire Roche which he investigated. After brutally interrogating fifteen people for Roche's whereabouts, Rorschach found the captor's vacant hideout and learned to his horror that the girl had been murdered, butchered, and fed to two German Shepherd dogs. He killed the dogs with a meat cleaver and waited for the kidnapper. Once the man arrived, Rorschach wordlessly confronted and chained him to a pipe, ignoring his claims of innocence, then placed a hacksaw near him and set the house on fire. Finally speaking, he told the terrified man that he would not have time to cut through his restraints before the fire killed him (implying that he would have to sever his own arm to escape). Walter calmly watched the structure burn from across the street; the suspected kidnapper did not emerge. At this moment Rorschach ceased to be Walter Kovacs and became Rorschach. After finishing his story, Walter is taken back to his cell while Dr. Long is left shocked.
Dr. Long returns to his home with his previous optimistic outlook on life completely shattered. During a dinner party with guests invited by his wife Gloria, the guests start to tease Dr. Long about his interview with Walter. Unamused, Long tells them in detail about the murder of Claire Roche. The dinner soon ended with the guests quietly leaving. Gloria is furious and left Malcolm. Dr. Long sits on his bed looking over a Rorschach blot and trying to pretend it looked like a spreading tree, but it didn't. Instead, it reminds him of a dead cat he once found.
Notes:
-Signed by: Dave Gibbons on 06/30/2023
-The title of this issue is based on a quote from Friedrich Nietzsche and which also appears at the end of the story: "Battle not with monsters, lest ye become a monster, and if you gaze into the abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you." This quote is directly commented on by Doctor Long during his comments on Rorschach "[he] could stare at [Kovacs] for hours... except that he stares back." This also foreshadows Doctor Long's psychological journey through this issue.
Trivia:
-Grice's dogs Fred and Barney are likely named after Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble from The Flintstones.
-Grice's reaction to seeing the broken lock, alerting him to the presence of an intruder (Rorschach), calls back to Dan Dreiberg's reaction to Rorschach's break-in in his home in issue #1.
-Dr. Long walks by the Hiroshima lovers' graffiti (6:27:3). On the next panel, in contrast to the Hiroshima lovers, Malcolm and Gloria face away from each other.
Quotes:
"This rudderless world is not shaped by vague metaphysical forces. It is not God who kills the children. Not fate that butchers them or destiny that feeds them to the dogs. It's us. Only us. Streets stank of fire. The void breathed hard on my heart, turning its illusions to ice, shattering them. Was reborn then, free to scrawl his own design on this morally blank world. Was Rorschach." — Walter Kovacs
|
| Slot: |
Watchmen 7 |
| Item: |
Watchmen 7 Signature |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
4232408005
|
Owner Comments
March, 1987
"A Brother to Dragons"
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 explores Dan's basement and looks at the Nite Owl equipment. When she enters the Owlship, Laurie accidentally turns on the vessel's flamethrower as she mistakes a button for a cigarette lighter. Dan quickly comes down and puts out the fire. After Laurie apologizes for the incident, Dan gives her a proper tour, showing her collection of crime-fighting gadgets and mementos. Laurie is impressed but Dan often downplays his belongings.
Laurie and Dan then go back up and watches the television, which shows a news report of Rorschach's arrest (in which Dan is worried about Rorschach's stay in prison) and the dire situation in the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. As they are watching, a passion sparks between them in which Laurie initiates making love. They fall asleep until Dan later wakes up from a nightmare in which he sees himself and Laurie burned in a nuclear fire.
Dan sulks in the basement where he is eventually found by Laurie. He tells her how frustrated he is that he couldn't do anything when war could inevitably happen between the U.S. and Russia. Furthermore, he is also emotionally churned over Rorschach's mask killer theory which has become more believable with Manhattan's exile, Adrian Veidt's assassination attempt, and Rorschach's capture. But Dan is hesitant about whether he should don the Nite Owl costume to "set [himself] straight." Laurie approves his plan and they suit up in their old costumes and take the Owlship out.
While cruising over the city, they notice that a nearby tenement building is on fire. Dan and Laurie spring into action as they help the trapped residents board the Owlship and safely set them on a nearby rooftop. This act of heroism revitalizes Dan's passion and confidence in which he and Laurie consummate their relationship inside the airship. Afterward, Dan then tells to an incredulous Laurie that they should break Rorschach out of prison.
