Watchmen

Watchmen #1 through Watchmen #12

Watchmen #1

NYPD Detectives Steve Fine and Joe Bourquin investigate the murder of Edward Blake, who was thrown out of his apartment window and fell many stories to his death. The detectives conclude that Blake's assailant(s) were rather strong, citing Blake's large and stronger physique as well as the strength of the glass window that Blake was thrown out of. The detectives decide to cover up the investigation in order to avoid interference from the vigilante Rorschach.

That night, however, Rorschach enters and searches Blake's apartment, finding a compartment containing weapons, a leather costume, and a picture of the Minutemen. Rorschach realizes that Edward Blake was the American government-sponsored costumed adventurer known as the Comedian.

Meanwhile, Dan Dreiberg is visiting Hollis Mason at the latter's home where they discuss their time as Nite Owl. After their discussion is over, Dan returns to his apartment to find his door broken in and Rorschach awaiting him while helping himself to a can of cold beans. Rorschach informs Dan of the Comedian's death, who proposes moving their discussion to the workshop in the basement where Dan stores his Nite Owl equipment. Rorschach tells Dan that he has been investigating Blake's death. Dan suggests that given Blake's services and history, his murder could have been a political killing in response to his actions in toppling Marxist Republics in South America. Rorschach proposes another theory that someone is attempting to eliminate costumed heroes. Dan is skeptical of this idea, but Rorschach points out that the Comedian had made a lot of enemies over the past forty years. Rorschach soon leaves but not before giving The Comedian's blood-stained smiley face badge that he found to Dan.

Rorschach later takes his investigation to a seedy bar called Happy Harry's, where the owner and patrons very fearfully know him well. He talks to Harry, asking who killed Edward Blake. A man named Steve mocks Rorschach, who then starts breaking the man's pinky and index fingers while continuing to ask the entire bar who killed Edward Blake. A man speaks up and claims that none of them know, so Rorschach releases Steve and leaves.

Rorschach visits Adrian Veidt, a retired hero formerly known as Ozymandias and a current billionaire, at his office. Veidt shares the same suggestion that Blake's murder was a political killing, perhaps committed by the Soviets. Rorschach considers otherwise, as the Soviets never dared to antagonize America because of the latter's possession of the superhuman operative Dr. Manhattan since 1965, and sticks to his costume killer theory. Veidt further explains that the Comedian had many political enemies other than the Soviets, claiming that Blake's reputation made him "practically a Nazi." Rorschach defends Blake from Veidt's remark, stating that Blake stood up for his country, never allowed anyone to retire him, and never sold his image - unlike Veidt. The billionaire remains unaffected by Rorschach's words, as he explains that he chose to retire prior to the passing of the Police Strike and the Keene Act that outlawed unsanctioned vigilantes.

Rorschach then goes to warn Doctor Manhattan and Laurie Juspeczyk at Rockefeller Military Research Center. The couple were already informed of Blake's murder by their government superiors in which Manhattan recalls that the C.I.A. suspects the Libyans were responsible. Manhattan remains unconcerned when Rorschach proposes his costume killer theory, explaining that he sees life and death as "unquantifiable abstracts." Laurie is very unsympathetic toward Blake, calling him a monster due to the fact that he had tried to rape her mother when they were both in the Minutemen. Her statements on Blake ends up in an argument with Rorschach, who defends Blake's character. Due to upsetting Laurie, Manhattan teleports Rorschach outside of the facility.

Laurie decides to invite Dan Dreiberg out for dinner at Rafael's. Manhattan politely declines to join as he is occupied on finishing his research that would validate supersymmetrical theory. Laurie explains to Dan how she regrets her old life as the second Silk Spectre and her relationship with Jon. She mentions that the government kept her at Rockefeller Military Research Center to keep Jon relaxed and happy. Laurie and Dan then enjoy recalling the story of an old villain that only pretended to be a super-villain to get beaten up, laughing at their times as costumed heroes.

Chapter I
Hollis Mason starts his book by recalling his decision to write a book by turning to a writer named Denise, who had written forty-two stories but never published them, for advice. Denise told him to start with the saddest thing he could think of to get sympathy, "after that, believe me, it's a walk." Hollis dedicates his book, Under the Hood to Denise.

Hollis's story began when his father brought his family to New York City from his grandfather's farm in Montana. In 1928, Hollis' father worked in Vernon's Auto Repairs off of Seventh Avenue and made enough income to support the family. In hindsight, Hollis realized his father's dedication to his job in repairing cars means to him. Hollis made occasional trips to the auto repair shop with his father and met the employer, Moe Vernon who was a opera buff and has a peculiar sense of humor.

One day in 1933, after Hollis' seventeenth birthday, he was with his father at the repair shop when Joe Vernon received a letter from his wife Beatrice and learned that for two years she has been sleeping with Vernon's senior and trusted mechanic, Fred Motz, and she has withdrew all the money from their joint bank number and left with Motz for Tijuana. Vernon became emotionally devastated, in which he had his gramophone playing "The Ride of the Valkyries" at maximum volume until he emerged wearing his gag breast harness to tell his employees that his wife committed adultery. His staff misinterpreted this gesture and laughed uproariously at what seemed an inspired bit of humor. But eventually everyone realized of their mistake and one of them went to apologized Vernon, who then claimed that he is fine.

After the employees left that night, Vernon committed suicide by inhaling carbon monoxide fumes. Vernon's brother took over his business and later re-employed Fred Motz. Since then, Hollis considered "The Ride of the Valkyries" the saddest thing he could think of due to Vernon's death.

Chapter II
By 1939, at the age of twenty-three, Hollis had taken a job on the New York City police force and tried to examine what could lead him to that career choice, his first notion being his grandfather, who introduce a certain set of moral values and conditions upon Hollis. Throughout his career, Hollis became disgusted with the types of people that he dealt ranging from pimps, pornographers, protection artists, pedophiles, and rapists. Because of this, Hollis upset his parents by loudly wishing he was back in Montana.

In the autumn of the same year, Hollis learned of a news story concerning of an attempted assault and robbery in Queens. A young man and his girlfriend were walking home from a movie theater when they are set upon by a gang of three armed men. They stole the couple of their belongings before beating up the young man while threatening to assault his girlfriend. At this point, a masked figure attacked the criminals with such severity that they required their hospitalization, and that one man lost the use of his legs due to a spinal injury. The witnesses' recounting was confused and contradictory.

A week later, the same masked figure appear again in stopping a stick-up robbery at a supermarket. The robbers surrendered immediately when one of them was brutally beaten by the vigilante. Eyewitnesses described the vigilante as a 'tall man, built like a wrestler, who wore a black hood and cape and also wore a noose around his neck.' The news press dubbed the masked adventurer in their headlines as 'Hooded Justice.' Hollis became fascinated by the Hooded Justice and decided to be 'the second.' He has found his vocation.

Watchmen #2

Laurie Juspeczyk visits the Nepenthe Gardens retirement home to see her mother, Sally, the original Silk Spectre. She only came because she's been forced to visit, transported by Jon since she hadn't wanted to attend the funeral of Eddie Blake. Sally shows a large sense of sympathy for Blake.

During her conversation with Laurie, Sally remembers the night that the Minutemen were taking their group photo in 1940. The group discussed the war in Europe, until the original Nite Owl stopped the discussion and they all headed down to the Owl's Nest, except for Sally who stays behind to change her clothes. The Comedian stepped into the room and interrupts her, attempting to sexually assault her to which Sally clawed his face. Blake brutally attacked her, intending to rape her, before Hooded Justice walked in. He viciously attacked Eddie, but lets him go when Eddie says to him "This is what you like, huh? This is what gets you hot..."

