Ghent University
Faculty of Arts and Philosophy
Tom Cornelis
Under Watchmen’s hood
A study of the interplay between text and image,
intratextuality between the comic and continuous prose and
intratextuality between Watchmen and Marooned
Supervisor:
Prof. Dr. Gert Buelens
Paper submitted in partial
fulfilment of the requirements
for the degree of “Master in de
Taal- en Letterkunde: EngelsNederlands” by Tom Cornelis
May 2013
Table of contents
1. Introduction ......................................................................................................................................... 2
2. Interplay between text and image ...................................................................................................... 4
2.1. Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 4
2.2. Adding literal meanings to phrases that are meant figuratively by the speaker ........................ 5
2.3. Relating different situations to one another through the interplay between text and image .. 13
3. Intratextuality between comic and continuous prose ...................................................................... 16
3.1. Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 16
3.2. Under The Hood: an integral part of Watchmen ....................................................................... 17
3.3. Rorschach (Walter Kovacs) ......................................................................................................... 18
3.4. Nite Owl (Daniel Dreiberg) ......................................................................................................... 23
3.5. Hooded Justice (Rolf Müller?) .................................................................................................... 24
3.6. Captain Metropolis (Nelson Gardner) ........................................................................................ 25
3.7. Hooded Justice and Captain Metropolis .................................................................................... 26
3.8. Dr. Manhattan (Jon Osterman) .................................................................................................. 28
4. Intratextuality between Marooned and Watchmen ......................................................................... 34
4.1. Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 34
4.2. The Black Freighter as a nuclear threat ...................................................................................... 35
4.3. Marooned and the fate of Max Shea ......................................................................................... 37
4.4. Marooned and Bernard .............................................................................................................. 38
4.5. Marooned and Dr. Manhattan ................................................................................................... 42
5. Conclusion ......................................................................................................................................... 46
Works Cited ........................................................................................................................................... 48
1
1. Introduction
In 1986 and 1987, Alan Moore and Dave Gibbon’s Watchmen redefined the superhero comic
genre. By replacing the well-established concepts of ‘hero’ and ‘villain’ with a more complex
set of morally ambiguous vigilantes in an equally amoral world, Watchmen questioned such
well-known characters as the popular do-gooder Superman. Compared to other ‘superhero
comics,’ a name I use to designate comic books involving characters who possess
superhuman powers – examples include Spiderman, the Flash and the Darkness – Watchmen
separates itself in a number of ways. This dissertation will focus on one of these aspects,
namely the complex layers of intratextuality within Watchmen. Intertextuality has been
studied already quite extensively by literary critics and theorists such as Hutcheon, who
defined it as an ‘echoing form,’1 ‘deploying the texts of the past within their own complex
textuality.’2 The term ‘intratextuality’ is a less known, yet more useful term to use when
associating and comparing different elements of the same text with each other. According to
Kent Palmer, ‘[i]ntratextuality is opposed to intertextuality.’3 This opposition is then
positively defined as
the treating [of] the given text or a set of texts as a fractal landscape which we
explore in detail with a full realization of their overlapping and interpenetrating
internal contexts and signs that express concepts and archetypical motifs.4
An online semiotics glossary, provided by the Oswego State University of New York, does not
oppose intratextuality to intertextuality as directly as Palmer does. Moreover, the glossary
seems more hesitant to use the term, indicating that its usage is not nearly as common as
the use of the more wide-spread ‘intertextuality.’
Whilst the term intertextuality would normally be used to refer to links to other
texts, a related kind of link is what might be called 'intratextuality' - involving internal
relations within the text. Within a single code […] these would be simply syntagmatic
relationships […] However, a text may involve several codes: a newspaper
photograph, for instance, may have a caption.5
Palmer’s more decisive use of ‘intratextuality’ is supported by Shen & Xu, who use the term
casually and as such do not even show any need for defining it in their discussion of the
unreliability of autobiographical texts: ‘in fiction the markers are usually a matter of
intratextual problems (inconsistencies, incongruities, etc.).’6 A small explanation is given
between brackets as to what they mean by ‘intratextual problems’, but intratextuality in
itself is deemed sufficiently clear to warrant its usage without providing any true definition
of the term.
The term ‘intratextuality’ is handled differently in each of the texts discussed above. Both
Palmer and the Oswego State University of New York define it quite extensively. The latter
1
Hutcheon 1990, 23
Hutcheon 1988, 105
3
Palmer 2002, 1
4
Palmer 2002, 1
5
“Intratextuality.” Oswego State University of New York
6
Shen & Xu 2007, 56
2
2
even construes two entries to separate ‘intratextuality’ from ‘intertextuality,’ demonstrating
that it values ‘intratextuality’ highly enough to warrant its own entry. Shen & Xu, however,
use the term expecting the readers to already know what they mean. Despite their different
approaches to intratextuality, these three sources all show that its meaning relies heavily
upon the already well-established meaning of intertextuality. Palmer emphasises this by
literally opposing them to one another. The Oswego State University of New York’s
glossary’s definition of intratextuality starts with a short recapitulation of its definition of
intertextuality. In their article ‘Intratextuality, Extratextuality, Intertextuality: Unreliability in
Autobiography versus Fiction’ Shen and Xu also oppose intratextuality to intertextuality by
mentioning both extratextuality and intertextuality alongside intratextuality not only in its
very title, but also three times in the article itself, for example in the phrase: ‘unreliability
can occur not only at the intratextual level but also at the extratextual and intertextual
levels.’7
For the purpose of my dissertation, I define intratextuality as the interplay between the
different textual forms in which the story of one literary work or series is told. In the case of
Watchmen, the concept is useful in many ways. Firstly, Under the Hood, which within
Watchmen is a non-fictional recount of what transpired between several of the main
characters, written by the character Hollis Mason in a traditional novel style, is linked to and
affects many characters within Watchmen. Secondly, Watchmen acts as a frame narrative
for Marooned, a two-issue story within the comic series Tales of the Black Freighter, a pirate
comic which refers to and predicts events in its own frame through the similarities between
its plot and the story of Watchmen. Before discussing Watchmen’s use of intratextuality, this
dissertation will delve into the interplay between text and image, which is strongly related to
the intratextuality within the comic. Contrary to the traditional superhero comic book,
Watchmen often separates dialogue from its source, instead combining it with an image that
provides the text with deeper layers of meaning. This process may be considered
intratextual as images are able to convey a meaning just as clearly as written text would.
Kukkonen points to literary experiments which have produced comic books without any
written dialogues at all, using only images to tell their stories: ‘Es gibt durchaus Experimente,
einen Comic nur mit Bildern zu erzählen. Hierfür finden sich Beispiele von Masereels Die
Sonne (1927) bis zur Marvel Ai-Geschichte “Love is Blindness” (2006).8 Although most comics
combine written text with images, experiments such as these prove that it is possible to
withhold from using text without losing the ability to convey a story. Therefore, the links
between text and image might also be regarded as being intratextual. In order to assure that
no confusion exists in this dissertation, however, I will be referring to the link between text
and image as ‘interplay’ while keeping in mind the above notion of the image’s value in
storytelling.
7
8
Shen & Xu 2007, 56
Kukkonen 2008, 20
3
2. Interplay between text and image
2.1. Introduction
One of the key features of comic books is that the written text and the images are inherently
linked to one another. They both work together to convey a message to the reader. It is
therefore unwise to separate them in a discussion of meaning because often, the image
provides a context for the written text. This is why the amount of written text per page in
the average comic book is a great deal smaller than it is in the average novel. The images
create a setting in which dialogues make sense to the reader, allowing the written text to
convey mostly monologues and dialogues. It is still used outside of conversations to
introduce a setting, but the bulk of this task is nevertheless always carried by the images.
In Watchmen, this typical relationship between written text and images is taken to a higher
level than in most other comics. Usually, a comic consists of images with or without text
bubbles. If one or more of these bubbles are present, they represent the characters’ speech
or thoughts, the image often showing the character who is speaking or thinking. The link
between this character and their words is immediately clear in this situation.
In The Darkness #1, for example, either the
speaking character is present in the image or is
known to be in the direct environment of what is
depicted. Panels 16/3-4 are the only panels in this
issue of The Darkness where the speaking character
is not directly shown. While the main character
Jackie attempts to talk Shandi into having a one
night stand, a clock becomes the focal point of
these two panels.9 Instead of the whole
conversation, the reader only sees its beginning
and ending. Only five minutes have passed
between these two moments, which characterises
Jackie as a smooth talker. Whereas the image
provides information about the characters and the
setting, the dialogue does not gain a deeper
meaning as the image and the text have no
metaphorical link between them. Even though the speakers are not depicted graphically,
there is a direct link between them and their words because they are sitting in the
immediate vicinity of what is shown. Moreover, their speech bubbles point directly towards
the unseen speakers.
9
Garth 2011, 16/3-4. When referring to comic panels in this dissertation, I write the page number, then a
forward slash, and then the panel number. Panels often have no official number on them, so I count
horizontally, starting from the left, and from top to bottom.
4
2.2. Adding literal meanings to phrases that are meant figuratively
by the speaker
While Watchmen also employs the typical pattern of depicting the speaker, the series
contains many instances where the link between what is said and what is shown is not as
clear-cut. The image presents something which is not directly related to the speaking
character or their speech, thereby exemplifying the literal meaning of characters’ utterances
which are understood by their conversational partners as a metaphor or metonymy. Many
important characters in Watchmen use two names, one in their personal life and one when
they act as a vigilante. For the sake of clarity, anytime a character’s name is mentioned in
this dissertation, it will reflect the identity they assume in the situation which is discussed.
When Edward Blake is killed, for instance, he is not acting as his vigilante alter ego, so when
discussing this event I will refer to him as Edward Blake. When his visit at Moloch’s house is
discussed, however, he acts as the Comedian and shall in that discussion be referred to with
this moniker.
The second image of Watchmen #110 already shows an
example of metonymy. The image shows a badge depicting
a smiley face, drenched in a pool of blood in a gutter. One
bloodstain soils the badge itself. Accompanying this image
is a quote from Rorschach’s journal: ‘Dog carcass in the
alley this morning. Tire tread on burst stomach. This city is
afraid of me. I have seen its true face.’11 The badge belongs
to Edward Blake, also known as the Comedian. He is a
cynical character who strongly believes that everything in
life is a joke: ‘Listen… Once you figure out what a joke
everything is, being the Comedian’s the only thing makes
sense.’12 By showing the Comedian’s signature badge
together with the excerpt of Rorschach’s journal, the
badge becomes metonymically linked to the ‘[city’s] true
face.’ The next panel provides a better view of the badge’s
surroundings. It now clearly lies in a gutter which is
draining the pool of blood. Meanwhile, Rorschach
continues: ‘The streets are extended gutters and the gutters are full of blood and when the
drains finally scab over, all the vermin will drown.’13 Here, the streets become metonymical
gutters, in which Rorschach sees nothing but violence and bloodshed. While the journal
excerpt uses the gutter-metonymy in a purely figurative sense, the image adds a concrete,
literal sense to its meaning. The Comedian’s blood is literally filling up the gutter, thereby
creating a context which uses the figurative meaning of the written text and provides a
concrete example.
10
In Watchmen, the cover image is also the first image of the comic itself. The story therefore begins with the
cover.
11
Watchmen #1, 1/1.
12
Watchmen #2, 13/3
13
Watchmen #1, 1/2
5
The same technique is used further on in the story. In his journal,
Rorschach has written that the violent deaths of many vigilantes are
caused by ‘[s]omething in our personalities, perhaps? Some animal
urge to fight and struggle, making us what we are?’14 Accompanying
this excerpt is an image of an ape mask in a glass case. In the
background, what at first seems to be an arm of Edward Blake is
shown to be held down on the ground by, again seemingly, a hand
of his assailant, who eventually is discovered to be Ozymandias. In
Sally Juspeczyk’s flashback of Blake’s attempt at sexually assaulting
her, however, a differently coloured version of the same image is
already used, unveiling the assailant’s hand as belonging to Blake
himself. The arm that is being held down is Juspeczyk’s as she tries to resist Blake’s sexual
rage. Although the ape mask is in the foreground of both pictures, it does not draw the
reader’s full attention because its colours are dark, effectively
camouflaging it from the reader’s eyes while their attention is
drawn to the more active fight scene. Moreover, the name card is
not fully visible because it is blocked by one of the corners of the
case surrounding it. Nevertheless, the ape mask is a strong visual
representation of Rorschach’s words. The ‘animal urge to fight’ is
directly linked to the ape mask, which has a vicious facial
expression. Meanwhile, the characters’ arms represent the
struggling and fighting mentioned, to which the vigilantes feel the
urge, supposedly, because they too wear masks. By combining the
written text and image, a possible explanation is given as to why
the Crimebusters, and before them the Minutemen, wear masks
when undertaking their violent quest for justice. Separating the text
from the image would lead to losing this message entirely.
The technique of literally depicting what one of the characters is
saying figuratively is not limited to panels quoting Rorschach’s
journal. When Daniel Dreiberg says that ‘[Hollis Mason] doesn’t
care how people dress,’15 this of course signifies that Mason does
not judge people according to the clothing they wear. In other
words, the verb ‘to dress’ is used to indicate the process of
putting on clothes. The image of Jon Osterman dressing himself,
however, treats the verb differently. Here, the manner in which
he puts on his clothes is emphasised, rather than the attire he is
wearing or putting on. Ever since he became Dr. Manhattan, this
character has gained several superhuman skills, one of them
being telekinesis. In the illustration, his suit is hovering around
him, eliminating the need to take every piece of clothing in his
hands to put them on. Of course, this is a highly unusual (and to
our knowledge impossible) way to get dressed, which puts an emphasis on Dreiberg’s words:
‘how people dress.’
14
15
Watchmen #2, 26/5
Watchmen #3, 9/8
6
During Blake’s assassination, he is thrown out
of his apartment through a window. In
Watchmen #1, the panels in which he is
beaten and murdered are narrated by two
policemen who are investigating the case of
his death. Once they start discussing what
might have happened to him, every panel
which focuses on the officers is followed by an
image of Blake. While Blake is thrown through
a window, the officers ask for the elevator to take them to the ground floor. While Blake is
shown falling through the window, the doorman answers: ‘Ground floor comin’ up.’16 The
doorman is saying that the elevator will take the policemen to the ground floor of the
building, but by combining this sentence with this particular image of Blake’s fall, the
speaker unknowingly also refers to the manner in which Blake is murdered.
The second panel of Watchmen #2 shows a statue of a female
angel, which clearly stands in a cemetery. Accompanying the
statue is the text ‘Aw, willya look at her? Pretty as a picture an’
still keepin’ her figure!’17 These sentences at first seem to be
aimed at the sculpture, which is still intact despite the forces of
nature. It therefore literally keeps its figure, as nothing has
changed about the appearance of the statue. The second panel
provides another context for the same words, which are then
revealed to be aimed at Laurel Juspeczyk. Here, the phrase ‘to
keep one’s figure’ gains the metonymical meaning as it was
meant by Sally Juspeczyk. The human body is organic and as
such does not have one single appearance or figure. The
expression is therefore not given the same literal meaning as it
is in the first panel. Here, the ‘figure’ means the slim waistline
of Laurel. In other words, the contours of her body are referred to by what is here a
synonym for only one part of her body. It should be noted that Sally is probably unaware
that she is using a metonymy because it is a very common way of saying that someone has
stabilised their body weight.
16
17
Watchmen #1, 3/7
Watchmen #2, 1/1
7
On the fence in the background of the first panel of Watchmen #2, the word ‘cemetery’ is
spelled in mirror writing. As the name of this location should be readable for visitors who are
trying to find the entrance, the mirror writing indicates that the statue is inside the cemetery
perimeter. At the bottom of the image, the headstones prove
that the statue is indeed within the bounds of the cemetery.
