Robot Panic Book Club: Watchmen, Week 5
It’s week 5 of our first ever Robot Panic Book Club, and with only one week to go before our big wrap-up podcast, we’re discussing chapters 9 and 10 of Alan Moore’s Watchmen. Keep in mind that the comments below will contain spoilers for the first ten issues, but please use spoiler tags when discussing anything beyond chapter ten.
Below are chapter synopses for chapters 9 and 10.
Chapter 9: The Darkness of Mere Being
Dr. Manhattan and Laurie have just teleported to Mars. He uses his powers to keep her breathing and then escorts her into his crystal palace.
Dr. Manhattan’s “clairvoyant” abilities begin to frustrate Laurie as he seems to already know what the entire conversation will be about. He tries to explain to her the nuance of time by asking her about her earliest memory.
She recounts a time when she was five and overheard her parents arguing over one of her mother’s affairs. When her step-father catches her close by, he yells at her and sends her to bed.
She pleads with Jon to end their pointless conversation and come back to earth to help save humanity from Armageddon. Jon states that the end of the world will mean the end of human suffering, so why would he want to stop it?
The second flashback involves Laurie at a “mask” get together at her mother’s house, where as a teenager she witnesses Byron Lewis aka Mothman have a mental breakdown. She asks her mother if that’s what she has to look forward to when she becomes a costumed hero.
As the two argue more about the value of human life, we see a third flashback to the first Crimebusters meeting where The Comedian points out the futility of such an organization. Her brief flirtatious encounter with Blake is brought to an abrupt halt when Sally pulls her away from him and forbids Laurie to ever speak with him again.
Jon tells her that the marvelous landscape of Mars is, by far, more incredible than the human condition, when there is another flashback to a party, in Edward Blake’s honor, where a drunken Laurie throws a drink in Blake’s face for the attempted rape of her mother years ago.
Jon explains that he understands his scientific approach doesn’t help him to understand human existence, however, it is Laurie’s emotions that are blinding her to see his viewpoint.
Laurie becomes more emotional and Jon accuses her of avoiding something. As she comes to the realization that The Comedian is her real father, Laurie bursts into a fit of rage and throws a perfume bottle which shatters the crystal palace.
As the palace collapses around them, Jon uses his powers to erect a shield to protect them from the debris. When Laurie states that her life is a joke and meaningless, Jon surprisingly disagrees. He rationalizes that if Laurie can be the product of such an outrageous set of chaotic and improbable circumstances, then her existence is, as he describes, a “thermodynamic miracle.” And if her birth was a “miracle” then so could be any other birth in the world. He points out that since the world is so full of people, that miracles would become commonplace, and its vast improbability would become easy to forget.
Jon then tells Laurie they will go back to earth.
Closing Quotation: “As far as we can discern, the sole purpose of human existence is to kindle a light of meaning in the darkness of mere being.” – C.G. Jung, from Memories, Dreams, Reflections
Chapter 10: Two Riders Were Approaching…
As Russian tanks mass along the East German border, President Nixon and Vice President Ford head deep inside a government emergency bunker.
Before continuing their investigation, Rorschach and Nite-Owl head back to Rorschach’s apartment to pick up his spare costume and journal.
In Antarctica, Adrian Veidt arrives at his retreat. He informs his associates that the “delivery” was successful. He studies his wall of televisions and divulges from the broadcasts that everything he’s seeing means that a war is inevitable.
Meanwhile, Rorschach and Nite-Owl argue whether they should be looking for a “mask” killer, or trying to uncover why somebody killed The Comedian because he found out the plot to get rid of Dr. Manhattan. After a few outbursts, they agree that either way, the next course of action is to interrogate some of the criminal element to try and uncover some leads.
Rorschach leads Nite-Owl to a bar where he usually shakes down criminals to get information. They soon find out that it was a freight coordinator at Pyramid Industries who paid for the hit on Adrian Veidt, but the go-between who carried the money was never told who the contract was on. Before leaving, Nite-Owl finds out accidentally from a “knot-top” that Hollis Mason is dead. They then head to Veidt’s office to give him the news and convince him to help them.
Somewhere on the ocean, comic book writer Max Shea and painter Hira Manish are getting intimate in the hold of a ship. They’re happy to be finally leaving the island and be done with the super-secret “movie” they were paid to work on with some other “missing” artists. Shea notices a bomb under a tarp seconds before it explodes, destroying the ship.
Veidt is not in his office when the two costumed heroes arrive. They find an appointment book which reads Veidt left for a place named “Karnak.” On a hunch, Nite-Owl hacks into the computer system and finds out Pyramid Industries is one of Veidt’s companies. They realize that “Karnak” must be what Veidt calls his Antarctic retreat and head off to confront him.
Before leaving, Rorschach makes one final journal entry detailing Veidt’s role in the plot, and drops it into a mailbox. When Rorschach’s journal arrives at the New Frontiersman newspaper office, its immediately thrown into the “crank file” before being read.
After Rorschach and Nite-Owl land “Archie” in Antarctica, they head to Veidt’s retreat. Veidt, through the eyes of his surveillance cameras, witnesses their approach.
Closing Quotation: “Outside in the distance a wild cat did growl, two riders were approaching, the wind began to howl.” – All Along the Watchtower by Bob Dylan.