Notes:
-Signed by: Dave Gibbons on 06/30/2023
-The title of this issue, "A Brother to Dragons," is a passage from the King James Bible version of Job 30:29. The passage appears at the end of the story: "I am a brother to dragons and a companion to owls. My skin is black upon me, and my bones are burned with heat." This quote relates directly to a number of aspects within this issue: the Owlship that shoots forth flames from its flamethrower much like a dragon; Dan's nightmare is rife with the foreboding one might have imagined ancient soldiers feeling when going off into a wilderness said to hold dragons.
-Benny Anger reappears and along with Red D'eath of the Pale Horse.
-On page 18, panel 3, Daniel makes a spattered smiley-face image on a window; a streak, two raindrops, and a cloud. And on page 28, panel 9, Archie, with the smoke and the moon behind him, makes another smiley face.
Trivia:
-The "magician's cave" comment by Laurie is symbolic of the wizard Merlin, from the legend of Camelot and King Arthur, who was an inspiration for Dan and, from which legend, Dan got the name for his Owlship, Archimedes – the name of Merlin's pet owl and familiar in some of the tellings of the Arthurian legend.
-Laurie comments Daniel's night-vision goggles as "kinda Devo." Devo is the name of a real-life rock band that began in 1972 and has since maintained a cult following.
-The TV news showing the Greenham Common Women's Peace Camp is an actual women's protest encampment established to protest against nuclear weapons being placed at RAF Greenham Common in Berkshire, England. The encampment lasted from 1981 through 2000.
-Daniel mentions Hiroshima Week, which was the real-life 40th anniversary of the first atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Japan in World War II and was only two months before the start of "Watchmen".
-Daniel's joke about Dr. Manhattan's teleportation as the "the old Manhattan Transfer." This is a reference to the real-world music group "The Manhattan Transfer."
-Laurie's comment regarding costumed heroics as "to come out of the closet". This phrase commonly means for revealing one's homosexuality. Other writers have commented that some superhero comics may be seen as a metaphor for the homosexual lifestyle.
Quotes:
"I mean... there I was, hanging out with a real hero, being his friend and everything. Being a crime-fighter, y'know? Like part of a brotherhood or something...That's why I sort of regretted the Crimebusters falling through back in sixty-whenever-it-was. It would have been like joining the Knights of the Round Table; being part of a fellowship of legendary beings... but eventually, I realized the Comedian was right: it's all crap dressed up with a lot of flash and thunder. I mean, who needs all the hardware to catch hookers and purse snatchers? I mean really?" — Dan Dreiberg
|
| Slot: |
Watchmen 8 |
| Item: |
Watchmen 8 Signature |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
4232408006
|
Owner Comments
April, 1987
"Old Ghosts"
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:
Hollis Mason calls his old partner Sally Jupiter in regard to the news reports of the tenement rescue made by his successor and Laurie Juspeczyk. The two former Minutemen express surprise and joy of their proteges taking up their costume heroics again.
In Dan's basement, Laurie tries to talk Dan out of springing Rorschach from jail. But Dan remains firm on saving his friend. He also theorizes the possibility that there is a bigger conspiracy going on in which someone orchestrated Dr. Manhattan's exile in order to cause World War Three to happen. The obvious case to support Dan's idea is that the cancer scare allegedly caused by Manhattan is bogus because Laurie lived with Jon for a long time and didn't contract cancer, unlike the other people who were closely acquainted with Manhattan. Even more suspicious is that these cancer victims all previously worked for a research company called Dimensional Developments. Dan realizes more than ever that breaking Rorschach out is imperative as he might have more information to help uncover what is going on. Dan also considers recruiting Adrian Veidt for help, but only after freeing Rorschach because Adrian would be more likely to stop their attempt.
At Sing-Sing, a dwarfish gangster named Big Figure is granted a five-minute meeting with Kovacs. It is then revealed that Big Figure was once a reputable criminal until he was apprehended by Rorschach and Nite Owl twenty years ago. Now Big Figure wants revenge and he tells Kovacs that the prisoner he scalded will likely die and therefore cause a prison riot in which Big Figure will take advantage of the chaos to kill Rorschach.
Later that evening, Detective Steven Fine stops by Dan's home to ask him about his ties to Edward Blake. But Fine drops hints that he knows Dan is the Nite Owl and has been in contact with Rorschach and Laurie. After Fine leaves, Dan quickly understands that he and Laurie must act quickly in Rorschach's prison break.