Therefore, Sally Juspeczyk’s question ‘So, honey, what brings
you to the city of the dead?’18 seems to literally refer to
someone frequenting the place where the deceased are
buried. As the New York skyline is depicted in the background
of the image, this question gains a second meaning. Sally may
be asking why her addressee has come to the city of New York,
presenting a dislike for this city by referring to it as she does. A
third and more metaphorical meaning is explained in the third
panel by Laurel, who is visiting her mother: ‘Mom, being lazy
isn’t a terminal condition, so spare me the “City of the dead”
crap.’19 While New York is itself a city and the cemetery could
be seen as having many ‘inhabitants’, albeit dead ones,
referring to Sally’s mansion as a city is more far-fetched. Also,
she refers to herself as being dying or dead, yet apparently there is no reason to assume that
her life will end soon. Therefore, this third meaning is a darkly humorous one, as Sally
connects her old age with the prospect of dying. The visual contexts surrounding the
question are obviously important when trying to establish its possible meanings, as the first
panel yields results which differ greatly from those of the second.
In Watchmen #3, once Juspeczyk arrives at the house of Daniel
Dreiberg, the narrative focuses on two simultaneous events, namely
Dr. Manhattan’s preparation for his television interview and a
conversation between Juspeczyk and Dreiberg. While she is
explaining why she has left Dr. Manhattan, her words frequently
coincide with images of the subject she is discussing. The figurative
and literal meanings of several verbs are again separated from one
another. This happens with the verb ‘to tangle up’ when Juspeczyk
says to Dreiberg: ‘Sometimes I look at myself and think, “how did
everything get so tangled up?”’20 The conversation between Dreiberg
and Juspeczyk provides a context in which only the figurative sense of
the verb is possible, as she finds herself in a complex situation and
fails to come up with a solution for it. The illustration of Dr.
Manhattan in this panel, however, points to the literal sense as he seemingly entangles
himself in his clothes. By dressing himself telekinetically, to the human eye it appears as if
the clothes move on their own, effectively clutching themselves to his body. The link to the
entanglement is stressed by Dr. Manhattan’s tie as it is ostensibly tying itself around his
neck, symbolising a noose in which he becomes, to quote Juspeczyk, ‘tangled up.’
18
Watchmen #2, 1/1
Watchmen #3, 1/2
20
Watchmen #3, 10/2
19
8
After Dr. Manhattan’s arrival at the television studio, the narrative
focus shifts. The text frames now display what is said in the studio,
yet the illustrations continue alternating between showing Dr.
Manhattan on the one hand and Juspeczyk and Dreiberg on the
other hand. The linguistic effect, however, remains unchanged as
the different literal and figurative meanings remain the core link
between both settings. Dr. Manhattan is met by Forbes, an agent of
the Army Intelligence, who presents him ‘a list of no-go areas.
Obviously, Afghanistan will arise, but play it cool… And try not to get
into any tight corners.’21 The proverbial ‘tight corners’ Forbes
mentions are conversational paths that would lead Osterman to lose
control of the discussion, which would ultimately make him either
divulge military secrets or force him to end the conversation,
shaping him into a scapegoat. In the image, Dreiberg and Juspeczyk walk into an alley. In the
foreground, a burning sigaret is held in a clenched fist, which indicates that the sigaret’s
owner is anxious. A key aspect of typical alleys is that they are very narrow pathways.
Forbes’ tight corners can therefore directly be linked to this location, foregoing the figurative
sense for a truly literal interpretation.
Watchmen does not always use this technique of dual
focus to split a verb into its literal and figurative sense.
However, in every case of dual focus some aspects of a
phrase’s meaning change as a consequence of the
combination of one text with different visual contexts.
The director of the talkshow where Dr. Manhattan is
expected to speak is not pleased when he sees that his
guest has a light blue skin, which ‘is far too light for
television…’22 Dr. Manhattan reacts by darkening the
tone of his skin, which pleases the director: ‘That’s
certainly dark enough for my purposes.’23 His purpose is to broadcast an interesting,
technically well-organised talkshow to attract as many viewers as possible. Dr. Manhattan’s
default bright skin tone is too light for the cameras. Should this remain unaltered, this would
lead to unclear or visually unpleasant images for the television audience. The director’s
purpose may therefore be deemed an innocent, professional one. In the illustration,
however, a wholly different goal of other people in another context is unveiled. Several
members of the Knot Top gang are gathering at the alley’s entrance. A trail of smoke
suggests that the sigaret which was in the foreground of the previous panel is tossed onto
the ground even though only a small part of it has been smoked. This indicates that the gang
is preparing itself to mug Juspeczyk and Dreiberg. The Knot Tops’ purpose is therefore not
nearly as innocent as that of the television director. Moreover, the phrase ‘That’s certainly
dark enough’24 in this context does not refer to anyone’s skin tone. Instead, the darkness in
the alley is noticed as being dark enough for the Knot Tops to commit their acts of violence
without needing to worry about potential witnesses. Both the darkness and the meaning of
21
Watchmen #3, 11/3-4
Watchmen #3, 11/3
23
Watchmen #3, 11/6
24
Watchmen #3, 11/6
22
9
the word ‘purpose’ are used to indicate two different meanings. The darkness is related to
both the tone of Dr. Manhattan’s skin and the absence of light in the alleyway, while the
director’s professional purpose is very different from the Knot Tops’ intent to hurt Dreiberg
and Juspeczyk.
The phrase ‘out of the blue’ is handled differently. Instead of using
the existing literal and figurative meanings, the illustration adds a
new literal sense to the expression. Dreiberg’s locksmith tells him
that ‘I got buddies like that, always turnin’ up drunk… Completely
outta the blue!’25 With this, he obviously means that these friends
suddenly visit him uninvited, without warning or asking him
beforehand. ‘Out of the blue’ is almost exclusively used in a
figurative sense, as the only existing literal sense of this phrase is
that of a storm suddenly erupting while the sky has appeared blue
until the very moment this happens. Thanks to Dr. Manhattan’s
superhuman powers, however, he is able to achieve what is
commonly thought of as impossible. Whenever he teleports
himself, his body disintegrates. Some of the energy generated by
this act is cast out and transformed into a blue light. At his destination, the same kind of light
announces his arrival before he himself appears. Therefore, he seems to literally materialize
out of the blue, enabling what is commonly a strictly figurative phrase to also be used in the
literal sense.
On the final page of Watchmen #1, Daniel Dreiberg puts the
Comedian’s badge on the balcony against which both he and
Laurel Juspeczyk are standing. During their dinner on the
previous page, none of the characters laugh a single time. Once
the badge is in front of them, however, they laugh in half of the
panels of the page. Dreiberg is the first to laugh and does so
while he is laying down the badge: ‘Oh, you mean Captain
Carnage. Ha ha ha ! He was one for the books’.26 He continues
laughing while Juspeczyk tells him of her encounter with the
villain: ‘I start hitting him and I think “Jeez ! He’s breathing funny!
Does he have asthma?”’27 Then, when Dreiberg tells her of his
own experiences with this man, she is the one who starts
laughing. In both the second and the third panel, Dreiberg’s and
Juspeczyk’s laughs, respectively, are shown by a text bubble
containing the words ‘Ha ha ha.’ Their laughter reaches a climax in the fifth panel, where
Juspeczyk’s speech is presented as follows: ‘Phaaa ha ha ha! Oh, God, I’m sorry, that isn’t
funny. Ha ha ha ha ha!’ This is the only panel in which both characters are shown to laugh at
the same time, as Dreiberg says: ‘Ha ha ha! No, I guess it’s not…’ 28 Their laughter is
intricately linked to the badge in front of them, as it belonged the Comedian and therefore
25
Watchmen #3, 10/7-8
Watchmen #1, 26/1
27
Watchmen #1, 26/2
28
Watchmen #1, 26/5
26
10
metonymically represents this character, who is known by Dreiberg and Juspeczyk to believe
that everything is a joke.29
At the end of Watchmen #3, Richard Nixon decides to wait one
week before he will command a nuclear attack on Russia. ‘After
that,’ he adds, ‘humanity is in the hands of a higher authority than
mine.’30 The phrase ‘to be in the hands of’ is used proverbially by
Nixon to express his powerlessness once the nuclear rockets start
flying. By saying humanity is in higher authority’s hands, he
suggests that their fate cannot be controlled by Nixon or anyone
who holds less political or military power than him. The authority
to whom he alludes is that of the Christian god, who will
ultimately decide how every individual will spend their afterlife.
Were only the text present, this interpretation would be the only
possible one. The illustration accompanying it, however, takes a
more literal approach to these words. Dr. Manhattan is shown to
literally hold a picture of two humans: Jon Osterman – who would be transformed into Dr.
Manhattan one month after this picture was taken – and Janey Slater. Regarding the picture,
‘humanity’ can signify two things. Firstly, the term refers to mankind, the group of human
individuals. Two of these individuals are held in his hand, albeit only in a photograph.
Secondly, the term can be applied to Osterman himself, who was still human, both physically
and emotionally, when the picture was taken. While the higher authority Nixon invokes is
most probably that of his god, it might also refer to Dr. Manhattan, who has become a socalled superman, a name which has been spread by a news bulletin: ‘We repeat: the
superman exists, and he’s American.’31 Both physically and intellectually, he is therefore
Nixon’s superior and as such a higher authority than he is. The image provides a context in
which the written text gains meanings which would be entirely absent if Nixon’s utterance
would be contained in a text balloon, linked to an illustration of himself.
After his arrest in Watchmen #6, Walter Kovacs is imprisoned in
Watchmen #7. The criminals that surround him know him as the
vigilante Rorschach and hate him with a passion. When one of
them speaks to Kovacs in the prison canteen, by itself the text is
interpretable in a sarcastic sense: ‘Hey, Rorschach… You’re pretty
famous, right? Boy, y’know, I’d sure like to get your autograph.’32
The sarcasm is clear because the speaker is a prisoner and
therefore would not want an actual autograph of a crime fighter.
The panel following this message unveils a hidden meaning of
the word ‘autograph’. The criminal tells Kovacs that ‘I got my
autograph book right here in my pocket… It’s notched up quite a
few famous names over the years…’33 The panel’s illustration
focuses on a screwdriver, held by the speaker. The combination
‘autograph book’ is therefore linked to the tool, designating it as
29
Watchmen #2, 13/3
Watchmen #3, 28/3
31
Watchmen #4, 13/1
32
Watchmen #6, 12/2
33
Watchmen #6, 12/3
30
11
a weapon, while the ‘autograph’ would be Kovacs’ blood that would stain it when the
criminal stabs him. Contrary to the examples discussed previously, in this dissertation of
interplay between text and image, the criminal is aware of relationship between the literal
sense of his utterances and the metaphors he employs. Here, the illustration merely serves
as a means to convey his hidden message to the reader. The speaker adds his own definition
to the words ‘autograph’ and ‘autograph book’, whereas in previous instances the characters
are unaware of any deeper meanings their words provide to the reader thanks to the links
between images and text.
Malcolm Long’s journal proves that he is also aware of the metaphorical meaning of his
words. In his journal, he writes that ‘[Rorschach] said “None of you understand. I’m not
locked up in here with you. You’re locked up in here with me.”’34 When Long’s wife, Gloria,
complains that he neglects her sexual needs in favour of his career, he understands that
Kovacs’ words not only apply to the inmates, but also to himself. Long has just caught
himself referring to Kovacs as Rorschach and feels that he is slipping away from his own
personal life. He realises that his work is becoming an obsession
which is already destroying his marriage, yet even with this
insight he cannot bring himself to stop working on the case. Long
is imprisoned not physically, but intellectually as he has become
so intrigued with his patient that he wants to unearth his entire
personality. Moreover, he hopes to advance in his career and
even become famous by analysing the infamous vigilante
Rorschach, as Kovacs points out: ‘Other people, down in cells.
Behavior more extreme than mine. You don’t spend any time
with them… But then, they’re not famous, won’t get your name
in the journals.’35 Long acknowledges that he is imprisoned in his
job, more particularly in Kovacs’ case: ‘He’s right. Absolutely
right.’36 He is therefore fully aware that he redefines the phrase
‘to be locked up,’ just like the criminal in the canteen did with
‘autograph’ and ‘autograph book.’ What Long is not aware of,
however, is the context provided by his increasing habit of taking Gopain painkillers. The
bottle containing them is first seen during his second meeting with Kovacs. Long ingests two
of them after Kovacs has recounted the murder of Kitty Genovese. Later that night, as he is
writing a journal entry, two pill bottles can be seen on his desk, suggesting that he is
becoming increasingly dependent on painkillers. At the start of the next meeting with
Kovacs, there are already three bottles on the table. The more Long learns about Kovacs’
history, the better he understands why Kovacs has become Rorschach. The psychoanalyst
becomes addicted to the intensity of his patient’s thoughts, which is symbolised by his rising
addiction to painkillers. Even though the written text shows an evolution towards the
addiction to Kovacs’ psyche, it never alludes to the pills. However, they do play an integral
part in the characterisation of Malcolm Long, which is why their presence in the illustrations
is very important in this regard. While the illustrations predict his depressing world view at
the end of Watchmen #6, the text only unveils the negative results of his addiction to both
the painkillers and his patient on the last two pages of the chapter. The Rorschach-test he
34
Watchmen #6, 13/2
Watchmen #6, 11/3-4
36
Watchmen #6, 13/9
35
12
performs on himself combines text and image to finally bring the two forms of
characterisation together. While he stares at the ink blots, Long realises that ‘The horror is
this: in the end, it is simply a picture of empty meaningless blackness. We are alone. There is
nothing else.’37 These words are accompanied by pictures which grow increasingly darker
until nothing but a black panel remains.
2.3. Relating different situations to one another through the
interplay between text and image
When Laurel Juspeczyk decides to leave Dr. Manhattan in
Watchmen #3, the images of her leaving are accompanied by
Jany Slater’s testimonial of her long lost relationship with Dr.
Manhattan. Whenever Juspeczyk or her situation are depicted
alongside an utterance made by Slater, the written text could be
interpreted as Juspeczyk’s thoughts. However, two graphical
features confirm the speaker to be Slater: firstly, Slater’s text
frames and those of her interviewer have a distinct form
whenever Juspeczyk is depicted in the same panel as these
frames are. Secondly, the text in every one of those frames
begins with a double quotation mark to indicate that it is not
Juspeczyk, but Slater who is uttering these words. These features
are necessary because of the close intratextual associations
between Slater’s words and what we can assume would be
Juspeczyk’s thoughts. Slater testifies that she once accused Dr. Manhattan of being utterly
apathetic towards other people: ‘I said, “Jon, you know how every damn thing in this world
fits together except people!”’38 While she is reporting this accusation, Dr. Manhattan is
shown holding a can he has just repaired telekinetically after Juspeczyk had smashed it
through his body, thus unknowingly demonstrating that at least the first part of Slater’s
complaint is true. He also proved not to understand how people fit together when he tried
to satisfy Juspeczyk sexually by separating himself into three beings. Two of them
simultaneously tried to arouse and please her while the third Dr. Manhattan continued his
scientific research. When Juspeczyk confronts him angrily, he does not understand why she
is upset, even arguing that his actions were a logical course of action: ‘Laurel, my work’s at
an important stage! It seemed unnecessary to…’39 Slater’s testimonial is entirely applicable
to Juspeczyk’s situation and could therefore be mistaken for the latter’s thoughts without
the aforementioned graphical markers.
37
Watchmen #6, 28/6-7
Watchmen #3, 5/9
39
Watchmen #3, 5/5
38
13
In the panel that depicts Juspeczyk taking her coat
and leaving the research facility that is her home,
Slater predicts Dr. Manhattan’s future: ‘”One day,
he’ll find out. He’ll find out what it feels like,’40
referring to the time when Dr. Manhattan left her
for Juspeczyk. Slater wishes for him to feel the same
pain as she felt when he ended their relationship.
