Watchmen Part 3 of 12.
Writer, Alan Moore.
Illustrator, Dave Gibbons.
Described by Liana Kerr https://twitter.com/lianaleslie

Chapter 3.

Cover.
The words "Chapter III" are printed vertically in blue on black over the left third of the page. Above them is a blue and black clock with no numbers or markings that indicates that the time is 11:51.
The right two-thirds of the page show a bright yellow sign for a fallout shelter. The radioactivity symbol is printed on it in black. It is a trefoil symbol with a circle in the middle. A plume of white smoke drifts up, covering most of the right third of the picture. The sign says "Fallout Shelter," but due to the cropping and the smoke, the only letters that are completely visible are "All Hel." If the smoke was removed, it would read "Allout Helter."
Page 1.

Panel 1.
A close-up of one of the trefoils of the radiation symbol, stark black against yellow. The following narration has an edge that mimics torn paper, rolled up in some parts like parchment. The text is all in italics, and the first letter is fancier than the others, as if written by a calligrapher. "Delirious, I saw that hell-bound ship's black sails against the yellow Indies sky, and knew again the stench of powder, and men's brains, and war." In a normal speech bubble, someone off-screen says "We oughtta *nuke Russia*, and let *God* sort it out."

Panel 2.
The hands of a uniformed worker are screwing the fallout shelter sign into place on a wall. His hands cast a shadow on the beige brick wall. The off-screen speaker continues, "I *mean,* I see the *signs*, read the *headlines*, look things inna *face*, y'know?" The narration in the paper-like speech bubble continues, "The heads nailed to its prow looked down, those with eyes; gull-eaten, salt-caked, liplessly mouthing, 'No use! All's lost!'"

Panel 3.
The narration in the paper-like speech bubble continues, "The waves about me were scarlet, foaming, horribly warm, yet still the freighter's hideous crew called out, 'More blood! More blood!'" The other speaker continues, "I'm a *newsvendor*, goddamnit! I'm *informed* on the situation! We oughtta nuke'em till they *glow!*" The worker finishes screwing in the fallout shelter sign. He is wearing a white uniform with a large red apple on the back of his jacket, with the letters "NY" underneath it." On the side of the newsvendor's stall is a copy of the New Frontiersman. It has a picture of a white man with a stern, angular face and long white hair, and the headline is "Missing Writer: Castro To Blame?" A plume of white smoke raises from the bottom of the panel, drifting off to the left side.

Panel 4.
A large panel the size of six regular panels. The narration in the paper-like speech bubble continues, "Its tar-streaked hull rolled over me. In despair I sank beneath those foul, pink billows, offering up my wretched soul to Almighty God, his mercy and his judgment." The newsvendor puts out one hand, as if explaining something, and continues, "'Course, that's just *my* opinion." He is a fat, middle-aged white man wearing green pants and a green sweater, an unbuttoned coat and an orange newsboy cap. His face is pudgy and he has thick white sideburns. He's sitting on a folding stool next to his newsstand. Next to him is a young black boy, maybe around 13 or 14, who is sitting on the sidewalk and leaning against a spark hydrant. He has close-cropped hair and large glasses with white frames. He's wearing a red jacket buttoned up all the way, jeans with a large, mismatched patch on one knee and sneakers, and he's smoking a cigarette, the smoke from which drifts up in a waving white plume towards the sky. He's reading a comic book titled "Tales of the Black Freighter." On the back cover is an advertisement for the Veidt Method, which has an illustration of a man going from scrawny to muscular. They are across the street from the building with the new fallout shelter sign, sitting with their backs to it. The city worker brings his toolbox back to his truck, a white vehicle with the same apple and NY logo as is on his jacket. The truck bed is filled with other fallout shelter signs. The building on which the fallout shelter sign was just placed is the office of the "Promethean Cab Company." It's no longer raining, but there are large puddles in the street and water running toward the gutters on each side of the street. The sidewalks are littered with random pieces of paper and Gunga Diner takeout boxes. Part of the newsvendor's stall is visible, and it's stuffed with newspapers and magazines. There are copies of Nova Express with the headline, "How Sick is Dick? After 3rd Presidential Heart-Op" and a picture of Nixon. Above it is a shelf with copies of Homemaker, TV Guide, Bodyline and other magazines, and above that shelf is another one with copies of Music and other magazines. Displayed on the side are a couple of other magazines, including the New Frontiersman magazine shown in panel 3, and from the top hangs a fashion magazine showing a woman with the knot top hairstyle, a muscle magazine and a car magazine. There is a small shelf in the stall with the newsvendor's lunchbox and thermos, with some papers and business cards tacked up behind them.

Underneath Panel 4 is the title of the chapter, The Judge Of All The Earth.

Page 2.

Panel 1.
The newsvendor, still gesturing with one hand, continues "For what that's *worth*, y'know? Inna final *analysis.* The boy keeps reading. The text which is shown in a paper-like speech bubble is from his comic book, and it continues "Waking from nightmare, I found myself upon a dismal beach-head, amongst dead men and the pieces of dead men." The city worker, behind them and across the street, finishes packing his toolbox in the trunk of his car. The building that both the reading boy and the newsvendor are facing is the "Institute for Extraspatial Studies." It is a plain building, with its name written in nondescript letters under a large window.

Panel 2.
The reader's perspective changes, as if we are walking across the street and towards the newsvendor and the boy. The city worker's truck tires splash into a puddle as he drives off. The newsvendor, adjusting his cap, continues "Lissen, I see every goddamn front page inna *world.* I *absorb information!* I miss *nothing.* The boy keeps reading. The comic book text continues, "Bosun Ridley lay nearby. Birds were eating his thoughts and memories." The sidewalk is not very busy, but some people are walking on it in the distance. 

Panel 3.
The reader's perspective changes, and now we are behind the boy and the newsvendor. The newsvendor continues, "F'r'instance... The more *disasters* happen, the more *papers* I sell! Explain *that*!" The boy keeps reading. The comic book text continues, "Reader, take comfort from this: In Hell, at least the gulls are contented." The spark hydrant, a large, bullet-shaped object, has a circle logo with a lightning bolt on top of it.

Panel 4.
The reader's perspective is as if we are looking over the boy's shoulder, at the comic that he is reading. It has three panels, showing a story of a desperate, shipwrecked man. The boy takes his cigarette out of his mouth and holds it in front of him, its smoke drifting up over his head. The newsvendor continues, "See, everything's *connected*. A newsvendor *unnerstands* that. He don't retreat from *reality.*" The comic book text continues, "For my part, I begged that they should take my eyes, thus sparing me further horrors."

Panel 5.
A close-up of the first of the three panels of the comic book shown in the previous page. The image is of a sailor, his loose shirt torn and unbuttoned, standing in the shallows near a sandy beach. He's a muscular white man in his 20s or 30s with glossy black hair tied back in a ponytail. Around him are pieces of wood, rope and the arm of a corpse. He is standing with his arms and legs spread out, looking up at the sky, his face harrowed. Gulls are flying in the air around him. The comic book text continues, "Unheeded, I stood in the surf and wept, unable to bear my circumstances." The newsvendor continues, "The weight o'the *world's* on him, but does he *quit*? *Nah!* He's like *Atlas!* He can *take* it!"