At Eddie's funeral, Adrian Veidt recalls the first meeting of the Crimebusters, held by Nelson Gardner, Captain Metropolis, in April, 1966. Nelson attempted to recreate another team of masked adventurers since the Minutemen's breakup in 1949. However, The Comedian derided Nelson's plan as "bullshit" and accused Nelson of trying to seek personal glory as akin to "playin' cowboys and Indians." Nite Owl II (Dan Dreiberg) defended Nelson's Crimebusters idea by saying that he and Rorschach had made some success together fighting criminal gangs. Though Rorschach agreed with his partner, he saw the group as more of a "publicity exercise" and too unyielding. Ozymandias chimed in that the group only need the right person coordinating them. The Comedian continued to mock the group's intentions, especially Veidt's, and arguing the Crimebusters would not make a difference in a world heading towards nuclear apocalypse. He then burns Metropolis' presentation board and leaves the room with nearly everyone following. Nelson, in vain, begged them not to leave, telling them that someone had to "save the world."

Doctor Manhattan recalls "V.V.N. Night" - the celebration of America's victory in the Vietnam War due to Manhattan's intervention - in Saigon with Blake and discussing his strange attitude toward life and war, how he sees it all as a joke, although admittedly not a "good joke." He mentioned how anxious he is to leave the country. A Vietnamese woman approached Blake and tells him that she is pregnant with his child. She also asserts that Blake has a responsibility to the child. But Blake doesn't seem to care, saying how he will forget them and their entire country. The woman angrily breaks a glass bottle and slashes Blake's face. Blake impulsively shoots her, while Manhattan stands watching. Blake then lashes at Manhattan for not intervening to save the woman and accuses him of not caring about human life. He then walks away to look for someone to heal his face as he laments over Manhattan's loss of touch with humanity.

Dan Dreiberg recalls how he and The Comedian worked riot control during the 1970's Police Strike in New York. The streets were crowded with angry rioters, but The Comedian and Dreiberg (as the Nite Owl) cleared the streets after The Comedian throws a gas bomb into the angry mob. Looking at the devastation, Dreiberg asked Blake, "What's happened to the American dream?" Blake simply replies, while staring into the foggy streets filled with riot gas, "It came true. You're lookin' at it."

As the funeral ends, Dan drops The Comedian's smiley face badge into the grave. A man in a trench-coat leaves flowers on Blake's grave and walks to his apartment. The man is suddenly ambushed by Rorschach, who leaps out of the man's refrigerator. Rorschach identifies him as Edgar Jacobi, a former villain known as Moloch the Mystic. He questions him about Eddie Blake, and Jacobi explains that he attended Blake's funeral out of compulsion because Blake broke into his home one night while he was in bed. Blake was drunk and under distress, and babbling to Jacobi about how it's all a joke that he doesn't get it. Blake mentioned an island with writers, scientists and artists, and he says that he did bad things before leaving. Moloch was left very confused and bewildered by Blake's rant.

After Moloch finished explaining Rorschach doesn't consider the retired villain as Blake's murderer. He then informs Jacobi that he found him using Laetril, a faked cancer cure medicine that is widely illegal. Jacobi explains that he was diagnosed with cancer and was desperate. Rorschach leaves Jacobi alone but will be seeing him again to keep him out of trouble.

Rorschach goes to the cemetery at night to pay his respects to Eddie Blake. After finishing his journal entry, he leaves the cemetery with a red rose.

Chapter III
Hollis Mason becomes deeply interested in the Hooded Justice's actions and decided upon himself to become a super-hero, known as the 'Nite Owl'. The name was based on his habit to work out as much as possible. Although his first exploits were largely unspectacular, it has aroused a lot of media interests simply because at the time dressing up in a costume and protecting a neighborhood had becoming something of a fad.

Within several months of the appearance of the Hooded Justice, several other costumed vigilantes began to appear: Silhouette, Mothman, the Comedian, Captain Metropolis, Silk Spectre (Sally Jupiter), and Dollar Bill. Hollis reflects on each of their backgrounds and what people thought of them. Regardless of the heroes' reasons and their faults, Hollis believed them to be "doing something because [they] believed in it."

Chapter IV
On the suggestion of Captain Metropolis, Sally Jupiter and her agent Laurence Schexnayder, the heroes band together to form the Minutemen in 1939. However, the Minutemen did not last long. The Comedian's attempted rape of Sally Jupiter resulted in his departure from the Minutemen and Sally's decision not to press charges against him, as persuaded by Schexnayder for the group's image. The Comedian soon changed his flimsy costume for leather armor following an unconnected stabbing incident, and became a war hero in the Pacific Theatre during World War Two. Hollis personally hoped that America have a better class of hero than the Comedian.

Problems for the Minutemen further deteriorated. In 1946, a newspaper exposed Silhouette's lesbian relationship with a woman and the group was forced to expel her on Schexnayder's persuasion. Six weeks later, Silhouette was murdered along with her lover by one of her former enemies. In the same year Dollar Bill was shot dead by bank robbers. In 1947, Sally quit crime-fighting and married Schexnayder, and gave birth to her daughter Laurie in 1949. By then the villains that the group fought were less interesting to fight. Their enemies were either imprisoned or moved to less glamorous activities. Among those is Moloch, who began as a stage magician at the age of seventeen and became an flamboyant criminal mastermind before moving into impersonal crimes such as drugs, financial fraud and vice clubs. Hollis concluded that the Minutemen was finished, but it didn't matter. The damage had already been done.

Watchmen #3

Doctor Manhattan is having problems with his relationship with Laurie when he multiplies himself and she finds out that 'one of him' had been working while she was being romantic with another. Laurie walks out on Manhattan, going to meet up with Dan Dreiberg.

Meanwhile, Manhattan's ex-wife Janey Slater is giving an interview with a news editor of the Nova Express. She states that she has cancer that she presumably received through connection with Manhattan.

Manhattan gets dress and transports from his home to his television interview where he meets up with a government official named Forbes telling him what to, and what not to say. One of his questions that he cannot say is about his involvement with the Russians in Afghanistan. Then, one of the audience members is Doug Roth of Nova Express who ask Manhattan of his relationships with his colleague Wally Weaver, Slater, and his former nemesis Edgar Jacobi, if he knew that all of them had a fatal form of cancer, among others. Manhattan is left stunned and even more unsettled when Roth accuses him of being responsible for their inflictions. Forbes quickly intervenes and stops the interview, but while he and Manhattan are leaving, Roth and other reporters swarm around Manhattan and bombarding him with questions. A very distressed Manhattan yells "I said leave me alone!" and transports everyone outside of the building.

Laurie meets up with Dan who gave her some coffee and they talk about her troublesome relationship and where she will stay that night. She then decide on a hotel and walk with Dan to Hollis Mason's place. But while walking through an alleyway they are almost mugged by a gang of knot-tops. They effortlessly take out the gangsters. Leaving the alleyway, Laurie decides to go find a hotel by herself and to leave Dan alone. Once arriving at Hollis' place, Hollis shows Dan the interview of Manhattan's incident on television. Dan then realizes that Laurie doesn't know about this in which Hollis replies that she and the entire world will know very soon.

Manhattan arrives back at his home to find out that it is being quarantined. He decides that he is leaving, telling a soldier to leave a message for Laurie and his superiors. He said he is going to Arizona, and then Mars. He goes to the Gila Flats test base in Arizona, where he took a picture of himself and Janey Slater many years ago at a carnival. On Mars he explores in a childish excitement and then finds a rock to sit on.

