Watchmen Part 9 of 12. Writer, Alan Moore. Illustrator, Dave Gibbons. Described by Liana Kerr https://twitter.com/lianaleslie Last modified March 2, 2015. Chapter 9. Cover. The words "Chapter IX" are printed vertically in orange on black over the left third of the page. Above them is an orange and black clock with no numbers or markings that indicates that the time is 11:57. The right two-thirds of the page show a bottle of Nostalgia perfume in the air. The bottle is uncovered, and drops of golden perfume fly out of it as it falls, creating a graceful arc to the left. The bottle appears to be tilting to the right, and the light reflects off of it in several places on the bottle, the neck and the base. The glass has a warm purple tint to it, and the liquid inside shimmers as it rushes to the right, leaving an empty space inside the top left of the bottle bordered with bubbles. A graceful, golden N is on the front of the bottle. In the background is a night sky filled with glimmering stars and hazy clouds of pink, indigo and light blue. Page 1. Panel 1. The purple perfume bottle from the cover, rendered with more simple coloring but in the same position against the night sky. A voice from offscreen says "*Laurie*?" Panel 2. Dan is standing in the doorframe between his hallway and his living room, his costume on but his hood pushed back and his goggles around his neck. He looks alarmed as he sees Jon standing in his living room, and says "What's happening? I..." The reader sees the scene as if from Laurie's perspective, with Jon turning his head to look at Dan. Laurie says "*Dan*? He just *appeared*. He wants me to *go* with him. I... I think I better do as he *says*. I *know* him. He doesn't change his *mind*." Rorschach's voice from the hall says "Daniel? Doorbell ringing..." Panel 2. Dan says "Laurie, *wait*! What *is* this? What are you going to *do*?" Laurie reaches for Jon's hand as she says "W-we're going to *talk*. Maybe we'll find some way *out* of this mess. It'll be okay, Dan. Really. You take care." Rorschach's voice from outside says "People outside, Daniel. Police." Jon turns his expressionless gaze back to Laurie as she takes his hand. Panel 3. A large panel that takes up the space of three regular panels. Jon's expression is grave as he clasps Laurie's hand in his. There's a bright green light behind them, and Dan steps backward and brings his arm up to shield his face, his expression startled. Black lines start to appear over the panel, starting with a thin line over the clock on the left, which reads 11:14, then gradually becoming thicker as they spread over Jon, breaking him up into panels, and nearly covering up Dan in the background, becoming entirely black toward the right side of the panel. Rorschach's voice continues, "Hammering now. Best hurry. We..." Dan cries "*Laurie!*" Panel 4. A large panel that takes up the space of three regular panels. The panel is entirely black. Near the middle is Dan's speech bubble saying "Don't..." Under this panel is the title of the chapter, The Darkness of Mere Being. Page 2. Panel 1. A large panel that takes up the space of three regular panels. It appears to be the opposite of the process taking place in Panel 3 of Page 1, with a wide black line at the left side of the page, followed by a series of gradually thinning lines leading to a slim black line on the right side of the page. As the lines become thinner, they reveal Jon, glowing with a blue light and clasping Laurie's hand. Behind him is the dark red landscape of Mars and the night sky, with a yellow light coming from the right that's as brilliant as the blue light coming from Jon. Panel 2. A large panel that takes up the space of three regular panels. Jon is looking at Laurie, releasing her hand and saying "There." Behind him is the full landscape of the rocky, red planet, with a green band of stars trailing over the left part of the sky and the sun over a mountain in the distance on the right. Panel 3. Jon stands with Laurie's hand resting on his, facing her. He says "Do you *like* it?" They appear to be standing on a slight hill. Panel 4. Laurie says "J...?" She puts her hand to her throat and staggers backward, making "Huc. Hhhhh" noises. The movement of her feet raises little pink dust clouds around her high heels. Panel 5. Jon reaches out to her and starts to move toward her, saying "Laurie?" She clutches her throat and starts to fall backward, her face contorted as she makes an "Ah." noise. She's holding tightly to her handbag, and the dust clouds around her feet are getting larger. Page 3. Panel 1. The bottle of Nostalgia perfume continues to fall through the air, perfume spilling out in an arc as it tilts a few more degrees toward the right. The liquid inside sloshes around and the glass reflects the light as the stars twinkle in the distance. Panel 2. Laurie is losing her balance and starting to fall backwards down the hill. Some items fly out of her bag as she clutches her throat, raising a large dust cloud as she skids backwards. Panel 3. Laurie falls on her back down the hill, one shoe coming off and her arms flailing in the air above her. She loses hold of her bag, and a book and several pieces of paper come flying out of it, fluttering in front of her through the dust cloud. Panel 4. Laurie's body comes to rest at the base of the hill, and she sprawls out in the dust cloud, her legs turned at an unnatural angle. Her bag follows her, with the book, a bottle of perfume, her cigarette holder and other small items flying above her. A pink dust cloud surrounds her and settles on the purplish ground around her. Panel 5. Laurie raises herself up on one elbow, clutching her throat. Her cheeks and eyes are bulging out. Jon stands in front of her. Her personal items fall to the ground behind her, and the dust cloud starts to settle. Panel 6. Laurie is kneeling on the ground in the midst of a small dust cloud, her eyes wild and her cheeks bulging, as she reaches for Jon's thighs, clutching them. Jon starts to extend a hand to her. Panel 7. Laurie looks up at Jon desperately as he reaches down to her. Her eyes are bulging and panicked, and her cheeks are puffed out. Jon asks "Laurie? What's..." Her book lies open and face down behind her, with what looks like a newspaper clipping slipping out of one page. Panel 8. Jon says "Oh. Of course. Please forgive me..." We see the scene as if from Laurie's perspective. She's reaching for his chest, but her fingers are starting to curl, and her vision is swimming, with little stars and pink dots clustering around the sides. Jon lays a hand on her arm and reaches for her, a concerned expression on his face. The area around the edges of Laurie's vision is a hazy light blue, while Jon himself, as well as Laurie's hands and arms, appear to be a much darker tone. Panel 9. Jon points his finger about four inches away from Laurie's mouth, creating a shimmering white field that extends about two inches away from her entire body. He looks apologetic as he says "Sometimes these things slip my mind." Laurie leans forward, breathing deeply and closing her eyes, one hand on Jon's chest and the other hand at her neck as she makes a "Hhhuuhhhhr" sound. Page 4. Panel 1. Laurie says "Oh *Jesus*! Jesus, Jon, you stupid bastard, you..." She leans to the side, hugging her chest tightly and vomiting onto the ground, making "Hhuc, hhuch..." noises. Jon, standing in front of her, gestures at her and says "Laurie? Are you alright?" The dust cloud behind her has mostly subsided, and her bag and personal items lie on the ground behind her. Panel 2. Laurie wipes her mouth with the back of her hand and points at Jon, her expression angry. She makes a "Pfuh" noise, then says "Of *course* I'm not alright. I'm throwing *up*. You know I *always* throw up whenever you *take* me anywhere! Jon, listen, this *air supply*, whatever it is. You better not *forget* about it, or..." Jon starts to turn away, his shoulder towards her and his face impassive. Panel 3. Laurie looks up, her expression startled as she says "...Or, uh..." She is standing behind Jon, who is turned away from her, looking at the same thing she is seeing. Panel 4. A large panel that takes up the space of six regular panels. Jon's glass palace rises before the two of them. It's easily a hundred feet tall and equally wide, and is a magnificent, complex and delicate pink glass structure. Its complex pattern of cog-like structures and clock hand-like structures stand stark and straight against the black night sky, and the flawless glass glitters in the starlight. The base appears to be dome-shaped, made of what look like gears, while at the top is a balcony that appears to be like a cup or the top part of an hourglass. Jon looks at it, and Laurie raises a hand to her mouth, stepping backwards, and says "Oh shit. I'm on Mars." Page 5. Panel 1. Jon starts to walk towards the glass palace, his feet kicking up dust clouds. Facing away from Laurie, he says "Of course. It is here on Mars that we debate Earth's destiny." Laurie slips her other shoe on and gathers up her bag and belongings. She's standing a few feet behind him and looking at him leave, saying "Jon, please, I mean, *this*, just *being* here, it's giving me *problems*, okay? I can't take your predestination trip right now." Panel 2. Jon continues towards the glass palace, nearly reaching the edge. He turns his head towards Laurie and says "Why does my perception of time distress you?" Laurie follows him, saying "Why *ask*? You already *know* my answer: it's *stupid*. When I left you, when *Nova Express* attacked you, you were *surprised*. Why, if you *knew* it would happen?" Panel 3. Jon and Laurie walk on the smooth, flat surface of the glass floor toward the middle of the structure. Jon looks straight ahead of him as he answers "*Everything* is preordained. Even my *responses*." Laurie, walking a step behind him, gestures at his back, saying "And you just go through the *motions*, acting them *out*? Is that what you *are*? The most powerful thing in the *universe* and you're just a *puppet* following a *script*?" Panel 4. A large panel the size of four normal panels showing the interior of Jon's palace. The cogs converge on a dome in the middle of the floor, and a spiral staircase winds around a central pillar, leading to the upper level. Jon continues to walk towards the center, facing forward, as he says "We're all puppets, Laurie. I'm just a puppet who can see the *strings*. We shall go up to the balcony. You can see the Nodus Gordii mountains from there." Laurie, standing behind him and gesturing with one arm, says "Well, what if I *don't*?" Panel 5. Jon starts to walk up the spiral staircase, his reflection distorted and blue on the center pillar. His posture is straight and he looks forward. Laurie stands at the base of the staircase, her hands on her hips, and looks defiant as she says "What happens *then*? What happens if I just stay down here and screw all your *predictions*, huh? Huh?" Panel 6. Laurie starts to walk up the stairs, touching the central pillar for support and looking up uneasily as she says "Jon? I said what happens *then*?" Her reflection is distorted and yellow on the central pillar. Page 5. Panel 1. Jon is standing on the balcony of the cup-shaped upper level, his hands on the sides as he looks out toward Mars. As Laurie approaches, he says "This is where we hold our conversation. It commences when you surprise me with the information that you and Dreiberg have been sleeping together." Panel 2. Laurie, standing behind Jon, looks startled and gestures toward him as if asking for an explanation, saying "Y--You *know* about me and Dan?" Without looking backward, Jon answers "No. Not yet. But in a few moments you're going to *tell* me." The rays of the sun on the horizon in the distance spread out, framing Jon's head. Panel 3. Laurie gestures with the hand holding the bag, touching the side of her head with her other hand. She says "*Aaaaagh!