Panel 6.
A close-up of the sailor's tormented, fearful face. His eyes are wide open, and he's looking towards the sky, his mouth hanging open in dismay. The newsvendor continues, "He's a *survivor.*"

Panel 7.
The boy continues reading as the newsvendor, now gesturing with both hands, continues "It's like this *afternoon*: *Nova Express* is holdin' its *front page*, so no *delivery* 'til *tonight!* A *catastrophe!*... But I *coped!*" The boy continues reading, tapping the ashes off the end of his cigarette. The soles of his shoes are visible, and they have a V on them. The comic book text continues, "Eventually, tears ceased. My misfortunes were small: I was alive..." A shadow of a man carrying a sign appears at the base of the panel.

Panel 8.
The comic book text continues, "... And I knew that life had no worse news to offer me." The vendor continues, "Newsvendors *always* cope! They're *indestructible!* They *thrive* on disaster! They..." The newsvendor looks up, as does the boy, as the shadow falls on both of them, and they both look rather taken aback. The newsvendor continues, "Oh. Good *afternoon,* sir."

Panel 9.
The shadow belongs to the man carrying the "The End Is Nigh" sign. The sun is at his back and his face is in shadow. He says "Good afternoon. Is it here yet?" Behind him is the Utopia Theater and a poster for a movie.

Page 3.
Panel 1.
The newsvendor replies "*Huh*?" Then, standing up and taking down the copy of the New Frontiersman from the side of his stall, he continues "*Oh!* Your copy o' the *New Frontiersman!* *Sure* it's here. I keep it for ya every *day*, don't I?" He smiles broadly as he asks, "How's the enna the world comin' along?" The red-haired man, holding his sign against one shoulder, reaches into the pocket of his green coat for some money, watching the newsvendor gravely. The boy keeps looking at the two of them. 

Panel 2.
The newsvendor faces the sign-carrying man, holding out his hand for payment and nodding nervously as the man says "It'll happen today. I've seen signs. National Examiner reported a two-headed cat born in Queens. Today for certain. You'll keep my paper for me tomorrow?" The boy has returned to his comic book.

Panel 3.
The newsvendor, his hand still out holding the man's money and his other hand shaking as he adjusts his coat, answers as he watches the other man go, "Uhh... Sure. Sure I will. No *sweat.* Have a nice *day.*" The sign-carrying man walks away, and the boy keeps reading his comic book.

Panel 4.
The newsvendor turns back towards his stall and takes out his thermos. Under the words "The Institute for Extraspatial Studies," he opens it and pours steaming hot coffee into the lid, which doubles as a cup. The steam from the coffee rises, as does the smoke from the boy's cigarette.

Panel 5.
The newsvendor blows on his coffee, sending the steam drifting to the left, and takes a sip as he puts the thermos back on its shelf. The boy looks up from his comic as the man with the sign, holding it out in front of him, returns.

Panel 6.
The man with the sign taps the newsvendor on the shoulder and says "You won't forget?" The newsvendor spits out his coffee, making a "Fpfff" sound. The boy returns to his comic. The comic book text continues, "I had a sudden memory of clinging fast to someone through the tempest. The figurehead lay at my feet, blindfolded by seaweed. Alone upon that dreadful shore, she smiled."

Panel 7.
In the background, the newsvendor and the man with the sign are facing each other, but the boy has returned to his comic book, his cigarette in his mouth. He reads it with the cover folded back behind it, and it is another three panel layout. The comic book text continues, "I made to take the ribbon of kelp from off her painted eyes, then thought better of it, not wishing her to suffer the terrible distractions of that grim tideline."

Panel 8.
The sailor, up to his thighs in water, has his hands on the head and face of the ship's figurehead, a smiling mermaid with long hair and large breasts. A piece of seaweed covers her eyes as if it's a blindfold. The sun sets behind them, turning the skies pink and orange, and gulls fly around the sailor and the figurehead. The comic book text continues, "It was all I could do for her, though she had borne me through seas of blood, though her cold, wooden breast had nourished me in the heart of the storm."

Panel 9.
A close-up of the man's hands encircling the figurehead's head and jaw. The comic book text continues, "Her damp embrace had prevented me from drifting beyond reach, yet this small comfort was all I could offer..."

Page 4.

Panel 1.
The comic book text continues, "I could not love her as she had loved me." Laurie, her eyes closed and her face relaxed and smiling, touches Jon's light blue hand as it caresses her jaw. His other hand holds her head, and her brown hair is loose and flowing. She appears to be naked, wearing only silver earrings in the shape of a hydrogen symbol. She asks "Murrm. Jon? When do you have to do that *T.V. interview* this evening? Is it soon?" He replies in his characteristic blue speech bubble, "No. We have plenty of time."

Panel 2.
Laurie caresses his hand with both of her hands, her nails painted a bright red, and licks one finger, her eyes closed and her face delighted. One blue hand continues to hold her head, and a third blue hand reaches toward her other cheek. She makes a "Phpp" sound as she licks his finger, and says "Good. Hey, your finger, it's like licking a *flashlight battery.* It's all sort of..."

Panel 3.
Her eyes fly open and she looks to the side, toward the third hand. She touches it, looking disturbed, and says "Uhh..."

Panel 4.
A large panel the size of three regular panels. Laurie grabs the sheet and covers her chest up with it, leaning away from two Jons and screaming "Aaaaah!" One Jon is sitting on the bed next to her, and the other is standing in front of her, one leg resting on the bed. They both lean away as she screams. They are in a bedroom with clean, modern-looking furniture and nondescript pictures on the walls.

Panel 5.
Laurie, standing up, slips her robe around her shoulders and says "Oh, God! Oh, God, that's *horrible!* *Stop* it! Jon, be one *person* again!" Both copies of Jon stand in front of her, looking dismayed and putting their hands out in a gesture of explanation as they start to meld back together. One says "Laurie? Don't be *upset*." The other says "I thought you'd *enjoy* it. I do *try* to please you..." 

Panel 6.
Laurie, the robe tied around her waist, stands in the doorway and puts up one hand. She says "I -- I *know*. I'm *sorry.* I *overreacted.* You, you just *startled* me, is all. Look, I gotta go find a *cigarette*. I'll be all right."

Panel 7.
Jon, from inside the bedroom, answers "I'm sorry. I don't know what *stimulates* you anymore." She steps backwards out of the room, still looking at him, and says "Jon, please, it's *okay.* Just *forget* it. I'm *fine.* Really. It doesn't..." There is a third Jon in the background outside the hallway, his back to the reader.

Page 5.

Panel 1.
As Laurie continues walking backwards, she notices the third Jon in the other room, his back towards her. He seems to be working on something. She continues "...matter." The first Jon replies "Well, if you're *sure*..."

Panel 2. 
A startled look on her face, she turns her head towards the third Jon, who is concentrating on a beaker he's holding in one hand. A thin plume of white smoke rises from it, and he's about to add something to it from a test tube. The first Jon says "Perhaps I'll get ready for my *interview*. Laurie?"

