Science Fiction: Watchmen “in the final analysis”

Images from ReadComicOnline.to (a web reproduction of the 12 issues of Watchmen first published serially)

one. Which superhero personas in this book exceed human mortality?

two. What can we learn about martial arts from reading Watchmen? Which (human superhero) characters do we see fighting? Which ones are most especially effective and why?

three. Pirate comic: Tales of the Black Freighter: How is the reading of this comic-within-the-comic significant to the events of the novel? Notice the visual pun made in Chapter V (especially p. 21) with the events surrounding Rorschach.

• Where else does the pirate comic mirror or comment on events in the main storyline? (See especially Chapters VIII and X.)

• How is the writer of the pirate comic, Max Shea, connected with the events at the end of the novel?

• Above: Chapter VIII page 26, panels 4-7

• Above: Chapter X page 23, panels 7-9

four. Nostalgia bubble in Chapter IX: Discuss the snowglobe (see page 7, panel 9), the bottle of N(ostalgia) perfume, the clock/ship, and the events on pages 24 and 25.

• Above: Chapter IX page 24, panels 5-8

• Above: Chapter IX page 25, panel 4

five. How does Adrian Veidt read the media in Chapters X and XI, and what does he mean by “Burrough’s cut-up technique” in Chapter XI p. 1, panel 2?

six. Discuss Veidt’s plan, how it is carried out, and its impact on other superheroes (from Eddie Blake onward). How will it change the world of Watchmen?

seven. Rorschach: Discuss the relationship of his face to his world (and consider where his mask comes from). What is the outcome of any attempt to understand and normalize him? (Consider Dr. Malcolm Long’s experiences in treating Kovacs/Rorschach.) Does killing Rorschach effectively stop him from what he intended to do at the end of Chapter XII? (Discuss.)