* Jon, what are you trying to *do* to me? When you're like *this* I can't even *talk* to you, let alone debate the what was it..." Jon, turning away from the balcony and toward Laurie, says "Destiny of the world." Laurie repeats "Destiny of the world." Panel 4. Laurie turns away from Jon, still holding her head. She says "I mean, this is *ridiculous*. Why hold a *debate* when you already know the goddamned *outcome*?" Jon is looking down at the glass floor, his arms at his sides. A white light is shimmering around a small glass structure emerging from the floor, which at this point appears to be a set of two cog-like half-circles flanked by clock hand-like points. Jon answers "Because..." Laurie interrupts, saying "Quote 'because that's how it *happens*!' unquote. I know, I know... Oh *God*..." Panel 5. Laurie, reaching for something inside her bag, looks over at Jon, her expression pleading. She says "Listen, Jon, okay, I'll play it *your* way... But you have to help me *understand*. I mean, *I* can't tell the *future*..." Jon continues to look down at the emerging structure, which is still partially sunken into the glass floor but now appears to be two chairs with a flat glass table between them, with the cog-like half-circles from the previous panel being the top of the backs of the chairs. Jon responds, "There *is* no future. There *is* no past. Do you see?" Panel 6. Jon looks down at the finished table. It's flat and solid, its edges are ridged like those of a gear, and in the middle are a small decanter and an hour-glass shaped cup. He says "Time is *simultaneous*, an intricately structured *jewel* that humans insist on viewing one edge at a *time*, when the whole *design* is visible in every *facet*. What is your earliest *memory*?" Laurie's hands are fiddling with her pouch of tobacco and her cigarette holder as she answers "Huh? My earliest *memory*?" Panel 7. A pair of hands are holding a snowglobe up in the air inside a dark room. Some light reflects off of the surface of the snowglobe, and it also reflects a pair of wide-open eyes and a set of teeth. Apparently the person holding it is smiling, although the whole face is not visible. Inside the snowglobe is a white castle with tall spires and several windows, as well as little flecks of fake snow falling through the water inside towards the base of the snowglobe. Behind the snowglobe are two framed pictures on a shelf, although the contents of the pictures are blocked by the hands, and another picture is mounted on the wall. Almost all of the picture is cut off by the panel border, but the signature of Vargas can be seen. Panel 8. Laurie's hands are placing a ball of tobacco inside her cigarette holder. She answers "I... I dunno. Around when my *folks* split up, I guess... I can remember a *toy*, one of those *snowstorm* balls, but..." There's a pause. "No. No, it's gone." Jon looks at her, his expression serious as he says "It isn't gone. It's still here. Let yourself *see* it." Panel 9. Laurie answers "Well, I... I was five, something like that. I must have got woken up... There was shouting downstairs... My mom and dad. God, I can hear them now." Laurie's hand is holding the bannister leading down a flight of stairs in a dark hallway. In the hallway downstairs is a floor-length mirror and a half-circle table pushed against the wall with some flowers on it. The hallway leads to a brightly lit room, with some trinkets on a shelf just inside. She appears to be wearing purple pajamas or a robe with long sleeves. Page 7. Panel 1. Laurie reaches the base of the stairs and looks over at herself in the mirror. She's a young girl, about five years old, with her brown hair tied back in two pigtails with ribbons and wearing a robe. Two voices are coming from the lit room, one saying "...Shouted at him, he looked *surprised*, couldn't imagine why I'd bear a grudge. See, it's *different* for him, and I just couldn't *sustain* it, the *anger*..." Another voice says "God, you know, really, you need analysis, I'm serious..." Panel 2. We see the hallway from Laurie's perspective. Past the partially open door to the lit room is another, closed door. From the open door, the first voice continues, "How would *you* know how a woman feels? Shit, how a *man* feels, for that matter?" The second voice answers "Oh, that's *cheap*. Even for *you*, that is *cheap*! Well, c'mon, let's hear the *rest*..." Panel 3. Laurie passes the partially open door. Sally and her husband Laurence are standing inside the room, facing each other. Sally's expression is angry and she gestures with one hand, making a fist with the other, looking up at him and saying "*Why*? So you can put it in a letter to one of those *magazines* you read? quote 'My wife described how his rough hands slowly squeezed' unquote..." Her husband holds a glass in one hand and points at her with the other hand, leaning over and looking angry as he says "*Stop* that!" Sally answers "You wanted to *hear*, so *okay*, you *listen*:" The wall inside the room is painted red, and there's a picture or a mirror behind the two of them. Panel 4. Laurie's hand pushes open the second door past the door to the lit room. Inside is a dark living room which is apparently filled with Sally's memorabilia, including several pictures, the Vargas pinup drawing of herself and Sally's costume on a mannequin. There's also a T.V., on which there's two framed pictures and a snowglobe. From offscreen, Sally says "First off, he was *there*, right?" Laurence interrupts, "Oh *spare* me." Sally continues, "Plus, he was *gentle*. You know what gentleness *means* in a guy like that? Even a glimmer of it?" Panel 5. Laurie continues into the room, the shadow from the top of her head falling onto the carpet in front of her. In front of her is a shelf with several books and the picture of the eight original Minutemen, next to a couch. On the coffee table in front of the couch is a scrapbook with articles pasted into it, as well as a pot of glue and a couple of pieces of paper. Sally continues "It means you *reached* something. It means you reached some of that magical romance and bullshit that they promise you when you're a *kid*..." Laurence says "It *also* means a broken *marriage*; an uncertain *future* for our *child*..." Panel 6. Laurie's hand reaches up and touches the hem of Sally's tunic. The mannequin looms large above the little girl. From the other room, Sally continues "*My* child. That's what all this is *about*, remember? Anyway, don't you worry about *her* future. That's taken *care* of." Panel 7. Laurie narrates "I tiptoed downstairs to the T.V. room. It was dark and next door they were shouting... Nobody knew I was there. These moments were just mine. Everything felt *secret* and *enchanted*..." Laurie's shadow falls on the side of the T.V. On top of the TV are the snowglobe and the two pictures. One picture is Sally's wedding picture, showing her and Laurence surrounded by the other Minutemen, and the other picture is of Laurie, smiling and perhaps holding a puppy or a toy. Panel 8. Laurie's hands reach out for the snowglobe. The snow in the snowglobe has all settled at the bottom, and the castle rises above it. Laurie continues to narrate, "...And there was this *toy*, this snowstorm ball, with a tiny *castle* inside, except it was like a whole *world*; a world inside the *ball*... It was like a little glass bubble of somewhere *else*." Panel 9. Laurie's hands are holding a snowglobe up in the air inside the dark room. Some light reflects off of the surface of the snowglobe, and it also reflects her wide-open eyes and her teeth. The rest of her face isn't visible, but she's apparently smiling. Snow falls through the sphere as she continues to narrate, "I lifted it, starting a blizzard. I knew it wasn't *real* snow, but I couldn't understand how it fell so *slowly*. I figured inside the ball was some different sort of *time*. *Slow* time." Page 8. Panel 1. Laurie narrates, "And then..." Her hands are holding up the snowglobe, bringing it close to her face. Most of the snow has settled at the base of the castle. Her eyes and part of her head is visible reflected in the globe, and another reflection comes up behind her, showing a man's head and a pair of glasses. A voice from behind her says "Laurel *Jane*?" Panel 2. Laurie's hands drop the snowglobe, and she says "*Aaa!*" Laurence points down at her, his face angry and his eyes hidden by the reflection from his glasses. He towers over her, saying "What are you doing down here? What..." Sally comes up behind him, raising her index finger and looking disapproving as she says "Larry, don't you *dare* take this out on her! She's only a *kid*! She's vulnerable..." Panel 3. Sally continues, saying "...Fragile..." The bottle of Nostalgia perfume continues to fall, perfume spilling out of the uncapped top of the bottle as it rotates a little further to the right. The N is now horizontal, looking more like a golden Z, and the perfume sloshes to the bottom of the bottle. The light hits it in several places, reflecting and glinting off of it. Panel 4. The snowglobe hits the floor and crashes open, the base and glass flying off to the side and water spilling all over as the castle hits the carpet. A drop of water spills over the eye of one of Laurie's bear-shaped slippers and more water falls onto Laurence's shoes. Behind his shoes are Sally's slippers, purple with a white puffball on the top. Laurie continues to narrate, saying "...And inside there was only water. My dad yelled and sent me to bed. He was always yelling, probably because I knew I wasn't *his*. My real dad, I'm pretty sure, was Mom's old boyfriend, Hooded Justice." Panel 5. Jon answers "I see. Then your mother's husband wasn't... Ahh. look over there: A dust storm rising." Laurie says "Yeah. Very nice. No, Schexnayder wasn't anything except a domineering *bully*. He really used to *pick* on me." The glass palace is shown from so far away that Laurie and Jon's shapes can barely be seen on the balcony. In the foreground, clouds of yellow dust are rising from the reddish-purple surface of Mars. In the night sky above is the Milky Way and one particularly bright star to the right of the palace. Panel 6. Laurie stands next to Jon, looking at the dust storm, and holds her cigarette holder in her mouth as she continues, "That's probably why I'm *edgy* in relationships with strong, *forceful* guys... I mean, with *Dan*, it isn't *like* that. As a *lover* he's more sort of *receptive*; the type you can pour your *troubles* out to..." Jon is standing next to her, his hands on the edge of the balcony as he looks out at the dust storm. Panel 7. Jon turns his head to look at Laurie, his expression concerned as he says "You mean that you're sleeping with Dreiberg?" Laurie, who had been bringing her lighter up to her cigarette holder, freezes and looks chagrined. Panel 8. Laurie gestures with both hands, one holding the cigarette holder and the other holding the lighter. Her bag rests by her feet. She looks at him, saying "B-But... You already *know*. I mean, you said..." Jon, standing next to her and looking out at the sun beyond the billowing clouds of the dust storm, gestures with both hands and answers, "I *said*, often, that you were my only *link*, my only concern with the world. When you left me, I left Earth. Does *that* not say something?" Panel 9. Jon looks out toward the dust storm, his face grave as he says "Now you have replaced me, and that link is shattered. Don't you see what that means? Don't you see the futility of asking me to save a world that I no longer have any stake in?" Behind him, Laurie holds her lit lighter, her expression startled and her mouth hanging open. Page 9. Panel 1. Laurie picks up her bag and puts the cigarette holder and the lighter back inside. Her face is stern as she says "Jon, don't be *ridiculous*! Earth's too *important* to hinge on one *relationship*!" Jon, facing away from her with one hand on the balcony, looks to the side and says "Not to me. My red world here means more to me than your blue one. I will show you around it if you wish..." The dust storm in the distance grows, gradually making its way toward them. Panel 2. Laurie holds the bag in the crook of one elbow and shakes her finger at Jon, hugging herself protectively with the other arm as she says "*Oh* no! I've had enough of *that*, throwing *up* and you forgetting I need to *breathe*. I'm not doing any more hopping around." Jon looks out toward the growing dust storm, one hand on the balcony edge, and says "As you please. There are other methods." Panel 3. Laurie says "Huh? What do you...?" She places one hand on the balcony and one hand on Jon's shoulder for support as the building starts to move, saying "*Hey!