Panel 3.
She stands in the hallway watching the third Jon, bringing one hand to her mouth. Her face is stricken. The first Jon comes toward her and, putting out one hand, says "Laurie? Are you *okay*?"

Panel 4.
She turns and faces the third Jon, a furious look on her face. One of her hands curls into a fist, and the other one points accusingly at him. She says "Am I *okay*? Jon, how the hell long have you been *working* out here?" The third Jon turns his head towards her, while the first Jon, looking sad, puts out his hands in a gesture of explanation and says "Laurie, try to *understand*..."

Panel 5.
Laurie is standing next to a table filled with beakers and glass jugs of chemicals. She reaches behind her for one of them, points at the first Jon and says "Understand *nothing!* Were you working in *here* at the same time as we were in *bed*?" The third Jon faces her, putting out one hand in a gesture of explanation, and says "Laurie, my work's at an important *stage!* It seemed *unnecessary* to..." The first one stands in the doorway, looking at her.

Panel 6.
Laurie throws the beaker through the third Jon. It passes through the left side of his chest and breaks on the table behind, causing purple liquid to splash behind him. The first Jon looks on, dismayed, as she screams "Shut *up!* I *hate* you!"

Panel 7.
Laurie storms out of the room, saying "Oh, *God*, Jon, how *could* you? I'm *leaving.* I'm getting dressed and I'm *leaving.*" The first Jon has stepped into the room. He puts out his hands and, watching her leave, says "Laurie, can't we *talk*?" The third one looks at the spilled liquid and broken glass behind him.

Panel 8.
Laurie continues to leave the room while the first Jon continues "If you think there's a problem with my *attitude*, I'm prepared to *discuss* it." The third one continues to look at the liquid and beaker. It rises from the table and starts to fit back together.

Panel 9.
The first Jon steps into the hallway, watching Laurie leave and saying "Laurie?" The third Jon holds the beaker of purple liquid, now just as it was before Laurie threw it. Light glints off of it as he looks thoughtfully at it. There is a speech bubble from somebody offscreen, saying "I remember soon after he failed to prevent *J.F.K.'s assassination*, we *argued.* I said, "Jon, you know how every damn thing in this world fits together except *people!*"
Page 6.

Panel 1.
A woman, presumably in her mid-fifties, is sitting at a desk, concentrating on filling the ball of a thin cigarette holder with tobacco. She's white, wears a conservative black suit with a high-collared blouse and ruffles at the neck and wrists, and her straight black hair is cut short and flipped at the ends. Her face is lined and severe. On the desk in front of her is an ash tray, a cup of coffee and a tape recorder, and someone is holding a microphone a couple of feet from her face. The ash tray has a zig zag pattern and is resting on a recent copy of the Nova Express. On a desk behind her is a typewriter and a film reel. A couple of people mill about in the hallway behind her, and behind them is a window with the Nova Express logo on it, seen backwards. The woman continues, "He couldn't *relate* to me. Not *emotionally*. *Certainly* not *sexually.* Within *three years* he'd *dumped* me for some *sixteen-year-old* who ran around in her *underwear*."

Panel 2.
A large panel the size of two regular panels. She continues, "One day, *he'll* find out. He'll find out what it *feels* like." The interviewer answers, "I see. So, Ms. *Slater*, how do *you* feel, now that you've learned about your *condition*?" Laurie, still dressed in nothing but her robe, has put on her high heels and is grabbing her coat from its hook on the way out the door, passing the armed guard outside. She walks out the door, towards the setting sun, her back in shadow. Jon stands inside, a few feet away, watching her go, one hand in a loose fist.

Panel 3.
The woman answers "Bitter. Bitter as *hell*. I started *smoking*... Three packs a *day!* I figure, 'why not'? I mean, I have no *illusions*..." She lights her cigarette, a sour look on her face, as some people wander around in the background.

Panel 4.
A large panel the size of two regular panels. She continues, "I mean, nobody's gonna *miss* me! After I'm *gone*, nobody's gonna miss me. *I* know *that*. Especially not *him.*" Laurie is just outside the fence of the Rockefeller Military Research Center, hailing a taxi. The driver fiddles with the taxi meter as Laurie walks towards her car.

Panel 5.
Ms. Slater leans her head back and exhales a plume of smoke, holding her cigarette holder in one hand and her purse with her other hand. She continues, "Y'see, he doesn't *care!* *He* doesn't have to get *old!* That's..." She makes an "Ahh-huh" sound, then continues, "Excuse me... That's why I'm talking to *you* people. I want the *world* to know about him, what he *did* to me..."

Panel 6.
A large panel the size of two regular panels. She continues, "I kept *quiet* all these *years*, but then this *latest* thing happened and I had to let it all *out*..." She makes an "Ahhuk" sound, then continues, "Excuse me." Laurie is sitting in the back of the taxi, her expression desolate and one hand touching her mouth, as they cross a bridge, surrounded by other cars. The driver, in the foreground, is a curly-haired white woman wearing a newsboy cap and chewing on a toothpick. She has a broad, surly face and freckles.
Page 7.

Panel 1.
Ms. Slater coughs, tapping the ashes of her cigarette into the ashtray. She makes *ahek* *ahek* sounds, and continues "After all he *meant* to me... After all the times he said he *loved* me..." She makes *ahek hech hech hech* sounds, knocking over her glass with her elbow, and says "Oh, I'm *sorry*..." The interviewer says "It's *okay*, Ms. *Slater*..."

Panel 2.
A large panel the size of two regular panels. The interviewer continues, "... If you want, we can *stop* here." Laurie takes some bills out of her pocket to pay the taxi driver, who is stopped outside the Treasure Island comic book shop. The taxi has text on the side reading "Promethean Cab Co," and all of the comics are pirate themed, with titles such as "X-Ships" and "Mutiny on the Bounty." Above the store's sign is a billboard painted onto the side of the building advertising Nostalgia perfume. Its tagline is "Where is the essence that was so divine?" and shows a white, blonde woman in a dark fur coat and fur hat opening a letter and smiling. She's quite lovely, and there's a squarish cast to her face structure that gives her a touch of an androgynous look. The bottle is pictured, a round glass bottle with a large N on it. In one corner are the words "By Veidt." The Veidt is done in the same style as was on his skyscraper, with a large V.

Panel 3.
Ms. Slater coughs, making "*Ehuk ehuk heh ehuk ehuk ahehh* noises. She places her cigarette holder in the ashtray and gets a lace-trimmed handkerchief from her purse. The interviewer puts down his microphone and says "Uh, Ms. *Slater*, I'd like to *thank* you for helping *Nova Express* so much with these *investigations*. I'm sure after the paper finally goes *out* tonight you'll feel so much *better*..."