Somewhere on an island, missing comic book writer Max Shea and painter Hira Manish discuss an odd squid-like creature Manish is sketching that appears under a tarp, being prepped to be transported, on the beach in the distance. According to Max Shea's words, they have been kept on the island by "paranoid movie companies."
Dan and Laurie, in their costumes, take off on the Owlship for Sing-Sing, where a riot has broken out. In the midst of this, Big Figure tells off the other inmates from going after Kovacs. Leaving only him and his cronies Larry and Mike to confront Kovacs. Unfortunately for them, Kovacs proves to be craftier; he binds the hands of Larry to the cell's door when the man lunges for him. Larry's huge physique effectively blocks the door's lock housing and his compatriots are unable to cut him free. Big Figure coldly orders Mike to kill Larry. Mike uses a welding torch to open the door and then uses it to threaten Kovacs. But Kovacs breaks the toilet and lets the water flow out, making contact with the frayed power cable of the welder, fatally electrocuting Mike. Big Figure stares in absolute horror at the loss of his men before fleeing with Kovacs following after him.
Laurie and Dan manage to enter the prison after using the Owlship's screechers that incapacitate the prisoners. The pair soon find Kovacs near a bathroom, where Big Figure had just hidden inside. Kovacs tells Dan and Laurie that he needs to use the men's room before they leave. He kills Big Figure while Dan and Laurie remain ignorant of what he just did.
The three return to Dan's apartment where they are planning to pack up and leave. Suddenly, Dr. Manhattan appears before Laurie and asks her to come with him to Mars for an important conversation; in which Laurie is predestined to convince Manhattan to save the world. Laurie and Manhattan teleport away, as Dan and Kovacs flee the apartment on the Owlship just as the police with Detective Fine are too late to arrest them.
The news of Rorschach's escape anger and frightens a gang of drugged-up knot-tops who decide to go take their frustrations out on Hollis Mason, thinking that he is the Nite-Owl the news report that helped break Rorschach out. The gang forces their way into Mason's apartment and beats him to death. When the gang realized what they had done they flee the scene. A group of trick-or-treaters soon finds Mason's body.
Notes:
-Signed by: Dave Gibbons on 06/30/2023
-The title of this issue is taken from Hallowe'en by Eleanor Farjeon. A passage from Hallowe'en appears at the end of the issue: "On Hallowe'en, the gold ghosts come about us, and they speak to some; to others they are dumb."
-Dan is seen once again getting a new lock from the Gordian Knot Lock Company, for his apartment, to replace the one that Rorschach broke at the end of issue #3. But the new lock is broken again by the police.
-On page 12, panel 6, Hollis makes a jack-o'-lantern in which the pumpkin juice over the eyes makes a spattered smiley-face image. On page 28, panel 7, when Mason is killed, the blood smeared across his face in his Minutemen photo is similar to the stain on The Comedian's button.
Trivia:
-Sally Jupiter's comments on "Nixonomics" refers to U.S. President Richard Nixon's economic performance. This is also a reference to Reaganomics, which was the term given to the economic policy of President Ronald Reagan, who was the U.S. President during the initial publication of Watchmen.
-On the Utopia's playbill is a poster for The Day the Earth Stood Still.
-The Nova Express cover has pictures of Dr. Manhattan, Rorschach, and Ozymandias, and the headline reads, "Superheroes in the News: Spirit of '77." The New York Gazette headlines read, "Tanks Mass In Eastern Europe: "Purely Defensive" Say Reds," and "California: Governor Reagan Urges Hard Line." In real-life, Ronald Reagan was President of the U.S. in 1985, though he was governor of California in the 1970s.
Quotes:
"This is insanity. We're young lovers, the world could end tomorrow and how are we spending Sunday evening? We're planning to bust a homicidal maniac out of Sing-Sing." — Laurel Juspeczyk
|
| Slot: |
Watchmen 9 |
| Item: |
Watchmen 9 Signature |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
4232408007
|
Owner Comments
May, 1987
"The Darkness of Mere Being"
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:
Dr. Manhattan and Laurie have just teleported to Mars. The latter almost forgot that there is no oxygen on the planet for Laurie to breathe and uses his powers to keep her breathing. After Laurie lashes at Manhattan for his slip-up, Manhattan escorts her to his crystal construct.
Dr. Manhattan's perception of time and predestination begin to frustrate Laurie as he seems to already know what the entire conversation will be about. He tries to explain to her the nuance of time by asking her about her earliest memory.