* Hey, everything's *shaking*! Jon, are *you* doing this? I'm not in any mood for *clowning around*..." Jon, standing still and looking out at the rapidly approaching dust cloud, says "Nor I. Believe me, I fully understand the seriousness of our circumstances..." Panel 4. A large panel that takes up the space of six normal panels. Jon continues, "...The gravity of the situation." The entire glass palace is emerging from the ground, leaving a large crater and shaking off several large rocks and bits of dust. The palace is revealed to be symmetrical, with the part that had been buried underneath the ground a mirror image of the part that had been revealed above the ground. Rays of sunlight burst through the expanding dust cloud in the distance, coloring the glass palace in bright hues of yellow, orange and red. Page 10. Panel 1. A long, vertical panel, taking up the space of three normal panels. Jon's glittering, symmetrical palace rises high in the night sky above Mars' surface, leaving the crater and the dust storm far underneath it. Rays of light from the sun spread out underneath the palace, and stars twinkle in the distance. From inside the palace, Laurie says "A-And this is so I don't get *travel sick*? I need a drink. What's in the *bottle*?" Panel 2. Jon is still standing at the edge of the balcony, looking away from Laurie out into the sky. He asks "What do you *want* to be in the bottle?" Laurie is behind him, looking up nervously at him as she sits down at the glass table and reaches for the decanter. Panel 3. Sitting at the table and looking up at Jon, Laurie gestures and says "What do...? Uh, water. Just water." Jon has turned towards Laurie and the table and is reaching for the decanter. Panel 4. Jon says "As you wish. He holds the hour-glass shaped cup in one hand and pours water from the decanter from about a foot above the cup. The water trails down in a clear stream and splashes into the cup. Laurie looks startled as the stream of water passes in front of her face, hiding one of her eyes. The background is hot pink. Panel 5. Laurie's hands reach for the cup, and she says "Jon, I... I just can't *take* this, sightseeing on *Mars*, drinking instant *water* when down *there* the missiles could be flying right *now*. Humanity is about to become *extinct*. Doesn't that *bother* you? All those people *dead*..." Jon is standing back at the balcony, but turns to look at her, his expression impassive. Panel 6. Jon turns back to look over the side of the balcony, answering "All that pain and conflict *done* with? All that needless *suffering* over at *last*? No... No, that doesn't bother me. All those generations of *struggle*, what *purpose* did they ever achieve?" Laurie's hands pick up the hourglass-shaped glass at its thinnest point, between its two inverted hemispheres. Panel 7. Jon continues, "All that *effort*, and what did it ever *lead* to?" A woman's hand is raising a barbell. The circular weights on each end look heavy. Her other hand is visible, holding another barbell. Page 11. Panel 1. A young Laurie, apparently in her early teens, is standing on a mat inside a gym, holding a barbell in each hand. She is standing up straight and exhaling, making a "Haahhh" noise. She wears a form-fitting black jumpsuit with long pants that leaves her arms bare, and her straight dark brown hair is pulled behind her in a ponytail that reaches her shoulder blades. There's a door on the wall behind her, a red towel on a bench, and some other exercise equipment. Panel 2. Laurie leaves the barbells on the mat, holding the red towel in one hand and opening the door. Panel 3. Laurie wipes her arms off as she walks past an indoor swimming pool. There's a bench against the wall, next to a potted plant, a window and a hanging basket with plants in it. In the foreground is a closed door, from behind which can be heard an indistinct voice saying "...Agree. It's fun seeing all you guys and... Once in a while, but... Point, really? I mean... Those years we worked our asses... Did we achieve?" Panel 4. Laurie looks to the closed door as she wipes her armpit with the towel. Another voice says "Shouldn't have to *ask*, Hol... We're an inspiration... That new boy... Papers... Feel proud?" A third voice says "...Ell, as for me... What I achieved... *sitting* in it... and as.. what I achieved it *with*..." There's a large window on the opposite wall with a chair and table sitting by it. A tall hedge is outside the window, and beyond that is a parked car. Panel 5. Laurie drapes the towel around her neck and opens the door to find Sally sitting on a chair, talking to Nelson and Hollis who are sitting on a couch opposite her. Sally, wearing a red blouse and a black pencil skirt and holding a martini, gestures with both hands, smiling brightly as she says "...I'm sitting *on* it! *Ha ha ha ha ha!*" Nelson, in his black suit jacket, adjusts his tie, looking embarrassed, and says "Aheh. Sally, really..." Hollis, wearing a less formal tweed suit, taps his cigarette ash in the ashtray on the coffee table in front of him, smiling and saying "Uh-oh. Better clean up your *act*, Sal. We got *company*." The room is bright and furnished in a clean, modern style, and there's a bottle and a tall glass on the coffee table between Sally and the two men. A flower arrangement is next to Sally's chair. Panel 6. Sally says "Aah, she's heard it all before." She brings Laurie close to her for a kiss on the cheek, holding her other cheek, saying "Hi there, sugar tush. How'd the workout go? You gonna be a big tough super-lady, like Mom?" Laurie looks irritated as she leans over, her hand on the arm of Sally's chair, and looks at the two men. She answers "Yeah. I guess." Nelson and Hollis both grin at the scene, and Hollis raises his glass to his mouth. Panel 7. Sally stands up, gesturing to Nelson with her martini and smiling as she says "Atta girl. Now lemme *see*... Uncle Hollis you *know*, but this big hunk over *here*, this is your Uncle *Nelson*. You've seen the *picture*..." Laurie shakes his hand, pointing to him and saying "Oh, yeah. Captain Metropolis. You were skinnier back then." Nelson looks down at her, a little disconcerted, and says "Uh... Right." Hollis moves toward the bar, his glass in hand. Laurie is about a head shorter than her mom at this point, and the top of her head comes up about to Nelson's shoulders. Panel 8. Nelson looks at his watch, saying "Uh, well, listen, Sally, I'd better go check *outside*. He should *arrive* soon, and I promised I'd *meet* him..." Sally turns back to look at him, smiling and saying "Sure." Laurie walks over to Hollis, who is pouring the contents of a bottle into his glass. He smiles genially at her and says "Hi there, pumpkin. So, did you read my *book* yet?" Panel 9. Laurie gestures with both hands and looks over toward her mom, saying "Book?" Hollis sits back down, saying "Sure. *Under The Hood*. I gave Sally one to pass *on*..." Sally has her back to the two of them, and her expression is evasive and troubled as she answers "I, uh, I didn't give it to her yet. I figured quote 'she's young, she don't wanna read that old stuff' unquote. Maybe when you're older..." She takes the olive on a toothpick out of her martini. Page 12. Panel 1. Laurie turns to her mother with an angry expression on her face and gestures insistently with both hands, saying "*Mom*, I'm *thirteen*! *Why* can't I read Uncle Hollis' book? I do all this *training* to be a costume hero, I can't even *read* about them?" Sally, walking toward her, stirs her martini and looks to the side evasively. Mason, his face worried, holds his glass and looks at the two of them, saying "Uh, now, honey, maybe mom knows *best*. I guess I wasn't *thinking*..." Panel 2. Sally stands across from Mason, her hand on her hip as she says "Well, I just guess you *weren't*! All those *stories* you told out of *school*..." Mason, looking up at her and gesturing, says "Sally, really, I'm sorry, I forgot..." From just inside the front door, Nelson gestures toward the three of them, smiling and saying "*Hey everybody!* Look who made the reunion *after* all!" Just outside the door is a stooped man holding his hand to his chin, accompanied by another man who is holding his arm. The two men are in shadow. Panel 3. Sally walks toward the newcomer, her arms out in an expansive gesture, saying "*Byron*! Oh, *Byron*, it's so good to *see* you! Can we fix you, uh..." The man with him, a serious-looking black man in a suit, says "Just a club soda for Mr. Lewis." Byron walks down to the living room, his hand to his head and a bemused look on his face as he says "My friends. All my friends. What time is it?" Nelson stands behind Byron, a slightly worried look on his face and his hand touching his lips. Hollis is standing up to walk toward Byron, and Sally stands to the side, watching him come in. Panel 4. Hollis and the man Byron came with help him to sit down, and Hollis offers him a drink as he says "Uh... It's, uh, *high time we all got together* is what it is! Here... Here's your *soda*, Byron..." Byron looks much older than the others, with a heavily lined forehead and sunken cheeks, and his brown suit is rumpled. Laurie, walking next to Sally, gestures toward him and asks "Mom? Who...?" Sally turns to her, putting a finger to her lips, and says "Shhh. An old friend. I'll explain *later*." Panel 5. Laurie looks over at Byron, gesturing toward him with her thumb, and looks fearful as she says "He's one of *you*, right? Jesus, is *that* what I'm *training* for? What I got to look *forward* to?" Sally looks angry as she points at Laurie and looks over at Byron, saying "Laurie, shut *up*! Byron's *fine*. He just..." In the foreground, Byron gestures with one hand, holding his glass loosely in the other. He says "Are... Are my relatives here?" The man with him reaches toward him and says "Uh...Mr. Lewis..." Panel 6. Byron puts his hand to his head, his eyes haunted as he says "I--I'm just sorry. I'm sorry for us *all*..." His glass falls from his hand, spilling out to the side. Hollis, standing to the side and holding his own glass, looks worried as he says "Byron, *careful*! Your *glass*, you're..." Nelson is behind Byron, frowning, and Sally and Laurie look on in dismay. The man with Byron reaches for the glass, but his hand is too far away. Panel 7. Hollis' voice continues, saying "...Spilling everything." The bottle of Nostalgia perfume continues to tumble through the air. Its neck is starting to point down, and the perfume no longer arcs out in droplets, but rather gushes out as its base is angled upward. The liquid inside bubbles, and the glass catches the light in several places. Panel 8. Byron's glass falls to the