From Juspeczyk’s point of view, the same prediction
holds a different meaning. For her, living with
Osterman has led to a lonely existence because of
his gradually diminishing ability to understand
human emotions. In her anger, she may wish for him to one day feel the same way as she
does now. Slater’s words might therefore again have been Juspeczyk’s if there weren’t any
graphical indications that prove otherwise. By combining Juspeczyk’s actions with Slater’s
words, the two spatially separated situations redefine each other by means of a very closely
knit web of intratextual links, made possible by both characters’ romantic relationships with
Dr. Manhattan.
During the first sexual encounter between Dreiberg and Juspeczyk, the same technique is
used to a humorous effect. Their first kiss coincides with the start of a television repeat of
Adrian Veidt’s charity spectacle, in which he performs as Ozymandias in a gymnastics event.
A close-up of his face is shown in the background while Juspeczyk and Dreiberg are shown in
the foreground. As the sexual tension between the couple rises, Ozymandias shouts to the
public at his event: ‘Thank you. I hope you forgive me while I warm up. I haven’t done this in
a while.’41 The synchronicity of both events generates a playful link between them for the
reader, as it is clear to the reader that Dreiberg has not had sexual intercourse for an
undetermined time. Once Ozymandias enters the stage, he immediately becomes Dreiberg’s
sexual competitor. This phenomenon is underlined when an illustration of Dreiberg
struggling to unbutton Juspeczyk’s blouse is accompanied by the television announcer’s
following words: ‘Notice there’s not the slightest tremor of effort. It’s all one smooth,
seamless flow of motion…’42 The entire television broadcast serves as a means to stress that
Dreiberg is physically inferior to Ozymandias, who is admired by the announcer because
‘[t]he grace of each movement is extraordinary. This is a man in his forties...’43 The contrast
between the images of Ozymandias’ impressive feat with the dialogue between Dreiberg
and Juspeczyk is a reflection of Dreiberg’s impotence. This is caused by a paralyzing
insecurity which is disapproved by Juspeczyk: ‘Dan, don’t be so self-deprecating.’44 The
written text shows some of this insecurity, for example when Dreiberg discusses his nightvision goggles: ‘I mean, if you like this sort of garbage… I guess it’s pretty kitsch or camp or
whatever…’45 However, to fully grasp his insecurity, the reader must also examine the
illustrations in Watchmen #7. Whenever Juspeczyk mentions Dr. Manhattan, Dreiberg’s
facial expression shows his desperate self-doubt. Dreiberg strongly believes it is impossible
to compete with Dr. Manhattan because of the latter’s superhuman qualities. Ultimately,
40
Watchmen #3, 6/2
Watchmen #7, 14/4
42
Watchmen #7, 14/6
43
Watchmen #7, 14/8
44
Watchmen #7, 9/4
45
Watchmen #7, 9/4
41
14
this anxiety leads to sexual impotence which Dreiberg only overcomes when he dons the
Nite Owl costume and saves the inhabitants of a burning building. By performing this act of
heroism, he finally feels masculine again. Watchmen #7 sports many panels in which the
illustration focuses at least partly on Dreiberg’s face. Its expression indicates an evolution
from his hesitant self-consciousness to a more direct proactive personality. Dreiberg’s vocal
utterances alone do not fully present this evolution. Only in accordance with the images do
they gain their full meaning.
In Watchmen, the relationship between text and image is more complex than is usually the
case in other superhero comics. While in most comics, the speaking character is shown
alongside their speech bubble, Watchmen often employs a different style in which the text is
accompanied by an image which lends a different meaning to the words than the speaking
character originally intended. All examples given in this chapter serve to explain the different
connections between text and image and the resulting shifts in the meaning of the written
text.
15
3. Intratextuality between comic and continuous prose
3.1. Introduction
While Watchmen mostly belongs to the comics genre, it traverses the boundaries set by such
a categorisation at the end of every issue but the last. Every extract of continuous prose is
only a few pages in length, but nevertheless they provide the reader with a wealth of
information regarding the Watchmen universe unavailable within the comic itself.
Watchmen #1, #2 and #3 conclude with a chapter of Under The Hood, an autobiography by
the character Hollis Mason. Watchmen #4 ends with an academic essay by professor Milton
Glass, entitled Dr. Manhattan: super-powers and the superpowers. Watchmen #5 concludes
with a extract from chapter five of the Treasure Island Treasury Of Comics. Watchmen # 6
ends with a psychological analysis of Walter Kovacs. Watchmen #7, then, is ended by Daniel
Dreiberg’s ornithological article ‘Blood from the shoulder of Pallas’, which was supposedly
featured in the Journal of The American Ornithological Society. At the end of Watchmen #8,
a front page article of the newspaper New Frontiersman is added. Watchmen #9 concludes
with letters to Sally Juspeczyk, along with a newspaper article about her and an interview
with her. Watchmen #10 ends with written correspondence between Adrian Veidt and his
employees, followed by a the manuscript for the introduction to the self-help book The Veidt
Method. Watchmen #11 is ended with an interview with Adrian Veidt, conducted by Dough
Roth. All of these instances of continuous prose contain intratextual links to the comic prose
which serve as means to explore the fate and personality of both main characters and
characters who only briefly tread the foreground of the story. Most characters may only be
analysed by searching vociferously in the continuous prose and the comic prose as they both
provide details which by themselves are anything but sufficient to fully explore these
characters. Only by combining the two forms of prose may they be fully analysed. Whereas
the previous chapter of this dissertation has discussed the interplay between image and text
as the goal itself, this chapter will view intratextuality primarily as a means to an end, the
end being to fully characterise nearly every named character in Watchmen. Without the
intratextual links between the two very different kinds of prose, many of these characters
would serve only very minor roles in the story and almost no information about them would
exist. The most prevalent of the extra texts is Under The Hood, extracts of which have been
added to no less than three issues of Watchmen. The text explores the origins of the first
Nite Owl, the formation of the Minutemen and the eventual disbandment of this group of
vigilantes. Meanwhile, it provides the reader with Mason’s perspective on the other
vigilantes and their exploits. The last two pages of Under The Hood discuss the superman
known as Dr. Manhattan, whose existence has an enormous impact, not only no Hollis
Mason, but on every other human being as well. This chapter will analyse certain characters
of Watchmen by means of the intratextual links between the continuous prose and the
comic prose. This analysis will always start with extracts from Under The Hood, which will
then be linked to the character’s appearance in the comic prose within Watchmen. When
applicable, other related continuous prose, found in issues four to eleven of Watchmen and
discussing, referring to or having allegedly been written by these very characters, will be
used in the analysis.
16
3.2. Under The Hood: an integral part of Watchmen
In Watchmen #1, the excerpt from Under The Hood is prefaced by the following text:
We present here excerpts from Hollis Mason’s autobiography, UNDER THE HOOD,
leading up to the time when he became the masked adventurer, Nite Owl. Reprinted
with permission of the author.46
This statement provides a challenge to analyse, as the identity of its narrator is unclear. A
reasonable explanation would be that the pronoun ‘we’ refers to Alan Moore and Dave
Gibbons, as they have written and composed the Watchmen series. However, the last
sentence does not permit such an interpretation if it is truthful, as ‘the author’ is Hollis
Mason, a fictional character. As the creators of the character, Moore and Gibbons have
written the extracts from Under The Hood and DC Comics possesses the copyrights to this
work. In other words, Hollis Mason is not the true creator of the text. A second, related
interpretation is that the pronoun refers to Moore and Gibbons, but that the entire
statement is a lie, which would mean that Under The Hood is not even a real autobiography
at all as it would not be written by Hollis Mason. It would then only have been made to seem
like Mason is the author, whereas the true authors are Moore and Gibbons. Within the
realm of the Watchmen series, a third interpretation is possible, as here Hollis Mason must
be regarded as the author of Under The Hood. In this scenario, the pronoun ‘we’ refers to
the editorial staff of an unnamed magazine or newspaper. Before starting an analysis of the
intertextuality between Under The Hood and the comic prose within Watchmen, it is
important to determine how the preface is to be interpreted for the purpose of this
dissertation. The first and second interpretations would cause all links to be intratextual
because Under The Hood is an inherent part of the Watchmen concept. Therefore, even
though its text genre may differ from the comic prose, it is a part of the same text. The third
interpretation, however, would render all links between Under The Hood and Watchmen’s
comic prose intertextual, as within the Watchmen universe Under The Hood exists as its own
text, clearly separated from its extratextual environment. As noted in the introduction to this
dissertation, I follow the second interpretation, which means that I regard Under The Hood
as an integral part of the Watchmen comic series. Any and all links between Mason’s
autobiography and the comic prose within Watchmen will therefore be regarded as
intratextual.
46
Watchmen #1, 27
17
3.3. Rorschach (Walter Kovacs)
In Under The Hood, Hollis Mason asks Denise, a shopkeeper and according to Mason ‘one of
America’s great unpublished novelists,’47 for advice concerning the start of his
autobiography. As the first chapter of Under The Hood is part of Watchmen #1, Denise’s
answer refers intratextually to the comic prose which precedes it: ‘Start off with the saddest
thing you can think of and get the audience’s sympathies on your side. After that, believe
me, it’s a walk.’48 Although the first panel of Watchmen #1 has already been discussed
thoroughly in the previous chapter of this dissertation in terms of the interplay between text
and image, I quote its written text once more:
Dog carcass in alley this morning, tire tread on burst stomach.49
This excerpt from Rorschach’s journal is an example of Denise’s advice. The first sentence
clashes with the phrases it precedes. Whereas they form a fairly coherent text, with a
continuing metaphor of blood filling up the gutters and streets, the remark about the dog
carcass does not fit in with the rest of the text. However, it bears an intratextual link to the
Under The Hood because it is most probably the saddest thing Rorschach can think of. He
regards the residents of New York as ‘vermin’ who divulge in ‘sex and murder,’50 so their
deaths would not necessarily be a reason to mourn for Rorschach. The dog, however, is
nothing but a victim of human behaviour, which is accentuated by the ‘tire tread on burst
stomach.’ To the average reader, this image is one of a violent death, an act of aggression
which inspires horror instead of sadness, especially because Rorschach shows no empathy
towards the dead animal. This is because he simply does not know how to feel empathy,
which becomes clear whenever he refers to the city residents in his journal: he calls them
‘vermin,’51 ‘human cockroaches,’52 ‘piglets squirming beneath a sow for shelter’53 and
‘parasites.’54 His actions throughout Watchmen are also proof of this. When he visits Daniel
Dreiberg for the first time, he does so by breaking into Dreiberg’s house. Worse, he is eating
Dreiberg’s food, without any regard for social conventions and effectively stealing the food
from Dreiberg: ‘Chlop. Thlup. Shorp. Lep. Hello, Daniel. Got hungry waiting. Helped myself to
some beans.’55 Later, Rorschach acts in an unnervingly brutal fashion when his investigation
leads him to Happy Harry’s bar. When a customer jokes about Rorschach’s smell, the
vigilante calmly walks up to this man, takes his hand and breaks his finger before even asking
the question he wants answered: ‘I’ve just broken this gentleman’s little finger. Who killed
Edward Blake? […] …And his index finger. Who killed Edward Blake?’ 56 He does this very
casually, without even paying attention to the screams of his victim. Later that night, while
discussing Edward Blake’s sexual assault of Sally Juspeczyk with her daughter Laurel, he says
47
Watchmen #1, 27
Watchmen #1, 27
49
Watchmen #1, 1/1
50
Watchmen #1, 1/2-3
51
Watchmen #1, 1/2
52
Watchmen #1, 16/9
53
Watchmen #2, 26/6
54
Watchmen #5, 11/8
55
Watchmen #1, 10/8-9
56
Watchmen #1, 16/4-6
48
18
‘I’m not here to speculate on the moral lapses of men who died in their country’s service.’ 57
He literally claims that the attempted rape on Laurel’s mother was nothing but a moral
lapse, without any regards for Laurel’s emotional stance on the matter. After Blake’s funeral,
Rorschach decides to inquire of Edgar Jacobi about his reasons for attending the funeral.
Instead of just asking questions, however, he assaults Jacobi from Jacobi’s refrigerator and
does not hesitate to hurt him by twisting his wrist. The second time Rorschach breaks into
Jacobi’s home, he throws Jacobi, of whom Rorschach has learned that he is a cancer patient,
into the refrigerator and even closes it for a brief moment with a terrified Jacobi within.
More examples of Rorschach’s lack of empathy exist, but those given in this paragraph
should suffice as proof. For the sake of rendering a complete image, I would note that
Rorschach does show a form of empathy after he has been freed from imprisonment by Nite
Owl and Silk Spectre. Only then can he acknowledge Nite Owl’s friendship: ‘You are… a good
friend. I know that. I am sorry… That it is sometimes difficult.’58 However, he still does not
fully understand how to channel these new emotions, as he proves when he tries to comfort
Nite Owl after they have just learned that Hollis Mason has been murdered: ‘Merely
suggesting that by finding mask killer, can have revenge for Mason’s death. Meant to
comfort you.’59 As Nite Owl points out, ‘Who in their right mind would take comfort’ from
such a thought?60
Even though Rorschach’s journal is a personal diary and therefore would normally only be
meant for himself to read, it is safe to assume that he had a large audience in mind while
writing the text because at the end of Watchmen #12, his journal is shown to have been sent
to the office of Pioneer Publishing Inc., publisher of Rorschach’s newspaper of choice The
New Frontiersman. The very last entry to the journal suggests that Rorschach has always
meant for his text to be read by an audience:
This last entry. Will shortly mail journal to only people can trust. […] If reading this
now, whether I am alive or dead, you will know truth: “Whatever precise nature of
this conspiracy, Adrian Veidt responsible.” Have done best to make this legible.61
Rorschach believes that Pioneer Publishing Inc. can be trusted because, like him, they also
subscribe to a conspiracy theory, as is confirmed in ‘MISSING WRITER: vanished persons list
grows as hunt called off,’62 an article in The New Frontiersman: ‘Shea’s disappearance was
part of a carefully orchestrated conspiracy.’63 To ensure readers to read on, he would need
to captivate their interest immediately. He therefore inadvertently uses Denise’s method,
although he does not fully succeed. To Rorschach, the image of the dead dog, sickening as it
may be to potential readers, is actually very sad because it is linked to his very last memory
as Walter Kovacs, before he considered his true personality to be Rorschach: ‘It was Kovacs
who said “Mother” then, muffled under latex. It was Kovacs who closed his eyes. It was
Rorschach who opened them again.’64 Kovacs had been investigating the abduction of the
six-year-old girl Blaire Roche. While searching the home of the supposed kidnapper, he
57
Watchmen #1, 20/8
Watchmen #10, 10/8
59
Watchmen #10, 16/6
60
Watchmen #10, 16/6
61
Watchmen #10, 22/4-5
62
Watchmen #8, 32
63
Watchmen #8, 32
64
Watchmen #6, 20/6-7
58
19
discovered semi-burned children’s underwear. That is when he decided to exact revenge
upon the murderer, Gerald Grice, by first killing his two German Shepherds, which are
portrayed as gnawing on human bones.65 When Grice then entered the building, Rorschach
threw both dogs inside through two separate windows to shock Grice. Then, he handcuffed
Grice to the stove in which the underwear was burned, poured kerosene on the man and
ignited him with a match. This whole experience made Walter Kovacs schizophrenic,
believing that the masked vigilante Rorschach is real and Kovacs is but a moniker and mask.