Laurie goes back to the base to find that everything is being taken away by military personnel in hazmat suits and she is told by Forbes that she is ordered to undergo a cancer scan and is ask about whether she has put Manhattan in emotional stress. Unaware of Manhattan's incident, she is offended by Forbes for considering herself responsible for something until the man, deeply exasperated, snaps to her that she is no longer welcome to the base, since his superiors believe that Manhattan is not coming back in which his absence has severe global consequences.

The next day, Dan awakes from his bed to find Rorschach has broken into his home (again), whom he shows Dan a newspaper with the front page of Manhattan's departure from Earth. This news also makes Rorschach being more convinced of his mask killer theory.

That night, the news vendor receives the evening edition and is shocked to read from the headlines. Anxiously, he gives the kid a copy of Tales of the Black Freighter for free, and even his cap. The headline he read is "Russians Invade Afghanistan".

Chapter V
Hollis described the 1950's as cold and bleak, both for himself and for masked adventurers in general. The Minutemen have become irrelevant in society as their exploits were being reported less frequently and treated as a joke. Sally Jupiter have her daughter Laurie in 1949, when her marriage began to deteriorate. Her marriage ended in 1956, and since then Sally has been successful in raising her daughter. The Comedian remained the only member of the Minutemen who has been treated seriously in the eyes of the public partly due to his government connections, and was turning into a patriotic symbol.

During the height of the McCarthy era, the remaining active masked adventurers testified before the House UnAmerican Activities Committee, and were forced to reveal their identities. The Comedian was excepted because of his allegiance. This doesn't present any immediate problems for most of the Minutemen, such as Captain Metropolis' outstanding military record and Hollis' service in the police force. But Mothman met with more difficulty due to his associations with left-wing friends during his student days. He was eventually cleared, but the investigations were both lengthy and ruthless, and Hollis speculates that the pressure may have prompted his drinking problem that later contributed to his mental ill-health.

Hooded Justice remained the only masked adventurer who refused to testified, on the grounds that he was not prepared to reveal his true identity to anyone. When pressed, he vanished. Hollis presumed that the Hooded Justice retire rather than revealing his identity. But almost a year after Hooded Justice vanished, the New Frontiersmen publish an article about the disappearance of a circus strongman named Rolf Muller, who quit his job at the height of the Senate Subcommittee hearings. Three months later, a badly decomposed body was found washed up on the coast of Boston. The body was identified as Muller's that was shot through the head. The article further stated that Muller, whose family was East German, had been on the run for fear of being uncovered during the Communist witch hunts, and implied that Muller was executed by his Communist superiors. Hollis speculated that Muller and Hooded Justice are the same person, but find this troubling to accept his fellow costume fighter was a spy, and leaving him to wonder who had killed them. This has took Hollis a long time to realize to accept it as a mystery.

Another problem that contributed to the downfall of costumed adventurers was the absence of costumed criminals. These criminals turned in their costumes along with their careers, but some opted for a less extroverted and more profitable approach as "ordinary men in business suits" who ran drug and prostitution rackets.

By March of 1960, Doctor Manhattan came, whose presence make the term "masked hero" and "costume adventurer" obsolete. Hollis recalled how the public reacted with feelings of disbelief of an actual superhuman being with incredible powers. The presence of Manhattan made Hollis to conclude that the regular heroes are replaced. In the closing months of 1958, Ozymandias first appear after busting a major opium and heroin smuggling racket, and earned a reputation amongst the criminal fraternity for his boundless and implacable intelligence and a large degree of athletic prowess.

Hollis first met Manhattan and Ozymandias during a Red Cross relief in June of 1960. His encounter with Manhattan was described as a strange experience which lasts for a short time until it almost seems normal. It was then that Hollis decided to retire his heroics and opened his own auto repair business. Soon, he was visited by a young admirer who proposed to borrow his identity as the new Nite Owl. After visiting his admirer's home and seeing his technology that will be use on the war on crime, Hollis permitted. Hollis also learned of Sally Jupiter's daughter, who was also carrying on her mother's legacy. Hollis conclude that the super-hero has become a part of American life for better, or for worse.

Watchmen #4

On Mars, Dr. Manhattan drops the photograph of himself and Janey Slater on the Martian soil and revisits various turning points in his life.

In August 7th of 1945, a sixteen-year-old Jon Osterman is in the middle of assembling a watch when his father, a watch-maker, shows him the news of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. Confronted with the undeniable facts of the theory of relativity, the elder Osterman declares his profession outdated and throws his son's watch-making parts out the windows, urging Jon to instead pursue a career studying nuclear physics. Jon does so in which he attended Princeton University in 1948, and graduating with a Ph.D in atomic physics in 1958.

By 1959, Jon is employed at Gila Flats in Arizona, where experiments are being performed concerning the 'intrinsic fields' of physical objects. He meets Professor Milton Glass, his colleague Wally Weaver, and his love interest Janey Slater. During a trip to New Jersey, Jon and Janey visit an amusement park. There, Janey's watchbrand breaks and is accidentally stepped on by a fat man. Jon decide to fix the watch and finally consummate his relationship with Janey.

One month later, on August, shortly after his thirtieth birthday, Jon plans to give Janey the repaired watch, only to discover he has left it in his lab coat which is inside the intrinsic field experiment test chamber. When retrieving his coat inside the chamber, he is accidentally lock in. Once Professor Glass and the others found Jon, they are shocked and horrified. Glass tells John that the chamber's door has locked automatically and the generators have already began warming up to begin an experiment: removing the intrinsic field from cell block fifteen. Jon is locked in and the door cannot be open or override the countdown. Jon could only accept death and examines the watch he has put back together while his colleagues - except Janey, who cannot bear to see the last moment and flees the room - watch in horror as the countdown reaches zero. Jon is disintegrated in a flash of light.

A month later, a series of strange events occur at Gila Flats involving the apparitions of a disembodied human circulatory nervous system, a circulatory, and a muscled skeleton which last for seconds. The residents believed the facility to be haunted until on November 22nd, Jon returns as a tall, hairless, naked, blue-skinned man with incredible abilities. Jon return to his life with Janey, but remains somewhat emotionless and distant among his peers.

A year later, on February 1960, the American government recruited Jon as their military asset and touted him before the public as "Dr. Manhattan," the first super-hero. He is also provided with a costume which he grudgingly accepts, though he refuses to accept the icon design which is provided for him (this being a stylized orbital model of the atom). Instead, Jon chooses as his emblem a representation of a hydrogen atom, whose simplicity he declares to be something that kindles his respect; accordingly, he painlessly burns the mark into his forehead. Despite being considered America's greatest weapon, Jon wasn't able to prevent certain disasters such as the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, even though he is aware it is going to happen as he meets the President.

By 1966, during the first and only meeting of the Crimebusters, Jon fell in love with the then sixteen-year-old Silk Spectre, Laurie Juspeczyk, and bitterly ending his marriage with Janey. By 1970, Jon's true name is revealed to the public as his father had passed away in 1969 and there is no reason to conceal it.

In 1971, Jon was requested by President Richard Nixon in intervening in the Vietnam War alongside the Comedian. Within two months, the United States had won the war and forever tipping the balance of the Cold War in the West's favor. In 1975, Nixon proposed a new constitutional amendment that would allow the President to have an extended term in office. Amidst all this, Adrian Veidt publicly reveal his identity as Ozymandias and announcing his retirement from costumed heroics. Veidt invited Jon and Laurie to visit his Antarctic retreat Karnak. During a conversation between Veidt and Jon, the world have radically changed since the last fifteen years from quantum physics to transportation all thanks to Jon.