ground, breaking between his feet, the feet of the man with him and Hollis' feet. Club soda and ice spills all over the carpet. The scene is colored in sepia tones. Jon's voice says "Laurie? Are you listening to me?" Panel 9. Jon, facing away from Laurie, turns his head toward her, his face grave as he asks "I was asking the *point* of all that *struggling*; the purpose of this endless labor; accomplishing nothing, leaving people empty and disillusioned... Leaving people broken." Laurie's hands are holding the hourglass-shaped cup, placing it back on the table next to the decanter. Page 13. Panel 1. Laurie stands up, one hand still on the rim of the cup and the other gesturing to her side, and looks insistently at Jon's back as she says "Okay. Okay, I'll admit lots of people have messed-up lives that don't accomplish anything *visible*, but... But don't we have some importance to the universe *beyond* that? I mean, just the *existence* of life, isn't *that* significant?" Jon stands a few feet in front of her, his hand on the rim of the balcony. Panel 2. Jon continues to look out in front of him as he says "In my opinion, it's a highly overrated phenomenon. Mars gets along perfectly without so much as a *micro-organism*. See: There's the *south pole* beneath us now..." Laurie watches him gravely as she reaches inside her bag for her cigarette holder. Panel 3. Jon looks out at a curved, terrace-like formation on the ground below and says "No life. No life at all, but giant steps, ninety feet high, scoured by dust and wind into a constantly changing topographical map, flowing and shifting around the pole in ripples ten thousand years wide. Tell me..." In the foreground, Laurie is holding her lighter to her cigarette holder, concentrating on it. Panel 4. A large panel the size of three regular panels. Jon's palace floats in the sky far above the giant steps, which gradually slope down towards the flat Martian ground. In the distance is a large mountain, and the orange sky is cut with bands of darker orange clouds. Jon asks "Would it be greatly improved by an oil pipeline?" Panel 5. Laurie stands up, moving next to Jon on the balcony, and says "Jon, in *those* terms, sure, mankind hasn't *helped* the *environment*, but *against* that, you have to measure the lives of *artists*, *scientists*, *poets*... Hell, even *my* life, that has to be worth *something*... God damn, why won't this thing *light*?" Jon continues to look out at the steps far below them as she talks. Panel 6. Jon turns to her, saying "Not enough *oxygen*. I could extend your *aura*..." Laurie turns her side to him, looking in front of her with an annoyed expression as she places her lighter and cigarette holder back in her bag. She answers "So I can fill it with *smoke*? *Forget* it. I'll have some... uh... milk, instead... Look, about the *environment*: Without *life*, there wouldn't even *be* an environment!" Panel 7. Jon is still standing at the balcony, looking out toward a wide canyon, and we see his hands, one gesturing toward the scenery and one resting on the rim. He says "Your definition is *narrow*; life insisting on life's *viewpoint*, when *alternatives* exist. Those jumbled *box canyons* below, where volcanoes boiled the *permafrost* into scalding *geysers*: once they could have been *fountains of life*." In the foreground, Laurie's hands pour milk out of the decanter into the cup, and it splashes out of the side. Page 14. Panel 1. A large panel, taking up the space of six regular panels, showing the canyon above which Jon and Laurie are floating. The terrain is wild and rocky, and large drifts of red sand and soil are piled up against the tall sides of the canyon. Large dust clouds are billowing above the canyon, and the sun's rays shoot through the sky, flooding it with shades of orange and yellow, as thin red clouds float along from the other side, crossing through the sun's rays. Jon continues, "The ground crumbled when the subterranean ice melted, releasing torrents of water to form vast rivers, now long dry. Life could have flourished here then, but Mars did not choose life. It chose *this*. It's called *chaotic terrain*." Panel 2. Laurie's hands are visible, one resting on the balcony, and the other gesturing toward herself with her thumb. She's not visible, but her reflection is distorted by one of the glass spires next to her. She says "Yeah? Well, ordinary life; *my* life; *that's* got quote chaotic terrain unquote *too*... Or is that too *abstract*, too *unquantifiable*? I mean, you're so fascinated by *rocks* getting twisted into *weird shapes*, Jesus *Christ*, you should have seen *me* before I met *you*!" The canyon spreads out below her and far off to the distance. Panel 3. She continues, "My *mother*, she eroded my *adolescence*, chipping me into the shape *she'd* have been if she hadn't had *me*. She pushed me into *adventuring*, fussing over quote my career unquote, trying to live *her* life through *me*..." The palace is seen from directly above as it crosses over the dark canyon below. From above, it appears to be a circle with twelve spokes radiating from the center, and the six inner structures also radiate out to the side, with the balcony Jon and Laurie are standing on perfectly in the middle, surrounded by six spires. Panel 4. Laurie continues "Remember that *Crimebusters* thing in the *sixties*? Did I tell you she *drove* me there in a *limo*, and waited *outside* like it was my first *screen test* or something?" Nelson's yellow-gloved hand adds a label reading "Black Unrest" to his map of America, and another label reading "Drugs" is waiting to the side. Laurie continues "I was *sixteen*. I felt like a *jerk*." Page 15. Panel 1. The Crimebusters meeting, as seen from Laurie's perspective. Jon is standing next to Laurie, his posture straight and his attention focused on the map at the front of the room, which Comedian is taking his lighter to. Janey peers around Jon's chest, her arms folded over her belly and her expression openly hostile. Rorschach stands near the map, watching the Comedian with his hands in his pockets. Laurie narrates, "I remember staring at *you*. I just couldn't get used to you. I mean, you had a great body, but, y'know, it was *blue*. Your *girlfriend*, Janey, she glared at me all the way through." Panel 2. Laurie continues, "Then it *collapsed*: everybody *leaving* except Nelson and Adrian. Big disappointment... I guess I sorta wondered what it would be like, sleeping with you, but you seemed kinda spoken for. Nobody else there interested me." Jon looks over towards Janey, who's clinging to his side, her expression grouchy. Behind them, Laurie watches the two of them go. Rorschach is also leaving, and Dan has his hand on Nelson's shoulder, consoling him. Nelson looks desperate, gesturing with both hands in front of him. Panel 3. Laurie continues, "Outside, I watched them go: Dan in his ship, Rorschach sneaking away into the bushes. He gave me the creeps." The Owlship is lifting off from the ground near a parked purple car with the Veidt logo on it, while Rorschach is walking through the grounds towards some shadowy trees. Far in the distance is an iron fence, and beyond that are the buildings and skyscrapers of the city. The full moon is rising in the hazy, dark night sky. Laurie continues to narrate, saying "I felt let down. Restless, horny and I needed a cigarette. I was leaving Nelson's mansion..." Panel 4. She continues, "...When somebody called my name." As Laurie is walking down the path toward the open gate, the Comedian's leather-clad legs and high black boots can be seen in the foreground. He's leaning against a tree, his posture relaxed. He says "Laurel? Laurel Jane, is that right? So you're Sally's kid?" She turns her head to look at him. Panel 5. Laurie turns toward him, gesturing with one hand as she answers "Uh, yeah. Yeah. You're the *Comedian*. I caught your act in there. You were pretty cool." The Comedian walks toward her, smoking his cigar as he says "Well you don't look like you grew up too bad *yourself*. Here... lemme take a *look*..." Panel 6. He stands close to her, holding her chin in his hand and tilting her head up slightly, causing her long dark brown hair to fall down her back. The two of them are shown in profile, and he has his hand on his hip as he says "Heh. Yeah, there's her eyes... Even got that funny little mole... You ain't got her hair, but otherwise, you're like her. You're a looker." He grins, and his cigar smoke curls around his dark brown hair. She smiles, saying, "Well, uh, thank you." She reaches into her purse for something. Panel 7. She looks up at him, smiling and holding a cigarette in her hand as she says "Uh, say, I need a *cigarette*, but I don't have a *light*. Do you...?" He brings out his lighter, saying "Sure. Hey, listen, your *mom*: she talk about me much?" Laurie answers "No. Not much." Panel 8. The Comedian says "Heh. It figures. Here's your light. I... Hell. Gone out. Here, lemme..." Laurie leans toward him, holding the cigarette in her mouth and steadying the lighter Blake holds with her hand as she says "It's okay. I'll steady it. There. That's better." The smoke from his cigar mingles with the smoke from her cigarette, forming one long trail of smoke, and the light from the lighter illuminates their faces. Sally's legs appear in the foreground. She's wearing high heels and a knee-length coat with fur trim around the hem. Panel 9. Blake is still holding his lit lighter out, and Laurie's hand is still touching his gloved one, when Sally strides towards the two of them. Her face is furious, and she points at them with one hand, balling the other hand up into a fist, as she says "You take your hands *off* her!" Page 16. Panel 1. Blake turns toward Sally, closing his lighter as he says "Hi, Sal. Long time no see." The smoke from his cigar drifts past his face and behind his head. Sally replies "Not long enough in my book, Eddie." She points at Laurie, saying "Laurel Jane, you put that thing out and come here immediately. We're going home." Laurie has her cigarette in one hand and is holding the strap of her purse in the other. Her expression is embarrassed and guilty as she looks at her mother. Smoke from her cigarette drifts up past her face. Panel 2. Sally has taken Laurie by the arm, drawing her closer. She looks furiously at Blake, pointing at him and saying "...And as for *you*, are there no depths you won't sink to?" Blake stands in front of them, gesturing with both hands to his sides, saying "Christ, we were just *talking*! Can't a guy talk to his, y'know, his old friend's daughter? I mean, what do you think I *am*?" Laurie looks frightened and awkward as she watches the two of them, the strap of her bag slipping off her shoulder as Sally pulls her towards her. Panel 3. Sally continues to point at Blake, looking vengefully at him as she says "I *know* what you are, Edward Blake. I've known what you were for twenty-five years, and don't you ever forget that." She pushes Laurie behind her, her hand on her daughter's shoulder, as she says "Get in the car, Laurie." Laurie looks back at the two of them, her expression worried and startled. Blake leans against the brick wall, holding his cigar in his hand. Panel 4. Blake follows the two of them to the car, standing on the sidewalk and raising his cigar to his mouth as he watches them, saying "Sally, listen, I thought we'd settled all that a *long* time ago." Sally is opening the car door and pushing Laurie into the car, saying "I said get in the *car*, girl!" Laurie looks behind her at her mother, still frightened. Sally continues "No. Things like that don't ever get settled. Not completely..." Panel 5. As Sally gets into the car, she looks back angrily at Blake, who is standing behind it. She says "...And they're not going to