From: [d--u--a] at [yang.earlham.edu] (Doug Atkinson)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.comics.misc
Subject: REPOST: Watchmen Annotation #4
Date: 16 Mar 93 05:23:45 GMT


                           THE ANNOTATED WATCHMEN

                          Chapter 4: "Watchmaker"

     Watchmen is a trademark of DC Comics Inc., copyright 1993.  These
annotations copyright 1993 by Doug Atkinson.  They may be freely copied and
distributed, provided the text is not altered.

     Certain notes are true for each issue.  Each one is written by Alan
Moore, drawn and lettered by Dave Gibbons, and colored by John Higgins.
     Moreover, each issue has a continuing motif, a reoccuring object or
pattern that is seen on the cover, the first and last page (usually), and
throughout the issue.  This issue's motif is the picture lying in the dust
on Mars.  Another trend is the title, which is always an excerpt from an
apropos quote shown in its entirety in the last panel.  This issue's title
is from Einstein.
     The clock appearing on the covers counts the minutes to midnight,
similar to the clock in the _Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists_, which is
an estimate of the world's closeness to nuclear war.  The clock stands at 8
minutes to midnight, and advances by one minute per issue.

Cover: The old photo of Janey Slater and Jon Osterman lying on the sand of
Mars.

Page 1, panel 2: Dr. Manhattan has an unusual time sense: he seems to
experience past, present, and future events simultaneously.  He will refer
to his knowledge of the future but will not attempt to act on this
knowledge.

Panels 9: The picture in the dust again.

Page 3, panel 3: The _Times_ headline reads, "Atomic Bomb Dropped On
Hiroshima."  (The _Times_ seems to have become the _Gazette_ at some
point.) The bomb was dropped on August 6th, so it's not unreasonable that
they'd find out on the morning of the 7th.  (It's not clear if the Nagasaki
bomb was ever dropped or not; it's never mentioned, but then again, how
often is it mentioned in our world compared with Hiroshima?)

Page 4, panel 1: Wally Weaver is known later as "Dr.  Manhattan's pal."
This may be a reference on Moore's part to "Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen."

Page 5, panel 1: The Bestiary, when it was new.  Interesting that Jon has
this flash from the future.  Notice the way the objects in panel 2 roughly
mimic the layout of the people in panel 1.

Panel 9: The picture in the dust.

Page 6, panel 3: The time the photo was taken.

Page 9, panels 3-6: Jon is gradually reassembling himself.

Page 10, panel 1: Four years later, to the day, Dr.  Manhattan fails to
prevent Kennedy's assassination.

Panel 4: Completely reassembled now.  It is unclear whether or not his blue
skin is a matter of choice.

Page 12, panel 6: The symbol is a stylized version of a hydrogen atom, the
simplest atom possible (one proton and one electron.)

Panels 7-8: The name refers to the Manhattan Project, which designed the
first nuclear bomb.

Page 14, panel 1: The Red Cross charity event for Indian Famine relief,
shortly before Nite Owl's retirement.

Panel 2: The name of this "crime-den" is "Dante's," a reference to the
Italian author best known for the Divine Comedy, which included a trip to
Hell.  The name and red lighting seem to be intended to invoke a hellish
atmosphere.

Panel 3: That may be Milton Glass in the back behind the two uniformed men.

Page 15, panel 6: Just one of the technological by-products of Dr.
Manhattan.  Rorschach's mask is another, and probably Archie is too.

Page 17, panel 1: The Crimebusters' first/only meeting.  Jon wears less and
less of the costume as time goes on.  (We saw the meeting in issue #2.) The
headline on the Comedian's newspaper says something about Dr. Manhattan,
but I can't read it all.

Panel 3: A flashback to #3, page 4, panel 1.  (Note Laurie's earrings.)

Page 18, panel 2: Laurie is fifteen.

Panel 6: Notice the time on the clock.

Page 19, panel 3: It has been said, outside the series, that earlier
Presidents were wise enough to realize how dangerous involving Dr.
Manhattan in international affairs could be.  After this, relations with
the USSR and China fell apart.

Panel 4: The woman clinging to Blake is apparently the same as the one in
issue #2.

Panel 6: Notice where the drool is splashing on the smiley-face button.

Page 21, panel 1: The main headline reads, "Third Term for Dick?" referring
to the amendment repealing the 22nd amendment limiting Presidents to 2
terms.  The secondary headline reads, "Ozymandias Quits: Smartest Man in
World Goes Public."

Panel 4: More Dr. Manhattan spinoffs.  The airships have periodically been
seen around New York earlier.

Panels 5-6: This provides a significant glimpse into Adrian's mind.

Page 22, panels 2-6: The riots before the Keene act (in Washington this
time). The signs read: "Give Us Our Police Back!" "Badges Not Masks," and
"Ban Vigilantes Now." The building in panel 6 is the White House.

Page 24, panel 3: The picture in the dust again.

Page 4: A Gunga Diner is the background: note the Mmeltdowns and Nostalgia
ads, the "Four More Years" sign, the issue of the New Frontiersman, the
airships in the background, and the time on the clock.  New York is taking
on the familiar shape of the series.  The hat the man on the left is
wearing is a Veidt product.  (The vents on the sides suggest that there's
something interesting about that hat; maybe it has a built-in radio, or
maybe it's air-conditioned.)

Page 25, panel 2: A flashback to #2.  Note that Jon is not omniscient; he
may be able to see things happening anywhere, but he's still limited in his
interpretational abilities.  The man in the coat is Moloch.

Panels 3-8: Flashbacks to #3.

Page 28, panel 3: The picture one last time.

Panel 6: Einstein's quote refers, not to the atomic bomb, but to quantum
mechanics; 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 also to the famous "argument
from design," saying that the universe as a complex creation must have a
creator.  The metaphor was first proposed by William Paley in _Natural
Theology_; his example was that of finding a watch somewhere, and that its
complexity implied a matchmaker.  This term has come to symbolize an
intelligent creator, and thus is particularly appropriate to Dr. Manhattan,
as is "The Judge of All the Earth."

Pages 29-32: "Dr. Manhattan: Super-Powers and the Superpowers" by Milton
Glass, who directed the Gila Flats institute.  A summary of Dr. Manhattan's
strategic importance.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: Thanks to:

[aw 1 s] at [andrew.cmu.edu] (Andrew Weiland) for his discussion of the Einstein
     quote.

[d--u--a] at [yang.earlham.edu]             Doug Atkinson