During the Police Strike of 1977, Jon and Laurie handled the riots in Washington, D.C. in which the former dispelled the rioters by teleporting them back to their homes. This caused two people to suffered heart attacks, but Jon was certain that more lives would have suffered from the riots. Following the riots, the U.S. government passed an emergency bill (the Keene Act) proposed by Senator Keene which made vigilantism illegal and exempting registered adventurers such as Jon and the Comedian. Laurie and Dan Dreiberg retired their identities of Silk Spectre and Nite Owl, while Rorschach remains active in which he respond his feelings towards compulsory retirement by leaving a note on the dead body of a multiple rapist outside police headquarters.

In 1981, Jon and Laurie settled at the Rockefeller Military Research Center where it was well-equipped for Jon's work. But Laurie felt they had lost their privacy. In 1985, Jon recalls walking in New York with Laurie and buying a Time magazine commemorating Hiroshima Week, and finally the events that lead him to leave for Mars.

Jon construct a giant, glass structure that rises from the soil while wondering if events had gone differently if he didn't become Dr. Manhattan. He then stands on the balcony of his structure to watch a meteorite shower.

In his book Doctor Manhattan, Super Powers and the Superpowers, Professor Milton Glass, the director of Gila Flats and sponsor of Dr. Manhattan, discuss his misgivings of Dr. Manhattan. Prof. Glass dispel the myth that he was the one who came up with the popular phrase "The superman exists and he's American" that described Manhattan in his public appearance by the American media. He instead said the chilling quote "God exists and he's American."

Glass states that the god-like Manhattan proved valuable as a pawn for the United States, in which his powers would allow him in defending the country from Soviet retaliation with ease and arguably forcing the Soviets to never risk a full-scale global conflict. Despite Manhattan's presence which have curbed Soviet adventurism, this does not spell global peace but only to exacerbate the Cold War. In Glass' words, he does not believe Manhattan is going to end wars, he is going to "end worlds."

To understand the mindset of the Soviet Union, Glass looks to the Russians' very costly contributions in the Second World War and conclude that the Soviets would do anything to protect their nation from threats such as Manhattan no matter what the cost. This is supported by the sharp increase of Soviet and American nuclear stockpiles since the advent of Manhattan and making the possibility of Mutually Assured Destruction. Even if the Soviets were to launch their nuclear arsenal on America, Manhattan would not be able to stop all of them. Although Manhattan could greatly reduced the percentage of the warheads there would still be enough of them to end organic life in the northern hemisphere. Unfortunately, the Nixon administration does not share Prof. Glass' concerns and have become intoxicated with having an omnipotent superhuman being to continually promote American interests unopposed.

Aside from affecting the international sense, Manhattan had also changed the domestic sense in which he contributed advanced technology such as electric cars and clean, economical airships. Thus, human culture have contort itself to accommodate Manhattan. His existence had irreversibly changed the world, and consequently pushing it closer to "eventual destruction in the process." Glass ominously conclude that "We are all of us living in the shadow of Manhattan."

Watchmen #5

Moloch wakes up to hear someone intrude his home and picks up a gun for safety. Remembering his last encounter with Rorschach, he checks the refrigerator and inside finds a note that reads "Behind You". Moloch turns around to be confronted by Rorschach, who then interrogates him about The Comedian's visit to Moloch's a week before his murder, and makes a reference to Moloch being one of the many victims given cancer allegedly by Dr. Manhattan. After threatening Moloch by locking him in the fridge, Rorschach realizes that Moloch has no part for discrediting Manhattan. He then instructs Moloch to leave a note in a trashcan with any information discrediting Dr. Manhattan.

Meanwhile, Steven Fine and Joe Bourquin are at the scene of a murder-suicide in which a man, fearing nuclear holocaust, had murdered his two daughters before taking his own life in front of his wife. After having finished questioning the wife who is then escorted to a hospital, the detectives express their fears and concerns that similar more incidents will happen in response to the news of the Soviets invading Afghanistan. Bourquin tries to dismiss the possibility of World War III to occur over the war in Afghanistan. The detectives soon leaves while Bourquin advise Fine to not let this horrible incident ruin his day.

The newspaper vendor talks about World War III with a delivery man, who puts forward the idea that in World War III, as opposed to World War II, there will be no place to run to. The vendor muses on the delivery man's words before dismissing the likelihood of a nuclear war and starts complaining how the war is disrupting his newspaper deliveries.

During this time, Dan and Laurie are having lunch at a diner. Laurie tells Dan that she has no home to go to and her is suspended by the government, as they saw no further use for her after Dr. Manhattan had left Earth. Sympathetically, Dan offers Laurie to stay at his place. As Laurie and Dan leave the diner, they are observed by an unmasked Rorschach, who waits for news from Moloch, via a secret message.

Adrian Veidt is about to meet with representatives from a toy company who are proposing new characters in their Ozymandias line. While walking with his secretary, a gunman attempts to shoot Veidt but fatally shoots the secretary. Veidt fights and quickly subdues the gunman, who eventually bites into a suicide capsule to prevent Veidt discovering who sent him.

At police headquarters, Fine and Bourquin are looking over evidence taken from the murder-suicide case, reflecting on the recent attempt on Veidt's life, and trying to do paperwork on Edward Blake's murder. They then receive a phone call from an anonymous tip who gives them information on the whereabouts of "Raw Shark".

Rorschach arrives at Moloch's place in which Moloch wanted to see him. He only finds Moloch murdered, with a bullet in his head. Suddenly, the police with Detectives Fine and Bourquin have surrounded the building and demand Rorschach to come out and surrender. Rorschach realizes he has fallen into a trap and attempts to escape. After subduing several SWAT members, Rorschach jumps out of the window and lands on the street where he is immediately overwhelmed by the police. He is then unmasked, revealing him to be the doomsayer who has been appearing sporadically in the city.

The mariner decided to find a way back home and un-burying his shipmates so he could use their gas-bloated bodies to support his raft. The mariner leaves at night and sustains himself by eating captured sea gulls and drinking sea water in small amounts. He is soon beset by sharks, who take away the dead shipmates' bodies. The mariner is then attacked by a large shark that he eventually kills by stabbing a splinter of the mast into its eye. The dead shark provides the mariner with food and support for his raft since it was entangled with its cords.

Treasure Island: Treasury of Comics is a book which details the creation of Tales of the Black Freighter and the appeal of pirate comics, which first became popular after the 1950s when comic books were briefly scrutinized (except for certain comic books that were inspired by government-sponsored agents). Due to the government acting in favor of the comic book industry, EC Comics dominated the marketplace of pirate-related titles throughout the 1950s. Soon after other publishers began following EC's example.

In May 1960 Tales of the Black Freighter was created by artist Joe Orlando and relatively new writer Max Shea and published by National Comics (now called DC), and tells the story of "a vessel from Hell" that takes on the souls of "evil men so that they may walk its blood-stained decks for all eternity." Although the title did not escape controversy as it was notable for its horrific scenes of piratical brutality and excesses, it did not lose its audience.

After nine issues, Orlando left the project - due to creative differences with Shea - and he is replaced by Walt Feinberg, a relatively unknown but capable artist who is best known for his western titles.

One of their more notable collaborations was the two-part "Marooned" story in issues 23 and 24. A one-character story about a young mariner shipwrecked by pirates of the Black Freighter and his desperate attempt to warn his hometown of the hell-ship's approach. Until issue 31, Shea quit the project following similar creative differences and he disappeared from the public eye.