happen to my *daughter*. Goodbye, Eddie." Blake stands with a hand on his hip, taking a drag from his cigar. A suspension bridge looms large in the distance, with some tall buildings behind it. Panel 6. Laurie narrates, "We drove away in silence. I looked back and he just stood there, watching us go. He looked sad. I felt sorry for him." Laurie's head is turned back, looking through the back windshield at Blake, who is still standing in the street, far enough away that it's hard to make out any details about his face or posture. She continues, "Of course, *then* I didn't know what the bastard had *done*!" Panel 7. Laurie narrates, "That's why Mom was so protective. It had brought back all those terrible *memories*. We drove three blocks and then she pulled the car over and just sat there..." Sally is sitting in the driver's seat, her head bowed and her eyes closed. Tears are pouring down her face, splashing onto her coat, and she's supporting herself with the steering wheel. Laurie, sitting next to her, is looking at her. Her face is largely in shadow, and her expression seems aghast and worried. Panel 8. Laurie continues, "...And it all came pouring out." The bottle of perfume continues to fly through the air. It is nearly entirely upside down now, and the liquid inside comes gushing out, bubbles rising through the remaining liquid as it starts to drain out of the bottle. Drops of perfume arc around the bottle in a graceful line. Light catches the glass, and the N, although it is upside down, looks like an N again. Panel 9. Laurie is looking directly at Jon, who is standing to her side, looking straight in front of him off the balcony. Their positions mimic those of Laurie and Sally from Panel 7. Laurie's expression is intense as she says "Her *pain*, her *fears*, her whole *life*, y'know? I mean, *ordinary people*, right? All the things that *happen* to them... Doesn't *that* move you more than a bunch of *rubble*?" Jon's expression is impassive. Page 17. Panel 1. A large panel that takes up the space of three regular panels. Jon, looking out at the Martian landscape with both hands on the balcony, answers "No. I read atoms, Laurie. I see the ancient spectacle that *birthed* the rubble. Beside this, human life is brief and mundane." Laurie, standing next to him with her arms out in a gesture of exasperation, looks toward him and says "Oh, I give *up*. This is just round in *circles*! Can't you tell me how this conversation *ends* and spare me the *agony*?" The two of them are flanked by two of the large clock-hand shaped spires, and smaller spires at the edge of the palace point out around the rim of the balcony. In the distance is a plain dotted by craters and a pink dust cloud to the right, and far in the distance is a large mountain. Panel 2. A large panel that takes up the space of three regular panels. Jon replies "It ends with you in *tears*... Look there: *Olympus Mons* approaches!" He points at the mountain, which is growing larger as they draw nearer. The dust cloud to the right billows out around the palace. Laurie, moving closer to Jon and gesturing insistently, says "*Tears*? Y-You mean I *lose*? You mean you *don't* come back to Earth?" Jon answers "I return to Earth at some point in my future. There are streets full of corpses. The details are vague." Panel 3. A large panel that takes up the space of three regular panels. Laurie, standing to Jon's other side, puts one hand to her mouth and gestures with the other as she looks up at him. She says "No. Oh *no*! Jon, what do you *mean*, quote vague unquote? There's gonna be a *war*? A *real* war? Oh *God*..." Jon, looking out at the immense mountain, answers "I'm not sure. There's some sort of *static* obscuring the *future*, preventing any clear *impression*. The electromagnetic pulse of a mass *warhead detonation* might conceivably cause that..." The mountain is so large that it takes up most of the panel, with Jon and Laurie small figures at the base of the panel, but the palace is still apparently very far away from it. Page 18. Panel 1. A large panel that takes up the space of three regular panels. Laurie turns away from Jon, taking a few steps away from him and holding her hands to her face. She says, in small text, "Oh no." Jon, looking out towards the mountain and gesturing toward it with one hand, says "Beyond *that*, events grow even sketchier: I am standing in deep snow... I am killing someone. Their identity is uncertain. Look at it: A volcano as large as Missouri, its summit fifteen miles high, piercing even the atmospheric blanket. Breathtaking." The reddish-pink mountain fills the entire panel, although the rock formations in front of the palace show that it is still far away from the base of the mountain. Panel 2. A large panel that takes up the space of three regular panels. Laurie turns back towards Jon, stepping to him and gesturing insistently with both hands. She says "*Breathtaking*? Jon, what about the *war*? You've got to *prevent* it! Everyone will *die*..." Jon, still standing with his hands on the balcony, looks to the side toward Laurie and says "...And the universe will not even *notice*. We've been through this *before*, Laurie. You argued that human life was more significant than this excellent desolation, and I was not *convinced*." The floating palace starts to approach the base of the enormous mountain, although they are still evidently some ways off. Panel 3. A large panel that takes up the space of three regular panels. Laurie stands near Jon, her arms at her sides and her shoulders slumped. Jon gestures with one arm toward the base of the mountain, saying "You attempted to compare the mere uncertainty in your existence with the chaos of the world beneath us... But where are the *pinnacles* to rival this *Olympus*? Where are the depths to match those of... Ahh, but we near the *Valles Marineris*. You may see for *yourself*." They have nearly reached the base of the mountain and are veering to the right, passing it. It slopes gently over most of the panel, covered with rocks and grooves in its side. Page 19. Panel 1. A large panel, taking the space of six regular panels, showing a gigantic canyon filled with white fog, striped with purple, yellow and pink shadows. Gigantic rock formations poke out from the fog at intervals. Jon's glass palace, floating off the near edge of the canyon and over the fog, seems tiny in comparison to the rock formations that dot the canyon, and the other edge of the canyon is far in the distance. Jon says "It stretches more than three thousand miles, so that one end knows day while the other endures night. Temperature differences breed shrieking winds that herd oceans of fog along a canyon four miles deep. Does the human heart know chasms so abysmal?" Panel 2. Laurie leans forward, placing one hand over her heart and gesturing with the other as she says "Yes! Yes, mine, right now! Jon, you've seen people *depressed*. Me, when I'm miserable, when I've had too much to *drink*..." Jon, standing at the balcony and looking out toward the canyon, with his hands on the rim, answers "Yes. I remember a banquet in 1973..." Fog from the canyon starts to roll over the sides of the balcony toward them, and the rock formations emerging from the fog loom large behind them. Panel 3. As the palace sinks to the surface of the fog, its lower half covered in billowing purple clouds, Laurie says "Oh, don't *remind* me. I acted like an *idiot*... But I guess that's in keeping with the rest of my life, huh? I mean, you say it's all worthless, right? That we're all blind, stupid things, stumbling through our lives..." Panel 4. Laurie continues, "...Hopelessly lost in the fog." Laurie, apparently in her early 20s, is at a banquet. The room is draped with red and white striped bunting and several American flags hang from the walls. Jon is behind her, wearing a suit and talking to an old man with white hair and glasses. Several other men in suits are milling about behind her. Laurie is wearing a black sleeveless evening gown with a plunging neckline, a necklace, a silver bangle and earrings in the shape of a hydrogen atom. Her hair is pulled into a sleek updo, and she's holding a glass. She has her hand on her hip and a nasty expression on her face as she looks at something in front of her, past a low table covered in a white tablecloth and set with a punch bowl, cups and a flower arrangement. In the foreground is a man's hand holding a lit cigar, from which white smoke billows out. Page 20. Panel 1. Laurie narrates, "The fog I was lost in that night was Scotch Mist. I must have drunk half a bottle. It was a dinner in honor of *Blake*. I remember thinking '*Why*'? Y'know? Just 'why?'" Laurie's hand holds the nearly empty cup to her face. Through the base of the glass cup, she is watching Blake, wearing a suit, holding a cup and holding the cigar up to his mouth as another cigar-smoking man grins and claps him on the shoulder. The glass distorts the two men and the figures behind them. Some pieces of ice collect at the bottom of the glass. Panel 2. Laurie continues to narrate, saying "Why all this sudden *popularity*? *Nixon* wasn't there, but everybody else was: Ford, Liddy, Al Haig... No... Wait, Haig quit before then, didn't he? There were cameras, Ford shook Blake's hand. Everybody seemed real pleased with him..." Blake and Ford are standing on a podium in front of two American flags. People watch them as they shake hands, and several camera flashbulbs go off. In the foreground, Laurie's hand takes another drink from a tray being offered by a waiter. Panel 3. Laurie continues, "...But not me. See, by then I'd read 'Under the Hood,' about him assaulting my mom. That banquet, it was the first time I'd seen him since I found out..." Laurie brings the fresh glass to her lips, scowling. Behind her, Jon is talking to a man with thick-rimmed glasses, and people are making conversation. She continues, "...And I was mean drunk." Panel 4. She continues, saying "Everybody was *talking*..." Laurie passes a couple groups of men in suits and women in gowns, making her way towards a group consisting of Blake and four other men. One of them is saying "See those *Post reporters* they found in that *garage*? Woodward and what's his name? Jewish name..." Another man in the group says "*Bernstein*. Yeah, I understand the underground papers are already yelling *conspiracy*." A third man in the group asks "Well, Eddie? Any opinions?" Panel 4. Blake, holding a fresh cigar, grins as he says "That piece in the *Berkeley Barb*? Well, I guess you smoke enough *weed* you can imagine almost *anything.* Nah... I'm clean, guys. Just don't ask where I was when I heard about J.F.K." The other men laugh uproariously about this, the one nearest Blake throwing his head back and saying "*Ha ha ha ha ha!