That is why he considers the mask to be his real skin: ‘I had fallen asleep without removing
the skin from my head.’66 When he is arrested and an officer removes his mask, he cries
desperately: ‘No! My Face! Give it back!’67 The events leading up to his ‘rebirth’ as Rorschach
are extremely traumatic and render him unable to experience emotions as strongly as he did
when he still considered himself to be Kovacs. Therefore, the mentioning of the dog carcass
in his journal is the saddest thing he can possibly think of because it conjures up a feeling of
powerlessness, of his inability to save Blaire Roche. Although he did capture and kill her
kidnapper, that does not change the fact that he could not undo the little girl’s death.
Rorschach’s first journal entry is of course a flawed example of Denise’s advice, as he fails
gain the audience’s sympathy with it. However, this does not diminish the fact that to
Rorschach himself, this is very much ‘the saddest thing [he] can think of.’68
Being of a conservative, right-wing mind, Rorschach may also be linked to Hollis Mason’s
grandfather, who is discussed in Under The Hood. Rorschach believes that New York is a foul,
demoralizing place: ‘Beneath me, this awful city, it screams like an abattoir full of retarded
Children. New York.’69 While Hollis’ parents were planning to move from Montana to New
York, his grandfather would often express his loathing for that decision, ‘predicting poverty
and moral ruination for my dad and mom if they so much as set foot in New York.’ 70 Hollis
testifies that his grandfather ‘took great pains to impress upon me […] that cities were just
cesspools into which all the world’s dishonesty and greed and lust and godlessness drained
and was left to fester unhindered.’71 The arguments between Hollis’ father and grandfather
stemmed from his father ‘coming east rather than taking over the farm, like the old man had
planned for him.’72 Rorschach expresses similar thoughts concerning New York in his journal:
‘They had a choice, all of them. They could have followed in the footsteps of good men like
my father, or president Truman. Decent men, who believed in a day’s work for a day’s pay.’73
President Truman, whom I assume is the historical figure Harry S. Truman and not a fictional
counterpart who has done anything different than the historical figure, prospered as a
Missouri farmer for twelve years.74 This solidifies the intratextual link between Rorschach
and Hollis’ grandfather. It is not a coincidence that Rorschach praises Truman, as this
President was fiercely opposed to the influence of the Soviet Union and nuclear bombs such
as those launched under his command play an important part in the Watchmen universe.
65
Shown in Watchmen #6, 20/7,8 and 21/2,4
Watchmen #5, 1
67
Watchmen #5, 28
68
Watchmen #1, 27
69
Watchmen #1, 14/3
70
Watchmen #1, 27
71
Watchmen #1, 30
72
Watchmen #1, 27
73
Watchmen #1, 1/4
74
http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/harrystruman
66
20
Rorschach clarifies his fondness for Truman in an essay entitled My Parents, written in the
Charlton Home when he was eleven years old:
I like President Truman, the way Dad would of wanted me to. He dropped the atom
bomb on Japan and saved millions of lives because if he hadn’t of, then there would
have been a lot more war than there was and more people would have been killed. I
think it was a good thing to drop the atomic bomb on Japan.75
As this chapter deals with intratextual, and not intertextual links, however, a larger
discussion of Truman’s role in Watchmen, while interesting, would not be appropriate.
Hollis Mason recognises some aspects of his grandfather in himself: ‘I can see basic notions
of decency that were passed down direct from him to me.’76 Especially the twenty-three
year old Hollis may therefore be likened to Rorschach, even though his beliefs were never as
extreme as those of Rorschach or his grandfather:
Obviously, as I got older and came to realize just how much drunkenness and
domestic violence and child abuse was hidden behind the neighborly façade of some
of these lonely Montana farmhouses, I understood that my grandfather’s appraisal
had been a little one-sided.77
In spite of Hollis’ realisation that country life often strays far from the ideals put forth by his
grandfather, he does share his grandfather’s and Rorschach’s aversion to the city because of
the abundance of crime and immorality that, according to him, is bound to flourish in such a
crowded area:
The pimps, the pornographers, the protection artists. The landlords who set dogs on
their elderly tenants when they wanted them out to make way for more lucrative
custom. The old men who touched little children and the callous young rapists who
were barely old enough to shave. I saw these people all around me and I’d feel sick in
my gut at the world and what it was becoming.78
Hollis’ attraction to what he calls ‘pulp adventure fiction’79 bears another similarity to
Rorschach, but not to his grandfather, who ‘would have had nothing but scorn and loathing
for all of those violent and garish magazines.’80 For Hollis, his desperate search for a
disambiguated morality within his urban life led him to this type of literature because of its
clear ethics: ‘For my part, all those brilliant and resourceful sleuths and heroes offered a
glimpse of a perfect world where morality worked the way it was meant to.’81 Although
Rorschach does not care for such magazines, his acts as a vigilante are often as violent, or
even more so, and inspired by an equally clear-cut sense of morality. During his investigation
of Edward Blake’s death, Rorschach breaks into Edgar Jacobi’s residence to inquire about his
attendance at Blake’s funeral. While the Crimebusters were active, Jacobi was an infamous
criminal who operated under the moniker Moloch. After he was captured by Rorschach and
75
Watchmen #6, 31
Watchmen #1, 30
77
Watchmen #1, 30
78
Watchmen #1, 30
79
Watchmen #1, 31
80
Watchmen #1, 31
81
Watchmen #1, 31
76
21
Nite Owl, however, the years he spent in prison changed him into a law abiding citizen.
Unfortunately for him, Rorschach does not realise that people can change their ways and
strongly believes that Jacobi is still a hardened criminal: ‘Edgar William Jacobi, also known as
Edgar William Vaughn, also known as William Edgar Bright… Also known as Moloch.’82
Therefore, Rorschach resorts to violence to subdue him, physically assaulting him from his
refrigerator.83 Having retired from his past as Moloch, Jacobi does not understand why
Rorschach is attacking him: ‘Oh, god, please… I spent the seventies in jail. I’m not Moloch
anymore. I just want to be left alone. What do you want with me?’84 Even after Jacobi has
fully and truthfully explained his reasons for attending Blake’s funeral, Rorschach remains
unconvinced that he is no longer Moloch. Therefore, he still suspects him of criminal
activities, which is why Rorschach investigated Jacobi’s house before hiding in the
refrigerator: ‘Clean? You? Searched your house, before you got back. Knew you wouldn’t
mind. Found illegal drugs.’85 The greatest example of Rorschach’s black-and-white morality is
found in Watchmen #12. After Ozymandias has attempted to justify the destruction of New
York to Dr. Manhattan, Rorschach, Silk Spectre and Nite Owl, a consensus is reached and
everyone except Rorschach decides to help conceal the origins of the monster that
destroyed most of New York to preserve the world peace caused by this mass murder.
Rorschach is unable to compromise because in his morality, there is only room for good or
evil: ‘There is good and there is evil, and evil must be punished. Even in the face of
Armageddon I shall not compromise in this.’86 According to him, Ozymandias is a villain and
must be exposed as such, even if this form of justice would most probably reinstate the
threat of nuclear warfare. Nite Owl tries to convince Rorschach that his moral values are
incorrect in this particular situation: ‘Rorschach…? Rorschach, wait! Where are you going?
This is too big to be hard-assed about! We have to compromise…’87 Rorschach, however, is
solely focused on bringing Ozymandias to justice for his crimes against humanity: ‘No, not
even [compromise] in the face of Armageddon.’88 In Under The Hood, Hollis Mason claims
that he liked magazines such as Doc Savage and The Shadow because their world ‘was one of
absolute values, where what was good was never in the slightest doubt and where what was
evil inevitably suffered some fitting punishment.’89 His fondness for such a clear morality can
therefore be linked to the ethics of Rorschach, although Rorschach is more extreme in his
convictions.
82
Watchmen #2, 21/2
Watchmen #2, 20/7
84
Watchmen #2, 21/4
85
Watchmen #2, 24/3
86
Watchmen #1, 24/6
87
Watchmen #12, 20/8
88
Watchmen #12, 20/8
89
Watchmen #1, 31
83
22
3.4. Nite Owl (Daniel Dreiberg)
Rorschach is not the only character to whom Hollis refers – albeit unknowingly – in Under
The Hood. His successor as Nite Owl, Daniel Dreiberg, bears a resemblance to Moe Vernon,
the owner of Vernon’s Auto Repair. Hollis testifies that ‘What I found funny was that for no
apparent reason, a grown man should have a desk drawer full of such ludicrous devices.’ 90 In
Watchmen #7, Laurel Juspeczyk discovers Dreiberg’s many Nite Owl costumes and gadgets.
Instead of laughing at his collection, like Hollis did with Moe Vernon, she marvels at it: ‘Hey,
these [auxiliary costumes] are terrific. It’s like when I was small, mom got me this G.I. Joe
with all these neat little costumes.’91 She is especially intrigued by the night-vision goggles:
‘Dan, this is fabulous. This must be what it’s like having powers… Y’know, special vision and
like that.’92 Like Moe Vernon, Dreiberg is an avid collector of items that are deemed childish.
However, while in Under The Hood it is Hollis who finds that Vernon’s gadgets are children’s
toys, the situation is different with Dreiberg and Juspeczyk. Here, the owner himself thinks
that they are just items from an adolescent fantasy while the visitor is intrigued and
interested in the collection.
When Moe Vernon announces that his wife has been cheating on him by saying ‘Fred Motz
has had carnal knowledge of my wife Beatrice for the past two years,’93 everyone in his
workshop starts laughing uncontrollably because of the utter ridiculousness of the scene.
‘We could see he was crying, but it was just something in the toneless way he’d said it,
standing there wearing a pair of false breasts with all that crashing, triumphant music
soaring all around him.’94 This particular image is similar to the night the Comedian visits
Moloch to pour his heart out in Watchmen #2. Before explaining this similarity, however, I
should first shed some light on the Comedian’s life philosophy. During the meeting of the
Crimebusters in Watchmen #2, he explains his convictions:
You people are a joke. You hear Moloch’s back in town, you think “Oh boy! Let’s gang
up and bust him!” You think that matters? You think that solves anything? It don’t
matter squat. Here – Lemme show ya why it don’t matter… It don’t matter squat
because inside thirty years the nukes are gonna be flyin’ like maybugs… And then
Ozzy here is gonna be the smartest man on the cinder.95
His fear of the nuclear bombs and his certainty that they will be launched leads him to
interpret everyone and everything around him as a joke, which means that he is literally
laughing in the face of death. While at first, this belief helps the Comedian to think
rationally, this changes after the passing of the Keene Act and the disbandment of the
Crimebusters. As the only official remaining costumed crimefighter, he is contracted by the
United States military to fight in the Vietnam War. During one of his military campaigns, he is
flown over an island by airship. During this flight, he discovers that Ozymandias has
kidnapped several intellectuals to help him create the monster that ultimately explodes in
90
Watchmen #1, 29
Watchmen #7, 6/6
92
Watchmen #7, 10/1
93
Watchmen #1, 29
94
Watchmen #1, 29
95
Watchmen #2, 11/2-5
91
23
New York at the end of Watchmen #11: I mean, what gets me, right? What gets me, I need
never have looked outta the airship window at that moment, never seen the goddamn
island, never got involved…’96 Moreover, he understands that Dr. Manhattan’s scientific
work with Ozymandias is aiding Ozymandias in his plans to kill most New Yorkers.
Furthermore, he understands that Dr. Manhattan’s mere presence has caused cancer with
both Moloch and Janey Slater, the thought of which alone renders him terrified: ‘I mean, you
fought that big blue geek! You know what his head’s like! I tell ya, who knows which way
he’ll jump if anybody messes with him… He might… He might just…’97 The Comedian’s
monologue is vague, confused and oftentimes does not seem to make any sense because all
of the information needed to understand it is only given in the final chapters of Watchmen.
Moloch never gains this required knowledge, so seeing the Comedian in his room at night
terrifies him. Just like Moe Vernon in Under The Hood, the Comedian expresses his sadness
and fear in an unconventional manner. While Vernon inadvertently combines a toneless
voice, foam breasts and Ride of the Valkyries as background music, the Comedian breaks
into the house of his arch enemy in search of a shoulder to cry on. Whereas one scene
inspires laughter in its audience, the other inspires fear, yet they both share a dominant
awkwardness in which laughter and tears serve as means to channel the energy created by
this discomfort.
3.5. Hooded Justice (Rolf Müller?)
Hollis’ recollection of the first news item ever read about Hooded Justice, the first vigilante,
is similar to Hooded Justice’s rescue of Sally Juspeczyk during the rape attempt by Edward
Blake. Supposedly, three armed men assaulted a young man ‘while threatening to indecently
assault his girlfriend.’98 In the comic prose, Hooded Justice is first seen during the photo
session of the Minutemen. Shortly after the session has ended, he expresses his indifference
to such glamorous activities: ‘Frankly, Sally, I don’t go in for all this razzle dazzle. I’d rather be
on the streets, doing my job.’99 By ‘job’, Hooded Justice means his calling to stop crime and
save helpless victims. The Comedian, however, shows a likeness to the three armed men in
the news item when he says: ‘Streets nothing! Why don’t Uncle Sammy get us into Europe,
where the action is?’100 Like the three men, the Comedian wants to commit violent acts just
for the sake of violence. Hooded Justice tries to dissolve the Comedian’s immoral wish:
‘Well, firstly, we aren’t at war.’101 He thereby indicates that the Minutemen exist to help the
people, not to become an asset for the United States military: ‘Secondly, we should avoid
political situations…’102 The answer to the Comedian’s question clarifies Hooded Justice’s
stance on the matter and counters the wish for violence uttered by the Comedian. In this
regard, he ends a violent threat, just like he has made sure the threat to sexually assault the
girl in the first news item would not be fulfilled. A more direct link between Hollis’
96
Watchmen #2, 22/7
Watchmen #2, 22/5
98
Watchmen #1, 32
99
Watchmen #2, 5/2
100
Watchmen #2, 5/3
101
Watchmen #2, 5/3
102
Watchmen #2, 5/3
97
24
mentioning of the news item and the comic prose is found in the subsequent panels. All
Minutemen leave the room, except for Sally Juspeczyk as she wants to change her outfit
before leaving the building. While she is undressing, the Comedian re-enters the room
hoping to engage in sexual activities with Juspeczyk, apparently having misinterpreted her
words: ‘You guys go ahead. I gotta change.’103 Blake believes that she has stayed behind
purposefully to wait for his return while she would be undressing: ‘You announced it loud
enough.’104 Noticing her reluctance, he attempts to seduce her: ‘C’mon baby. I know what
you need. You gotta have some reason for wearin’ an outfit like this, huh?’ 105 The seduction
attempt is comparable to the mugging as he removes the shirt she is using to cover her body
from his eyes, just like the three armed men started their assault with ‘relieving the couple
of their valuables.’106 Juspeczyk’s verbal refusal is not enough for him to stop his efforts, so
she resorts to scratching his face with her fingernails. This, however, turns his lust into a
sexual rage. Luckily for Juspeczyk, Hooded Justice has grown suspicious because of her long
absence from the lobby. He wants to urge her to hurry herself: ‘Sally? What’s keeping you?
The others are all waiting to…’107 Before he can end his sentence, he discovers the sexual
assault and ends it similarly to his first outing as a vigilante. According to Hollis Mason,
the crime had been interrupted by a figure “Who dropped in an alleyway from above
with something over his face” and proceeded to disarm the three attackers before
beating them with such severity that all three required hospital treatment.108
A similarly berserk outburst occurs when Hooded Justice ends the sexual assault of
Juspeczyk. He cannot contain his anger: ‘You vicious little son of a bitch […] You sick bastard,
I’m going to break your neck...’109 The Comedian is not as terribly injured as the three armed
men, but the two events can are linked to one another as both involve threats, physical and
sexual assault and a punishment for the attacker by Hooded Justice.