Watchmen #6

On October 25th, clinical psychologist, Dr. Malcolm Long, examines Rorschach, whose public identity is Walter Kovacs, at Sing-Sing. Dr. Long hopes that he has the chance of helping Walter and as well finding out why he is so alienated and emotionally withdrawn.

Revealed through flashbacks and Dr. Long's notes, Walter was born in 1940 to Sylvia Kovacs. His father is unknown. His mother was a prostitute who resented his interference in her business, and abused him viciously. At age 10, Walter attacked two bullies that had cruelly abused him, partially blinding one with the bully's own lit cigarette. This incident lead the authorities to investigate Walter's home life and removed him from his mother's custody. Walter became a ward of the state and his life improved with excellence in schoolwork, although he is usually a quiet child.

On October 26th, Dr. Long continues his session with Walter and ask him to talk about his alter ego Rorschach. Walter suddenly tells Dr. Long that he doesn't like him for not understanding "pain" but agrees to tell about Rorschach. In 1956, Walter left the Children's home and became an unskilled laborer at a garment industry. Working in this capacity, in 1962 he grew fascinated by a new fabric made possible through technologies developed by Doctor Manhattan. Two viscous liquids, one black and one white, between two layers of latex, continually shifted in response to heat and pressure, forming symmetrical patterns like a Rorschach inkblot test while never mixing to produce a grey colour. Walter learned of the fabric when a young woman chose not to buy a dress which she had ordered made from it; subsequently Walter took the dress home and experimented with the fabric. He learned to cut the fabric and maintain the seal using heated scissors. By March 1964, Walter learned about the in which she was raped and killed in front of a building full of tenants who didn't bother to help her. The murder convinced Walter to finally being ashamed of humanity.

Dr. Long tries to conclude that the Genovese murder made Walter to think that humanity is rotten and tries to reason that there are good people like himself. But Walter dismisses Dr. Long's claims and asking why he bother to spending time with him rather than the other violent inmates. When Dr. Long tries to explain that he wants to help Walter, but Walter believe otherwise and sees that Dr. Long wants to diagnose a more famous person to get to be known in the journals and know what makes him sick. Before being taken back to his cell, Walter enigmatically tells Dr. Long that he will soon find out what makes him sick. On the same day, Walter escaped an attempt on his life in the cafeteria by calmly and wordlessly grabbing a pot full of boiling cooking grease and hurling it into the assailant's face. Walter was hauled to solitary confinement and the assailant suffered from his burns. As he was being dragged away, Walter spoke to the other inmates: "None of you understand. I'm not locked in here with you. You're locked up in here with me."

The next day, Dr. Long picks up where Walter left off on becoming Rorschach. Dr. Long assumes that the Genovese murder inspired Walter to becoming Rorschach, but Walter replies that he wasn't Rorschach then. In his words, he was "Kovacs pretending to be Rorschach." At that time he was considered "soft" because he left criminals to live prior to 1975. In 1965, Rorschach was acquainted with Nite Owl II and became partners in bringing down street gangs and important criminal figures such as The Big Figure. But Walter considered Nite Owl and other costumed crime fighters to be soft and that none of them lasted long, except for the Comedian whom Walter considered him to truly understood how the world work. By the end of the interview, Walter states people like Rorschach and the Comedian do it "because [they] have to. We do it because we are compelled."

Dr. Long now knows that Walter wasn't compelled to become Rorschach not because of his childhood or the Genovese murder that caused him to overreact the injustice in the world, but something else. All the while his evaluation with Walter becomes an obsession for him and consequently causing damage to his marriage.

On October 28th, Dr. Long tries some more blot tests with Walter, as Dr. Long knows that his patient has been holding back on what he actually sees. Walter looks at one and answers that he sees a dog's head split in half. Walter then reveals to Dr. Long about the 1975 kidnapping case of six-year-old Blaire Roche in which he investigated. After brutally interrogating fifteen people for Roche's whereabouts, Rorschach found the captor's vacant hideout and learned to his horror that the girl had been murdered, butchered, and fed to two German Shepherd dogs. He killed the dogs with a meat cleaver and waited for the kidnapper. Once the man arrived, Rorschach wordlessly confronted and chained him to a pipe, ignoring his claims of innocence, then placed a hacksaw near him and set the house on fire. Finally speaking, he told the terrified man that he would not have time to cut through his restraints before the fire killed him (implying that he would have to sever his own arm to escape). Walter calmly watched the structure burn from across the street; the suspected kidnapper did not emerge. At this moment Rorschach ceased to be Walter Kovacs and became Rorschach. After finishing his story, Walter is taken back to his cell while Dr. Long is left shocked.

Dr. Long returns to his home with his previous optimistic outlook on life completely shattered. During a dinner party with guests invited by his wife Gloria, the guests start to tease Dr. Long about his interview with Walter. Unamused, Long tells them in detail about the murder of Claire Roche. The dinner soon ended with the guests quietly leaving. Gloria is furious and left Malcolm. Dr. Long sits on his bed looking over a Rorschach blot and trying to pretend it looked like a spreading tree, but it didn't. Instead, it reminds him of a dead cat he once found.

Watchmen #7

Laurie explores Dan's basement and looks at the Nite Owl equipment. When she enters the Owlship, Laurie accidentally turns on the vessel's flamethrower as she mistaken a button for a cigarette lighter. Dan quickly comes down and puts out the fire. After Laurie apologizes for the incident, Dan gives her a proper tour, showing her collection of crime fighting gadgets and mementos. Laurie is impressed but Dan often downplays his belongings.

Laurie and Dan then go back up and watches the television, which shows a news report of
Rorschach's arrest (in which Dan is worried about Rorschach's stay in prison) and dire situation in the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. As they are watching, a passion sparks between them in which Laurie initiates making love. They fall asleep until Dan later wakes up from a nightmare in which he sees himself and Laurie burned in nuclear fire.

Dan sulks in the basement where he is eventually found by Laurie. He tells her how frustrated he is that he couldn't do anything when war could inevitably happen between the U.S. and Russia. Furthermore, he is also emotionally churned over Rorschach's mask killer theory that has become more believable with Manhattan's exile, Adrian Veidt's assassination attempt, and Rorschach's capture. But Dan is hesitant of whether he should don the Nite Owl costume to "set [himself] straight." Laurie approves his plan and they suit up in their old costumes and take the Owlship out.

While cruising over the city, they notice that a nearby tenement building is on fire. Dan and Laurie spring into action as they help the trapped residents board the Owlship and safely setting them on a nearby rooftop. This act of heroism revitalizes Dan's passion and confidence in which he and Laurie consummate their relationship inside the airship. Afterwards, Dan then tells to an incredulous Laurie that they should break Rorschach out of prison.

Watchmen #8

October 31st, Halloween.

Hollis Mason calls his old partner Sally Jupiter in regards to the news reports of the tenement rescue made by his successor and Laurie Juspeczyk. The two former Minutemen express surprise and joy of their proteges taking up their costume heroics again.

In Dan's basement, Laurie tries to talk Dan out of springing Rorschach from jail. But Dan remains firm on saving his friend. He also theorizes the possibility that there is a bigger conspiracy going on in which someone orchestrated Dr. Manhattan's exile in order to cause World War Three to happen. The obvious case to support Dan's idea is that the cancer scare allegedly caused by Manhattan is bogus because Laurie lived with Jon for a long time and didn't contract cancer, unlike the other people who were closely acquainted with Manhattan. Even more suspicious is that these cancer victims all previously worked for a research company called Dimensional Developments. Dan realizes more than ever that breaking Rorschach out is imperative as he might have more information to help uncover what is going on. Dan also considers recruiting Adrian Veidt for help, but only after freeing Rorschach because Adrian would be more likely to stop their attempt.