*" Blake is in a tuxedo, but has his yellow smiley face pin on the lapel. His straight dark brown hair is smoothed back over his head, but the hair at his temples is white and fluffy. The scar on the right side of his face contorts his cheek, and the skin puckers and twists where the bottle slashed him, leaving a faint pink line from the top of his cheekbone to the edge of his mouth. Laurie approaches the group, her face determined and angry. The background is yellow. Panel 6. One of the men in the group points at Blake and says "Ha ha ha! That's *good*! Dick'll love that. Y'know, Ed, you're okay. Somebody a guy can *relax* with... not giving everybody the creeps like goddamn *Mr. Spock* over there..." Another of the men looks over at Laurie as she approaches, touching the first man on the arm lightly and saying "Shh." He continues, "Miss *Juspeczyk*. Good to see you." Laurie has her hand on her hip as she faces the men. Blake looks somewhat taken aback as he brings out his lighter. Panel 7. Blake lights his cigar, not looking at Laurie, as he says "Quote Juspeczyk unquote, what's that? Grandmother's name? Didn't like *Jupiter*, huh? Didn't take your old man's name either..." Laurie looks daggers at him, gesturing with her index finger as she holds her drink, and says "What's my name to you?" The background is golden yellow. Panel 8. Blake faces Laurie and takes her chin in his hand, tilting her head up and looking down at her. Smoke rises from his cigar as he smiles and says "Nothing. Y'know, you're a pretty girl. I just gotta look at you, I see your mom. Heh... Y'know, your mother; she was a *peach*..." Laurie grimaces as she faces him, and two of the men from the group look on, one smiling, one anxious. Panel 9. Raising her hand to move Blake's hand away from her chin, Laurie looks up at him with righteous anger in her expression, asking "Is that what you told her before you tried to rape her?" People in the group talking behind her turn and stare at the two of them, horrified. The background is bright orange. Page 21. Panel 1. Laurie pushes away Blake's hand, looking straight at him and continuing "Before you *hit* her? Before you *kicked* her? That isn't the way you treat *peaches*?" A brown-haired man to Laurie's side reaches toward her and says "Uh, Miss Juspeczyk..." One of the men Blake had been talking to leans toward another man, saying "Somebody get her *boyfriend*." Blake, glaring at Laurie, says "Kid, are you sure you wanna take this all the way?" Panel 2. Laurie, enraged, stares up at Blake and points at him with her hand that's holding her drink. She says "Damn *straight*; damn *straight* I do! I mean, what kind of man *are* you, you have to take some woman, you have to force her into having sex against her *will*..." The background is bright red. Panel 3. Blake looks down at Laurie, his eyebrows drawn together and his expression possibly uncomfortable and taken aback, although it is hard to read because of the way the scar distorts his face. He says "Only once." Part of the smiley face on his lapel is visible, and the background is bright yellow. Panel 4. Laurie narrates, "Only *once*, as if, y'know, it was better than doing it twice or fifty times! And his *scar*... It always looked like he was *sneering*... Had seven scotches inside me, one in my hand..." Laurie brings her hand up, splashing the contents of her glass all over Blake's face. He recoils, grimacing as the Scotch and ice hits him and sprays all over. The background is golden yellow. Panel 5. Laurie continues narrating, saying "I let him have it." The bottle of perfume has turned upside down, gushing perfume as it falls. Light hits the base of the bottle, making it glimmer, and the perfume inside bubbles as it starts to drain out quickly. The stars twinkle in the sky. Panel 6. Laurie's hands pull a scrapbook out of her bag as she continues "... And then you came, and you were angry, and you took me home. It was the first time you ever teleported me anywhere... First time I threw up." Jon, standing at the balcony, looks over at her, his face impassive. The scrapbook is old and bulging with clippings that haven't been properly placed in it yet. Poking out of the bag next to it are a bottle of Nostalgia perfume, a canister and Laurie's cigarette holder. Panel 7. Laurie brings the scrapbook over to the edge of the balcony, flinging clippings from it over the edge and into the sky. They flutter past the balcony down into the canyon as she says "...But, I mean, why bother telling you all this? It just *confirms* things, right? All these wretched, grubby little human encounters: better off without 'em! None of it ever meant a damn thing, anyway." Jon, standing next to her with his hands on the balcony edge, watches Laurie's actions impassively. Most of the text on the clippings is too small to be read, but one has a headline partially reading "Spectre," with a picture of Sally smiling. Panel 8. Laurie continues, "I mean, these, my mother's *clippings*; her whole *life*, right *there*! What's it *mean*? In *your* terms, next to a... a *neutrino*, next to something you can't even *see*, for Christ's sake? It means *nothing*!" Jon says "Laurie..." The sky is darkening, with the orange and yellow clouds shading into red and black near the top right of the page. A shower of newspaper clippings drifts from the floating glass palace past the walls of the canyon, far below into the pink fog. Panel 9. Laurie turns away from Jon, her eyes closed and her expression frustrated and angry. She hugs the scrapbook to her chest as she says "Don't quote *Laurie* unquote me! It's pointless *debating* when you obviously don't see anything terribly *miraculous* in life. Maybe quantum physics doesn't *allow* miracles..." Jon, looking at her, gestures and says "No. Quote Thermodynamic miracles unquote are..." She interrupts, saying "Oh, for God's *sake*, Jon, just *land* this thing. Now." Page 22. Panel 1. A large panel that takes up the space of six regular panels. Jon says "On the Argyre Planitia? As you wish." The glass palace floats toward the ground, its base starting to sink in the reddish-orange ground. Bright orange dust clouds billow around it as it lands, and the sky above is starting to darken. The changing light covers the structure in shadows, making it look even more dramatic. Panel 2. Laurie picks up her bag and heads for the archway leading to the stairs, her back turned to Jon. She touches the arch as she exits, saying "There. Okay. That's it. You can take me back to Earth to *fry* with *Dan* and my *mom* and all us other worthless humans. The conversation's *over*..." Dan, standing with one hand on the rim of the balcony, watches her go. Panel 3. Laurie walks down the spiral staircase, her body language proud and her expression angry and determined. She says "...And *listen*, you were *wrong*, see? You said it ended with me in *tears*, and *look* at me: not a moist eye in *sight*! You were wrong about that. Maybe about a *lot* of things..." Dan stands at the archway, looking down at her as she walks away. Panel 4. Laurie gestures with one hand as she comes to the base of the staircase, saying "I mean, maybe you were wrong about the streets full of *corpses* too!" She looks back up, saying "Jon? Can you *hear* me?" Jon, standing on the floor several feet away from her, answers "Perfectly." Page 23. Panel 1. Laurie steps onto the floor off the final stair. Only her legs and her handbag are visible, while the rest of her is blocked by Jon's speech bubble, but her startled reflection is visible in one of the glass arches to the side of the stairs. She says "*Aa!* *Jesus*, Jon..." Jon, standing to the side and watching her, says "Laurie, you complain, perhaps *rightly*, that I won't see existence in human terms... But you yourself refuse to consider *my* viewpoint, letting your emotions *blind* you. *Look* at yourself: angry, shouting..." Panel 2. Laurie reaches the base of the stairs and looks over at herself in the mirror. She's a young girl, about five years old, with her brown hair tied back in two pigtails with ribbons and wearing a robe. Her mother's voice is saying "...Shouted at him, he looked *surprised*, couldn't imagine why I'd bear a grudge. See, it's *different* for him, and I just couldn't *sustain* it, the *anger*..." Panel 3. Laurie stalks past Jon, not looking at him, her reflection yellow on the glass floor. He gestures with one hand as he watches her, saying "If you'd only *relax* enough to see the whole *continuum*, life's *pattern* or *lack* of one, then you'd understand my *perspective*. You're deliberately shutting out understanding, as if you're *afraid*; as if you're too *delicate*..." Jon's blue reflection on the glass floor parallels Laurie's yellow one. Panel 4. Laurie's hands are holding a snowglobe up in the air inside the dark room. Some light reflects off of the surface of the snowglobe, and it also reflects her wide-open eyes and her teeth. The rest of her face isn't visible, but she's apparently smiling. Snow falls through the sphere. Laurie's voice says "*Mom*, I'm *thirteen*! *Why* can't I read Uncle Hollis' book? I do all this *training* to be a costume hero, I can't even *read* about them?" Mason's voice answers "Uh, now, honey, maybe mom knows *best*. I guess I wasn't *thinking*..." Panel 5. Laurie's figure is tiny against the glass palace, which is back on the pink, flat Martian ground, glittering in the starlight. She continues "I'm *through* thinking about my life, looking back on all my stupid *memories*. It's been a *dumb* life, and if there's any *design*, it's a *dumb* design. I don't want to see it. I don't want to talk about it." Panel 6. Laurie's head is turned back, looking through the back windshield at Blake, who is still standing in the street, far enough away that it's hard to make out any details about his face or posture. Blake's voice says "Christ, we were just *talking*! Can't a guy talk to his, y'know, his old friend's daughter? I mean, what do you think I *am*?" Panel 7. Jon follows her, his expression serious, as he says "I think you're *avoiding* something." Laurie hugs her bag to her chest and turns around to face him, her expression angry as she says "Don't be *stupid*. There's n-nothing to *avoid*..." Blake's voice says "His, y'know, his old friend's daughter? What do you think I *am*?" Laurie continues, "I-I've *never* had any occasion to avoid the truth..." Panel 8. Blake looks down at Laurie, his eyebrows drawn together and his expression possibly uncomfortable and taken aback, although it is hard to read because of the way the scar distorts his face. Part of the smiley face on his lapel is visible, and the background is bright yellow. His voice says "Only once." Then, "What do you think I *am*?" Then "...Old friend's daughter?" Then "What do you think..." Then "...His, y'know, his..." Panel 9. Blake's voice continues, "What do you think I *am*?" Then "...Friend's daughter?" Laurie turns toward Jon, pulling the scrapbook out of the bag and holding it up dramatically. More clippings fly out of the book, drifting behind her, and her expression is angry as she says "I-I mean, *look*, *here*, my *life*, my *mom's* life, there's nothing there *worth* avoiding, it's all just meaningless..." Blake's voice continues "...His, y'know, his..." Then "Only once." Then "...Y'know, his old friend's dau..." In small text, Laurie says "No." Page 24. Panel 1. The snowglobe hits the floor and crashes open, the base and glass flying off to the side and water spilling all over as the castle hits the carpet. A drop of water spills over the eye of one of Laurie's bear-shaped slippers and more water falls onto Laurence's shoes. Behind his shoes are Sally's slippers, purple with a white puffball on the top. Laurie says "No." Then, "No not him not..." Then, "No." Panel 2. Laurie says "No. No, she *wouldn't*. She *couldn't* have not after he..." Sally's voice says "...Just couldn't sustain the *anger*." Blake's voice says "What do you think I *am*?" Jon looks concerned as he faces her, reaching his hand toward her and saying "Laurie?" Laurie says "*No!* No, you're *not*. You're *not*!" Her hands are holding the bottle of Nostalgia perfume and unscrewing the cap. Her horrified, distressed face is reflected in the glass surface of the perfume bottle. Panel 3. Laurie says "You're not my fuh, my fuh, fuh..." Blake's voice says "Christ, we were just *talking*. Can't a guy talk to his, y'know, his..." Laurie raises the bottle over her head, and some perfume splashes out as the bottle catches the light. Her hair whips in her face, her eyes are squeezed tight and her face is contorted with pain. She screams "*No!