Laurie recounts her time when she was five years old and overheard her mother and stepfather Lawrence Schexnayder arguing over one of Sally's affairs. The young Laurie wanders into the living room where she picks up and plays with a snow globe until she was caught by Lawrence, causing her to drop and break the snow globe. Lawrence yells at Laurie and sends her back to bed. Since then, Laurie saw Schexnayder as a domineering bully who picks on her because she is not his child. Laurie was certain that her real father was Hooded Justice.
Laurie pleads to Manhattan to end their conversation and return to Earth and help save humanity from nuclear destruction. But Manhattan is indifferent to humanity's plight and states that the end of the world will mean the end of human suffering. He then takes his construct to fly above the Martian surface.
Manhattan and Laurie's conversation brings up another memory in Laurie's life. In 1962, thirteen-year-old Laurie was involved in a reunion party of the Minutemen at Sally's home. She witnesses Byron Lewis, the former Mothman, having a mental breakdown. The sight of the broken man caused Laurie to question her mother if that is what she has to look forward to when she becomes a costumed hero.
Laurie continues to try to change Manhattan's mind by talking about the importance of life. This leads to the third memory of the Crimebusters' meeting at Nelson Gardner's mansion where The Comedian points out the futility of such an organization. Laurie has a flirtatious encounter with Blake, who comments to her that she looks much like her mother and asks if Sally talks about him. The encounter quickly ended when a furious Sally pulled her daughter away and forbids her from ever speaking to Blake. The Comedian tried to make peace with Sally and wanted only to talk with "his old friend's daughter" to no avail. Laurie noted that the Comedian looked sad as he watched them drive away, and she felt sorry for him.
After Laurie finishes her story about Blake, she tries again to make Manhattan value people. But Manhattan still doesn't care as human life is brief and mundane. Manhattan momentarily foresees that he will return to Earth in the future, where there are streets full of corpses and that he kills someone, but the details remain vague as Manhattan describe that there is some kind of static preventing him from making a clear impression which he hypothesizes that it might be caused by the EMP of mass detonation of nuclear warheads; meaning that nuclear war is inevitable and Manhattan would be too late to stop it.
Deeply troubled by this revelation, Laurie again tries to convince Manhattan while recalling her second encounter with Edward Blake in a banquet in 1973, where Blake was being honored with Gerald R. Ford and G. Gordon Liddy in attendance. By this time Laurie had learned of Blake's sexual assault on her mother. Deeply drunk, Laurie angrily confronted Blake and brought this past up to him before throwing her drink into his face. Afterward, Manhattan was angry about what she did and teleported her home for the first time.
Laurie is finally fed up that there is no point in convincing Manhattan to change his mind about humanity. But Manhattan explains that he understands his scientific approach doesn't help him to understand human existence, however, it is Laurie's emotions that are blinding her to seeing his viewpoint. Laurie is avoiding something. Laurie then comes to the shocking realization that The Comedian is her real father. In a fit of rage, Laurie throws a perfume bottle that shatters Manhattan's crystal palace.
As the construct falls around them, Manhattan erects a shield to protect himself and Laurie from the debris. Laurie rages that Blake and Sally had pulled a "gag" on her and thus making her believe that her life is a meaningless joke. But Manhattan surprisingly tells her that he disagrees. He rationalizes that if Laurie can be the product of such an outrageous set of chaotic and improbable circumstances (Sally loving the man she has every reason to hate), then her existence is, as he describes, a "thermodynamic miracle." And if her birth was a "miracle" then so could be any other birth in the world. He points out that since the world is so full of people, that miracles would become commonplace, and its vast improbability would become easy to forget.
Manhattan is convinced that life does matter and he tells Laurie they will go back to Earth.
Notes:
-Signed by: Dave Gibbons on 06/30/2023
-The title of this issue is taken from a passage from Carl Jung's book Memories, Dreams, Reflections. A passage from the book appears at the end of the issue: "As far as we can discern, the sole purpose of human existence is to kindle a light of meaning in the darkness of mere being."
-On page 8, panel 4, when Laurie relates her earliest memory to Manhattan, a splash of water from the broken snow globe marks the eye of one of five-year-old Laurie's teddy bear slippers.
-On page 21, panel 4, as Laurie throws her Scotch into the Comedian's face, a drop of it falls onto or in front of the smiley face badge's left eye.
