Watchmen: Chapter II - Page 19

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Panels 2-3:  Dan dropping the smiley face button into Blake’s grave is obviously symbolic of the death of the Comedian.

Panel 4:  In the background, Moloch is leaving flowers on Blake’s grave.

Panel 5:  Dr. Manhattan seems to be the only one of the three adventurers that noticed Moloch’s gesture. 

Panel 6:  The caption:  “As we forgive those that trespass against us . . .” over an image of Dr. Manhattan and Ozymandias shaking hands foreshadows the conflict that will come later in the book between these two.

Panel 7:  “And lead us not into temptation” could be read as Kovacs’s (as Rorschach) temptation to follow and interrogate Moloch.

Panel 8:  “. . . deliver us from evil” can be read as a commentary on Moloch walking away (trying to escape) Rorschach (in the foreground in his civilian identity)

Panel 9:  The color scheme accentuating those who had a direct relationship with Edward Blake, as noted in the commentary for Page 12, Panel 1, continues as Kovacs’s hair stands out drastically against the drab coloring of the rest of the scene.

Watchmen: Chapter II - Page 18

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Again, this page is washed in shades of red, signifying the bloody confrontation the Comedian and Nite Owl just went through, as well as the bloody confrontation to come.  Metaphorically speaking, red would seem to be the dominant color of the Comedian’s outfit.

Panel 2:  Nite Owl’s comment that Rorschach “works mostly on his own these days” is in reference to the event that changes Rorschach into the relentless champion of justice that he becomes – an event we will see in Chapter VI: “The Abyss Gazes Also,” of which a superficial description is mentioned by the Comedian in

Panel 3:  when Blake says, “[Rorschach]’s been nuts ever since that kidnapping he handled three years back.”

Also in the foreground:  more “Who Watches the Watchmen?” graffiti.

Panel 4:  Like Rorschach, the Comedian sees himself as completely sane and mentally balanced.

Panels 7-8:  Alan Moore includes some transitional dialogue here as the Comedian tells Nite Owl, “Let’s really put these jokers through some changes” in panel 7, and the caption over panel 8, from the minister at the Comedian’s funeral, is saying, “. . . who shall change our vile body . . .” at the point when the Comedian’s body has gone through the ultimate change from life to death.

Panels 8-9:  And our transition from the past to the present is delineated by Dave Gibbons utilizing – as he has with all of the flashbacks in this issue – the same layout in each panel with Nite Owl’s “past” hand morphing into his “present” hand as he stands in his civilian identity of Dan Dreiberg, and the Comedian, who was disappearing into the smoke in 1977, is in the same place in the present, albeit within a coffin that is being let down into its grave.

Watchmen: Chapter II - Page 17

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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.

Watchmen: Chapter II - Page 16

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Panel 1:  “Earth to Earth . . .” over Veidt’s head could symbolize his wish to save the “earth.”

Panel 2:  “Ashes to ashes . . .” over Dr. Manhattan’s head could symbolize his genesis, as his body was disintegrated into “ash.”

Panel 3:  “Dust to dust . . .” over Dreiberg’s head could symbolize the layers of dust on his Owl ship and accessories, and further symbolize the dust that has settled on his life since he gave up being a masked adventurer.

This homily running across panels 1-3 is also symbolic of the death of the costumed adventurer – which starts in the next panel during the police strike of 1977 and the subsequent passing of the Keene Act, which outlawed masked vigilantes.

Panel 4:  We transition into Dan Dreiberg’s flashback with the Comedian, taking place during the riots of ’77.  This scene occurs in the same intersection where a majority of the action in Watchmen happens, as we can see the Treasure Island comic store on the left and the ad for Nostalgia perfume on our right.  Below the Treasure Island sign we can see somebody spray painting the graffiti:  “Who Watches the Watchmen?” – which is never seen in its entirety throughout this series.

We also see the Comedian in his full mask for the first time.

Watchmen: Chapter II - Page 15

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Panel 1:  Blake’s unflinching murder of the woman carrying his child is yet more evidence of his unrepentant personality.  But the fact that Dr. Manhattan stands there doing nothing is an even more telling indication of how detached from humanity he has become, a fact that Blake will articulate in panels 4 & 5 of this page.

Panel 5:  Blake continues to accurately analyze Dr. Manhattan, telling him how he did not care for Janey Slater and soon will drop Laurie (“Sally Jupiter’s little gal”), foreshadowing what will happen – and, more importantly, what Manhattan already knows will happen.

Panel 6:  There is irony in the Comedian’s remark, “God help us all,” as Blake is talking to God in the form of Dr. Manhattan.

Panel 7:  Dr. Manhattan is phased through the table, visually symbolizing again how out of touch he is becoming if he doesn’t even take notice of a table running through his legs.

Panel 8:  As with other transitions in this issue, we see Dr. Manhattan – now in the present – standing in exactly the same pose as he was in the previous panel fourteen years in the past.

Watchmen: Chapter II - Page 14

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On this page, the Comedian – in his red, white and blue uniform – acts in a manner contrary to how any “patriotic” heroes such as Captain America and the Shield have been portrayed in comics.  But, he is emblematic of how America often handles itself in these smaller, “third-world” countries (believing the might of America’s military and economy trumps any third-world nation) and is emblematic of how many countries around the world view the U.S.A.

The use of reds on this and the following page by colorist John Higgins accentuates the fatalistic nature of this confrontation between Blake and the woman he impregnated while fighting in Vietnam.

Panel 6:  This is where the Comedian gets that terrible scar we see in issue #1, and is the reason he will adopt the full mask for the remainder of his career.

Panel 7:  Note the drop of blood over the right eye of the Comedian’s smiley button, just as it was when he was murdered.  Also, the Vietnamese woman’s slice along Blake’s face coincides with the bloodying of the button, as the right side of his face (same as the smiley button) is sliced open.

Watchmen: Chapter II - page 13

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Panel 2:  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 conflict, in stark contrast to the Vietnam conflict in Watchmen. 

Panel 5:  An iconic image from the Vietnam conflict is that last helicopter leaving Saigon in 1972, but here Richard Nixon is on the first helicopter “in” to Saigon.  This lays the groundwork for Nixon’s ability to get the Constitution changed so that he can run for more than two terms.