Panel 4.
A large panel the size of two regular panels. She replies, "No, I *won't*. *Ahehhm.* Not after what he did to *me*. *Some* things, once they're *busted*, they can't *ever* be fixed..." Laurie is walking down the sidewalk towards Dan's apartment. It's raining lightly, and her hands are in her pockets. A locksmith is working on the lock of Dan's front door. He's a white man with a large mustache and a baseball cap. The back of his vest reads "Gordian Knot Lock Co." His van is parked on the side of the street, and the motto on its side reads "They'll Never Undo This Sucker."

Panel 5.
Ms. Slater, holding the handkerchief over her mouth, continues "... But I'm glad your paper *contacted* me, and I'm glad that after that *show* tonight, *everybody's* gonna know what he *did.* Oh, *God*, it's such a *relief...*" The interviewer pushes a button on the tape recorder, opening it up.

Panel 6.
A large panel the size of two regular panels. She continues, "It's such a relief just to *talk* to somebody." Laurie passes the locksmith, walking inside the apartment as he stands back looking annoyed, holding his screwdriver in one hand. Dan is just outside his kitchen, cleaning his glasses with a piece of fabric. He says "Laurie?"
Page 8.
Panel 1.
Dan, wearing a shirt and tie and a cardigan, puts his glasses back on and says "Uh, well, come on *in!* It's good to *see* you. Sorry about all this *mess*... I'm having a new *lock* fitted." The repairman, who is kneeling at the door frame, looks up from his work and says "S'okay, friend. Almost through here." Dan replies, "Uh, fine. Thank you." Laurie, her hands in her pockets, walks through the door.

Panel 2.
Dan gestures towards the kitchen, smiling and saying "If you want to come on into the *kitchen*, I'll make *coffee.* It's *funny*... I was hoping I'd run into you so I could thank you for that *dinner* last week..." Laurie follows him, her hands in her pockets and her shoulders slumped.

Panel 3.
Laurie walks into the kitchen, both hands in her pockets and her face downcast, and Dan pulls out a chair for her and says "I thought maybe you'd be at the *funeral*, but *Jon* said you'd had to visit your *mother*. Here... take a *chair*... You take *sugar* with your coffee?" In the foreground, on the kitchen counter, is a canister of sugar, a box of Kleenex and an electric tea kettle.

Panel 4.
Laurie, sitting at the table and looking straight ahead, answers "Uh, yes. Yes, two sugars." Dan pushes the button on the tea kettle, which has the Veidt logo on it, and reaches for the sugar. He replies "No problem. So, anyway. How is your mom? *Hollis Mason* was asking after her just the other *week*..."

Panel 5.
Laurie, still looking downcast and resting her hands on top of each other on the table, replies "Oh, she's great. Just great." Dan tilts the sugar canister and one cube of sugar drops out and bounces off the counter. His glasses reflect the pink countertop and he grimaces, saying "Hell, I thought I had more sugar than *that*. Is *one* lump okay or should I go *out*...?"

Panel 6.
Laurie says "No. One lump's fine. Just f..." She breaks down in tears, covering her face with her hands and making "Uhuhuh uhuhuhuh hhuhch" noises. Dan, still holding the lid of the canister, looks over at her, alarmed.

Panel 7.
Dan turns toward her, raising one hand, reaching for the Kleenex box and  looking concerned, and asks, "Uh... Laurie? Hey... Hey, what's the *problem*?" Laurie, still hiding her face in both hands, makes an "Ahuhu" noise and a "fnff" noise and says "Oh, God, oh, God, I'm so *sorry*..."

Panel 8. 
Dan puts the box of kleenex in front of her and pulls out a chair at the table. He leans in towards her, his hand hovering a few inches above her back. He says "Hey, look, it's *okay*. Here's some *kleenex*... I mean, uh, listen... Whatever's *bothering* you, it's not the end of the *world*, right?" Pulling out a Kleenex with one hand and hiding her eyes with the other, Laurie replies "I left Jon."

Panel 9.
Dan's hand pauses in midair before it can touch her. He says "Oh, I see. That is, I, uh..." Laurie clings to the Kleenex with both hands, holding it in front of her mouth, and looks up at him as she says "I'm sorry. I don't know *why* I'm dumping it on *you*. I just... I just don't nuh-*know* anybody else! I don't know *anybody* except goddamned suh-*super-heroes!*" Her eyebrows are drawn together and her forehead furrowed, and her mascara is running, pooling in circles under her eyes and running into spidery lines down her cheeks.
Page 9.
Panel 1.
Dan, sitting next to Laurie and gesturing, says "Well, look, I don't know... Maybe you're making too *much* out of one *argument* or something..." Crunching up the tissue in her hand, Laurie, her eyes downcast, replies "You think this is our *first* argument? Dan, *living* with him, you don't know what it's *like*..." Behind her, the teakettle on the counter is starting to boil, and a thin line of white smoke drifts up from it.

Panel 2.
She continues, "The way he *looks* at things, like he can't remember what they *are* and doesn't particularly *care*... This world, the real world, to *him* it's like walking through *mist*, and all the *people* are like *shadows*..." Jon is sitting on their bed, which is still unmade, and holding Laurie's pink bra in one hand. He looks at it thoughtfully.

Panel 3.
She continues, "Just shadows in the *fog.*" The smoke from the whistling tea kettle obscures her face entirely. Dan looks on, worried. The single cube of sugar lies on the counter.

Panel 4.
She continues "I mean, *tonight*, right? I walked *out*, after *twenty years*, and y'know what I bet he's *doing*? His big, emotional *reaction*? He's either *smartening up* for his *T.V. interview*, or watching *quarks* get stuck to *gluinos*. Maybe *both.* Jon has placed the bra next to him on the bed. Both hands placed stiffly on his knees, he looks toward the wardrobe, and one of the doors flies open, showing a rack with neckties draped across it.

Panel 5.
Dan pours the hot water into a red and white striped mug, and a few drops splash over the side. He replies "So, uh, where will you *go*? Do you have anyplace to *stay* tonight?" She is reflected in the shiny teapot as she answers "Yeah, well, I guess I'll splash out on some *overnight accommodation* and think things *through*. Just a *hotel* or someplace..."

Panel 6.
She continues, "Somewhere normal." Jon is still sitting on the bed, his posture rigid, and looking at the wardrobe. A suit that's still on its hanger, a shirt, a necktie, a vest, two socks and a pair of shoes are flying toward him.

Panel 7.
Laurie wipes her nose with the tissue and breathes deeply, making a "Hahhh" sound. She says, "Dan, I'm *sorry*. I've turned up in *hysterics* when you were probably about to *dress* for going *out*." Dan unwraps the sugar cube and drops it into the mug, saying "Listen, I just wish you'd drop in more *often*. As for *tonight*, I'm only calling on *Hollis*..."

Panel 8.
Dan continues, "...And *he* doesn't care *how* people dress." Jon is standing up, buttoning his pants. His garments float in the air around him.

Panel 9.
Dan passes the mug to Laurie, and she takes it with both hands. He says "Now, you drink this while it's *hot*. Here's looking at you, kid." On the wall behind them is a calendar. It reads October, and has a picture of an owl.

Page 10.