-On page 27, the shattering of Dr. Manhattan's fortress occurring next to a boulder that forms the right eye of the "happy face" Galle crater on the Argyre Planitia of Mars is reminiscent of the blood-spatter smiley face.
Trivia:
-"Chaotic terrain," as explained by Manhattan (9:14:1), is an astrogeological term for a planetary surface with jumbled features.
-Doctor Manhattan was referred to as "goddamn Mr. Spock there" by one of the minor characters at the cocktail party. Alan Moore had wanted Manhattan to avoid creating an emotionless character like Spock from Star Trek.
-In the 1973 banquet, Manhattan is talking with Henry Kissinger, who became the 56th Secretary of State under President Richard Nixon. Edward Blake and G. Gordon Liddy are talking about Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, who in real life wrote the story of the Watergate break-in that eventually led to Richard Nixon's resignation. Judging by their words, Woodward and Bernstein were murdered and therefore Nixon was prevented from being impeached in the world of Watchmen. Blake's offhand remark of not asking where he was when John F. Kennedy was assassinated implies that The Comedian was involved, which is further discussed by Ozymandias in issue #11.
-The 1973 banquet is where the photograph of Blake and Gerald Ford seen in issue #1 was taken (9:20:2).
Quotes:
"We gaze continually at the world and it grows dull in our perceptions. Yet seen from another's vantage point, as if new, it may still take the breath away." — Doctor Manhattan
|
| Slot: |
Watchmen 10 |
| Item: |
Watchmen 10 Signature |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
4232408008
|
Owner Comments
July, 1987
"Two Riders Were Approaching"
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:
President Nixon (who is holding the nuclear football) and Vice President Ford headed deep inside a government emergency bunker. The former learns that Russian tanks are massing along the East German border in response to "Western alarmism". His advisers ponder on what to do next, and Nixon tells them that they stay at DEFCON Two—the next step to nuclear war—and wait.
Meanwhile, Dan and Kovacs have been in the Owlship hiding in New York Harbor. Before continuing their investigation, they head to Kovacs' old apartment to pick up his spare costume and journal. They run into Kovacs' landlady, Dolores Shairp, who is instantly afraid of Kovacs as she had besmirched him on television. Kovacs accosts her but decides to leave Shairp alone upon taking silent pity on her children.
In Antarctica, Adrian Veidt arrives at his retreat. He informs his associates that the "delivery" was successful. He studies his wall of televisions and divulges from the broadcasts that everything he's seeing means that a war is inevitable.
Back in New York, Rorschach is back in his costume. He and Nite Owl argue whether they should be looking for a "mask" killer, or trying to uncover why somebody killed The Comedian because he found out the plot to get rid of Dr. Manhattan. Dan is very certain that the perpetrators are tied to Dimensional Developments, who employed Moloch and therefore may have bugged his home and learned about Edward Blake's involvement and Rorschach's investigations. After a few outbursts, Dan apologizes to Rorschach, saying that he shouldn't have said any of that. Rorschach then, to Dan's surprise exhibits a rare moment of empathy offering his hand in apology for his actions. The two agree that either way, the next course of action is to interrogate some of the criminal elements to try and uncover some leads.
The news vendor rambles about the inevitable war between America and the Soviets but didn't expect to be this long to wait. He is then approached by two members of Jehovah's Witnesses who offer him The Watchtower about God's plan to end the world. The news vendor contemptuously declines.
Rorschach leads Nite Owl to Happy Harry's and demands the patrons for a man who is well acquainted with Roy Victor Chess, the man who attempted to assassinate Adrian Veidt. The people turn their attention to a Pyramid Industries employee. When the man refuses to cooperate, Rorschach interrogates him by firmly breaking the man's glass in his own hand. The man caves in, revealing that he had been paid by his boss, a freight coordinator, to hire Chess for a hit and gave him a brown envelope. But he protest that he didn't know Chess's target was Veidt. Furthermore, he is desperate for protection because all the other freight handlers, including his boss, that were involved are dead and he is certain that he would be next.
During Rorschach's interrogation, Nite-Owl approaches a knot-top, who apologetically tells that he has nothing to do with Hollis Mason's death. However, Nite-Owl begins strangling him, angrily demanding the identities of the people who murdered Hollis. The knot-top truthfully tells him that he doesn't know. Regardless, Nite-Owl threatens the man to tell his fellow gangs that he will come to kill them all. Rorschach intervenes and stops Nite-Owl from killing the knot-top in front of the patrons. The pair leave the bar before heading for Adrian Veidt's office to give him the news and convince him to help them.
