Watchmen: Comic vs. Film

“Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?” 

“Who watches the watchmen?

*WARNING* The comic and film discussed in this post feature some suggestive language and content, including themes of sexual assault and violence. Proceed at your own risk.

I feel I have to preface this post by saying 1) the title suggests that I will be comparing the film and the comic, but I see them as complementary works than anything else, and will therefore be analyzing them as such; 2) Watchmen is perhaps one of my top favorite multimedia works of fiction, so my opinions are a little biased. I've recently come to the realization that I do have a type, especially when it comes to visual media: It seems I have a...preference for dark fiction that couldn't objectively pass as realistic, but is realistic enough. Sometimes, it even borders on nihilistic (shh shh). I've watched the film three times and have read the comic twice, but I have not watched the HBO show, and don't see myself watching it in the near future. The first of the Watchmen comics were published in the summer of 1986. Co-creators Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons came together after the former considered incorporating a line of superheroes that were cast aside by their developers. Independently, each experienced great success: Alan Moore's V for Vendetta was highly acclaimed and won countless awards, while Dave Gibbons experienced a success of equal measure for his work as both artist and writer in iterations of Green Lantern, Doctor Who, and Superman, among others. The pair had previously worked together on other projects, but none that were as successful as Watchmen would later become. 

Setting

Watchmen is set in an alternate 1985 America, a reality in which Richard Nixon is still president after an repeal of term limits (the whole Watergate fiasco hadn't happened), the country is reeling from the effects of the Vietnam War, and is up in arms about the possibility of another war, this time with the Soviet Union. The story opens in the perspective of Rorschach- by way of his journal- with the investigation of the murder of an Edward Blake in New York City. The sanctioned investigation of the crime is led by two detectives seemingly of little consequence (they're sprinkled in here and there), but later that night, the mysterious Rorschach breaks into the scene and discovers a costume hidden in a secret compartment of the victim's closet. He recognizes the getup as the one belonging to masked adventurer turned contracted governmental cog, The Comedian. Prior to his alleged murder, the Comedian was one of the two active heroes remaining. This comes after the passing of the Keene Act, which discontinued the interference of numerous self-proclaimed masked vigilantes and forced them into retirement. Rorschach was one of the aforementioned vigilantes, but continued to operate unbeknown to the government.

Watchmen's "Hero" + Character Profiles

 "The superman exists and he's American", is how Dr. Manhattan is first introduced to the Watchmen's world's citizenship. Effectively, this is a ploy to lend some measure of comfort and a sense of security to the American population (who were, as aforementioned, left feeling disenfranchised and worn out from their country's unwarranted and unwanted involvement in Vietnam et al., was that too political?) while simultaneously placing the American military at the forefront in what was previously a struggle for dominance between the world powers. I digress. Before Dr. Manhattan was Dr. Manhattan, he was Jon Osterman, a nuclear physicist (that was bound go wron g at some point, right?) who gets trapped in an auto-locking intrinsic field subtracting chamber when he goes to grab his watch (this is both ironic and significant in its irony). His physical form, as it existed then, was separated at atomic-level and his existence rendered to a soup of disassembled atomic component, he subsequently reassembled himself, but not as he was before: His consciousness now inhabited an indestructible body capable of seeing and living the past, present, and future, simultaneously. That, combined with powers of teleportation that seemingly had no limit and an ability to manipulate matter, rattled the human understanding of what was possible and what wasn't. It's also worth noting that Dr. Manhattan is the only being in-story to possess such power, or anything near it. Now, there's a number of theories as to how Jon Osterman survived the accident, but the prevailing theory seems to be that because of his consciousness experiences time all at once, he was able to reconstruct his corporeal form because, canonically, he's already done it. That said, I think a lot of people don't get behind that theory because they seem to believe that a lack of physical form doesn't allow for any doing on his part, and that his body just was. But I think that the key to understanding the validity of the former theory here is the acknowledging that Jon's consciousness (which can very well exist without a body) was capable of the undertaking. 

