From: [d--u--a] at [yang.earlham.edu] (Doug Atkinson)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.comics.misc
Subject: Watchmen Annotation #8
Date: 16 Mar 93 05:30:23 GMT
THE ANNOTATED WATCHMEN
Chapter 8: "Old Ghosts"
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 statuette of Nite Owl;
more generally, there is a theme of reminisces of the past. 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 _Hallowe'en_
by Eleanor Farjeon.
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 4 minutes to midnight.
Cover: The "In Gratitude" statue of Nite Owl.
Page 1, panel 1: Hollis' apartment.
Panel 2: Sally's retirement home. Note the Nostalgia bottle.
Panel 3: Today is the 26th.
Panel 6: Recognizable here are the "Silk Spectre" Tijuana Bible, the group
photo of the Minutemen, and a magazine with a "Nostalgia" ad.
Page 2, panel 3: At the bottom of the panel is the Dr. Manhattan issue of
_Nova Express_. Surprisingly, the "MultiVite" does not appear to be a
Veidt product.
Panel 6: The statuette is visible in the background.
Page 3, panel 1: Lovers graffiti on the wall. This spread confirms the
assumed layout of the corner.
Panel 2: The Pyramid Deliveries truck again. "Spirit of '77" refers back
to the era of the Keene act.
Panel 3: The Utopia is now showing "The Day The Earth Stood Still."
Panel 7: The radiation sign is visible in the background, as is a _Nova
Express_ and _New Frontiersman._ The date is the 27th now.
Panel 9: Obviously, this is Mal Long.
Panel 6: "Reds Cross Pakistan Border" (something that never occurred in the
real world).
Page 5, panel 5: Notice the various images in the screens. Archie has a
variety of cameras, apparently.
Page 6, panel 2: The speaker is Big Figure, somebody Dan and Walter put
away in the '60's.
Pages 8-9: Obviously Fine knows who Dan really is. The date is the 31st.
Page 8, panel 1: The Gordian Knot man is back.
Panel 5: The _Nova Express_ cover has pictures of Dr. Manhattan,
Rorschach, and Ozymandias, and the headline reads, "Superheroes in the
News: Spirit of '77." The _Gazette_ headlines read, "Tanks Mass In Eastern
Europe: "Purely Defensive" Say Reds," and "California: Governor Reagan
Urges Hard Line." (In the real world Reagan was President in '85.)
Panel 6: Dan must be worried about something; he has no specific need to
fix the locks, since Rorschach hasn't broken them for a couple of weeks.
Panel 8: In reference to the "Sweet Chariot" cubes found in Rorschach's
pocket.
Page 9, panel 1: Fine has spotted Laurie's cigarette holder.
Page 10: This is Hector Godfrey, editor of the _New Frontiersman,_ in the
_Frontiersman_ offices. The issue being pasted up is the backup for this
issue. Notice the style of the clock in the background.
Panel 5: This is the same picture on the earlier cover, and seen on the
news in the last issue.
Page 11: The speakers are Max Shea (alive and well) and Hira Manish.
Panel 4: Max is referring, of course, to "Marooned."
Page 12, panel 6: The juice over the eyes calls to mind the blood-spattered
smiley-face button.
Page 13, panel 2: This is Derf, who we saw in issue #1. "Katies" refers to
KT-28.
Panel 3: Joey again. Aline is her ex-girlfriend.
Page 15, panel 4: The splash of blood brings to mind the blood on his coat
from the kidnapper's dog in #6.
Page 18, panels 4 and 6: His tracking the blood refers back to the first
issue, page 1.
Page 21, panel 1: Notice that Rorschach, for all his personality flaws, is
at least polite.
Page 27, panels 5, 7, 9: I am not sure if these are genuine flashbacks or
just symbolic. Hollis could not have had the same dog with his when he was
active as a hero (it would be at least 23), and he was never pictured with
a masked dog anywhere else.
Incidentally, the man in the skull mask is Screaming Skull, and the Nazi
with the monocle is Captain Axis. He may be based on Captain Nazi, an
enemy of Fawcett Comic's Marvel Family.
Page 28, panel 1: The hair across the eye leads back to the smiley-face.
Pages 29-32: The 10/31/85 edition of the _New Frontiersman._
Page 1: Surely the "Issue IVII" is wrong. "IV" is 4, and "II" is 2; even
if this were the correct nomenclature, this isn't the sixth issue by any
means (it's been published since at least the fifties). (In our world it
would say "volume," not "issue.")
Page 4: Surprisingly, Godfrey is actually onto something here. This is
important information.
[d--u--a] at [yang.earlham.edu] Doug Atkinson