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Tags: alan moore, Book Club, Watchmen
February 24th, 2009 at 5:14 pm
Issue 9 is my second favorite issue next to the series on Rorschach. There is so much going on here and tons of symbolism that comes out as Laurie goes on her journey of personal discovery. Some important things that I think need mentioning here:
Throughout the issue we see this bottle of Nostalgia perfume falling. It’s not a flashback, but rather a flash forward to when Laurie throws that bottle at the end of the issue. It is found at the beginning and end of the Flashbacks Laurie has throughout her journey. It is the bottle of perfume her Mother gave her earlier in the story and was something she had when Dr. Manhattan whisked her away. I find it more than coincidence that the brand name was Nostalgia, as Laurie is walking through her own nostalgia in this issue. Finally, it is interesting to note that each flashback ends with something breaking and a release of water. Even when her mother breaks down in the car and tears are released.
I find it interesting that Dr. Manhattan’s belief in fate is so strong, he begins to predict things that don’t happen, This is most notably seen when he tells Laurie “You’re gonna ask me to save the world,” But Laurie NEVER asks him to do that. Maybe she doesn’t because he insinuates it, but she was never worried about that to begin with.
We gleem even more about The Comedian and how big of a puppet for the Government he was. There is mention of Ward and Berstein being found dead in a parking ramp, and he even reminisces about JFK’s shooting. One can infer then that PERHAPS it was the Comedian on the grassy knoll who killed Kennedy. Knowing the Comedian, I wouldn’t doubt that.
Finally, it’s important to note the importance of Laurie and her journey and the impact it will have on the story. Ozymandious doesn’t consider Laurie a threat at all, if he did he would have done something about her. He kills The Comedian for what he knew, he set up Rorschah to put him out of the way, Dan was washed up, why worry about him (although he may have tipped off the cops), and Dr. Manhattan is on Mars, so nobody can twart his plans. Yet it is Laurie who unwittingly brings each of them back into the fold (except The Comedian).
She helps Dan find his purpose and zeal for being what he is.
She rescues Rorschach and now he’s back on the case.
And in the end as Laurie confronts her own identity and her world view comes crashing down, the bottle of Nostalgia crashes against the structure that Manhattan creates and it crashes down, and in doing so Manhattan’s dependence on fate comes crashing with it. Dr Manhattan agrees to do something.
February 25th, 2009 at 10:21 am
Wow man, lots of great insight there.
I go back and forth on issue nine. On one hand, yes, it does show that Laurie is a very, very important character, and the big reveal about the identity of her father is pretty huge. On the other hand, there’s just not enough Rorschach.
Seriously, the first time I read it that’s all I could think, “Where’s Rorschach, dammit?”
A bit about Dr. Manhattan in these issues: he’s sort of brought down back to Earth (literally and figuratively, that is). Laurie really brings out the human in him and though he’s got all of these amazing powers and whatnot, he’s shown to still have very human elements. I mean, he “changed his mind”, which really surprised me when I first read it. Issue 9 is probably even more revealing as far as his personality goes than the issue where he first went to Mars. That issue made him seem like a detached God, just playing his predetermined role in course of time. This issue really showed how much he deals with and shows us the situation from his point of view. And he at least seems to get emotionally involved.
Issue Ten is cool because Rorschach and Night Owl II team up and kick some ass. It’s almost like a good old detective comic. When Dan finds out about Hollis Mason, it’s cool to see him grow some balls and lose control for a minute or two. The dynamic between he an Rorschach is really cool, and sometimes funny, to watch.
February 25th, 2009 at 11:10 am
Rorscach is a Bad Ass, wonder how many people will be doing Rorschach Cos Play at the movie and how many kids will be him for Halloween?
Issue 10 is a nice departure. I like how many times we see the title “Two Riders were approaching” is represented in the issue. This is also a verse in the Hedrix tune “All Along the Watchtower.”
February 25th, 2009 at 11:32 am
Ahem…I think you mean a verse in the Dylan tune “All Along the Watchtower.”
February 25th, 2009 at 12:45 pm
You are coirrect sir, Dylan wrote that tune, but the version I grew up with and enjoyed the most was Hendrix’s version. You can cut a corner off my DJ card for that faux pas.
February 25th, 2009 at 12:47 pm
Ah, I know. I was just bustin’ balls.
February 25th, 2009 at 2:41 pm
Since we’re a little over a week out from the movie, is anyone still interested in the meet-up? I was thinking Friday night (March 6th) at the Cinemagic Theater in Burnsville. It’s one of those “Mega-Screen” thingies, and while it’s not quite Imax, it sure is freaking huge. And then for those who are interested, we could have food/drinks at the place inside the theater.
Any takers?
February 25th, 2009 at 3:13 pm
We were planning on trying to catch it down here, but if Apoch is off of work that night we’d be up for making the drive northward!
February 25th, 2009 at 4:38 pm
No worries John, I got pleny of Ice!!
Count me in. Debating whether I should take Tiny (my kid) with or not. Is that cool? If not then we’ll see it later.
February 25th, 2009 at 5:05 pm
Yeah, absolutely, that’s no problem. I can’t see why that would be a problem.
February 25th, 2009 at 8:20 pm
Well if the plan was to do adult things before and or after then it might be a problem.
That’s cool though.
February 25th, 2009 at 10:07 pm
Well, looks like we’re out for the 6th…Apoch’s work schedule completely conflicts with the ability to get up there and back. Boo.