3.6. Captain Metropolis (Nelson Gardner)
In the third chapter of Under The Hood, Hollis Mason mentions that Captain Metropolis
‘brought a knowledge of military technique and strategy to his attempt at eradicating
organized crime in the inner urban areas.’110 Together with the Comedian, Captain
Metropolis is the only character who has been a member of both the Minutemen and the
Crimebusters. Proof of this can be found in Watchmen #2 as he is present at the
Minutemen’s photo shoot111 and years later at the Crimebusters meeting.112 His strategic
approach is shown during the latter event as besides him stands an easel with a map of the
103
Watchmen #2, 5/5
Watchmen #2, 6/1
105
Watchmen #2, 6/2
106
Watchmen #2, 32
107
Watchmen #2, 6/9 – 7/1
108
Watchmen #1, 32
109
Watchmen #2, 7/3,5
110
Watchmen #2, 29
111
As is shown in Watchmen #2, 4/8, 5/1 and 5/5
112
As is shown in Watchmen #2, 9/5 – 11/7
104
25
United States on which several cards are pinned, bearing tags such as ‘promiscuity,’ ‘antiwar demos’ and ‘drugs’.113 The tags are obscured by the flames after the Comedian has
lighted the map, but may be deciphered because Captain Metropolis has already named
these so-called ‘social evils’ to his fellow Crimebusters: ‘Specialized law enforcement is
standing still. Crime isn’t. New social evils emerge every day: promiscuity, drugs, campus
subversion, you name it!’114 The bottom right tag, however, may only be conclusively
deciphered because of an intertextual link between Under the Hood and the comic prose in
Watchmen. Because of the flames already mentioned, only the letters ‘b ack un est’ are
visible. A viable solution to what has become an exercise in fulfilment would be ‘black
unrest,’ which according to modern Western standards would be considered racially
insensitive and therefore inappropriate for a ‘hero.’ However, promiscuity is also now
generally more accepted and campus subversion nor anti-war demonstrations are generally
seen as threats to democracy, the latter even being a product of the very democratic system
Captain Metropolis would protect. The comic prose itself is therefore quite confusing for
readers, but Under The Hood provides an explanation as to why Captain Metropolis deems
‘black unrest’ a crime:
Captain Metropolis has gone on record as making statements about black and
Hispanic Americans that have been viewed as both racially prejudiced and
inflammatory, charges that it is difficult to argue or deny.115
3.7. Hooded Justice and Captain Metropolis
Both Captain Metropolis and Hooded Justice are politically and morally very conservative, as
is proven by both the comic prose and Under The Hood. They openly state their extremely
right-wing stances, Hooded Justice even ‘openly expressing approval for the activities of
Hitler’s Third Reich.’116 However, they also belong to a political minority because of their
homosexuality. Their sexual orientation is never explicitly mentioned, but it is implicitly
referred to multiple times throughout Watchmen. When Hooded Justice attacks the
Comedian as a punishment for attempting to rape Sally Juspeczyk, the Comedian ends the
assault by implying that the violence sparks a sexual tension within Hooded Justice: ‘This is
what you like, huh? This is what gets you hot…’117 Hooded Justice is struck with terror by
that remark, which is shown by an image in which his eyes are wide open. 118 He suddenly
understands that the Comedian knows about his sadomasochistic homosexual exploits,
which are mentioned by Laurence Schexnayder in a letter to Sally Juspeczyk: ‘Nelly says
[Hooded Justice] is always out when Nelly calls, out with boys, and apparently there’s a lot of
rough stuff going on.’119 Instead of continuing to beat the Comedian, Hooded Justice orders
him to leave immediately, which indicates that the Comedian’s words strike him
113
Watchmen #2, 11/4
Watchmen #2, 10/2
115
Watchmen #2, 30
116
Watchmen #2, 30
117
Watchmen #2, 7/6
118
Watchmen #2, 7/7
119
Watchmen #10, 31
114
26
emotionally: ‘Get out!’120 The second clue to Hooded Justice’s homosexuality is provided by
Under The Hood: ‘Strangely enough, even though Sally would always be hanging onto his
arm, he never seemed very interested in her.’121 By itself, this remark is of course
insufficient, as a man might as well be heterosexual and not show any interest one individual
woman. However, his disinterest is quite extreme, as after the Comedian leaves the room in
which the sexual assault took place, he turns to the bleeding and crying Sally Juspeczyk, only
to tell her to ‘[g]et up… And, for God’s sake, cover yourself up.’122 It would seem strange,
then, that according to Under The Hood, ‘[Sally and Hooded Justice] started going out
together, sort of, after the first Minutemen Christmas Party in 1939.’123 The key part of this
quote is the remark ‘sort of,’ which indicates that their relationship is not entirely what it
seems. In his letter to Juspeczyk, Laurence Schexnayder unveils the relationship to be
nothing but an alibi for Hooded Justice: ‘I know that you’ve provided a pretty steady alibi for
H.J. up to now.’124 His homosexuality is linked to that of the Silhouette, a former member of
the Minutemen: ‘One of these punks only has to go to the cops with a convincing story and
some convincing bruises to back it up and it would be the Silhouette fiasco all over again.’125
The fiasco mentioned was the public discovery of her homosexuality, which lead to her
exclusion from the Minutemen and eventual death. This is described in Under The Hood:
In 1946, the papers revealed that the Silhouette was living with another woman in a
lesbian relationship. Schexnayder persuaded us to expel her from the group, and six
weeks later she was murdered, along with her lover, by one of her former
enemies.126
In an interview with the magazine Probe, Sally Juspeczyk claims to believe dismissing the
Silhouette was unjust: ‘When the papers got hold of it, her being a – what is it – a gay
woman they say nowadays, when that happened, I thought it was wrong.’ 127 In explaining
her stance, she unveils that Silhouette was far from the only homosexual member of the
Minutemen: ‘I mean, she wasn’t the only gay person in the Minutemen […] It was a couple of
the guys, and they’re both dead now. One died recently.’128 Although James Gifford
convincingly argues that both Hooded Justice and Captain Metropolis are actually still alive
in 1985 and therefore cannot have died in respectively 1955 and 1974, all surviving
characters do consider them to be dead.129 The circumstances surrounding what is generally
thought of as their deaths are prime examples of the importance of the intratextual links
between the continuous prose and the comic prose in Watchmen. Gifford points out that
Watchmen #1, 25/4
is set in an upscale restaurant in October 1985 and focuses on two older, well-built
and obviously homosexual (and openly affectionate) men, with the nominal action of
120
Watchmen #2, 7/8
Watchmen #2, 31
122
Watchmen #2, 8/1
123
Watchmen #2, 31
124
Watchmen #10, 31
125
Watchmen #10, 31
126
Watchmen #2, 31
127
Watchmen #9, 32
128
Watchmen #9, 32
129
Gifford 2010, 2
121
27
the panel – part of the conversation between Dan and Laurie – relegated to a
background detail.130
The only character who effectively questions Hooded Justice’s death is Hollis Mason. In
Under The Hood, he refers to an article in the conservative newspaper The New
Frontiersman. Apparently, a circus strongman named Rolf Müller had quit his job and went
missing ‘at the height of the Senate Subcommittee hearings.’131 At the time of these
hearings, Hooded Justice refused to reveal his true identity to a representative of the House
UnAmerican Activities Committee and seemingly vanished. ‘Three months later, a badly
decomposed body that was tentatively identified as Müller’s was pulled from the sea after
being washed up on the coast of Boston.’132 Mason cautiously suggests that Hooded Justice
was the moniker of the circus strongman Rolf Müller:
Müller disappeared at almost exactly the same time as Hooded Justice was last seen,
and the two men had corresponding builds. Whether the body washed up on that
Boston shoreline belonged to Müller or not, neither he nor Hooded Justice were ever
seen or heard from again. Were they the same man? If they were, were they really
dead?133
After closely studying the appearances of the two men in the restaurant and comparing
them to images of Captain Metropolis such as those in Watchmen #2, panels 4/8, 9/5, 10/3
and 10/4 and the picture of Rolf Müller in Chapter 5 of Under The Hood, I can confirm with
near absolute certainty that the two men are indeed the former vigilantes. As Gifford
indicates, ‘[t]he men are of right age, near 70, and both very large and well-built.’134 Müller
bears the closest resemblance to one of the men in the restaurant because of his
moustache. Even though the old man does not have a full beard like Müller does in the
picture, he does sport exactly the same moustache as him. The other man has a small curl in
his hair, which Captain Metropolis does not have. However, a lock of hair is visible on the
centre of Captain Metropolis’ head, presumably being held down by hairspray. The two men
in the restaurant are therefore most probably Rolf Müller and Nelson Gardner, the birth
name of Captain Metropolis. Whereas the continuous prose and the comic image both
provide reasonable arguments to reach this conclusion, by themselves they are insufficient.
Only by combining them and unravelling the intratextual links between them can the
discussion about the fates of these two characters be resolved.
3.8. Dr. Manhattan (Jon Osterman)
The final two pages of Chapter 5 of Under The Hood primarily deal with Dr. Manhattan.
Before discussing how intratextuality influences the reader’s image of this character, I will
briefly introduce this so-called ‘Superman.’135 Having grown up as the son of a watchmaker,
130
Gifford 2010, 2
Watchmen #3, 30
132
Watchmen #3, 30
133
Watchmen #3, 30
134
Gifford 2010, 2
135
Watchmen #4, 13/1
131
28
Jon Osterman has taken up the trade as a hobby: ‘It’s 1945. I sit in a Brooklyn kitchen,
fascinated by an arrangement of cogs on black velvet.’136 In August 1959, Jon Osterman
becomes trapped within a test chamber in the Intrinsic Field Center at Gila Flats. Three
months after his disintegration by particle cannons, he slowly learns how to reassemble his
body. He first appears in the men’s room as a brain with eyes and a nerve system. On his
second appearance, ‘there is a circulatory system walking through the kitchen…’137 Four days
later, ‘[a] partially muscled skeleton stands by the perimeter fence and screams for thirty
seconds before vanishing…’138 On his fourth appearance, his new body is completed. With
this new body comes a new understanding of physics, including time. He is able to
disassemble every object and organism into particles as small as neutrinos and reassemble
those particles as he sees fit. Because of this, he can effectively teleport to every location in
the universe, an ability which he demonstrates when he exiles himself to Mars after Dough
Roth unveils that the radiation emitted from his body is the cause of cancer not only with his
nemesis Edgar ‘Moloch’ Jacobi, but also with his deceased friend Wally Weaver and his exwife Janey Slater:
Back in the early sixties, the newspapers called [Weaver] “Dr. Manhattan’s buddy.”
He died of cancer in 1971. […] Did you know that Jacobi also has terminal cancer? […]
Did you know that Ms. Janey Slater, linked romantically with you in the sixties, is
currently suffering from lung cancer? Doctors have given her six months to live.
Notice any connection?139
Watchmen #4 is dedicated to Dr. Manhattan as he reflects upon the events in his life leading
up to the accident which caused his rebirth and upon his ensuing life as the Superman. This
issue therefore yields a wealth of information on his character, but this information is not
entirely reliable because it all stems from one perspective and is therefore subjective. To
gain a full picture, other character’s perspectives also need to be taken into account. Again,
Watchmen separates itself from other superhero comics by employing intratextual links
between the comic prose and the continuous prose. Not only is Dr. Manhattan discussed in
Under The Hood, but the continuous prose in Watchmen #4 is also entirely focussed on this
character. Dr. Manhattan: super-powers and the superpowers is an essay by the fictional
Professor Milton Glass. To fully understand the character of Dr. Manhattan and the
consequences of his existence, all of these different text forms and genres – comic prose,
autobiographic continuous prose and academic prose – need to be linked to one another.
Under The Hood states that upon the announcement of Dr. Manhattan’s existence, ‘[a] new
phrase had entered the American language, just as a new and almost terrifying concept had
entered its consciousness.’140 This text does not mention, however, what the content of this
phrase actually was. The comic prose in Watchmen #4 does provide this information, as a
television newscaster utters it in March 1960: ‘We repeat: the Superman exists, and he’s
American.’141 The origin of this phrase appears to be at least partly attributed to Glass, as in
Dr. Manhattan: super-powers and the superpowers, Glass claims that
136
Watchmen #4, 2/4
Watchmen #4, 9/5
138
Watchmen #4, 9/6
139
Watchmen #3, 13/3, 14/1,3
140
Watchmen #3, 31
141
Watchmen #4, 13/1
137
29
a certain phrase was used that has – at varying times – been attributed both to me
and to others. On the newsflashes coming over our tvs on that fateful night, one
sentence was repeated over and over again: ‘The superman exists and he’s
American.’142
According to him, he has been misquoted, presumably ‘so as not to offend public
sensibilities.’143 Glass believes his original statement might have been too radical for
mainstream media to quote. In the essay, he clarifies that ‘[w]hat I said was “God exists and
he’s American.”’144 As this phrase could possibly become an inspiration for ‘a feeling of
intense and crushing religious terror,’145 it would then become an instigation of public
unrest. While Under The Hood mentions the media-friendly quote, the phrase itself is never
used in the text. Instead, it bears a similar phrase which more properly suits the perspective
of the ex-vigilante Hollis Mason: ‘It was the dawn of the Super-Hero.’146 Indeed, a few
months after Jon Osterman’s transformation into Dr. Manhattan, he is approached by a
marketing team, hired by the government, to ensure he will be presented as a true American
hero. They design a costume for him to carry on the tradition of the masked vigilante. He is
even designed a symbol, which he declines because ‘[i]t’s meaningless. A hydrogen atom
would be more appropriate.’147 When he brands his forehead with the symbol for this atom,
the photographer is enthusiastic about this choice: ‘I… I like it! It’s got something, you know?
It’s simple, but it’s… Yeah! Yeah, that’s good. People will remember it.’ 148 The final step
towards profiling the former Jon Osterman as something Mason calls a ‘Super-Hero’ is to
give him an awe-inspiring name, which turns out to be Dr. Manhattan. ‘[The marketing
team] explain that the name has been chosen for the ominous associations it will raise in
America’s enemies.’149 The name is a reference to the Manhattan Project, which is a
research project commonly known to have developed the first atomic bombs. In Watchmen,
this is clarified because the image accompanying the text shows a newspaper containing the
headline ‘Atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima.’150 The actual announcement of Dr.
Manhattan to the public is described in Under The Hood and provides a new perspective on
the comic prose’s display of the event. Both text forms even progress parallel to each other
in terms of content. While discussing and displaying the announcement, the comic prose
offering concrete examples of the more general statements made in Under The Hood. Mason
strongly doubts that
there can have been anybody on the planet who didn’t feel that same strange jumble
of emotions when they heard the news [about Dr. Manhattan’s existence]. Foremost
amongst this assortment of sensations was disbelief.151
When Sally Juspeczyk is asked how she feels about this new hero, her reaction demonstrates
what Mason describes as the general public opinion: ‘Well, you know… They say he walks
142
Watchmen #4, 31
Watchmen #4, 31
144
Watchmen #4, 31
145
Watchmen #4, 31
146
Watchmen #3, 31
147
Watchmen #4, 12/4
148
Watchmen #4, 12/7
149
Watchmen #4, 12/8
150
Watchmen #4, 12/8
151
Watchmen #3, 31
143
30
through walls and stuff. I’ll believe it when I see it.’152 Note that the newscast does not
contain any interviews with anonymous people. The two interviewees are Juspeczyk, who is
not wearing her costume at the time as she has already retired as a vigilante when Dr.