Somewhere on the ocean, comic book writer Max Shea and painter Hira Manish are getting intimate in the hold of a ship. They are happy to be finally leaving the island and be done with the super-secret "movie" they were paid to work on with some other "missing" artists. Shea then notices something under a tarpaulin behind Hira and is horrified to see it is a huge bomb that will go off in seconds. When Hira asks what's wrong, Shea holds tightly to her, saying, "Nothing's wrong. Hold me." The bomb explodes, obliterating the ship and everyone on board.
Dan and Rorschach sneak into Veidt's penthouse office and learn that Veidt is gone. They find an appointment book that reads Veidt left for Karnak. On a hunch, Nite Owl hacks into Veidt's computer system and discovers that Veidt owns both Pyramid Deliveries and Dimensional Developments: he is the mastermind behind Manhattan's exile and The Comedian's death. Surprised by this discovery, Rorschach and Nite Owl head off to Karnak to confront Veidt. Before leaving, Rorschach makes one final journal entry detailing Veidt's role in the plot and drops it into a mailbox to be delivered to the New Frontiersman newspaper office.
After Nite Owl and Rorschach land the Owlship in Antarctica, they head to Veidt's retreat via hoverbikes. Unknown to them, they are being monitored by Veidt's surveillance cameras.
Notes:
-Signed by: Dave Gibbons on 06/30/2023
-The title of this issue is from Bob Dylan's "All Along the Watchtower." The lyrics appear at the end of the issue: "Outside in the distance a wild cat did growl, two riders were approaching, the wind began to howl."
-The "two riders" motif occurs several times throughout this issue:
-On the issue's cover art: A1 and A2 represent Air Force 1 and Air Force 2, designations for the airplanes that carry President Richard Nixon and Vice President Gerald Ford, respectively. The cover also resembles to The Comedian's smiley face badge: the radar has two lines for Air Force 1 and 2 coming down to make the eyes and a curved reflection of light along the bottom to make the mouth, with the scanning beam making the trajectory of the blood stain.
-Rorschach's spare trench coat is the same blood-stained coat that he wore during the kidnapping case that pushed him over the edge as depicted in issue #6.
-Rorschach's word balloons noticeably change once he wears his mask, indicating the change back to his "true" voice.
-The Pyramid Industries employee is the same man who appeared in issue #5 talking to the newspaper stand vendor and charging his Pyramid Deliveries van at a electric charger. Also, it is the same issue where Roy Chess failed to assassinate Veidt.
Trivia:
-Vice-President Gerald Ford is briefly seen losing his balance after leaving Air Force Two. In real-life, Ford stumbled down some airplane steps while President, thus acquiring a reputation as a klutz.
-Adrian Veidt's Antarctic retreat, Karnak, is named after the site of an ancient palace/temple complex in Egypt. The architecture was partially built by Ramesses II, the original Ozymandias.
-In Veidt's television room is a painting depicting Alexander the Great's successful cutting of the Gordian Knot.
-Nite Owl's comments about death in ancient Egyptian culture refer to the belief that every individual traveled after death through the afterlife. The afterlife was a place of danger and, ultimately, judgment, and only the virtuous would be reunited with the sun god Ra and attain paradise; all others would truly perish.
-Rorschach's comment about mistrusting the "fascination with relics and dead kings" can also be seen as a commentary on Veidt, who is fascinated by Rameses II (a dead king) and whom Rorschach dislikes.
-The Owlship flies over Madison Square Garden, which is planning to host the Pale Horse concert (10:22:3) and feature prominently in issue #12.
-Displayed below the service window is the United States Postal Service creed (10:24:3).
-Hector Godfrey mentions "that lazy jerk Feinberg,” who is the cartoon artist Walt Feinberg from "Treasure Island: Treasury of Comics", and is now working on drawing editorial cartoons for the New Frontiersman.
-Hector Godfrey's "Son of Sam" comment is a reference to the serial killer David Berkowitz, who murdered six people in New York City between 1976 and 1977.
-The issue includes a series of clippings and pamphlets shows of Adrian Veidt's various merchandising schemes. This includes Ozymandias toy line, planning to change the company's cosmetic brand "Nostalgia" to "Millenium", and an informational brochure that outlines the Veidt Method.