Panel 1.
Laurie continues holding the coffee cup in both hands and looks down at it. Her glum face is reflected on the surface of the drink, slightly broken up by the ripples on the surface, and steam rises from the edge. She answers "Yeah. Here's looking at *me*. Y'know, *sometimes* I look at myself and I don't *understand*..."

Panel 2.
She continues, "Sometimes I look at myself and think, 'How did everything get so *tangled* up?'" Jon is looking at himself in the mirror, adjusting his vest. His necktie is tying itself into a knot around his neck, and his suit jacket is hovering behind him.

Panel 3.
Laurie, leaving her mug on the table, stands up and says "Anyway, you don't want to get into all *that* stuff. C'mon... I'm holding you up from visiting *Hollis*. Grab your *coat* and I'll walk over there *with* you." Dan, still sitting down, looks up at her and says "Don't you want your *coffee*?"

Panel 4.
Laurie replies, "Nah. I'm sorry... It's too *bitter*. Anyway, I'd rather be somewhere else than sitting here feeling *sorry* for myself." Jon is standing next to the wardrobe, fully dressed. He looks down and adjusts the cuff link on one sleeve, as the other pair of cuff links floats near his hip to the left. Laurie's discarded bra is lying on the bed in front of him.

Panel 5.
Dan, getting his coat from the hook on the wall near the door, says "Well, look, if you're *sure* you wouldn't rather sit and *talk.* *Hollis* would understand if I was *late*..." Laurie answers, "Dan, listen, it's almost *six fifteen* already, and you *know* New York on a Saturday night..." The man from the Gordian Knot Lock Company is finishing up the job.

Panel 6.
Laurie continues, "Sometimes the cabs just *disappear* and getting from *A* to *B* takes *forever.* There is a large, teardrop-shaped ring of black spots and a circle of bright blue light in the space where Jon was standing in front of the wardrobe. To the left is a smaller patch of light and black dots. 

Panel 7.
The locksmith stands at the top of the steps and holds up a clipboard with a paper for Dan to sign. He jabs his thumb at the door behind him and says "Well, I'm all *through* here. You're safe as *houses*. What *happened* anyway? Y'get *robbed*?" Dan, standing in front of him and signing the paper, replies "Uh, no. No... A *friend.* He called when I wasn't *expecting* him..." The locksmith says "*Hah!* *I* got buddies like that, always turnin' up *drunk*..." Laurie stands on the sidewalk, her hands in her pockets and her face melancholy. It is still raining lightly.

Panel 8.
The locksmith continues, "Completely outta the *blue!*" Jon has appeared, still concentrating on his cuff and with his other cuff link still hovering near him, in the ABC front office. The receptionist and the other people in the room are all shocked, one even falling backward and dropping the papers he was carrying.

Panel 9.
As the locksmith opens the door of his van, he calls out to Dan and Laurie, who are walking side by side down the sidewalk, saying "Incidentally, lady, I heard what you *said*, about *cabs*. Why don't you call my *brother's* company, the *Promethean?* It beats *walkin'.* These are *baaad* neighborhoods." Laurie calls back, without looking behind her, "That's okay. I'm in a *baaaad* mood."
Page 11.
Panel 1.
The producer looks around angrily and, gesturing with one hand, says "*Oh!* So, Dr. *Osterman* finally *arrives* and nobody thinks to *tell* me! *Marvelous!*" The receptionist, sitting back down at her desk, says "Duh-don't blame *me!* I only just took over *reception* an' he just *appeared!*" She covers her mouth and says "I feel *sick.* They're not paying me *enough* for this..." The contents of a cup that had been knocked over drip down the side of the desk. The man who had fallen backwards in front of the desk kneels to pick up his papers, still gawking at Jon. Jon is sedately putting on his other cuff link.

Panel 2. 
A large panel the size of two regular panels. The receptionist continues, "They're not paying me enough to handle *monsters from outta space*!" Dan and Laurie walk past the Utopia Cinema, still talking. Laurie is gesturing with one hand, her dark brown hair blowing in the wind, and Dan has his hands in his pockets as he listens to her. There is a poster for the movie "This Island Earth" in front of the cinema, showing an alien with glowing blue eyes and a huge brain holding a human woman in front of a rocky, alien landscape. Laurie and Dan have just passed the news stand, where the boy is still reading his comic and a couple of people are milling around, and the Institute for Extraspatial Studies. A Nova Express van is pulling up to the newsstand, and some cars are passing behind them. There is trash on the sidewalks, including a Gunga Diner takeout box, and the streetlights are on. A zeppelin is flying in the sky far above them.

Panel 3.
A large panel the size of two regular panels. The producer, Jon, and a third white man in a suit and sunglasses walk away from the reception area, and the receptionist and the other people in the room are still staring at them as they leave. A sign on the wall behind them points the way to the studios. The producer, a white man holding a clipboard and pointing his thumb at Jon, who is looking down at him, says "You haven't left us time for *makeup*! That *blue* is *far* too light for *television*..." The man in a suit holds up a sheet of paper and says "Dr. *Osterman*? I'm *Forbes*, *army intelligence.* Here's a list of *no-go areas.* Obviously, *Afghanistan* will arise, but play it *cool*..."

Panel 4.
Forbes continues, "... And try not to get into any *tight corners*." Dan and Laurie, still talking and walking side by side, turn and go down a dark alleyway. The part of the alleyway not in shadow is covered in graffiti. There's an anarchist symbol, some squiggles, a poster for Pale Horse, a symbol for "woman" with teeth in the circle part over the words "Castrate Rapists" and two letters of "Who Watches The Watchmen?"  A man is standing on the street behind them, holding a cigarette in one hand. Only his hand is visible in this panel, but his shadow falls on the wall, and he has a knot top hairstyle. Another man leans against the wall, watching them go through the alley.

Panel 5.
Jon turns his skin a darker shade of blue and asks "Is *this* dark enough?" The producer turns towards him, looking freaked out and saying "My God. Uhh, well, *yes*. Yes, that's just *perfect.*" Forbes stands in front of them, opening the door to studio 4. An "On Air" sign is lit above the door.

Panel 6.
A large panel the size of two regular panels. The producer continues, "That's *certainly* dark enough for *my* purposes." The knot-top from the previous panel throws his cigarette down onto the street and walks toward the alley, one hand on his hip. He's white and is wearing a short leather jacket with a fake Japanese kanji on the back and a long shirt over jeans. Three other men, all white and dressed in the same outfit but with different hairstyles, also start walking toward the alley.
Page 12.
Panel 1.
As the producer leads Jon into the studio, Forbes, holding the door open, continues "If the *Geneva Talks* come up, the *official* position is that they can't resume until the Soviets agree to exclude *you* from the agenda." The producer glares at him and says "*Shhh!* We're *on!*" From offscreen, the host says "Ladies and gentlemen, I think we're ready to *start*..." The audience is already seated, and they look toward the stage expectantly.

Panel 2.
A large panel the size of two regular panels. The producer continues, "And believe *me*, we have something really *special* for you tonight." Dan and Laurie are trapped in the alley by six men, all wearing boots, a short leather jacket and a long shirt. Laurie looks behind her and Dan looks ahead of him, his mouth open in surprise. Some of the gang members are brandishing long knives.

