From: [d--u--a] at [yang.earlham.edu] (Doug Atkinson)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.comics.misc
Subject: REPOST: Watchmen Annotation #6
Date: 16 Mar 93 05:28:09 GMT


                           THE ANNOTATED WATCHMEN

                     Chapter 6: "The Abyss Gazes Also"

     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 images brought on by the
Rorschach blots.
     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
Nietzsche.
     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 6
minutes to midnight.

Cover: A Rorschach blot.  The blots used here are not actually the classic
blots created by Dr. Rorschach; they follow the same principle but are
smoother.  Also, not all of the original blots were black-and-white, and
they were usually more complex.

Page 1. panel 1: Dr. Long is Rorschach's therapist in prison.

Panel 6: The Band-aid and bruise on his face come from the beating the cops
gave him last issue.

Panel 7: Obviously this is what Rorschach sees.  It is explained later this
issue.

Panel 8: Rorschach's been through this before and knows how to fake out the
examiner.  (It's not hard to feed expected answers on this sort of test,
epecially if the examiner wants to see improvement like Mal does.)

Page 3, panels 1-2: Note the similarity between this blot, the silhouette,
and the "Hiroshima Lovers" graffiti.

Panel 8: On page 11 of issue 5 he said his landlady reminded him of his
mother.  The resemblance is clear.

Page 4, panels 8-9: Back into the blot from the flashback.

Page 7, panel 1: Compare the ice cream on his face to the blot on page 1.

Page 8, panel 2: The speaker is Mal's wife, Gloria.

Panel 9: The note reads, "Mal: One for you? G." The notepad is his notes:
the words "murder" and "'Good.'" are recognizable.

Page 9, panel 7: Walter sees Rorschach as something more than an identity
he takes on.  (Remember, he refers to his mask as his "face.") See page 15.

Page 10, panel 1: Rorschach has never shown much of an
interest in women; he seems to be fairly asexual, in fact.

Panel 6: "Woman Killed While Neighbors Look On."

Panel 7: This event happened in the real world.

Page 11, panels 7-9: The card from page 1 again.  Mal is beginning to get
the point, but is denying it to himself.

Page 13, panels 1-3: The coffeemaker is another foreshadowing of the motif
from issue #9.  In panel 2, the "Gopain" is a Veidt product.

Panel 4: The coffee drip is producing a shape similar to the "butterfly"
card.

Panel 5: Notice the time on the clock.

Page 14, panels 1-2: The notepad reads "face that I could bear to look at
in the mirror" (from page 10).

Panel 4: Compare the way he talked at the Crimebusters meeting in #2; he
actually used articles and complete sentences.  He's change a lot, like he
says.

Page 15, panel 6: The headline reads, "Keene Act Passed: Vigilantes
Illegal."  The sign reads, "Badges Not Masks." Most of "Who Watches the
Watchmen" is on the wall.

Page 16, panel 1: Mal is working on a Sunday.  Clearly he's really into
this case.

Panel 5: We see this from the other point of view on page 3 of issue #8.

Panel 6: More of the lovers graffiti.

Pages 17-18: The card reappears.

Page 18: This is the kidnapping referred to in issue #2, page 18.

Page 19: Could the dressmaker's dummies remind him of Kitty Genovese?

Page 26, panels 4-6: Once again, the card.

Page 27, panel 1: The watch salesman is a minor continuing character, this
is his first appearance.

Panel 2: "Nixon Promises Maximum Force." No President in our world would be
this belligerent, this quickly; he evidently doesn't want to show any
reaction to Jon's disappearance.  Backing down would be a show of weakness.

Panel 3: The graffiti again.  Note the Mmeltdowns wrapper Bernie is
throwing away.

Page 28, panel 3: The radiation symbol returns.

Pages 29-32: Rorschach's file.

Page 29, paragraph 3: The "Sweet Chariot" sugar is from Dreiberg's
apartment (issue #1); the rose is from the end of issue #2; the notebook is
later explained to be the rough draft of his journal; the cologne was
swiped from Dan's apartment in #3; and the pepper is from the end of issue
#5.

Pages 30-31: The "Charlton Home" name may be a tribute to the inspirations
for the characters, published by Charlton Comics.

Page 32: The symbolism of the dream should be obvious.

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