*" Panel 4. A panel that takes up the space of three regular panels. Blake's voice says "...Daughter?" Laurie flings the bottle of perfume at the glass palace, putting her entire body into the throw and screaming "*NNAAAAOOOHH*!" Jon turns to watch the bottle fly toward the palace. Perfume spills out as the bottle turns end over end. Panel 5. Laurie narrates, "...And there was this *toy*, this snowstorm ball, with a tiny *castle* inside, except it was like a whole *world*, a world inside the *ball*... It was like a little glass bubble of somewhere *else*." The bottle of perfume is gradually emptying as it turns, the light catching it in several places. Panel 6. Laurie continues, "I lifted it, starting a blizzard. I knew it wasn't *real* snow, but I couldn't understand how it fell so *slowly*. I figured inside the ball was some different sort of *time*. *Slow* time." The perfume bottle rotates, coming less than an inch from the gleaming pink glass of the palace. Panel 7. Laurie continues, "...And inside there was only water." The perfume bottle crashes against the palace, gleaming as it shatters into several pieces. The perfume inside splashes all over the pink glass, droplets going everywhere. Page 25. Panel 1. A large, vertical panel taking up the space of two regular panels. Large cracks appear at the base of the palace, where Laurie threw the bottle of perfume, spreading out over the cog-like structures to the spires and up the staircase to the base of the cup-like balcony. Laurie is still frozen in position, her arm out in front of her, and Jon is standing next to her. A shimmering blue force field has appeared, spreading out to cover the two of them in a glowing dome. Panel 2. A large, vertical panel taking up the space of two regular panels. The cracks reach all through the palace, up to the very top of the largest, tallest spire, and the palace begins to collapse, the spires splintering and the balcony tilting dangerously to the side. Laurie starts to collapse as well, bringing her hands to her face, while Jon stands still. A large dust cloud forms near the base of the structure. Panel 3. A large, vertical panel taking up the space of two regular panels. The palace continues to crash down in front of Jon and Laurie, the spires and shining cogs swallowed up in a rapidly expanding yellow and pink dust cloud and splintered into pieces. Laurie falls to her knees while Jon stands still. Panel 4. A large panel taking up the space of three regular panels. Chunks and tiny shards of glass rain down in front of Jon and Laurie, bouncing off of Jon's forcefield and crashing on the glass base of the palace, creating a ruin of jagged glass chunks and bits of step-like cogs. A piece of one of the chairs Jon created is lying near the front of the image. Laurie kneels in front of Jon, sobbing and wiping her eyes. Her bag lies slumped over in front of her, with her scrapbook, cigarette holder and canister of tobacco lying on the ground. Jon's face is impassive as he stands behind her. Page 26. Panel 1. From offscreen, Jon asks "Laurie? Are you alright?" From offscreen, Laurie answers "Of *course* not! *Blake*, that *bastard*, and my m-*mother*, they... they pulled a *gag* on me is what they did! My whole *life's* a joke. One big, stupid, meaningless... aw shit..." The thick glass floor of the palace, covered with shards of glass and Laurie's personal items. It's cracked in places and covered with large portions of the destroyed palace, but still largely intact. Two pairs of footsteps lead away from it into the sandy, red Martian ground. Panel 2. A continuation of the previous panel. Jon walks along the ground away from the cracked glass floor, gesturing with one hand and saying "I don't think your life's meaningless." From offscreen, Laurie answers "Oh no, well, *obviously* that's what *you're* going to say because anything *I'm* stupid enough to believe is true, you just *disagree* with it and..." There's a pause, and she says "...Uh..." A small red dust cloud billows around Jon's feet as he walks, and a longer set of footprints walks from the left of the panel to the right, continued from the previous panel. Some bits of glass are scattered on the ground. Panel 3. A continuation of the previous panel. Laurie, stopping and looking back at Jon, says "You *don't*?" Her footprints continue from the second panel, and a small cloud of dust is rising around her feet. Panel 4. A large panel that takes the space of two regular panels. Jon walks over to Laurie, saying "No." Laurie says "But... Listen, you've just been saying life *is* meaningless, so how can...?" Jon says "I changed my mind." The reader sees the two of them as if we are high in the air above them. Their two sets of footprints lead away from the ruined palace. The circle shape of the large glass floor is still largely intact, although it's covered in rubble and pillars of broken glass. Panel 5. A large panel that takes the space of two regular panels. Laurie asks "But... *why*? Jon answers, "*Thermodynamic miracles*... events with odds against so astronomical they're effectively *impossible*, like *oxygen* spontaneously becoming *gold*. I long to observe such a thing. And yet, in each human coupling, a thousand million sperm vie for a single egg. Multiply *those* odds by countless *generations*, against the odds of your ancestors being *alive*; *meeting*; siring *this* precise son; *that* exact daughter..." The reader sees the two of them as if we've continued moving away, and they're hardly anything more than dots on the surface of Mars, next to the large circle of the ruined pink glass palace. There's a large circular rock formation far to the east, dark purple and nearly the size of the ruined palace. There appears to be another rock formation next to the ruined palace, although only part of it can be seen. Page 27. Panel 1. A large panel the size of three regular panels. Jon continues "...Until your mother loves a man she has every reason to *hate*, and of that *union*, of the thousand million children competing for fertilization, it was *you*, *only* you, that emerged. To distill so *specific* a form from that chaos of *improbability*, like turning *air* to *gold*... *That* is the crowning *unlikelihood*. The thermodynamic *miracle*." The reader views the scene as if we are high in the air above Mars, and the two of them are nothing but tiny dots next to the ruined pink palace. The rock formation next to the pink palace turns out to be another purple, circular form. They are within a large crater, with a ridge near the edge of the crater. The two rock formations look like eyes, the ridge looks like a smile, and the crater gives a border to the smiley face pattern on the face of Mars. The ruined palace next to one of the rock formations recalls the blood on the Comedian's pin. Panel 2. A large panel the size of three regular panels. Laurie replies "But... if me, my birth, if *that's* a thermodynamic miracle... I mean, you could say that about anybody in the *world*!" Jon replies "Yes. Anybody in the world." The reader sees the scene as if we're high above Mars, and the smiley face crater is just one among many craters and ridges dotting the planet's surface, the destroyed palace barely visible. Rays of sunlight break over the edge of the planet. Panel 3. A large panel the size of three regular panels. Jon continues "But the world is so *full* of people, so *crowded* with these miracles that they become *commonplace* and we *forget*... *I* forget. We gaze continually at the world and it grows dull in our perceptions. Yet seen from another's vantage point, as if new, it may still take the breath away." The reader sees Mars as if we're far away from it, so far that it's a nearly featureless red planet with barely visible craters and indentations. One side is in shadow, while the side facing the Sun is bright red. One of Mars' moons passes over the sun, nearly blocking it. Page 28. Panel 1. A large panel the size of three regular panels. Jon says "Come... dry your eyes, for you are *life*, rarer than a *quark* and unpredictable beyond the dreams of *Heisenberg*; the clay in which the forces that shape all things leave their fingerprints most *clearly*. Dry your eyes..." The reader sees the planet from an even greater distance, with Mercury in orbit between Mars and the Sun, surrounded by dots of light from far-away stars. Panel 2. A large panel the size of three regular panels. Jon continues, "...And let's go home." The Solar System is shown from an even greater distance, with the Sun nothing more than a particularly bright yellow star and Mars and Mercury tiny spheres. Panel 3. A large panel the size of three regular panels. The entire Solar System is now shown as just one star among many others. Panel 4. A small panel with a black background and white text that reads "As far as we can discern, the sole purpose of human existence is to kindle a light of meaning in the darkness of mere being. C.G. Jung, Memories, Dreams, Reflections." Underneath the quote is a round clock with no numbers or other indications of time on it. The minute and hour hands indicate that it is 11:57. Supplementary Material Page 1. A clipping from Sally's scrapbook, paperclipped to one of the pages. A handwritten note reads "Sal - thought you'd like this for your scrapbook." The article is from the Daily World, a newspaper with a globe logo between the two words of its name. It reads "January 12, 1939," its slogan is "More than news!" and it's 5 cents. Its headline is "Villains Vie For Voluptuous Vigilante," and it's next to a picture of Sally in her racy costume. She's standing, one hand on her hip holding a pair of handcuffs, the other hand pointing to the side, and her smile is roguish and confident. The article reads "Goons are going ga-ga over the latest do-gooder to pull on a tight costume and jump aboard the masked vigilante bandwagon. Why? Well, maybe it's because *this* costumed cutie is a *girl*! Shapely 18-year old redhead Sally Jupiter (36-24-36) has taken the alluring and mysterious moniker of quote Silk Spectre unquote as she dons the shortest long underwear yet and becomes the first feisty female to join the fight against felony. Miss Jupiter's agent, Mr. Larry Schexnayder, says that former waitress and burlesque dancer Sally is such a hit with the hoods that they're practically tripping over each other in the rush to get nabbed by her! In testimony, he produced Mr. Claude Boke of no fixed address, currently out on parole after Sally, who happened to be on hand, arrested him during an attempted liquor store robbery. quote She beat me fair and square, but I don't hold no grudges. She's a pretty-looking young woman and I'd rather have her take me in than two fat old cops anytime unquote, says Claude, who received a light fine and has since quit drinking and taken a job pumping gasoline. Sally, who eventually hopes to move on to modeling work or movies, tells us that there is already a movie about her life in the works. Quote It's called 'Silk Spectre: The Sally Jupiter Story' unquote, enthuses Sally, quote and it's already in the planning stages. Larry and I have met with Mr. King Taylor of Hollywood, and everybody's very excited about it all unquote. I'm sure we all wish spunky Sal luck in her future endeavors, and if the above movie gets made, who knows? Maybe Sally will have to organize a special premiere... just for the criminal fraternity!" Another clipping, placed next to this one, has fragments of other news articles above and below an item about Sally. The one above it reads "...reports are true, she certainly has some explaining to do to her hubby and two kids back home on the ranch." The one below it reads "Spotted dancing cheek to cheek at a room..." The main article reads "Meanwhile, over with the cape-and-mask crowd, lips are buzzing and tongues are wagging about cheesecake crime-crusher *Sally Jupiter*, alias the *Silk Spectre*. It seems