Manhattan is announced, and Captain Metropolis, who is still active. By only asking for the
opinions of (ex-)vigilantes, the reporters link Dr. Manhattan to the tradition of the masked
vigilante. The newscaster says that
[although] photographed late this afternoon at the Gila Flats test base, the
superhuman… Code-named Dr. Manhattan… has not spoken to the press. Instead, we
asked those costumed vigilantes remaining from the 1940’s masked hero fad how
they felt.153
The key word in this quote is ‘instead.’ Dr. Manhattan’s existence bears no inherent link to
masked crime fighting. He is a being with superhuman powers, as the newscaster
paraphrases anonymous Pentagon sources: ‘[T]his astonishing individual can control atomic
structure itself.’154 In demonstrations of this ability, Dr. Manhattan dismantles a rifle
telekinetically and destroys a Patton tank without any weaponry. None of this in any way
resembles the life or actions of a masked vigilante. He does not even wear a mask, nor does
he or anyone else announce that he plans on fighting crime. Still, the first witnesses
reporters turn to are former and current vigilantes, whom the newscaster describes as the
remnants of an old fad. While attending a Red Cross Charity Event ‘with several costumed
adventurers attending,’155 Dr. Manhattan notices that they are ‘friendly middle-aged men
who like to dress up. I have nothing in common with them.’156 Whether this particular panel
in Watchmen should be read as a memory or as an event which is currently happening is
open to discussion because to Dr. Manhattan, all events of his life occur simultaneously, as
he tries to explain to Janey Slater: ‘I can’t prevent the future. To me, it’s already
happening.’157 Kukkonen links Dr. Manhattan’s perception of time to Einstein’s theory of
relativity:
Jon spricht von sich ständig im Präsens, egal auf welcher definierten Zeitebene er sich
befindet und stimuliert so die essentielle Zeitlosigkeit des Daseins, die die
Relativitätstheorie unterstellt.158
While interesting, a further discussion of Dr. Manhattan’s perception of time would stray too
far from the subject of this dissertation, but I add this information for the sake of
completion.
In Under The Hood, Hollis Mason fears that Dr. Manhattan’s arrival has not only made
masked vigilantes, such as Nite Owl, obsolete, but also ‘every other living organism on the
planet.’159 This realisation may be linked to a conversation between Mason and Dr.
152
Watchmen #4, 13/7
Watchmen #4, 13/5-6
154
Watchmen #4, 13/ 2
155
Watchmen #4, 14/1
156
Watchmen #4, 14/1
157
Watchmen #4, 16/2
158
Kukkonen 2008, 28
159
Watchmen #3, 31
153
31
Manhattan at a civic banquet in Mason’s honour. Mason reveals his retirement plans to Dr.
Manhattan:
I’m better off retiring, writing my autobiography, repairin’ folks’ cars for ‘em… Cars
are something I’m happy with… And it’ll be awhile before even you can affect general
motors. See, I understand cars, how they work. That’s more’n I can say for the rest o’
this world.160
Even though Mason already understands that his occupation as a masked crime fighter has
become obsolete, he takes comfort in the thought that he still has a place in this world as a
mechanic. This final certainty, however, is removed by Dr. Manhattan when he announces to
Mason that ‘the new electric cars should be even simpler […] They’d have appeared before,
but there wasn’t enough lithium to mass-produce polyacetylene batteries. Of course, I can
synthesize it easily.’161 In Under The Hood, Mason shows that he has made peace with the
fact that he is no longer needed as a hero: ‘I think it was when than moment of self insight
hit me that I first decided to finally hang up my mask and get myself a proper job.’ 162 Even
though electric cars have become the norm, he has started a small auto repair shop as he
had planned. He never directly attacks the rapid technological progression in his
autobiography. Janey Slater, however, does attack Dr. Manhattan verbally for his influence
on the world: ‘You’re messing up my mind, Jon! Sometimes I think you’re messing
everything up! I mean, all this new technology, all because of you! Things are happening too
fast.’163 Like Slater, Milton Glass also fears that Dr. Manhattan’s existence might have
disastrous consequences for mankind. Whereas Mason merely doubts ‘that society has fully
realised yet just exactly what Dr. Manhattan’s arrival means; how much it’s likely to change
every detail of our lives,’164 Glass’ view on the subject is more negative: ‘Our entire culture
has had to contort itself to accommodate the presence of something more than human, and
we have all felt the results of this.’165 Glass believes that ‘One single being has been allowed
to change the entire world, pushing it closer to its eventual destruction in the process.’ 166 As
the nuclear arms race between the U.S.A. and the U.S.S.R. continues, the threat of nuclear
warfare grows ever stronger. According to Glass, the existence of Dr. Manhattan increases
this threat even more. Hector Godrey, editor of the newspaper The New Frontiersman, yields
a more positive image of Dr. Manhattan while attacking Douglas Roth, editor of Nova
Express and therefore direct contender of Godfrey, in an article entitled ‘Honor is like the
hawk: sometimes it must go hooded.’ After Roth has exposed that Dr. Manhattan’s mere
presence causes cancer in those around him, the superman exiles himself to Mars. About
this event, Godfrey writes that ‘Roth had spearheaded the cancer-smear character
assassination of Dr. Manhattan. This wild and hysterical attack led to our country’s greatest
tactical asset leaving this world for self-imposed exile upon another.’167 Unlike Slater and
Glass, Godfrey refers to Dr. Manhattan not as a threat, but as a tactical asset against the
Soviet Union. In the final paragraph of this article, Godfrey also refers to another article in
160
Watchmen #4, 15/4-5
Watchmen #4, 15/5-6
162
Watchmen #3, 32
163
Watchmen #4, 16/4-5
164
Watchmen #3, 32
165
Watchmen #4, 32
166
Watchmen #4, 32
167
Watchmen #8, 30
161
32
The New Frontiersman, of which Watchmen readers know nothing but the title: ‘Our
country’s protector smeared by the Kremlin.’168 Godfrey literally calls Dr. Manhattan the
protector of the U.S.A., which bears nothing but positive notions to him. To Glass, however,
this very protection potentially bears negative consequences because America’s ‘leaders
have become intoxicated with a heavy draught of Omnipotence-by-Association.’169
According to Glass, the American government will one day cross the line in terms of the
Soviet Union’s toleration of American expansionism, after which the U.S.S.R. might opt for
Mutually Assured Destruction. Glass points out that ‘Dr. Manhattan would be able to deflect
or disarm at least sixty percent of all incoming missiles before they had reached their
targets’170 in the case of a full scale nuclear assault, which would still not diminish the
devastating effects of the remaining missiles on the entire northern hemisphere. Dr.
Manhattan is undoubtedly the most important character in the Watchmen universe as he
affects not only the main and side characters, but every single human being. Without the
different text forms and the intratextual links between them, analysing this complex
character would be impossible as every text provides new perspectives and details.
By exploring the intratextual links between Under The Hood, other continuous prose within
Watchmen and the comic prose, I have analysed multiple characters. Whereas many other
superhero comics only use the comic prose to tell their stories, Watchmen also employs a
wealth of other text genres by adding continuous prose to every issue but the last. When
discussing characters like Hooded Justice and Captain Metropolis, the continuous prose is
indispensable because their presence in the comic prose is minimal. Characters like
Rorschach, Edward Blake, Sally Juspeczyk, Daniel Dreiberg and Dr. Manhattan, are featured
quite extensively in the comic prose, yet even they may only be fully analysed by means
Under The Hood and the other texts in continuous prose. These texts provide the details and
references needed to understand the characters’ psychology and their actions and as such
invite readers to participate in their psychological analysis.
168
Watchmen #8, 31
Watchmen #4, 32
170
Watchmen #4, 31
169
33
4. Intratextuality between Marooned and Watchmen
4.1. Introduction
The continuous prose in Watchmen #5 is allegedly the fifth chapter of the Treasure Island
Treasury Of Comics, written in 1984 by an author who is never named. Unlike all other
continuous prose texts in Watchmen, this text is not written by or for vigilantes, nor does it
discuss any of them, only casually mentioning that in the 1950’s, the government had
‘certain comic book-inspired agents in their employ.’171 Instead, it focuses on Tales of the
Black Freighter, a pirate comic series by Max Shea. According to the Treasury Island Treasury
Of Comics, over thirty issues have been released in this comic series, the first thirty-one of
them written by Max Shea. Issues twenty-four and twenty-five of this comic series each tell
half of the Marooned-story arc. They are shown to be read by Bernie, a teenager whose last
name is never mentioned, in Watchmen #3, Watchmen #5, Watchmen #8, Watchmen #9,
Watchmen #10 and Watchmen #11. Whenever he is depicted, he is sitting on the pavement
next to the newsvendor Bernard, whose last name is also never revealed. As Bernie reads
Marooned, Watchmen becomes a frame narrative for this comic. Under The Hood is
presented as an addendum to the comic prose which could be read by itself, effectively
pausing the events in Watchmen to allow the extracts from Under The Hood to be read
without any interruption. Marooned, however, progresses parallel to the events in the frame
narrative and even transgresses the boundaries between the story within a story and the
frame narrative. It does so by displaying text frames from Marooned in panels which depict
characters and events in the frame narrative. Similarly, dialogue from the frame narrative
frequently accompanies panels from Marooned. These combinations provide a plethora of
intratextual links between Marooned and its frame narrative. The following description by
the Treasury Island Treasury of Comics of Tales of the Black Freighter’s first issue, which
focuses on three men who recount stories of their misdeeds to each other in a dark tavern
as a ‘large, dark figure of a sea captain’172 listens, can obviously be linked to Marooned’s
status as a story within the main story of Watchmen: ‘The stories are recounted as small,
self-contained tales within the larger narrative that frames them.’173 Marooned is actually a
similar story to those of the three storytellers, as it is tells the story of a young mariner who
commits horrible deeds in an effort to reach Davidstown, his hometown. After his ship is
wrecked by the Black Freighter, he washes ashore only to realize that he is the sole survivor
of the onslaught. As he is convinced that the Black Freighter is on its way to the mariner’s
homestead to murder its citizens and plunder its riches, he desperately wants to return
home to save his family. In an effort to escape the island, he creates a raft using the ‘recently
buried and gas-bloated corpses of his shipmates.’174 By means of this raft, he eventually
reaches the shore of Davidstown. Meanwhile, he strongly believes that the Black Freighter
has already murdered his loved ones. He recognizes the first people he sees and thinks that
they are collaborators who helped the crew of the Black Freighter. After murdering them, he
finally returns home, only to notice that the house is occupied. As he tries to kill a woman,
he suddenly realizes that she is his wife and that his children are in the hallway. Then, he
171
Watchmen #5, 29
Watchmen #5, 29
173
Watchmen #5, 29
174
Watchmen #5, 31
172
34
realizes that the Black Freighter has never attacked Davidstown, but was only waiting for
him to board it as the newest member of a crew consisting only of damned souls who have
earned their place on the Freighter by committing horrible misdeeds.
The first chapter of this dissertation dealt with the interplay between text and image. The
second chapter discussed intratextuality between continuous prose and comic prose. This
chapter combines both strategies to analyze the intratextual links between Marooned and
its frame narrative, although comic prose will be more prevalent than continuous prose as
this chapter is primarily concerned with the intratextual links between Marooned and its
frame narrative than it is with such links between Marooned and the Treasury Island
Treasury of Comics. The reason behind this is that the last connection is as obvious as the
connection between this dissertation and Watchmen. As the Treasury Island Treasury of
Comics discusses Tales of the Black Freighter, it constantly references this comic series,
although it should be noted that any and all references are intratextual as both the Treasury
Island Treasury of Comics and Tales of the Black Freighter only exist within the Watchmen
universe and therefore both belong to one and the same literary work. Conversely, when
this dissertation refers to Watchmen, these references are inherently intertextual because
they refer from one text to another.
4.2. The Black Freighter as a nuclear threat
Marooned’s strong connection to Watchmen is accentuated during its first appearance. In
Watchmen #3, eight of the first nine panels contain a text frame which originates from
Marooned and a text balloon which displays a part of Bernard’s monologue about his
expertise as a newsvendor. However, none of the first nine panels show an image from
Marooned. Instead, they leave readers to wonder about the origins of this text, searching for
a speaking character within what is only in the tenth panel revealed as the frame narrative:
‘Gleich einem voice over im Film sind diese Worte nicht im Bild verortet. Erst am Ende dieser
Seite sehen wir den Leser des Comics und erst auf der nächsten Seite wird der Erzähltext als
Element des Comic im Comic identifiziert.’175 Therefore, the first eight text containing panels
suggest that the text from Marooned is linked to both the text and image from the frame
narrative, characterising and providing a commentary on Bernard while commenting on
events throughout the story of Watchmen.
The second panel’s image shows a ‘Fallout Shelter’-sign in close-up view. Only part of the
sign is visible, showing a black symbol on a yellow background. Accompanying this image is a
description by the mariner, whom first-time readers consider to be an anonymous voice at
this point, of the Black Freighter: ‘Delirious, I saw that hell-bound ship’s black sails against
the yellow indies sky, and knew again the stench of powder, and men’s brains, and war.’176
The colours mentioned in the mariner’s description coincide with those on the ‘Fallout
Shelter’-sign, linking the yellow sky to the yellow background and the black sails of the Black
Freighter to the black radiation trefoil. By extension, the threat of the Black Freighter is
linked to the threat of nuclear warfare in Watchmen. In Dr. Manhattan: super-powers and
175
176
Kukkonen 2008, 60
Watchmen #3, 1/1
35
the superpowers, Milton Glass points out that the U.S.S.R. might one day opt for Mutually
Assured Destruction when ‘threatened with eventual domination.’177 This is exactly what the
mariner does in Marooned when he escapes from the island. He refuses to let the Black
Freighter assert its dominance over Davidstown and is willing to do everything in his power
to save his family. When he believes he has failed and presumes his family is dead, he
ultimately opts for a mutually assured destruction in the sense that he plans on avenging his
family by killing those who murdered them, and he even counts on dying in the process:
‘Dear God, let me have vengeance, then die swiftly… Delivered in the hands of a higher
judgment.’178 In the same panel as the mariner’s description of the scene, a disembodied
voice, which in the fourth panel turns out to be that of the newsvendor Bernard, suggests
that ‘[w]e oughtta nuke Russia, and let God sort it out.’ Similarly to the mariner’s plan to
exact vengeance upon the Black Freighter, the newsvendor thinks that the only way to end
the nuclear threat is to be the first to launch a nuclear attack, risking Mutually Assured
Destruction. Bernard and the mariner are also linked to one another because they both
believe that God will ultimately decide their fate.
The illustration in the third panel is the third one in a row to show the ‘Fallout Shelter’-sign,
but it is the first to show it in its entirety. Meanwhile, the mariner describes the prow of the
Black Freighter: ‘The heads nailed to its prow looked down, those with eyes; gull-eaten; saltcaked; liplessly mouthing, “No use! All’s lost!”’179 The ‘Fallout Shelter’-sign indicates two
things: firstly, it is a sign of impending nuclear warfare, as fallout shelters would be obsolete
if there were no such threat. Secondly, it implies that ‘even in the face of Armageddon,’180
there is still reason to hope for survival because its direct meaning is that within such a
shelter, people could even survive a nuclear assault. In Marooned, however, the signs are
nothing but portents of doom. They are heads of people who have been damned, warning
the mariner that whatever he does, his fate has already been sealed. In a sense, the heads
are also signs which indicate the presence of a shelter, as the Black Freighter ultimately
becomes the mariner’s shelter after he is, to quote the Treasure Island Treasury Of Comics,
‘marooned from the rest of humanity in a much more terrible fashion.’181 Bernard,
meanwhile, continues his monologue: ‘I mean, I see the signs, read the headlines, look
things inna face, y’know?’182 Of course, Bernard uses the expression ‘to look something in
the face’ as a metaphor because it is inherently impossible to look an abstract fact such as
‘nuclear threat’ or ‘destruction’ in its face as it simply does not have a physical face. In the
mariner’s case, however, a literal sense does exist. He can actually look the object of his
pending doom in the face because the heads which are ‘nailed to its prow’183 are part of the
Black Freighter. Therefore, whenever he aims his vision towards one of these heads,
although he does not necessarily look in the face of the ship, he does look at a face of the
Black Freighter, which still renders a literal meaning to the phrase.