Quotes:
"For my own part, regret nothing. Have lived free, free from compromise...and step into the shadow now without complaint." — Rorschach
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| Slot: |
Watchmen 12 |
| Item: |
Watchmen 12 Signature |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
4232408009
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Owner Comments
October, 1987
"A Strong and Loving World"
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:
Midnight, November 2, 1985.
Most of New York City has been devastated by the psychic trauma caused by the instant death of Ozymandias' "alien."
Dr. Manhattan and a heavily distraught Laurie arrive in the city too late as they tour the devastation. After they have seen enough, the two teleport away to the South Pole, to follow a trail of tachyon particles that Dr. Manhattan senses will lead to the source of the disturbance. Before they leave, Laurie picks up a gun from the deceased Detective Steven Fine.
At Karnak, Ozymandias continues to detail his plan to Rorschach and a disbelieving Nite-Owl. He explains he cloned the brain of the dead psychic Robert Deschaines and had it augmented and programmed with horrible visions and concepts of aliens so that the mental transmissions given off at its death would affect anyone around it who managed to survive the initial psychic blast. Thus forcing humanity to cast aside their petty enmities and focus on a common alien enemy. But to ensure this plan works, Veidt necessarily eliminated anyone involved in his plan. Although Veidt admits he has no idea what he will do with Rorschach and Nite-Owl.
Manhattan and Laurie soon arrive in Karnak, where Manhattan confronts Veidt. Veidt hinders Manhattan with a tachyon generator that interferes with Doctor Manhattan's ability to see the future and then disintegrates him in an intrinsic field subtractor at the regrettable cost of Veidt's pet Bubastis. This act is witnessed by Laurie, who then shoots Veidt with Fine's gun. However, Veidt uses his newfound, and untried, ability to catch the bullet. After subduing Laurie, Veidt begins to lecture the costumed heroes that their "obvious heroism" is redundant and that their failure to prevent "Earth's salvation" will usher in a new era for humanity. But his speech is cut short when to Veidt's surprise, Manhattan restores himself. Before Manhattan can pass judgment on Veidt, the world's smartest man makes one last trick by showing everyone news broadcasts of the aftermath of the disaster in New York, which has cost the lives of over two million people, has prompted an end to hostilities between the U.S. and Soviet Union and calls for peaceful cooperation against Veidt's faked alien threat.
Veidt revels in his victory for bringing Earth into a "utopia" and convinces almost everyone present that exposing the truth would bring a permanent end to world peace. Manhattan, Laurie, and Dan reluctantly agree to conceal Veidt's truth. But Rorschach refuses to compromise with keeping the secret and proceeds to leave despite Dan's pleas. Veidt is seemingly unconcerned about Rorschach being a "reliable witness" before retiring to meditate in his ornery and offering Dan and Laurie a stay in his home. Laurie and Dan find a private room to reflect on their decision and they settle down to make love.
Outside, Rorschach tries to start up his hoverbike but is stopped by Manhattan. Rorschach takes off his mask, knowing that Veidt's new utopia is to be protected with the cost of his own life, and prompts Manhattan to reluctantly disintegrate him. Manhattan walks back inside the retreat, where he finds Dan and Laurie asleep together and smiles at Laurie's newfound love and happiness, and walks out of the room to meet Veidt. The two discuss Veidt's well-intention reasons for ensuring world peace at the cost of millions of human lives. Veidt is surprised that Manhattan regained interest in human life, to which Manhattan suggests that he may "create some [human life]" in another galaxy that he will be traveling to. But before Manhattan could go, Veidt ask him if his plan worked out in the end. Manhattan smiles and enigmatically replies that "nothing ever ends." Veidt is left totally confused by Manhattan's words and appears to be in doubt as to whether or not his plan was successful.
Sometime during Christmas, Laurie and Dan, who have assumed new identities, visits Sally Jupiter. Laurie tells Sally that she knows Edward Blake is her real father. She explains to her mother that she understands the complex relationship between Sally and Blake and that she has come to terms with that. Laurie and Dan soon leave while indicating that they would continue to adventure, although Laurie expressed the wish for a better superhero identity, a more protective leather outfit, a mask, and a firearm much like The Comedian.
In New York, which has been recovering from the disaster, the editor at New Frontiersman, Hector Godfrey, complains about having to pull a two-page column about Russia due to the new political climate. He asks his assistant Seymour to find some filler material from the "crank file", a collection of rejected submissions to the paper, to write. Sitting on top of the pile of discarded submissions is Rorschach's journal.