Panel 3.
A large panel the size of two regular panels. The host is seated in one of two chairs around a low circular table with water and two glasses, some papers and two microphones on it, and his name, Benny Anger, is written on the wall behind the two chairs. Benny is a brown-haired white man with a wide smile and a green checked suit jacket. He gestures towards Jon, who is approaching the second chair. Three cameras with the ABC logo on their sides are focused on the two men, and the footage from one of them is shown on a TV facing the audience, showing Jon's head. Forbes takes his seat in the front row of the audience, and the producer stands to the side. Benny says "In his *first ever* live question-and-answer session, let's have a *big hand* please for *Doc Manhattan* himself, *Dr. Jonathan Osterman!* Jon, I hope you'll forgive me for *asking* you this..." 

Panel 4.
Benny continues, "...But what's *up*, Doc?" The audience laughs, "Hahahahahahahahaha!" Dan and Laurie have their backs against one side of the alley underneath a fire escape, facing the six attackers side to side. The gang members form a semi-circle around them, holding their knives in the air and making taunting gestures. Near them are a bunch of overfilled garbage cans, posters for Pale Horse and Krystalnacht and graffiti reading "One In Eight Go Mad."

Panel 5.
Jon replies, "Quote up unquote is a *relative concept*. It has no *intrinsic* value." The host, still grinning, says "Uhhh... *Right!* *Okay!* So let's get into the *questions*. *You*... Over *there*..." A woman in the third row of the audience stands up and says "Doc, if the *Reds* act up in *Afghanistan*..." 

Panel 6.
A large panel the size of two regular panels. She continues, "... Will *you* be prepared to enter *hostilities*?" The audience claps, "Klap klap klap klap klap klap klap." Laurie and Dan look at each other, as if signaling silently to each other. Laurie has a determined look on her face, and Dan is frowning, a grave look in his eyes as he tucks his glasses in the front of his coat. The gang members draw nearer to them, one reaching out towards Laurie.
Page 13.
Panel 1.
Jon, sitting straight up and looking out in front of him, replies "As far as I know, there *is* no situation in Afghanistan currently requiring my *attentions*." The host, still grinning, says "Okay, fine. Now how about you over *there*. Yes, you, sir. And *please*..."

Panel 2.
A large panel the size of two regular panels. Benny continues, "Let's try and keep it *snappy*." Laurie and Dan rush forward towards two of the gang members. Laurie crushes the outstretched arm of one of them between her elbow and knee, and he falls backwards, dropping his knife and crying in pain and surprise. To her left, Dan is grabbing one of them by the coat, catching him off guard and causing him to step back. The scenes with Dan and Laurie fighting are colored in bright reds, yellows and oranges, which contrast with the panels with Jon, which are colored normally.

Panel 3.
A man with curly blond hair and a large, droopy mustache stands up, holding the microphone. He is wearing a long purple coat with a yellow press pin attached to it, and has a confident smirk on his face. He says "Dr. *Osterman*, I'm *Doug Roth*, I write for *Nova Express*. I wonder if you remember *Wally Weaver*. Back in the early *Sixties*, the newspapers called him quote '*Dr. Manhattan's buddy' unquote. He died of *cancer* in 1971." The audience members surrounding Roth turn to look at him. Most of their faces are impassive, but the two people to his right and left look startled.

Panel 4.
A large panel the size of two regular panels. Roth continues, "I believe it was quite *sudden* and quite *painful*." Dan is holding on to the jacket of one of the gang members and, curling his little finger and ring finger under his thumb and keeping his index and middle fingers straight, hits him with a palm strike underneath the nose, causing his neck to snap back and blood to gush from his broken nose. In the background, Laurie lets the man whose arm she broke fall to the ground, as she faces three of the others.

Panel 5.
The reader sees the back of Jon's bald blue head as he faces Roth. Jon replies, "I remember Wally as a good friend. I attended his *funeral*." Roth, still standing, answers "Really? How about *Edgar W. Jacobi,* also known as *Moloch*? You encountered *him* *several* times during the sixties in *battles, conflicts*..."

Panel 6.
A large panel the size of two regular panels. Roth continues, "Whatever it is you super-people *do*." Laurie is punching one of the attackers in the groin, causing him to double up in pain. Behind her, Dan has one hand on a gang member's chest and has just punched him in the face. The man falls back, blood erupting from his mouth. One of the gang members is lying on his side, screaming and clutching his broken arm, and another, a surprised look on his face, seems like he might run away.
Page 14.
Panel 1. 
Roth continues, "Did you know that Jacobi *also* has terminal cancer?" Jon, looking up at him, says "*Moloch?* No... No, I didn't know that. I'd rather not..." Roth continues, "What's the *matter*, Doctor? Don't you like the line of *questioning?*" The host's grin has been wiped off his face, and he looks dismayed and as if he might stand up from his chair. The producer has his hand over his face, and Forbes is getting up from his seat. The people around Roth are looking at him anxiously.

Panel 2.
A large panel the size of two regular panels. Roth continues, "Am I starting to make you feel *uncomfortable*?" The man who Laurie just punched in the crotch reels back, dropping his knife and twisting up his face in pain. She is facing him determinedly, gritting her teeth. Behind her, Dan has one of the men by the collar. The man is hanging limply as Dan looks threateningly at him.

Panel 3.
A large panel the size of two regular panels. Roth continues "Then how about *this* one: Did you know that Ms. *Janey Slater*, linked romantically with you in the sixties, is currently suffering from lung cancer? Doctors have given her six months to live. Notice any *connection*?" Jon's mouth has dropped open, and the host is half out of his seat, putting his hand on Jon's forearm. Forbes is rushing towards Jon.

Panel 4.
Roth continues, "...Because from where *I'm* standing, it's starting to look pretty *conclusive*." Dan, holding his attacker's head by his ponytail, slams his face into the ground. Laurie is in a fighting stance, watching one of the men slink off, while a third smiles nervously, putting up one hand in a conciliatory pose and backing away from them.

Panel 5.
Jon, looking quite shaken, says "Janey? But... I wasn't *told*... Are... Are you suggesting...?" Forbes stands in front of him, holding both arms to his sides, and says "*Okay*, that's *it!* No more *questions!* The Doctor's *tired*. *Sorry* about this, folks..."

Panel 6.
A large panel the size of two regular panels. Forbes continues, "...But the show's *over*." Dan and Laurie stand side by side in the alley, the bodies of two of the gang members lying prostrate at their feet. Dan looks exhausted but still determined, wiping his forehead with one hand, while Laurie is still in a fighting position. The knot fastening her trenchcoat's belt around her waist has loosened a bit, and her trenchcoat has opened enough to show her cleavage and thigh. On the wall behind them is graffiti reading "K-Top Kings."
Page 15.
Panel 1.
Jon is leaving the studio, Forbes behind him with his hand on his shoulder. Roth is behind them, holding up two fingers on his right hand and holding the microphone in his other. He says "Also, we have reports of more than *two dozen* other past associates, *similarly* afflicted..." Another woman with a press pin attached to her jacket comes up behind them, saying "Dr. *Osterman*? *Tina Price*, from the *Washington Post*. Are these allegations *true*?" Forbes says "C'mon, let's get *out!* The mob's getting *aroused*..." Jon looks tense and upset.

