Watchmen: Chapter II - Page 17

PAGE 17

Panel 1: In the background, the guy doing the graffiti is spray painting an “H.”

Panel 2:  The woman’s comment to the Comedian that he is “a pig [and a] rapist” means Hollis Mason’s book must have been published by this time.

Panel 4:  Having Nite Owl and the Comedian teaming up at this point really helps to accentuate the differences in their personalities, as well as giving voice to both sides of the issue within the same camp (the heroes).

Panel 5:  The Comedian’s remark about some “new act being herded through” is in reference to the Keene Act.

Panel 6:  The newspaper headline in the foreground offers more concrete evidence to the background of this incident – ‘Cops Say “Let Them Do It”’ is illustrative of the police strike while “Senator Keene Proposes Emergency Bill” is in reference to the Keene Act outlawing masked vigilantes.

The spatter on Archie – the Owl Ship – to the right of the newspaper is in the same form as the blood spatter on the Comedian’s smiley face button.