At Sing-Sing, a dwarfish gangster named Big Figure is granted a five minute meeting with Kovacs. It is then revealed that Big Figure was once a reputable criminal until he was apprehended by Rorschach and Nite Owl twenty years ago. Now Big Figure wants revenge and he tells Kovacs that the prisoner he scalded will likely die and therefore cause a prison riot which Big Figure will take advantage of the chaos to kill Rorschach.

Later that evening, Detective Steven Fine stops by Dan's home to ask him about his ties to Edward Blake. But Fine drops hints that he knows Dan is the Nite Owl and has been in contact with Rorschach and Laurie. After Fine leaves, Dan quickly understands that he and Laurie must act quickly in Rorschach's prison break.

Somewhere on an island, missing comic book writer Max Shea and painter Hira Manish discuss about an odd squid-like creature Manish is sketching that appears under a tarp, being prepped to be transported, on the beach in the distance. According to Max Shea's words, they have been kept on the island by "paranoid movie companies."

Dan and Laurie, in their costumes, take off on the Owlship for Sing-Sing, where a riot has broken out. In the midst of this, Big Figure tells off the other inmates from going after Kovacs. Leaving only him and his cronies Larry and Mike to confront Kovacs. Unfortunately for them, Kovacs proves to be craftier; he binds the hands of Larry to the cell's door when the man lunges for him. Larry's huge physique effectively blocks the door's lock housing and his compatriots are unable to cut him free. Big Figure coldly orders Mike to kill Larry. Mike uses a welding torch to open the door and then uses it to threaten Kovacs. But Kovacs breaks the toilet and lets the water flow out, making contact with the frayed power cable of the welder, fatally electrocuting Mike. Big Figure stares in absolute horror of the loss of his men before fleeing with Kovacs following after him.

Laurie and Dan manage to enter the prison after using the Owlship's screechers that incapacitate the prisoners. The pair soon find Kovacs near a bathroom, where Big Figure had just hid inside. Kovacs tells Dan and Laurie that he need to use the men's room before they leave. He kills Big Figure while Dan and Laurie remain ignorant of what he just did.

The three return to Dan's apartment where they are planning to pack up and leave. Suddenly, Dr. Manhattan appears before Laurie and asks her to come with him to Mars for an important conversation; in which Laurie is predestined to convince Manhattan to save the world. Laurie and Manhattan teleport away, as Dan and Kovacs flee the apartment on the Owlship just as the police with Detective Fine are too late to arrest them.

The news of Rorschach's escape angers and frightens a gang of drugged-up knot-tops who decide to go take their frustrations out on Hollis Mason, thinking that he is the Nite-Owl the news reported that helped break Rorschach out. The gang forces their way into Mason's apartment and beats him to death. When the gang realized what they had done they flee the scene. A group of trick-or-treaters soon finds Mason's body.

A draft for the news article, "Honor is Like the Hawk: Sometimes It Must Go Hooded", written by the far-right daily newspaper New Frontiersman by its editor Hector Godfrey. Inside its content, Godfrey makes an appeal of clemency on behalf of heroes while also strongly criticizing people for attacking "masked lawmen"; Godfrey held in particular contempt for Douglas Roth of Nova Express for smearing Doctor Manhattan and consequently led to America losing its "greatest tactical asset" and exposing it to the threat of nuclear confrontation with the Soviet Union.

The content also includes an article about the missing author Max Shea along with other missing people, which consists of other writers and artists, and as well as scientists and semi-skilled menial workers. An odder yet unconnected incident is the desecration of deceased so-called psychic and clairvoyant Robert Deschaines, whose head was cut off and stolen. The desecration happened on the same week of Shea's disappearance. The police tenuously attributed it to the act of black magic cultists. Godfrey voice his unsupported theory that the disappearances are orchestrated by "sinister Cuban interests."

Watchmen #9

Dr. Manhattan and Laurie have just teleported to Mars. The latter almost forgot that there is no oxygen on the planet for Laurie to breathe and uses his powers to keep her breathing. After Laurie lashes at Manhattan for his slip-up, Manhattan escorts her to his crystal construct.

Dr. Manhattan's perception of time and predestination 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.

Laurie recounts her time when she was five years old and overheard her mother and stepfather Lawrence Schexnayder arguing over one of Sally's affairs. The young Laurie wanders into the living room where she picks up and play with a snow globe until she was caught by Lawrence, causing her to drop and break the snow globe. Lawrence yells at Laurie and sends her back to bed. Since then, Laurie saw Schexnayder a domineering bully who picks on her because she is not his child. Laurie was certain that her real father was Hooded Justice.

Laurie pleads to Manhattan to end their conversation and return to Earth and help save humanity from nuclear destruction. But Manhattan is indifferent to humanity's plight and states that the end of the world will mean the end of human suffering. He then takes his construct to fly above the Martian surface.

Manhattan and Laurie's conversation brings up another memory in Laurie's life. In 1962, thirteen-year old Laurie was involved in a reunion party of the Minutemen at Sally's home. She witnesses Byron Lewis, the former Mothman, having a mental breakdown. The sight of the broken man caused Laurie to question her mother if that is what she has to look forward to when she becomes a costumed hero.

Laurie continues to try to change Manhattan's mind by talking about the importance of life. This leads to the third memory of the Crimebusters' meeting at Nelson Gardner's mansion where The Comedian points out the futility of such an organization. Laurie has a flirtatious encounter with Blake, who comments her that she looks much like her mother and asking if Sally talks about him. The encounter quickly ended when a furious Sally pulled her daughter away and forbids from ever speaking to Blake. The Comedian tried to make peace with Sally and wanted only to talk with "his old friend's daughter" to no avail. Laurie noted that the Comedian looked sad as he watched them drive away, and she felt sorry for him.

After Laurie finishes her story about Blake, she tries again to make Manhattan value people. But Manhattan still doesn't care as human life is brief and mundane. Manhattan momentarily foresees that he will return to Earth in the future, where there are streets full of corpses and that he kills someone, but the details remains vague as Manhattan describe that there is some kind of static preventing him from making a clear impression which he hypothesizes that it might be caused by the EMP of mass detonation of nuclear warheads; meaning that nuclear war is inevitable and Manhattan would be too late to stop it.

Deeply troubled by this revelation, Laurie again tries to convince Manhattan while recalling of her second encounter with Edward Blake in a banquet in 1973, where Blake was being honored with Gerald R. Ford and G. Gordon Liddy in attendance. By this time Laurie had learned of Blake's sexual assault on her mother. Deeply drunk, Laurie angrily confronted Blake and brought this past up to him before throwing her drink into his face. Afterwards Manhattan was angry of what she did and teleported her home for the first time.

Laurie is finally fed up that there is no point convincing Manhattan to change his mind on humanity. But Manhattan 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 is avoiding something. Laurie then comes to the shocking realization that The Comedian is her real father. In a fit of rage, Laurie throws a perfume bottle which shatters Manhattan's crystal palace.

As the construct falls around them, Manhattan erects a shield to protect himself and Laurie from the debris. Laurie rages that Blake and Sally had pulled a "gag" on her and thus making her to believe that her life is a meaningless joke. But Manhattan surprisingly tells her that he disagrees. He rationalizes that if Laurie can be the product of such an outrageous set of chaotic and improbable circumstances (Sally loving the man she has every reason to hate), 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.

Manhattan is convinced that life does matter and he tells Laurie they will go back to Earth.