Panel 2.
A large panel the size of two regular panels. Dan and Laurie lean against the wall, breathing heavily. Dan makes "Ahuhh hhuh huh" sounds and Laurie makes "Hahh hah ah" sounds. Dan has one hand in his coat pocket reaching for his glasses, and his other hand on Laurie's shoulder. The body of one of their assailants rests at their feet, along with a knocked-over can of garbage. On the wall is a poster for Ozymandias' famine relief event.

Panel 3.
A large panel the size of two regular panels. Jon is now surrounded by a group of reporters, many of whom are smiling greedily. A balding, clownish-looking white man holds up a microphone to his face and says "Doc, I'm *Jim Weiss*, from the *Enquirer?* Tell me, do *you* think you gave Ms. Slater *cancer* by *sleeping* with her?" Jon, looking worried, says "No. Please... If you'll let me through..." Forbes, glaring at the crowd and holding his briefcase under his arm, barks "Let him *through*. He's not here to answer questions on *intimate moments!*"

Panel 4.
Dan and Laurie look at each other. They are both weary and sweating heavily, their hair and clothing disheveled. Dan's hand is still on Laurie's shoulder. They both share the same speech bubble, depicting their heavy breathing with "Ahuh huh" sounds.

Panel 5.
Roth, crowding Jon and looking menacingly at him, says "How does it *feel* to know you may have *doomed* hundreds of *people*?" Other reporters crowd in on him, pushing microphones at him, which Jon tries to hold away from his face. Starting to look angry, he says "Please... If everybody would just go *away* and leave me *alone*..." Forbes says "Gentlemen, I think it safest not to pursue this line of thinking..." 

Panel 6.
A large panel the size of two regular panels. Dan and Laurie turn away from each other. Dan is running one hand through his hair and holding his glasses with the other. Laurie is pulling her jacket over her chest and lighting her long cigarette holder. They both look shaken.
Page 16.
Panel 1.
One of the reporters starts to ask, "Dr. Manhattan, how *often* did..." Jon interrupts, screaming "I said leave me *alone!*" His face is angry and contorted, and his eyes are squeezed shut.

Panel 2.
A large panel the size of two regular panels. Dan and Laurie walk out of the alley the same way they entered it. Laurie puts one hand to her face and says "Uh... well... I guess I ought go find a *hotel*. I'm a bit *wiped out.* I mean, after *that*... I mean, *Jesus, us!* Getting *mugged!* Look... I'm *shaking*. Once the *adrenaline* wears off I *always* feel sorta *weird*..." The rain has started to fall a little more heavily, and some pieces of paper drift along the sidewalk. In the background, one of the gang members is trying to get to his feet.

Panel 3.
A large panel the size of two regular panels. Laurie continues, "Sorta *empty.*" Jon is standing in the studio. The host, Forbes, the people videotaping the interview, the producer, the reporters and the studio audience have all vanished, leaving him standing in the middle of the empty studio.

Panel 4.
Dan looks concerned as he says "Well, look, are you *sure*? Why not visit *Hollis* and get your *breath* back?" Two locks of hair on his head stick up, looking rather like an owl's horns. Laurie, holding her cigarette holder between two fingers, looks down and says "Uh-uh. I've had *enough* super-hero stuff for one day. I'm gonna find a *hotel* and think my *relationship* over..."

Panel 5.
Laurie continues, "...See if I can come up with one good reason to stick *around*. God, y'know. It feels so much *better* now it's out in the *open*. Thanks for *listening*." Jon vanishes, leaving only the paper that he had been holding. It falls to the floor under a tear-drop shaped circle of blue dots and a sphere of blue and white light. 

Panel 6.
A large panel the size of two regular panels. Laurie walks away, looking over her shoulder back at Dan and waving. She says, "Anyway, you take *care* of yourself, Dan. It's a tough *world* out there." He stands on the sidewalk, watching her leave and saying "Yeah. You *too*, Laurie. 'Bye." In the street nearby, a police car is going down the street, lights flashing. A clock nearby shows that it is about 6:40.
Page 17.

Panel 1.
Dan, still waving, watches Laurie walk away. She is walking through a puddle as rain splashes onto the ground. Some other pedestrians are on the sidewalk behind them.

Panel 2.
Dan continues on his way, past a construction site and a building with an advertisement for the New Frontiersman painted on its side. It shows a picture of the American flag, with the slogan "In Your Hearts, You Know It's Right." Someone has spraypainted the word "Wing" under the word "Right." A couple of cars drive by.

Panel 3.
Dan arrives outside of Hollis' garage. The sidewalk is strewn with trash, including papers and an empty can, and Hollis' sign reads "Closed." 

Panel 4.
Dan walks up the stairs leading to Hollis' apartment.

Panel 5.
Dan stands outside Hollis' open door. Hollis, from inside, says "*Danny!* How *are* ya? You're *late*. I thought you'd had an *accident!*" Dan replies "No... No, I just had a little *skirmish.*" 

Panel 6.
Hollis, looking grim, points to the T.V. with his thumb and replies "You're not the *only* one. I just been watchin' *Doc Manhattan* on T.V.! They just about *crucified* the poor guy..." Dan, stepping inside, looks dismayed and says "*Jon*? Uh... What do you *mean?*" 

Panel 7.
Hollis, standing in front of the T.V. and holding both a beer and a cigarette in one hand, gestures with the other and says "Some guy stood up an' accused him of giving a lot of people *cancer*, including *Janey Slater.* Doc looked real *shaken*, started shouting to be left *alone*. *One* moment, the cameras were in *close* on him..." Dan looks startled as he looks at the TV. Hollis' dog is sleeping behind them, next to the fire in the fireplace, and a six-pack of beer, minus the one Hollis is holding, is next to Hollis' statuette of himself as Nite Owl.

Panel 8.
Hollis continues, "...The *next*, the screen went *blooey* and then we were gettin' pictures of a *parking lot*. He'd teleported everybody outta the *T.V. building,* cameras an' *all.*" Dan says "But... But I was just with *Laurie.* She doesn't *know*..." The TV is showing Jon looking angry as reporters and microphones crowd in on him, with the words "Edited Replay" at the bottom of the screen.

Panel 9.
Hollis answers, "Well, she'll know soon *enough*. That show went out on *prime time.* The whole *world* will know soon enough." On screen, under the words "Edited Replay," is a close up of Jon screaming, his face contorted with anger.
Page 18.
Panel 1.
A man is passing a stack of Nova Express magazines to the newsvendor. The image on the cover is a picture of Jon, his eyes covered up by the twine tying the bundle together. The headline is "Dr. Manhattan Cancer Link New Evidence. Inside Janey Slater Speaks." The newsvendor says "*Ha!* I *knew* it! Will ya lookit *that*!" The person delivering them says "Sorry they're *late*. They wanted to *wait* 'til the *T.V. show* was on the *air* before they played the *grand slam.*" The boy's comic book text reads, "The freighter's murderous onslaught had surprised us."

