It’s been a while since I’ve had time to sit down and get back into this. As it is it took a reduced schedule, semi-vacation, and a need to build a buffer of articles for days when I have nothing else to discuss or no time to write anything to make this happen. Watchmen might be one of the big and influential comic stories, but it’s more interesting for me to analyze than read.
Anyway, last time we looked at the origin of Doctor Manhattan and compared him to his inspiration, Captain Atom. A quick skim tells me this is more about the investigation into the Comedian’s murder, but I have a feeling our main characters will get more exploration so we can compare them to their inspirations. We’ll be following Rorschach around but I think next issue is his exploration as a character so we’ll do the Question comparison next time. Right now, it’s time to catch up on the investigation, which should still tell us something about the ink blot masked man.
“There was a leak at the Kool-Aid factory….”
Watchmen #5
DC Comics (January, 1987)
“Fearful Symmetry”
WRITER: Alan Moore
ARTIST/LETTERER: Dave Gibbons
COLORIST: John Higgins
EDITOR: Len Wein
We open with Morloch heading home, walking through the streets. The “blood” on the cover might be a sign reflected in a puddle. Based on the crossbones I wonder if they adapted Tales Of The Black Freighter into a movie? He comes home, knows somebody snuck in, and grabs a gun since he thinks it’s a junkie. It’s actually Rorschach, because breaking into people’s houses and eating their food before interrogating them seems to be his modus operandi. He finds it convenient that both Morloch and Jane’s names were on a cancer list that went public and now Doctor Manhattan is gone and the Comedian, both previous foes of Morloch, is dead. Morloch swears he doesn’t know anything, even after being stuffed in his own refrigerator. Rorschach tells him that if he remembers anything to leave a note in a particular trash can. Dude does not live a normal life. Also, Morloch needs a license for that gun. Um….Rory? Yeah, I don’t think he can. Ex-con and all that. Even in alternate 1985 I’m guessing that’s not allowed.
From there we get a journal entry. He believes Morloch and he hasn’t slept in days. He’s convinced the list leaking is tied to Comedian’s death. He currently suspects the Russians, who just invaded Afghanistan. That’s two texts I’ve reviewed recently that almost seem prophetic about that; the other being Tom Clancy’s Op-Center: Mirror Image. The two heroes could be a problem in the USSR’s plans to take over the area. However, there’s also info about an island with writers and artists, and I’m betting it’s not a mangaka commune. Maybe US comic creators. In case you’re reading this, Jerzy Drozd, did you buy an island? I know one that’s available once the authorities are done going over it. Could use better ownership.
Our cops are back, investing the reason some guy named Hirsch murdered his two kids, Dominique and Clare, and killed himself in front of his wife. I only bring up their names because the book does, leading me to suspect there’s a deliberate reason for those names. Not in the narrative; maybe it’s someone Moore didn’t like. I wouldn’t put it past him. There’s also focus on a particular poster, not that I understand the significance while reading it.
I can guess given the triangles ties to that truck that was at Comedian’s murder scene from #1:
I was told the truck was important, and the scene shifts to another truck with that logo as we get dialog that looks like Rorschach’s journalling, but we see on the next page it’s more of that Black Freighter comic the kid at the newsstand won’t stop reading. Maybe if they didn’t use the same font and ripped paper caption box I would have figured it out quickly.We get more talk about the start of World War III and the Russian invasion. This book came out during the height of the Cold War and this subplot is playing on fears of a third war, but as well all know today that never happened thanks in part to the president he didn’t like at the time, Ronald Reagan, and a miscommunication involving the Berlin Wall. In 2026 it just sounds like unnecessary panic talk, like Y2K.
The captain in the comic has built his raft of his dead crew and what little wood is on the island. I assume it’s a lack of wood or this is just unnecessarily grotesque. Then again…Alan Moore. He’s obsessed with getting home before the Black Freighter arrives, and kills one of the seagulls trying to peck away at his crew/boat, eating it raw because he hasn’t eaten in a long time. Suddenly Rorschach’s constantly eating everyone’s food doesn’t sound nearly as bad. I’m still not sure how this plays into the main story but I’ve never been that great at catching symbolism, one of the reasons I don’t care unless the writer is so obsessed with it (speaking of obsession, and maybe that’s a clue) that the symbolism means more than the story, or as the late Rush Limbaugh used to term in political circles, “symbolism over substance”.
The next page, and there’s quite a few one page scenes, has Laurie talking to Dan about how the government kicked her out and took her expense account. Basically they fired and evicted her because she’s no longer needed to keep Doctor Manhattan under control…which she really didn’t do because she wanted a husband who acted like a husband. Laurie’s not sure where she’s going, but after some thinking, Dan offers his place. I supposed they could convert his hero headquarters since he’s not using it except as a garage for his flying ship. Dan’s a bit nervous about it, and we can tell he has a thing for her. Most of the scene is shot by watching the mirror reflection, which I’m guessing is more of that symbolism going over my head.