Various clippings from Sally Jupiter's scrapbook:
A letter from a King Taylor who wants to turn a movie about Silk Spectre into an adult movie starring a young starlet named Cherry Dean. The released movie subsequently earned scathing reviews.
A letter from Captain Metropolis wanting to recruit Sally into the Minutemen.
Laurence Schexnayder's marriage proposal, calling it a "viable partnership proposition", as Schexnayder is planning to cut his losses with the Minutemen.
Sally's interview with the Probe Profile. The interview brings up Hollis Mason's autobiography and his allegation of the Comedian's sexual assault on Sally, whom she states that there is no excuse for rape, but she doesn't hold anything against Eddie Blake currently. When changing topics on her daughter, Sally believes Laurie will thank her for pushing her into becoming a costumed adventurer rather than living in a dull life such as a typical housewife.

Watchmen #10

President Nixon (who is holding the ) and Vice President Ford head deep inside a government emergency bunker. The former learns that Russian tanks are massing along the East German border in response to "western alarmism". His advisers ponder on what to do next, and Nixon tells them that they stay at DEFCON Two—the next step to nuclear war—and wait.

Meanwhile, Dan and Kovacs have been in the Owlship hiding in New York Harbor. Before continuing their investigation, they head to Kovacs' old apartment to pick up his spare costume and journal. They run into Kovacs' landlady, Dolores Shairp, who is instantly afraid of Kovacs as she had besmirched him on television. Kovacs accosts her, but decides to leave Shairp alone upon taking silent pity on her children.

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.

Back in New York, Rorschach is back in his costume. He 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. Dan is very certain that the perpetrators are tied to Dimensional Developments, who employed Moloch and therefore may have bugged his home and learned about Edward Blake's involvement and Rorschach's investigations. After a few outbursts, Dan apologizes to Rorschach, saying that he shouldn't have said any of that. Rorschach then, to Dan's surprise exhibits a rare moment empathy offering his hand in apology for his actions. The two agree that either way, the next course of action is to interrogate some of the criminal element to try and uncover some leads.

The news vendor rambles about the inevitable war between America and the Soviets, but didn't expect to be this long to wait. He is then approached by two members of who offer him about God's plan to end the world. The news vendor contemptuously declines.

Rorschach leads Nite Owl to Happy Harry's and demands the patrons for a man who is well acquainted with Roy Victor Chess, the man who attempted to assassinate Adrian Veidt. The people turn their attention to a Pyramid Industries employee. When the man refuses to cooperate, Rorschach interrogates him by firmly breaking the man's glass in his own hand. The man caves in, revealing that he had been paid by his boss, a freight coordinator, to hire Chess for a hit and gave him a brown envelope. But he protest that he didn't know Chess's target was Veidt. Furthermore, he is desperate for protection because all the other freight handlers, including his boss, that were involved are dead and he is certain that he would be next.

During Rorschach's interrogation, Nite-Owl approaches a knot-top, who apologetically tells that he has nothing to do with Hollis Mason's death. However, Nite-Owl begins strangling him, angrily demanding the identities of the people who murdered Hollis. The knot-top truthfully tells him that he doesn't know. Regardless, Nite-Owl threatens the man to tell his fellow gangs that he will come to kill them all. Rorschach intervenes and stops Nite-Owl from killing the knot-top in front of the patrons. The pair leave the bar before heading for Adrian 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 are 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 then notices something under a tarpaulin behind Hira and is horrified to see it is a huge bomb that will go off in seconds. When Hira asks what's wrong, Shea holds tightly to her, saying, "Nothing's wrong. Hold me." The bomb explodes, obliterating the ship and everyone on board.

Dan and Rorschach sneak into Veidt's penthouse office and learn that Veidt is gone. They find an appointment book which reads Veidt left for Karnak. On a hunch, Nite Owl hacks into Veidt's computer system and discovers that Veidt owns both Pyramid Deliveries and Dimensional Developments: he is the mastermind behind Manhattan's exile and The Comedian's death. Surprised by this discovery, Rorschach and Nite Owl head off to Karnak to confront Veidt. Before leaving, Rorschach makes one final journal entry detailing Veidt's role in the plot, and drops it into a mailbox to be deliver to the New Frontiersman newspaper office.

After Nite Owl and Rorschach land the Owlship in Antarctica, they head to Veidt's retreat via hoverbikes. Unknown to them, they are being monitored by Veidt's surveillance cameras.

The mariner sits on the dunes and waits until dark with thoughts of his home town, Davidstown, being overrun by pirates and planning to kill them all. Two horse-back riders come to the beach and the mariner recognizes one of them to be the town's moneylender; in which the mariner madly believes that he is collaborating with the pirates. The moneylender and his woman find the corpse-infested raft, forcing the mariner to kill them both in fear that they would warn the pirates. The mariner then takes the moneylender's clothes and leaves for Davidstown upon their horses with the woman's body to bypass any sentries.

Watchmen #11

Rorschach and Nite Owl approach Karnak as they discuss Adrian Veidt's agenda and his unexplained reasons for wanting to destroy the world.

Inside the retreat, Veidt gets up from his bank of television monitors and heads into a control room. He then pushes a button on the console next to a time gauge that reads "Eastern Standard Time: 11:25" before communicating to his associates that his work is done and to meet him in his vivarium to celebrate.

Veidt then recounts to his friends his life story. He was born in 1939, the same year his parents immigrated to America. He was a very intelligent young man, but he hid his intelligence from his teachers and parents by deliberately achieving average grades. By age seventeen, his parents died and he inherited their vast fortune. However, he chose to give it all to charity to prove what someone could accomplish from nothing. He idolized Alexander the Great and decided to measure his greatness against him by retracing the steps of his hero in which he traveled throughout the Middle East, Africa and Asia. On his return, he adopts the name Ozymandias, the Greek name for Pharaoh Ramses II, and starts his career as a costumed hero to fight all the evils of the world. As Veidt finishes his story, he turns to his associates, which he has apparently poisoned, then opens the vivarium dome letting a blizzard of snow into its tropical enclosure.

Rorschach and Nite Owl finally arrive at Karnak and eventually confront Veidt. A brief melee ensues, but Veidt subdues both of his attackers with precision. Nite Owl asks Veidt what he's trying to do. He explains that he realized fighting crime could never rid the world of evil, as he had been fighting only the "symptoms, leaving the disease itself unchecked." Then at the ill-fated Crimebusters meeting, he realized that the Comedian was right when he said it was pointless to form a crime-fighting team when nuclear war was inevitable. With the Cold War escalating and the proliferation of more arms - all of which are exacerbated by Doctor Manhattan's existence, he realized the military deadlock would eventually lead to one final conflict. For the last ten years, Veidt formulated his plan to solve this dilemma by tricking the world; frightening humanity into salvation with "history's greatest practical joke."

Veidt knew that Manhattan has to be out of the way of his plan first. He gave all of Jon Osterman's associates cancer which forced him into his exile. With the new technology that Manhattan had brought to the world, Veidt began to research advancements in the fields of genetics and teleportation on his private island. The Comedian discovered his island by accident while returning from Nicaragua. Initially believing to be a Sandinista base, Blake went to investigate and found a collection of artists and scientists working on a "monstrous new life form." Upon learning the creature's intended purpose, Blake was severely traumatized. But he was too afraid to expose the plot, and Blake only told Moloch, who he knew wouldn't understand. Since Veidt had Moloch's apartment bugged, he personally killed Blake before he could tell anyone else of Veidt's master plan: to frighten the world's governments into cooperation against a false alien threat designed by Veidt.