177
Watchmen #4, 32
Watchmen #10, 23/8-9
179
Watchmen #3, 1/2
180
Watchmen #1, 24/6
181
Watchmen #5, 31
182
Watchmen #3, 1/2
183
Watchmen #3, 1/2
178
36
4.3. Marooned and the fate of Max Shea
The fourth panel is linked to the disappearance and ultimate death of Max Shea, author of
Marooned. Here, the ‘Fallout Shelter’-sign is shown in the background while it is being
screwed to a wall by a contractor. The foreground subtly sports an issue of The New
Frontiersman with a picture of Shea on its cover. The headline reads ‘Missing writer: Castro
to blame?’184 Shea is one of the writers mentioned by the Comedian while this vigilante is
pouring his heart out to Edgar Jacobi: ‘On that island they got writers, scientists, artists, and
what they’re doing…’185 Shea’s disappearance is later recalled during a newscast to
announce that the police is no longer searching for him: ‘Meanwhile, at home, police
stopped searching for missing writer Max Shea, having failed to open any new lines of
investigation…’186 The Treasure Island Treasury Of Comics acknowledges that Shea’s
disappearance was indeed quite mysterious: ‘In circumstances as strange as those in any of
his stories, the writer apparently vanished from his home one morning and has not been
seen since.’187 In the aforementioned fourth panel of Watchmen #3, the Mariner’s story
continues: ‘The waves about me were scarlet, foaming, horribly warm, yet still the
Freighter’s hideous crew called out, “More blood! More blood!”’188 This description is similar
to Max Shea’s own death. In the above summary of Marooned, it has been established that
only those who have committed terrible misdeeds can become damned to a life as a
crewmember on the Black Freighter. In a sense, Shea is such a damned soul as after he and
the other artists and scientists are abducted to an unknown island, he helps to engineer the
monster that Veidt ultimately uses to destroy most of New York’s population. Even though
Shea and the other accomplices are unaware of the true purpose of the monster they
create, they all contribute to this mass murder, thinking that they are just creating an
enormously expensive special effect for a movie, as Shea indicates: ‘I tellya, this place…
Goddamned paranoid movie companies! It’s been like being shipwrecked. I remember, I
wrote this story once…’189 He compares Marooned to his own situation, but there are more
similarities between the story and his own situation than he understands.
Three days later, all of Veidt’s abductees enter a ship of Pyramid Deliveries, a company
indirectly run by Adrian Veidt which allows him to commit several crimes without becoming
a suspect himself. This time, the surrealist painter Hira Manish and Max Shea talk about the
alleged movie project. Manish points out that ‘this movie has involved extraordinary
secrecy…’190 Everybody simply refuses to believe anything other than this project’s goal
being a movie effect, as Shea shows when he tells Manish about an experiment on a human
brain: ‘Yeah, and I know why. That geneticist guy, Furnesse, told me they’d used a human
brain making that goddamned special effect.’191 As their sea voyage begins, Manish refers to
Marooned again: ‘Did [your shipwrecked voyager] escape his island?’192 Once more, Shea’s
184
Watchmen #3, 1/3
Watchmen #2, 23/4
186
Watchmen #7, 13/2
187
Watchmen #6, 32
188
Watchmen #3, 1/3
189
Watchmen #8, 11/4
190
Watchmen #10, 17/3
191
Watchmen #10, 17/3
192
Watchmen #10, 17/4
185
37
answer bears a similarity to his own situation: ‘Well, yes, but… Hey! Feel that? We’re
moving.’193 Although he interrupts his own sentence, readers of Marooned know that the
second part of that answer would be that even though the mariner does escape the island,
he is damned nonetheless. Mere moments after his answer, Shea discovers that the ship
contains a bomb which is about to explode and destroy the entire ship. As it detonates,
Shea’s life ends similarly to the mariner’s innocence as the waves around the Pyramid
Deliveries ship are also ‘foaming, horribly warm’194 as a consequence of the energy released
by the bomb. As the mariner washes ashore, so does part of Shea as a sketch of the monster,
drawn by Manish using the real monster – as imagined by Shea – as a model, reaches the
shore after the explosion.’195 In Marooned, the mariner recalls the Black Freighter’s crew
shouting ‘More blood! More blood!’196 This refers to Bernard as in the same panel, he says:
‘I’m a newsvendor goddamnit! I’m informed on the situation! We oughtta nuke ‘m till they
glow!’197 Bernard states that the government of the U.S.A. should command a nuclear
assault on the U.S.S.R., which would mean the destruction of the Soviet Union, and possibly
that of the U.S.A. if a counterassault would be issued. In other words, he calls out for a mass
murder, just like the crewmen of the Black Freighter call out for blood. Bernard is here
compared to the Freighter’s crew.
4.4. Marooned and Bernard
The similarities between Bernard and the Freighter’s crew may or may not be recognised by
Bernie, the teenager who is first depicted in the fifth panel of Watchmen #3. Careful readers
may at first realise that the mariner’s monologue stems from a story within a story as Bernie
is holding an issue of Tales of the Black Freighter. However, this is a very subtle detail made
only visible to those who study the panel very closely. The cover of the comic is anything but
emphasised visually as it is coloured very darkly compared to, for example, its back cover.
Visually, Bernie himself is subtly linked to Marooned’s text frame in this panel as the smoke
from his cigarette passes behind this frame – a visual tendency which is continued until
panel 2/4 – which says: ‘Its tar-streaked hull rolled over me. In despair I sank beneath those
foul, pink billows, offering up my wretched soul to almighty God, His mercy and His
judgment.’198 The image of a massive object of destruction and the fear of death that it
stimulates is evocative of Veidt’s monster’s arrival in New York. As Veidt explains to
Rorschach and Nite Owl just before the explosion, ‘[t]eleported to New York, my creature’s
death would trigger mechanisms within its massive brain, cloned from a human sensitive…
The resultant psychic shockwave killing half the city.’199 When it is teleported, a reel of small
images depicts many side characters, the most prominently depicted being Bernard and
193
Watchmen #10, 17/4
Watchmen #3, 1/3
195
Watchmen #10, 17/7
196
Watchmen #3, 1/3
197
Watchmen #3, 1/3
198
Watchmen #3, 1/4
199
Watchmen #11, 26/4
194
38
Bernie.200 As these characters realise that they are about to die at the first glance of the
monster, their eyes widen while Bernard and Bernie embrace each other, hoping to seek
comfort during the final moment of their life. Instead of running away from the monster,
they instantly accept their death and remain where they are, together. Similarly, the mariner
offers up his ‘wretched soul to almighty God’201 as he realises that he is powerless against
such a massive monstrosity as the Black Freighter.
As the mariner continues, he recounts the first moment when he realises he has somehow
survived the Black Freighter’s assault: ‘Waking from nightmare, I found myself upon a dismal
beach-head, amongst dead men and the pieces of dead men.’202 The mariner’s situation is
similar to that of Laurel Juspeczyk and Dr. Manhattan when they arrive in New York at
‘[m]idnight, November second.’203 After Laurel has convinced Dr. Manhattan of the value of
human life while on Mars, they both return to New York only to realise that they are too
late. Veidt’s monster has already reached New York and fulfilled its purpose. After Laurel’s
nightmarish discovery that the Comedian is her father, she and Dr. Manhattan arrive in the
middle of the havoc wreaked by the monster. They literally stand amongst ‘dead men and
the pieces of dead men.’204 While Bernie is reading about the Freighter’s assault and the
mariner’s subsequent awakening, Bernard continues his monologue, unknowingly exposing
similarities with Dr. Manhattan. ‘‘Course, that’s just my opinion. For what that’s worth,
y’know? Inna final analysis.’205 Bernard strongly believes that his opinion is logical because as
a newsvendor, he deems himself informed on the matter and therefore able to analyse the
political situation. He claims that the U.S.A. should ‘nuke [the U.S.S.R.] till they glow’206
without showing the slightest sympathy for the citizens of the Soviet Union. Similarly,
although more extreme, Dr. Manhattan’s arrival in New York after the mass murder does not
prompt him to feel any empathy for the dead that surround him. His first reaction is to pick
up a newspaper, check the date and say ‘That’s unusual. I’d expected us to reappear on
earth much earlier.’207 While Laurel is horrified at the sight of the monster and the dead
bodies around her, Dr. Manhattan is solely focused on solving the mystery of how and why
this event has transpired. He is thrilled by this experience: ‘I’d almost forgotten the
excitement of not knowing, the delights of uncertainty…’208 Of course, Bernard is nowhere
near as analytical and apathetic as Dr. Manhattan, but during his monologue on the first
pages of Watchmen #3, he does share at least a portion of Dr. Manhattan’s analytical
tendency.
In the sixth panel of Watchmen #3, the mariner describes how the corpse of a fellow
crewmember is being eaten: ‘Bosun Ridley lay nearby. Birds were eating his thoughts and
memories.’209 These thoughts and memories are a metaphor for Ridley’s brain, so the
mariner is saying that the birds are picking at the man’s head, eating his brain. While Bernie
200
In no less than seven out of thirteen panels on page twenty-eight, while all other characters on this page are
depicted but once.
201
Watchmen #3, 1/4
202
Watchmen #3, 2/1
203
Watchmen #12, 7/2
204
Watchmen #3, 2/1
205
Watchmen #3, 1/4 – 2/1
206
Watchmen #3, 1/3
207
Watchmen #12, 7/2
208
Watchmen #12, 7/3
209
Watchmen #3, 2/2
39
is reading this sentence, Bernard keeps on emphasising that he is speaking as a very
informed newsvendor: ‘Lissen, I see every goddamn front page in the world. I absorb
information! I miss nothing.’210 As all information humans learn is stored within their brains,
the juxtaposition of the mariner’s utterance with that of Bernard invokes irony. Whereas
Bernard overstates that he constantly absorbs all information concerning the entire world,
Ridley’s brain is being described as slowly losing all thoughts and memories stored within as
it is being eaten. The irony is carried even further by the fact that Bernard is facing the
pavement and an outer wall of the Institute for Extraspacial Studies, effectively missing
everything that is happening in the street behind him, like for example the contractor
putting up the ‘Fallout Shelter’-sign on the wall behind Bernard.
In the seventh panel, Bernard gives an example of the kind of analyses he makes:
‘F’r’instance… The more disasters happen, the more papers I sell! Explain that!’211
Meanwhile, Bernie reads a sentence which the mariner addresses directly at the reader of
Marooned: ‘Reader, take comfort from this: in Hell, at least the gulls are contended.’212 As a
first-time reader of Watchmen might still be at a loss as to who is the speaker of the
mariner’s monologue, the only clue given so far is the subtle cover of Tales of the Black
Freighter on panel 1/4, this utterance by the mariner might well be interpreted by such a
reader as being addressed to the readers of Watchmen instead of to the readers of
Marooned. This ambiguity, which is resolved two panels later further in Watchmen, provides
the short-lived possibility that the mariner is actually directly commenting on Bernard in this
panel. Even after this situation is disambiguated, a humorous effect persists because of the
co-existence of both Bernard’s and the mariner’s utterance within the same panel. The more
disasters happen, the closer the world in which they happen becomes related to the
Christian concept of Hell. As more people suffer, Bernard sells more papers. The
combination of both his statement and that of the mariner compares Bernard to a gull, a
comparison which actually describes two aspects of Bernard’s occupation as a newsvendor.
Firstly, he earns more money as the international political situation deteriorates. Secondly,
the mariner’s remark can be interpreted as referring to the previous panel, in which Bernard
claims to ‘absorb information’213 while the mariner describes how Ridley’s ‘thoughts and
memories’214 are being eaten by birds. As the mariner finds himself ‘upon a dismal beachhead,’215 it is safe to assume that those birds are seagulls. Comparably to the gulls eating
Ridley’s brain, Bernard reads the newspapers to absorb information provided by others.
In the eighth panel, the mariner’s monologue creates a distance between him and Bernard,
who wants to read all newspapers and as such be an indirect witness to all events in the
world, both good and bad. To him, disasters have the positive consequence of enabling him
to sell more newspapers and generate more revenue. According to Bernard, ‘everything’s
connected. A newsvendor unnerstands that. He don’t retreat from reality.’ 216 Because of his
job as a newsvendor, he can read every paper he sells. In his mind, this creates the illusion
that he knows everything there is to know about the current events in the world. As this job
210
Watchmen #3, 2/2
Watchmen #3, 2/3
212
Watchmen #3, 2/3
213
Watchmen #3, 2/2
214
Watchmen #3, 2/2
215
Watchmen #3, 2/1
216
Watchmen #3, 2/4
211
40
is his only source of income, he cannot afford to ‘retreat from reality,’217 or at least from the
reality created by the newspapers. However horrific the events covered in this media may
be, he needs to read it all if he wants to be a good newsvendor. The mariner, however, has
no desire whatsoever to be the witness of horrors: ‘For my part, I begged that [the gulls]
should take my eyes, thus sparing me further horrors.’218 He is still trapped on the
beachhead amidst the corpses of his fellow crewmembers. All he sees around him are the
consequences of the Black Freighter’s assault: death and destruction. This environment
terrifies him, so unlike the newsvendor he would ‘retreat from reality’ if he could. The
difference between Bernard’s and the mariner’s situation is that while Bernard merely reads
about horrors in the relative safety of his newsstand, the mariner experiences a life
threatening event in which every direct human witness – assuming the Black Freighter’s
crew is not human anymore – except for the mariner is killed. Of course, this is not how
Bernard sees it.
In the next two panels, Bernard describes his occupation as a newsvendor as that of a hero.
For the first time in Watchmen, these panels represent panels from Marooned. Only here
can a first-time reader know for certain that the mariner’s monologue stems from this pirate
comic. While the mariner stands at the shore, his monologue says that ‘[u]nheeded, I stood
in the surf and wept, unable to bear my circumstances.’219 This text is juxtaposed with
Bernard’s claim that ‘[t]he weight o’ the world’s on him, but does he quit? Nah! He’s like
Atlas! He can take it!220 Bernard is still talking about his occupation of a newsvendor, whose
knowledge of the world feels as a burden. Compared to the mariner’s situation, Bernard’s
claim is laughable as his job requires nothing more of him than to sit on a chair and wait for
the next customer to buy a magazine or newspaper. While he boasts about carrying the
weight of the world, the mariner admits that he cannot cope with his predicament. At this
moment, the mariner is utterly hopeless. The next panel shows a close-up on his face, which
shows this hopelessness even more clearly as the mariner does not know how he must now
continue his life. Meanwhile, Bernard is still boasting about his occupation as a newsvendor:
‘He’s a survivor.’221 As the mariner is shown to have lost all self-confidence, Bernard’s selfconfidence rises ever higher as he continues to commend his occupation. The irony reaches
its peak when the mariner says that ‘Eventually, my tears ceased. My misfortunes were
small: I was alive…’222 He realises that even though everyone around him is dead, he has
survived the onslaught. This still gives him a chance to recuperate, save his family and live a
potentially long and prosperous life. As the mariner regains his self-confidence, he can be
linked to Rorschach as his survival instinct is not even compromised in the face of what the
mariner might well consider to be Armageddon. While the mariner slowly recovers from the
Black Freighter’s attack, Bernard gives an example of the hardships he has to endure as a
newsvendor: ‘It’s like this afternoon: Nova Express is holdin’ its front page, so no delivery ‘til
tonight! A catastrophe! … But I coped!’223 Considering the mariner’s near-death experience,
a late delivery of one newspaper is a trivial matter. The only thing being threatened by the
postponement of the delivery is a small portion of Bernard’s revenue, while the mariner is
217
Watchmen #3, 2/4
Watchmen #3, 2/4
219
Watchmen #3, 2/5
220
Watchmen #3, 2/5
221
Watchmen #3, 2/6
222
Watchmen #3, 2/7
223
Watchmen #3, 2/7
218
41
stranded on an unknown island after being assaulted by a demonic ship. Both the mariner
and Bernard say that they have found a way to mentally deal with the situation, which is a
much greater achievement in the mariner’s case. Compared to the mariner, Bernard makes a
fool of himself by boasting about his small accomplishment, an act which grows more
ridiculous as he continues on the next panel: ‘Newsvendors always cope! They’re
indestructible! They thrive on disaster!’224 Again, Bernard refers to the fact that he sells
more newspapers if more disasters happen. The parallel content of Bernard’s monologue
and that of the mariner ends when the mariner continues his last sentence: ‘… And I knew
that life had no worse news to offer me.’225 Up until now, the mariner has been assaulted
and the ship he manned has been destroyed by the Black Freighter. As he awoke, he realised
he was the sole survivor and he wished the horror to end. Now, however, he takes comfort
in the fact that nothing worse could ever happen to him than what has just transpired. While
the mariner slowly finds a relative inner peace, Bernard is startled by Walter Kovacs, who is
carrying a wooden sign with the words ‘The end is nigh’226 and has an angry expression on
his face as he asks for his daily newspaper: ‘Good afternoon. Is it here yet?’227
4.5. Marooned and Dr. Manhattan
The next part of Marooned is no longer linked to Bernard. Instead, it refers to Dr. Manhattan
as he struggles in his romantic relationships, first with Janey Slater and then with Laurel
Juspeczyk. The mariner divulges that ‘I had a sudden memory of clinging fast to someone
through the tempest.’228 This memory can be linked to Dr. Manhattan as while he is still Jon
Osterman, he accidentally becomes trapped in the intrinsic field test chamber at Gila Flats.
