Watchmen: Chapter XII - page 27

PAGE 27

Panel 1:  Veidt’s halted admission that he “…dream[s] about swimming towards a hideous [something]…” is a direct reference to the Black Freighter story within Watchmen.  Veidt, like the protagonist in the Black Freighter, swims toward that hideous black ship in his dream because, like that comic’s protagonist, he has performed horrific acts with the intent to bring about the salvation of his world, as the colonist in the Black Freighter comic wished to save his family and friends in Davidstown from the impending doom that approached in the form of the Black Freighter (even as an impending nuclear war between the United States and the Soviet Union threatened Veidt’s home, Earth). 

This is the most direct link between Veidt and the Black Freighter story, which acts as a metaphor for Veidt’s journey in Watchmen.

Panel 2:  Veidt’s dialogue, once again, links him with the Black Freighter, as Veidt tells Jon (Dr. Manhattan) that he realizes he has “…struggled across the backs of murdered innocents…” in the same manner that the protagonist in the Black Freighter lashed together a raft on top of the bloated bodies of his dead comrades in order to make his way across the ocean and back to Davidstown.

Panel 7:  The image of Veidt with his back to us transitions directly to

Watchmen: Chapter XII - page 25

PAGE 25

Panel 5:  This image of Dr. Manhattan is a call back to Chapter I, Page 23, panel 9 where we saw a similarly smiling Dr. Manhattan, close to discovering a gluino, while Laurie was on the phone making plans to have dinner with Dan Dreiberg.

 

Panel 6:  Being as close to a god as any character in this story, Dr. Manhattan performs the miracle most associated with Jesus Christ, that of walking on water, which accentuates his godlike stature.

Watchmen: Chapter XII - page 24

PAGE 24

Panel 3:  This image seems to be a call back to Chapter VI, Page 7, panel 1 in which readers experienced Rorschach’s very first documented incident of violence, when he was ten years old and attacked by the older boys in front of the fruit stand.  His tears here mirror the smeared fruit on his face from that earlier image.  These two scenes are the bookends of his life – from his first act of violence to his final act of intransigence, he came into this life as Kovacs and went out of it in the same manner, a fitting symmetry. 

Panel 4:  A question about this panel is: can Dr. Manhattan still be said to merely be performing the actions he’s seen in his quantum consciousness, or, after having been bombarded with tachyons by Veidt, which interfered with his ability to see into the future, could this be an instance of self-determination on the part of Dr. Manhattan?

Watchmen: Chapter XII - page 23

PAGE 23

Panel 1: and a similar inkblot image on Rorschach’s mask.

Panel 4:  If you look closely at Dr. Manhattan’s foot in this panel you’ll notice that he is standing right on top of the wing of the dead butterfly from the previous chapter, as if he were the one who stepped on it and killed it.  This image foreshadows the outcome of this confrontation between Dr. Manhattan and Rorschach – Dr. Manhattan will kill Rorschach just as easily as the butterfly was killed.

Watchmen: Chapter XII - page 22

PAGE 22

Panel 6:  The fact that Dan smells of Nostalgia is both literal – as it has been the most marketed fragrance seen in this story, and was not only the favorite perfume of Laurie’s mother but also one of the many companies owned by Veidt – and metaphorical – as the intimate relationship between these two adventurers was spurred on by their nostalgia for a past when they could openly wear their costumes and fight crime.

Panel 7:  The large shadow on the far wall of Dan and Laurie embracing is reminiscent of the Hiroshima Lovers graffiti seen throughout the story, and it transitions directly to

Watchmen: Chapter XII - page 21

PAGE 21

Panel 4:  This image – a large panel with the figures of Nite Owl and Silk Spectre small in the background – is yet another instance of how Moore & Gibbons utilized the medium to tell their story.  This scene, with its expansive openness surrounding the two heroes, emphasizes how alone and helpless Nite Owl and Silk Spectre feel right now.  They are both literally and metaphorically small and insignificant.

Panel 7:  Moore & Gibbons continue to play with the words and pictures as Nite Owl’s admission that he and Silk Spectre are “out of [their] depth” is stated over an image of these two entering an area of Veidt’s fortress where there is a pool, within which one who could not swim might be out of one’s depth.