After killing Blake and ridding Manhattan, Veidt orchestrated his own assassination attempt in order to throw Rorschach's suspicion off of himself. He was also responsible for pushing a cyanide capsule into Roy Chess's mouth after subduing him to prevent him from talking as well. Veidt would finally teleport his life form, whose brain was cloned from a powerful psychic, into New York City. Since teleporting technology was limited, anything living that is transported would die of shock and explode. The ensuing psychic shockwave would kill half of the city's populace.

Nite Owl is left deeply skeptical of Veidt's plans and asking him when he had planned on perpetrating this outlandish scheme while under the belief that he and Rorschach are here to prevent what he is about to do. Veidt replies that he didn't "do it." He already did it "thirty-five minutes ago."

In New York, the news vendor complains about the loud music being played by the Pale Horse band coming from Madison Square Garden that is being attended by knot-tops. He soon stops his rant when he sees Aline, Joey's ex-girlfriend. Aline ask him if he saw Joey, which he haven't. So she decide to wait outside the Promethean where Joey works. Joey soon steps out and is not thrilled to see Aline, whose middle-class lifestyle and mannerism clashes with Joey's. The former couple attempt to salvage their relationship, but only to fall apart; Aline attempts to give her a book about relationships to help Joey understand what happened to them, and Joey complains that she just wanted to go to bed with her one time. Joey angrily tears the book apart and begins to fight Aline.

Meanwhile, Gloria Long meets Malcolm and tries to make amends with him. She admits she misses him, but cannot live with someone who fell driven to help hopeless cases that affect their marriage. But Malcolm then notice Joey's fight and tries to stop what she's doing against his wife's wishes.

The vendor talks to the kid reading Tales of the Black Freighter and is surprised to learn the kid's name is "Bernie", short for Bernard which is also the vendor's real name. But Bernie doesn't care too much since it's a common name. Bernard then notices Joey's fight with Aline. This is also seen by Detectives Steven Fine and Joe Bourquin, who are just passing by in their car. Fine, who has been suspended, stops the car and interferes with the fight over Bourquin's objections. The scene also attracts Joey's boss and his brother, the Gordian Knot technician who fixed Dan Dreiberg's lock.

Just as everyone tries to break up Joey from Aline, they pause in stunned horror when they see a large bright, blinding light emerge from the Institute for Extraspatial Studies building. Bernard and Bernie are closer to the building and the vendor attempts to shield the boy from harm as the light engulfs them and everyone nearby.

The mariner rides into Davidstown and enters his own home, expecting to find pirates occupying it. In the darkness, he attacks a woken figure to be a pirate. But he stops when he is discover by his own children and the figure he was beating is his wife. The mariner reel in horror of what he just done before fleeing from his house and the town. He runs back to the beach as he wonder how he could have mistaken the Black Freighter's nonexistence arrival. The revelation soon unfolds which he sees the very ship waiting out in the water. The mariner then realizes that the Black Freighter didn't came for Davidstown at all, but for the mariner himself. He then willingly swims towards the massive ship and joins her crew.

In 1975, Doug Roth, a reporter for the Nova Express, conduct an interview with Adrian Veidt at his Antarctic retreat Karnak. Throughout the interview, Veidt recounts his life story from his humble beginnings as a costumed hero to his retirement, his interest in subjects such as and, and his views on his fellow costumed adventurers. Veidt finish his interview by saying that the public may see him as the smartest man in the world, he "wish it wasn't this one."

Watchmen #12

Midnight, November 2, 1985.

Most of New York City has been devastated by the psychic trauma caused by the instant death of Ozymandias' "alien."

Dr. Manhattan and a heavily distraught Laurie arrive in the city too late as they tour the devastation. After they have seen enough, the two teleport away to the South Pole, to follow a trail of tachyon particles that Dr. Manhattan senses will lead to the source of the disturbance. Before they leave, Laurie picks up a gun from the deceased Detective Steven Fine.

At Karnak, Ozymandias continues to detail his plan to Rorschach and a disbelieving Nite-Owl. He explains he cloned the brain of the dead psychic Robert Deschaines and having it augmented and programmed with horrible visions and concepts of aliens, so that the mental transmissions given off at its death would affect anyone around it who managed to survive the initial psychic blast. Thus forcing humanity to cast aside their petty enmities and focus on a common alien enemy. But to ensure this plan to work, Veidt necessarily eliminated anyone involved in his plan. Although Veidt admits he has no idea what he will do with Rorschach and Nite-Owl.

Manhattan and Laurie soon arrives in Karnak, where Manhattan confronts Veidt. Veidt hinders Manhattan with a tachyon generator that interferes with Doctor Manhattan's ability to see the future, and then disintegrates him in an intrinsic field subtractor at the regrettable cost of Veidt's pet Bubastis. This act is witnessed by Laurie, who then shoots Veidt with Fine's gun. However, Veidt uses his newfound, and untried, ability to catch the bullet. After subduing Laurie, Veidt begins to lecture the costumed heroes that their "obvious heroism" is redundant and that their failure to prevent "Earth's salvation" will usher a new era for humanity. But his speech is cut short when to Veidt's surprise, Manhattan restores himself. Before Manhattan can pass judgement on Veidt, the world's smartest man makes one last trick by showing everyone news broadcasts of the aftermath of the disaster in New York, which has cost the lives of over two million people, which has prompted an end to hostilities between the U.S. and Soviet Union and calls for peaceful cooperation against Veidt's faked alien threat.

Veidt revels in his victory for bringing Earth into a "utopia" and convinces almost everyone present that exposing the truth would bring a permanent end to world peace. Manhattan, Laurie, and Dan reluctantly agree to concealing Veidt's truth. But Rorschach refuses to compromise with keeping the secret and proceeds to leave despite Dan's pleas. Veidt is seemingly unconcerned of Rorschach being a "reliable witness" before retiring to meditate in his ornery and offering Dan and Laurie a stay in his home. Laurie and Dan find a private room to reflect on their decision and they settle down to make love.

Outside, Rorschach tries to start up his hoverbike but is stopped by Manhattan. Rorschach takes off his mask, knowing that Veidt's new utopia is to be protected with the cost of his own life and prompts Manhattan to reluctantly disintegrate him. Manhattan walks back inside the retreat, where he finds Dan and Laurie asleep together and smiles at Laurie's newfound love and happiness and walks out of the room to meet Veidt. The two discuss about Veidt's well-intention reasons for ensuring world peace at the cost of millions of human lives. Veidt is surprised that Manhattan regained interest in human life, to which Manhattan suggests that he may "create some [human life]" in another galaxy that he will be travelling to. But before Manhattan could go, Veidt ask him if his plan worked out in the end. Manhattan smiles and enigmatically replies that "nothing ever ends." Veidt is left totally confused by Manhattan's words and appears to be in doubt as to whether or not his plan was successful.

Sometime during Christmas, Laurie and Dan, who have assumed new identities, visits Sally Jupiter. Laurie tells Sally that she knows Edward Blake is her real father. She explains to her mother that she understands the complex relationship between Sally and Blake and that she has comes to terms with that. Laurie and Dan soon leave while indicating that they would continue to adventure, although Laurie expressed the wish for a better superhero identity, a more protective leather outfit, a mask, and a firearm much like The Comedian.

In New York, which has been recovering from the disaster, the editor at New Frontiersman, Hector Godfrey, complains about having to pull a two-page column about Russia due to the new political climate, as the Russians are now on friendly terms with America. He asks his assistant Seymour to find some filler material from the "crank file", a collection of rejected submissions to the paper, to write. Sitting on top of the pile of discarded submissions is Rorschach's journal.