Maybe it’s because I just scaled back my daily comic reviews to weekly because of all the anthologies that keep showing up in rotation, but these one page scenes are getting on my nerves. I have to keep stopping to analyze. Rorschach wakes up to realize he’s still wearing his “skin”, aka his ink blot mask. He takes off, argues with the landlady, sees kids defacing an abandoned building while a couple prepares to do a little dance (spoilers: not actually “dancing”), spots Dan and Julie, which adds her to the suspect list given her issues with Doc Man and her hatred of the Comedian, end scene. It gives us a bit into Rorschach’s thinking, I guess. Also of note is that for some reason he pours something, possibly a sauce, onto a napkin, folds it, and it comes out with an ink blot. Was this Moore or Gibbons noting his origins? Was Moore still annoyed he didn’t get to do this to Steve Dikto’s The Question? Yeah, probably. Again…Alan Moore.
The next page feels wholly unnecessary, as the newsstand guy rants about the end of the world and how useless greed is and yada yada while the kid tries to read about how the captain is finally realizing how messed up his situation is. I don’t care. Maybe it’s commentary of the period that doesn’t quite matter in 2026 but I really don’t care.
Finally we get something that lasts four pages. Ozymandias and his assistant leave to meet with the company making his toys when some guy attacks him out of nowhere in his own lobby. The assistant is shot and Ozy beats the tar out of him. He reaches into the man’s mouth, saying he has a poison capsule and wanting to know who sent him, but the man dies. Given what we know (spoilers), I have to wonder if Ozymandias was lying and actually he was killing the guy. Before then the assistant is talking about all the death interest, from the office surroundings to talk of a third World War to that murder from earlier in the issue, but he waves it all off, mentioning that the Egyptians saw death as the beginning of a spiritual journey, which the assistant didn’t find comforting. Well, she’s on that journey now.
Forget the rest of the characters. I want to know this elephant’s story.
Back to the newsstand. Again, kid trying to read comic and owner throwing a fit about the world. It does tell us that time as passed since the shooting attempt and the stand owner is a fan. He also talks about the stuff that nobody notices, which I’m sure he’s aiming at me, or at least people like me missing the symbolism as the captain in the comic is being chased by sharks now. Sorry, but I’m more into plain explaining yourself, though storywriters right now are going to far the other way and making their message hit like a hammer. It doesn’t help that at this point I want to get the review done. I don’t think I read this issue right, or at least not the way Moore intended. It doesn’t match up with how I read comics so this issue is getting lost on me.
Okay, I’m going to finish reading the comic and THEN review. I want to at least try to enjoy this, but all the one-page scenes are just annoying. Maybe there are too many characters to follow them all in this comic? Prioritize the characters important to your story over your symbolism, please. Newsstand antics are a distraction at this point, as is Rorschach’s stunted speech. Speaking of which, he gets a message, possibly from Morloch, and the attempt on Ozymandias boosts his “masks under attack” theory. Also, is that couple still at it? Also, there’s a mugging/rape attempt in the alley where he stores his clothes. I still don’t buy that Batman is the “real identity” of Bruce Wayne but that’s how Moore is approaching Rorschach.
I’m going to burn down this newsstand! The captain fights off the sharks, while some…woman?…forces the owner to put up a poster for a meeting of Gay Women Against Rape. First off, who isn’t against rape…besides rapists? Second, GWAR. I think the acronym is being pointed out. Third, that triangle is there again. Fourth, the fact that we have sharks attacking the captain and said captain eating shark sushi is clearly tied to the cops being told where to find “raw shark”. In other words, Rorschach.
He arrives at Moloch’s, with a nice mimic of the early scene. This time it’s Rorschach turn to be surprised. Morloch is shot in the head and he finds this just as the police arrive. It’s a clear set-up. I think I see the symbolism for once but I still don’t care about the pirate comic. They capture Rorschach and remove his mask (and I did notice that his expression matches the captain’s after eating the seagull, which is probably symbolic but I don’t care–though feel free to discuss it in the comments because it might be a fascinating discussion–just not for me to read) which really drives him mad because, remember, he thinks of his mask as his face. Underneath he’s not someone the cops recognize but they’re more than happy to throw him in with the guys he’s brought down. The cops hate this guy, probably because he does their job for them. It’s more of Moore’s commentary on superheroes, and I have to wonder if he’s going after street level crimefighters like Batman and Daredevil…and the Question, which I’m guessing we’ll be talking about next issue since Rorschach is going to be the focal character.
The text bit at the end is from an in universe discussion of Tales Of The Black Freighter, but I care so little today that I’m not going to bother. Look, I don’t care about symbolism, so a lot of this issue was lost on me. Too many characters with too many seemingly unconnected stories is why I never shared my mom’s interest in soap operas. That and the tales were rarely something I was interested in, except for that time they tried to freeze Port Charles. If it was more of a spy story I might have liked it. Anyway, maybe it’s the mood I’m in today or something but I really didn’t care for the pacing and structure of this chapter. Is it bad? Honestly, I guess not. It’s just so not me that I can’t bring myself to care. Maybe the next issue will be better.
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