Unable to escape before the next experiment begins, he is disintegrated. Once he realises he
will certainly die, he feels the need to have his loved one, Janey Slater, by his side: ‘Janey?
Don’t go! I need…’229 Slater, however, cannot cope with this situation and runs away as the
particle cannons are steadily readied to begin the disintegration process: ‘The door slams
behind her. I look at Dr. Glass, but he looks away. I can hear the shields sliding back from the
particle cannons.’230 Even though Slater is no longer present at the scene, he still desperately
wants to hold something belonging to her, hoping that the object will somehow comfort
him: ‘There’s something in my pocket. I take it out to examine… Good as new.’231 Slater’s
watch, which Osterman had repaired for her before the accident, provides him with a way to
briefly think of something else than his imminent death. Whereas Osterman does not have
anyone to comfort him before his disintegration, the mariner does remember finding
someone – or better, something – to allay his chances of death: ‘The figurehead lay at my
feet, blindfolded by seaweed.’232 By clinging to the figurehead, he was able to wash ashore
224
Watchmen #3, 2/8
Watchmen #3, 2/8
226
Watchmen #3, 2/9
227
Watchmen #3, 2/9
228
Watchmen #3, 3/6
229
Watchmen #4, 7/9
230
Watchmen #4, 8/1
231
Watchmen #4, 8/1-2
232
Watchmen #3, 3/6
225
42
alive while the other crewmen drowned or were otherwise killed by the crew of the Black
Freighter. He does not regard the statue as an item, instead referring to it as if it were an
actual woman and not a wooden depiction of one. This particular image of a blindfolded
woman laying by the mariner’s feet is similar to the relationship between Dr. Manhattan and
Janey Slater during the first few months after Jon Osterman was transformed into Dr.
Manhattan. When he first appears as the superman, in the cafeteria at Gila Flats, Slater is
present and literally at his feet as he floats in the air, his feet at about the same height as the
scientist’s heads. On their first Christmas together, Slater sits on the floor and confesses that
she is afraid because of Dr. Manhattan’s superhuman powers: ‘I’m just scared because
everything feels weird. It’s as if everything’s changed. Not just you: everything!’ 233 She is
metaphorically blindfolded because, as she confesses, she does not understand what is
happening to the Jon Osterman she once knew and loved. The mariner first plans to take off
the figurehead’s blindfold, but stops himself as he realises there is no merit in seeing the
devastation on the beachhead: ‘I made to take the ribbon of kelp from off her painted eyes,
then thought better of it, not wishing her to suffer the terrible distractions of that grim
tideline.’234 This is similar to the moment when Dr. Manhattan tries to explain to Janey Slater
that he can see the future, but not change it: ‘I can’t prevent the future. To me, it’s already
happening.’235 He is carefully removing the metaphorical blindfold from Slater’s eyes
concerning his perception of time, but like the mariner eventually leaves the kelp on the
figurehead’s eyes, so too does Dr. Manhattan refuse to fully explain his perception of time to
Slater. She asks ‘Jon, what are you saying? That you know the future? About everything?
About us?’236 Again, he partly removes her metaphorical blindfold by telling her that ‘[i]n
1959, I could hear you shouting, here, now, in 1963. Soon we make love…’237 He does not
say, however, that he already knows how their relationship is going to end or that he already
knew that in 1959 while he falsely promised her that he would always want her: ‘As I lie I
hear her shouting at me in 1963; sobbing in 1966.238 He does not want her to know this
future yet as he wants to spare her the pain of already knowing for certain that their
relationship will end because of Slater’s jealousy towards Dr. Manhattan’s sexual arousal by
Laurel Juspeczyk, who is much younger than Slater. The metaphor of the blindfold may also
refer to Dr. Manhattan’s relationship with Juspeczyk. As Dr. Manhattan explains to her while
they are both on Mars, he has always known that there would be a moment on which he
would learn that Juspeczyk leaves him, and another moment she would tell him about her
sexual intercourse with Daniel Dreiberg: ‘This is where we hold our conversation. It
commences when you surprise me with the information that you and Dreiberg have been
sleeping together.’239 Without going too far into the complexities of Dr. Manhattan’s ability
to see the future, it should suffice to note that he even though he can still be surprised, he
already knows the information that surprises him because of the simultaneousness of all
events in his time perception. In other words, he could have already told Juspeczyk that she
would one day grow tired of his ever growing apathy as he already possessed that
information before even meeting her.. However, he has always kept the metaphorical
blindfold before her eyes as he cannot disrupt the predetermined future.
233
Watchmen #4, 11/6
Watchmen #3, 3/7
235
Watchmen #4, 16/2
236
Watchmen #4, 16/2
237
Watchmen #4, 16/3
238
Watchmen #4, 11/9
239
Watchmen #9, 6/4
234
43
In 1985, Dr. Manhattan no longer has any affinity with Earth or its population, save for Laurel
Juspeczyk, as he explains on Mars: ‘I said, often, that you were my only link, my only concern
with the world.’240 Now that she is in a relationship with Daniel Dreiberg, however, Dr.
Manhattan no longer feels that he has any stake in Earth: ‘When you left me, I left Earth.
Does that not say something? Now you have replaced me, and that link is shattered.’ 241
According to his purely logical train of thought, there is no advantage to saving mankind
from annihilation: ‘All that pain and conflict done with? All that needless suffering over at
last? No… No, that doesn’t bother me.’242 Similar to Dr. Manhattan, the mariner in
Marooned sees the figurehead as his only link to life, as without it he would not have been
able to drift towards the mainland before drowning in the waves created by the Black
Freighter: ‘Her damp embrace had prevented me from drifting beyond reach, yet this small
comfort [of the blindfold] was all I could offer.’243 He credits the figurehead for saving his
life, creating for himself the illusion that she has the ability to care for and even love him: ‘I
could not love her as she had loved me.’244 The mariner does not know how to repay the
figurehead for saving him. He mistakes the convenience of having a piece of wood to float
while in the water for actual love of the figurehead. Dr. Manhattan does not make such a
mistake as Juspeczyk is a real woman, but nonetheless he finds himself in a similar crisis. As a
consequence of his logical perception of the universe, his emphatic capabilities slowly
decrease. He still loves Juspeczyk, but is unable to properly channel these emotions as he
has simply forgotten how to do this. Dr. Manhattan and the mariner are visually linked by
means of the images in panels 3/9 and 4/1 in Watchmen #3 and panel 11/8 in Watchmen #4.
In the first of these panels, the mariner encircles the figurehead’s head with his hands, while
in the second Dr. Manhattan does the same thing with Juspeczyk and in the third, it is
Slater’s head he encircles in a similar manner. When does this with Juspeczyk, it arouses her
sexually and it seems that Dr. Manhattan has found a way to please her. When she notices
that more than two hands are touching her, however, she is startled as she opens her eyes
and sees that Dr. Manhattan has cloned himself in an effort to satisfy her: ‘I thought you’d
enjoy it. I do try to please you…’245 He does not comprehend that Juspeczyk yearns for an
emotional relationship, which is something he no longer knows how to provide. During their
sexual foreplay a third clone of Dr. Manhattan is conducting a scientific experiment because
his ‘work is at an important stage! It seemed unnecessary to’246 pause his work to focus all
his attention on her. Like the mariner, he cannot love her as she loves him, or at least he
cannot show her that he does.
After Dr. Manhattan learns that his presence has caused cancer with Edgar Jacobi, Janey
Slater and Wally Weaver, he leaves Earth to exile himself on Mars. As he disappears from
Earth, the mariner’s monologue continues:
240
Watchmen #9, 8/8
Watchmen #9, 8/8-9
242
Watchmen #9, 10/6
243
Watchmen #3, 3/9
244
Watchmen #3, 4/1
245
Watchmen #3, 4/5
246
Watchmen #5, 5/5
241
44
That night, I slept badly beneath cold, distant stars, pondering upon the cold, distant
God in whose hands the fate of Davidstown rested. Was he really there? Had he been
there once, but now departed?247
Here, the mariner is not himself linked to Dr. Manhattan. Instead, Dr. Manhattan is linked to
the image of a god because the image accompanying the above quote of the mariner is a
picture of a star filled night sky, viewed from the location where Dr. Manhattan initiated his
teleportation towards Mars. As has been discussed previously in this dissertation, he is
deemed a god in the essay Dr. Manhattan: super-powers and the superpowers by Milton
Glass. ‘Cold’ and ‘distant,’ the adjectives assigned to God by the mariner also apply to Dr.
Manhattan. In Under The Hood, Hollis Mason remembers that he ‘personally found Dr.
Manhattan to be a little distant,’248 while the purely logical mind of the superman often
renders him emotionless. Juspeczyk describes Dr. Manhattan’s lack of emotions to Daniel
Dreiberg after she has ended her relationship with Dr. Manhattan using an example:
I mean, tonight, right? I walked out, after twenty years, and y’know what I bet he’s
doing? His big, emotional reaction? He’s either smartening up for his T.V. interview or
watching quarks get stuck to gluinos. Maybe both.249
The image accompanying Juspeczyk’s example proves that she is correct. Dr. Manhattan is
indeed dressing himself for his first ever television interview without the slightest visible
emotional reaction. Of course, he is not entirely without emotion. When he tries to exit the
television studio after Doug Roth has unveiled that the radiation emitted from his body
causes cancer, the journalists form a dense crowd around Dr. Manhattan, hoping to get
answers. This is the only time the superman shows his emotional side. He is distraught
because of the cancer related allegations and wants to be alone: ‘Please… If everybody
would just go away and leave me alone…’250 Since the crowd around him fails to adhere to
his request, he forces them to leave by teleporting them all outside of the studio while
shouting: ‘I said leave me alone!’251 Still, this emotional outburst does not alleviate the
public opinion that Dr. Manhattan is an emotionless creature. The link between the
mariner’s ‘cold, distant God’252 and Dr. Manhattan therefore remains unscathed as it exists
because of the mariner’s perception of his god and the public’s perception of Dr. Manhattan.
The intratextual links between Marooned and its frame narrative explored in this chapter are
but a fraction of the plethora of references to Watchmen’s different characters and
situations. As such, Marooned can be read as a commentary on Watchmen itself, aiding in
the characterisation of many main and side characters. Bernard, for example, is mainly
characterised by the juxtaposition of his own verbal utterances with the text of the mariner
in Marooned. Tradition superhero comics do not have such a story within a story as
Marooned within Watchmen, let alone one with such a complex web of references towards
its frame narrative. The intratextual links between the two stories enrich both, mainly as a
result of the way in which they appear simultaneously. Marooned cannot be read separately
from Watchmen as neither Marooned nor Watchmen is depicted in its entirety. Many of
247
Watchmen #3, 21/7
Watchmen #3, 32
249
Watchmen #3, 9
250
Watchmen #3, 15/5
251
Watchmen #3, 16/1
252
Watchmen #3, 21/7
248
45
Marooned’s text frames have been shown to exist in a panel containing an illustration of an
event within the frame tale. Likewise, in many panels representing a panel from Marooned,
a text frame or balloon is present representing an utterance from a character in the frame
tale. Both the story within a story and the frametale are entwined with one another, which
makes Marooned an integral part of Watchmen’s reading experience. Whereas Under The
Hood is an equally important part of Watchmen as Marooned, Mason’s autobiography can
be read separately or even skipped altogether if a reader would wish to do so. In the case of
Marooned, however, this becomes nearly impossible. Therefore, Marooned perhaps more
clearly divulges its intratextual links to Watchmen than Under The Hood does.
5. Conclusion
This dissertation has discussed Watchmen in terms of its intratextuality. While every
coherent text inevitably contains a multitude of intratextual references, Watchmen
distinguishes itself in this regard by using different text forms and genres which often discuss
subjects which are at first glance entirely unrelated to those of the other texts within
Watchmen. A close study, however, unveils that all of these texts are connected
intratextually, as they are all part of one literary work. I have taken the most prominent of
these texts, Under The Hood and Marooned, as the bases of my study of the intratextual
references within Watchmen. Wherever necessary, I have included Dr. Manhattan: superpowers and the superpowers, Treasure Island Treasury Of Comics, the psychiatric documents
on Walter Kovacs, the New Frontiersman articles ‘Honor is like the hawk: sometimes it must
go hooded’ and ‘Missing Writer: vanished persons list grows as hunt called off and the
contents of Sally Juspeczyk’s scrapbook. The other attachments, at the end of Watchmen #7,
#10 and #11 have not been discussed only because they added nothing of particular interest
to this dissertation, which does not mean that these three attachments do not bear
intratextual references. Watchmen simply contains such a complex network of intratextual
links between all these different texts that it is impossible to properly discuss them all in one
dissertation. Therefore, a selection had to be made as to which aspects would be fully
discussed in regards to their intratextuality. Whereas other superhero comics use
intratextual references primarily as a way to refer to previous issues of comics within the
same universe, Watchmen’s many different texts constantly refer to one another in a
different way. They do not merely recapitulate what has happened before, but instead serve
to provide a new perspective on events which have transpired, are still happening or will
take place in the future. Furthermore, comic series such as The Flash, Spider-Man and The
Darkness often refer explicitly to a previous event or characters, mentioning the exact
location within another comic book of the event or character to which or whom is currently
referred. In Watchmen, all these links are left buried for the reader to excavate for himself.
Before actually discussing the intratextuality within Watchmen, I have analysed the interplay
between text and image within the comic prose itself, excluding Marooned as a separate
chapter has been dedicated to this pirate comic. Watchmen’s language use and its
combination with the images that accompany the analysed phrases has been proven to
produce metaphorical meanings where the speaking character did not intend them, or literal
46
meanings where the speaker meant to use a metaphor. This creates an interesting play of
words which is not present evenly throughout the entirety of Watchmen, but is still
persistent enough to be deemed a quality of the Watchmen series as a whole. In conclusion,
Watchmen’s use of intratextuality and its interplay between text and image are definitely
important aspects which separate it from many of its predecessors and successors in the
comic genre.
47
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Consulted 14 November 2012
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Comics, 2009
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