that she and veteran vigilante *Hooded Justice* are something of an item, and seldom out of each other's company. Can wedding bells be too far away? If you want evidence, just look whose arm our Sal is hanging onto in the recently released publicity photographs of that tights-and-trunk-clad team, *The Minutemen*. Between you and me, your Zelda wonders: Does he keep that hood and noose on *all* the time?" Underneath this clipping is a handwritten note on stationery from "King Taylor Productions." It's dated 8-22-45 and reads: Sal and Larry Hi, kids! I know, I know it's been ages, but I think things are finally moving with quote She Devils in Silk unquote. (That's the latest title by the way. Maurie dreamed it up. Hope you like it. We decided that quote Sally Jupiter Law In Its Lingerie unquote was too long after all.) The latest version is looking good -- we've returned a lot of the plot elements from the Saturday morning Matinee approach we adopted after junking the documentary idea, and we've kept a lot of the footage we shot with you way back then. This new version has some added material to make it accessible to a more adult market, and I think you'll find it kinda fun. We have a young discovery named Cherry Dean that I'm very excited about, and she stands in for you in the new scenes. From the back, she's a dead ringer! It's phenomenal! Anyway, I'll keep touching base with you as things progress. Hugs and kisses, King. The I in King's name is dotted with a crown, not a dot. Page 2. Another page from Sally's scrapbook. Paperclipped over a letter is a very plain business card reading "Marine Lieutenant USMC Nelson Gardner. Free-Lance Consultant. KL5-220." The letter is type-written and reads: Dear Miss Jupiter, Having seen you in the news lately, I wished to introduce myself. My name is Captain Metropolis, and I too am a costumed adventurer, with a keen interest in stamping out crime and injustice wheresoever it should rear its ugly head. I am delighted to find that you share these inclinations. I note also from my perusal of the press that there are several other people of our persuasion stepping forward to join the struggle across America, and, being a military man by nature and career it struck me that it might be a distinct strategic advantage if we were to organize ourselves into some sort of battalion, ready to do our country's bidding at a moment's notice. I suggest that such a group might be called quote The New Minute Men of America unquote, and I have already devised such things as codes and passwords and strategic exercises that would serve us well in our war on infamy. A handwritten arrow points to this paragraph, and written in tight, perfect cursive writing on the side is the sentence "Sally -- thought there might be mileage in this. P.R. wise. L.S." The letter continues, If you are interested in this proposal, please contact me through my representative, former Marine Lieutenant Nelson Gardner, whose card is enclosed. I look forward very much to hearing from you. Your costumed Comrade in the campaign against crime, Captain Metropolis. The sign-off is underlined, and an arrow is drawn from the line to a sentence in informal, loopy handwriting reading "Larry -- Jesus Christ! Are you *kidding*?" There's a picture next to this letter, showing Sally and a young Laurie. Sally has her arm around Laurie's shoulders, and Laurie is holding her mother's hand. They're both smiling at the camera and carrying popsicles, and are apparently near a beach, with palm trees and seagulls in the distance. Sally is wearing cats-eye sunglasses, a beaded necklace and matching earrings and bracelet, a black and white striped shirt and a large-brimmed black hat. Laurie, who appears to be around nine or ten years old, is wearing a baseball cap with a planet symbol and a T-shirt. They both seem very relaxed and comfortable with each other. Page 3. Another page from the scrapbook, this one with a typewritten letter. It's dated February 3rd, 1948 and reads: Dear Sally, Haven't been in touch lately because I thought you should have time to get over poor Bill's funeral. However, there's things that need talking over. Nelly called last night, upset over yet another tiff with H.J. Those two are getting worse. The more they row and act like an old married couple in public, the harder they are to cover for. I know that you've provided a pretty steady alibi for H.J. up to now, and that the publicity we got from that hasn't exactly hurt you either, but it can't last much longer. Nelly says he's always out when Nelly calls, out with boys, and apparently there's a lot of rough stuff going on. One of these punks only has to go to the cops with a convincing story and some convincing bruises to back it up and it would be the Silhouette fiasco all over again. I honestly wonder how long it can last. Lewis is drinking harder all the time, and has been very low since the thing with Bill. Mason is a big bouncy boy scout, same as ever, but with Nelly and H.J. acting up it's a pretty sorry spectacle at the meetings these days. Maybe now is the time to pull out and cut our losses. We've made quite a sum, you know, and I've often talked about a place out west somewhere; maybe now's the time we could take it on as a viable partnership proposition together? Anyways, at least think it over. With fond regards, Larry. The Larry is handwritten in his perfect cursive. An arrow has been drawn to the second to last line about the viable partnership proposition, and a handwritten note in informal, loopy handwriting reads "nearest thing I ever got to a proposal." Another clipping is taped to the letter. The headline reads "Screen Reviews" and there's a film strip-patterned banner underneath it. The first review is for Silk Swingers of Suburbia, directed by Edmund quote King unquote Taylor, starring Cherry Dean, Rod Donovan, Dana Young, Lola Booker, Harry J. Peters, Sally Juniper. The review reads "If you like tasteful and sensually artistic modern cinema, then I recommend that this film be avoided at all costs. Cheaply made even by B-movie standards, this appears to have started life as a children's adventure serial, complete with unconvincing and dated footage of a stuntwoman in an antique chorus girl costume engaging in poorly staged fights with stock heavies. Edited into this unpromising and juvenile scenario with astonishing clumsiness, we have scenes of Miss Dean -- similarly attired and being tied up, whipped and fondled by quote Rod Donovan unquote who must surely be a relative of well-known hack director quote King unquote Taylor, so close is the resemblance between the two men. Too awful even to be dignified with the term quote pornography unquote, the only real act of sadism in this film lies in releasing it; the only masochism in watching it." Page 4. A page from a magazine. The headline reads "Probe Profile: Sally Jupiter" and the subtitle reads "an interview with a forties glamour girl and the seamier side of her crimefighting career." The article reads: Probe: Sally, how much would you say that it's a sex thing, putting on a costume? Sally: No. I don't... Well, let me say this, for me, it was never a sex thing. It was a money thing. And I think for some people it was a fame thing, and for a tiny few, God bless'em, I think it was a goodness thing. I mean, I'm not saying it wasn't a sex thing for some people, but no, no, I wouldn't say that's what motivated the majority... Probe: There was Ursula Zandt, the Silhouette... Sally: Uh-huh. Well, sooner or later, okay, that's going to come up, so let me deal with that... First off, I didn't like her as a person. I mean, she was not an easy person to get along with. But, when the papers got hold of it, her being a -- what is it -- a gay woman they say nowadays, when that happened, I thought it was wrong. I mean, Laurence, who was my first husband, he got everybody to throw her out of the group to minimize the P.R. damage, but... I mean, I voted along with everybody else, but... well, it wasn't fair. It wasn't honest. I mean, she wasn't the only gay person in the Minutemen. Some professions, I don't know, they attract a certain type... Probe: Who else was gay? Sally: I'm not naming anybody. It was a couple of the guys, and they're both dead now. One died recently. I'm not saying who it was, I'm just saying that we all knew, and we knew she wasn't the only one, and we slung her out just the same. When she got murdered like that... I mean, I never really liked her. Ursula. Was that her real name? I didn't know that. I didn't like her, but... throwing her out. We shouldn't have done that. I feel bad about that. Probe: On the subject of the Minutemen, in Hollis Mason's autobiography... Sally: Uh-oh! Here it comes. Probe: ... he alleges that you were sexually assaulted by the Comedian, who, as you know, is still active. You've never said too much about this incident yourself... Sally: Well, why break a lifetime's habit? Probe: You won't comment upon that? Sally: I... Look, I don't bear any grudges. That's all. I know I should, everybody tells me I should but... look, I don't have to justify this, okay? It's just that nothing's that simple, not even things that are simply awful. You know, rape is rape and there's no excuses for it, absolutely none, but for me, I felt... I felt like I'd contributed in some way. Is that misplaced guilt, whatever my analyst said? I really felt that, that I was somehow as much to blame for... for letting myself be his victim not in a physical sense, but... but, it's like what if, y'know? What if, just for a moment, maybe I really did want... I mean, that doesn't excuse him, doesn't excuse either of us, but with all that doubt, what it is to come to terms with it, I can't stay angry when I'm so uncertain about my own feelings... Probe: You're retired now, and it seems your daughter has been groomed to follow in your footsteps. Having seen the lifestyle for yourself, how do you feel about that? Sally: Mm. That's tough. I guess, in a lot of ways, it was me who pushed Laurie, that's my daughter, pushed her into this line of work... I know that when she's upset about something she always blames me for shoving her into such a weird career, but underneath somewhere, I think she secretly kinda likes it. She likes to bitch about it, but what else would she have done? Been a housewife? Got a job in a bank? So she didn't have a normal life! What's so great about normal life? Normal life stinks! You can ask anybody! No, no, of course, I'm her mother, I get worried about her. But in the end, I think she'll see what it was I gave her. I think she'll start to see her life next to the lives of other kids and she'll start thinking in terms of what I saved her from instead of what I condemned her to. Probe: You think so? Sally: I hope so. Underneath the article is a series of three pictures of Sally. She's in her 50s, but still wears her hair in the same puffy 1940s style, and is fully made up and still very attractive. The composition of the photos makes her look thoughtful and somewhat mysterious, with one showing her with her hand near her mouth, one with her eyes partially closed, her little finger over her lips, and one showing her smiling and gesturing. Underneath is the quote, "You know, rape is rape and there's no excuse for it, absolutely none, but for me, I felt... I felt like I'd contributed in some way." At the base of the page on the left is the text Probe / September 1976, and on the right is the page number, 22. The page opposite the interview is black. At the very bottom is half of a clock, with a red, white and black edge and Roman numerals. The time is 11:57. Blood is nearly covering the top half of the page, and it continues to slowly drip down over the increasingly small field of black that separates it and the clock.