The emergence of Dr. Manhattan presents an interesting conundrum for both the existence of masked vigilantes and society at large. For the former, it shook the common human understanding of the very fabric and workings of nature. While we don't really get theological perspective, I would imagine religion took a sizable hit. As for the latter, it posed the question of the relevancy and need for the "unremarkable" masked heroes. I will remind you that the Keene Act (the policy that ended unsanctioned vigilante activity) was put into effect after the appearance of Dr. Manhattan, who was also one of said freelance heroes before then (that low hanging fruit is just begging to be picked- the timing is impeccable). Before the law was passed however, there was a flurry of criminal activity and self-proclaimed heroes there to meet it. To Watchmen readers' knowledge, it all started with The Minutemen, which comprised of Hooded Justice (was the very first masked vigilante), Captain Metropolis (who brought the group together), Mothman, Silhouette, Dollar Bill, Silk Spectre I, the Comedian, and Nite Owl I (I may inadvertently be leaving someone out, but I think that's everybody). The group had a very diverse range ideologies and values, but they made it work: They held periodic meetings about how to go about bring in a criminal or group of criminals that operated underground (Moloch, comes to mind). But many of their interactions were for the sake of publicity. Hollis Mason, Nite Owl I, explains in his post-vigilante autobiography when The Minutemen came to an end, it was largely because everyone got caught up in various diverging paths (Silke Spectre took to a modeling career; Hollis wanted to pursue his calling and open up an auto shop) and the activity of the team fizzled out. Apparently, people still felt there was a need for "heroes", so The Minutemen were succeeded by the Crimebusters shortly after their disbandment. Riding on the coattails of their predecessors's success, The Crimebusters is made up of Metro-man, Dr. Manhattan, Silke Spectre II (the daughter of her namesake), The Comedian, Ozymandias, Nite Owl II, and Rorschach.

Layout/World-Building + Internal Symbolism

The brilliance of Watchmen quite literally lies in its pages; in its structure and the profundity of its message. The interludes provide the story with some much-needed world-building, backstory and character profiles that are so expertly woven into the story without hindering the progression of the plot, allowing the reading experience to naturally flow between enjoying the tight pace of the main story and then taking breaks to reflect and discover details and nuances. The film-makers attempt to emulate that approach when they made the artistic decision to incorporate parts of an issue of the in-story comic Tales of the Black Freighter, successful so, in my opinion. The tale of the Black Freighter is one of vengeance, severe miscalculation, and ultimately, a story that throws into sharp perspective the advantages of accessible varying modes of immediate communication (i.e cellphones). Incorporating the Black Freighter comic-esque into the live-action film, matching in urgency and tone adds dimension to the overall story.  

When the story sets off with the death of the Comedian, whose former colleagues all felt there was no love lost between in life, are ironically brought together by his death. The Comedian dishonored the title of "hero". He shoots and kills a visibly pregnant woman thats claims to be carrying his offspring while serving in Vietnam, he attempts to rape his comrade-in-arms, Silk Spectre I, and tear-gases a crowd, among other things. He was a terrible man all around. His world-view was one of grim understanding, a kind of learned-helplessness that he used to justify- and also interestingly, almost justified- his actions. As one Redditor interestingly pointed out, 

"When we think of the comedy or tragedy aspect, we think of happy or sad. Laughing or crying. But what most people don’t understand is that the comedy side is actually referring to the very serious business of JOY. Joy is not the same as comedy. Joy is also felt, I believe, in true irony. At some point along the way humanity collectively replaced the awe inspiring Joy with the harsh brays of “comedy.” People don’t understand what the differences are and why one would be much more important than the other. The Comedian is a joke. That’s the whole joke. If joy replaced comedy, how would the world be different? How would the story end differently? Joy is also often connected to experiences in empathy, so maybe our collective lack of understanding for one another is what makes the Comedian such a joke."

If there's one word I would use to collectively describe the characters in Watchmen, it would be paradoxical. Laurie (Silk Spectre II) projects her own insecurities onto almost everyone she interacts with. Dan, the Night Owl II, is clearly wistful of and yearning for his crimefighting days, but doesn't do a damn thing about it until he is forced to. The role of the protector is thrust upon Dr. Manhattan by the Americans when he doesn't make for a great protector because of his lack of humanity (a deconstruction of superman-level hero, as the comic creators intended). Even Rorschach, whose values and ideologies are seemingly black and white, is a paradox. The Comedian is the very same in that respect, he preaches about the injustices of the world and wallows in his negativity as he murders, tear-gases, and does the dirty work for his government. Now, I don't want to delve into the circumstances of his death, lest I divulge some spoiler or other. Suffice it to say that he was murdered for having uncovered a plot of devastating proportions. When Rorschach first comes onto the scene, he discovers a blood-splattered smiley face button pin, one that the Comedian donned on the regular. The button becomes an all-encompassing symbol of moral ambiguity and the fantasy of the superhero, which I think sums up the Comedian's, and the rest of the characters' personalities perfectly: The world of Watchmen is riddled with masks running around claiming to be "heroes" and yet, none of them are heroes. I believe that a career of adrenaline-rushing, intrinsically and extrinsically rewarding crime-fighting had a cascading effect that, ultimately, left the "heroes" with a feeling of hollowness and a general dissatisfaction with life. 

The underlying message of the story's "ending" too, was an enigma. Again, I won't spill the beans, but I will say that the last line uttered by a character is, "I leave it entirely in your hands" It's a Rorschach test. Not only is that part of an in-comic dialogue, it's also a pointed hint made to readers to imagine how the story continues as they will and the meaning of the work, as a whole in its constant eternity, is left up to the reader's interpretation.