Notes:
-Signed by: Dave Gibbons on 06/30/2023.
-The title of this issue is from "Santies" by John Cale. A passage from "Santies" appear at the end of the issue: "It would be a stranger world, a stranger loving world, to die in."
-On one of the news broadcasts mentions "A pregnant woman, convinced her unborn child was eating her..." This is a call back to issue #8 where Hira Manish talked to Max Shea about "Illustrating that sequence where the young chew their way out of their mother's womb was quite an experience."
-The silhouette of Daniel and Laurie embracing each other is strongly reminiscent of the Hiroshima lovers' graffiti.
-At Sally's retirement home, there is a TV showing the Outer Limits episode, "The Architects of Fear." The episode was the basis for the ending of Watchmen, in which editor Len Wein stated that Alan Moore stole the ending from the episode. Len Wein disliked reusing the episode's ending and quit the Watchmen series when Moore refused to change it.[1] Wein later wrote Before Watchmen: Ozymandias (Volume 1) and specifically referred to "The Architects of Fear" as an in-universe source of Ozymandias' idea, as a jab at Moore.
-On page 1, near the top of the Pale Horse concert poster is a blood smear identical to that on The Comedian's smiley face badge.
-On page 6, the outlet of a spark hydrant on the ground has a splatter of blood which, combined with the two outlet holes for eyes and lower curve for the smiling mouth, bears a striking resemblance to the smiley face.
-On page 24, following Rorschach's disintegration by Dr. Manhattan, the vaporous blood rising from his remains intersects with an icicle hanging from a circular entrance to Karnak, a hoverbike in the foreground, and a slightly curved line inside the entrance, resembling the smiley face.
-On the very last page, Seymour spills ketchup from a hamburger on his smiley face T-shirt, which stains the smiley face in just the same way that the original badge was stained by the Comedian's blood.
Trivia:
-In the movie adaptation, the ending was changed from using a genetically-engineered squid monster to kill half of New York City, to exploding energy reactors with Doctor Manhattan's energy in it in various cities across the globe; in which Doctor Manhattan is then framed for the disaster.
-The letters on the Institute for Extraspatial Studies building that are not covered in the "alien's" blood (and including the "L" formed by the newspaper corner floating over the scene) spell out: "OR ALL DIE."
-Veidt's cry of triumph happens under the painting of Alexander the Great cutting the Gordian Knot (12:19:7). This panel shows Veidt and his uplifted arms from the hands of a clock positioned just before the hour of midnight, with the severed knot between them.
-Veidt is making a somewhat inaccurate paraphrase of the Merneptah Stele (12:20:1).
-The Gunga Diner has been replaced by a new restaurant called Burgers 'N' Borscht, reflecting the new friendliness between the United States and the Soviets.
-On the New Utopia's playbill, it reads "Tarkovsky Season This Week: The Sacrifice and Nostalgia." The Sacrifice is a 1986 Swedish film, directed by Andrei Tarkovsky, about an upcoming holocaust and peoples' reactions to it.
-The spot where Bernard had his newsstand and the spark hydrant Bernie sat against it is replaced by an automated newspaper vending machine and a newer, sleeker spark hydrant.
-The "One World One Accord" poster is seen replacing the old nuclear fallout shelter sign, which further symbolizes the new world order.
-When Seymour walks back to the news office, there is graffiti that reads "Watch the Skies." This is a reference to the phrase "Keep watching the skies" that was used in 1950's sci-fi movies.
-There is a newspaper showing a picture of President Nixon and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev shaking hands along with the headline "NY Survivors Reveal Nightmares Under Hypnosis" (12:31:5). Right next to it is a discarded Tales from the Morgue comic book. This is a joking reference to Tales from the Crypt horror comic published by EC Comics, and its appearance may reflect a shift in comics readers' tastes from pirate tales to horror.
-The "RR" Presidential candidate running against Richard Nixon is revealed to be film actor Robert Redford rather than Ronald Reagan. Hector Godfrey's remark: "Who wants a cowboy actor in the White House?" is obviously an ironic commentary on the fact that, at the time Watchmen was published, there was a cowboy actor, Ronald Reagan, in the White House. Seymour also states on page 32 that it's Redford who's running for president.
Quotes:
"In the end? Nothing ends, Adrian. Nothing ever ends." — Doctor Manhattan
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