Panel 2.
A large panel the size of two regular panels. The newsvendor removes the twine from the stack of magazines, while the delivery man unplugs his van from the spark hydrant which the boy is leaning on, still reading his comic book. In the background, Dan and Laurie are walking past the Utopia Theater, Laurie gesturing. The comic book text continues, "We'd been blasted to fragments before we could warn *Davidstown* of the hell-ship's approach. I alone survived upon my remote atoll." The newsvendor says "*Cancer!* I might *known!* They oughtta *deport* the radioactive *goon*! Put him in *exile!*"

Panel 3.
A large panel the size of two regular panels. The newsvendor flips through the top magazine in the stack, saying "*Ha!* *Inside,* his *ex* says they couldn't relate *seuxally!* *That* means he's queer as a three-dollar *bill!* My *wife*, she'd *fantasize* about this creep! *I* suspected all *along*..." The shadow of the car's electric cord falls on the spark hydrant as the boy keeps reading. The comic book text reads, "I thought of my family: vulnerable, unsuspecting..." 

Panel 4.
A drop of rain splashes between the two panels on the page of the comic book. One panel shows a ship sailing on a green sea, with yellow and green clouds in the sky above it, and another panel shows a red sky with gulls flying in the background. The comic book text continues, "...Never dreaming that damnation bore down upon them, sails pregnant with a pirate wind, a necklace of heads about its prow. Crazed with helplessness, I cursed God and wept, wondering if He wept also."

Panel 5.
The comic book text continues, "But then, what use his tears, if his help was denied me?" The boy looks up and points at the newsvendor, saying "*Hey.* It's *rainin'*. Lend me your *cap*, man, I'm gettin' *wet*." The newsvendor, sitting by his stand with the stack of magazines on his lap, doesn't look up from the magazine he's reading as he puts up his hand palm out towards the boy and says "*No* chance. I don't *lend* things. It's my *philosophy.*"

Panel 6.
The boy replies in tiny text, "Suit y'self, jive-ass." The newsvendor continues, "In *this* world, you shouldn't rely on help from *anybody.* In the *end*, a man stands *alone.*" The comic book text continues, "My own sobbing had frightened the gulls. They departed..." The reader's focus is on the fallout shelter sign on the building across the street behind the newsvendor's stall.

Panel 7.
The comic book text continues, "...And in the terrible silence I understood the true breadth of the word quote 'isolation' unquote." The newsvendor continues, "All alone. Inna final *analysis.*" A close-up of the rain hitting the yellow fallout shelter sign.
Page 19.
Panel 1.
A young man is singing "*Walkin'* on... *walkin'* on the moooooon" as he finishes using a stencil to paint the black trefoil symbol for radioactivity and the words "Danger, quarantine area" in red on a yellow surface.

Panel 2.
A large panel the size of two regular panels. Jon appears in front of the man, still wearing his suit, and asks "What are you doing?" The man, a white soldier with one stripe on his sleeve, looks startled, moving away from Jon and shouting "*Waagh!*" He drops the stencil he had used to paint the word "area." The yellow surface he had been painting was a partially opened door. There are newspapers laid out underneath it, along with a can of red paint and a box of his other tools.

Panel 3.
A large panel the size of two regular panels. The man stands in front of the door, which is shown to lead to Jon and Laurie's bedroom. Laurie's stockings and bra are still on the bed. The soldier says "I-I'm *sorry*, Dr. *Osterman,* you, you just *startled* me. Hahaha. I, I was painting up this wuh-*warning* notice, as, as *ordered*... A-After that *T.V. show,* we thought it *best* to comply with *safety regulations*..."

Panel 4.
Jon pushes the door open a little bit more, looking inside and saying "Safety regulations. I see. It seems I'm incapable of cohabiting safely either emotionally or physically. Perhaps you'd best tell Ms. *Juspeczyk* and your *superiors* that I'm *leaving.*" The soldier, startled, leans against the wall and says "Leaving?"

Panel 5.
Jon turns around, away from the bedroom door. He says "Yes. For *Arizona* first, I think, and then *Mars.*" The soldier, his posture relaxed, laughs, slapping his leg and holding the red-tipped paintbrush in one hand. He says "M...? *Aawww... Hah ha ha hah!* Doc, you had me *goin'* there! *Ha ha ha!* Hey, y'know, you're a reg'lar kinda..."

Panel 6.
Jon disappears. His clothes hover in midair for a second, blue smoke coming from the neck and the wrists. Blue light flashes in the room as he vanishes. The soldier continues, "...guy..." He stands back quickly, dropping his paintbrush and looking astonished.

Panel 7.
Jon's clothes, still smoking slightly at the neck and wrists, lie in a pile on the floor next to the soldier's box of tools. The soldier approaches them gingerly, saying "Holy Christ. *Sergeant*?  Sergeant, I got a *message* for ya..."

Page 20.
Panel 1.
A desert landscape under the night sky. With no artificial lights around to crowd them out, the stars are very visible, particularly a large red one in the east. Amidst the sand dunes, rocks and plumes of sparse, thin grass is the remains of a chain link fence. It is broken and twisted, half covered by sand. Lying on the ground is a sign, partially covered with sand, that reads "Gila Flats Test Base. Per Dolorem Ad Astra. Government Property, Keep Out." One piece of paper lies on the sand, just outside the fence.

Panel 2.
Jon appears on the horizon, facing the broken fence. The only thing that has moved is the piece of paper, which has blown a few inches to the right.

Panel 3.
The moon is full and bright. Jon walks past the fence towards a broken-down building. A sign painted above the doorframe labels it "The Bestiary", and a sign mounted on a pole sticking out to the side says "Bar." In the distance there is a broken down watertower, some more buildings, an abandoned car and more sections of chain link fence.

Panel 4.
Jon walks through the doorframe of the bar. The door is off its hinges and hanging to the side, its window broken and an "open" sign hanging from it. The building's roof is now just some slats of wood lying over each other, and the walls are cracked and broken away in places. A ceiling fan, one of its blades bent down, hangs from the ceiling. A picture hangs askew on the wall, its glass cracked. There are chairs placed upside down on the tables, and the bar is covered with old bottles and trash. The taps are covered with an old cloth that is rotting away.

Panel 4. 
Jon walks towards the bar, standing next to a barstool that has the stuffing in its pillow coming out. He looks at a bulletin board posted behind the bar. It's the size of a poster, and was once under glass, but the glass has broken and the top half of the board is exposed. Several photographs are pinned to it, under a handwritten phrase reading "At play amidst the Strangeness and Charm."

Panel 5.
Jon reaches out and takes one of the photos. It is weathered and tattered at the edges, and it shows a man and a woman at an amusement park in black and white. The woman has short black hair flipped up at the ends, and is smiling as she reaches for a kernel of popcorn in the bucket the man is holding. The man has close-cropped hair and a rather awkward smile, and has his arm around her. Balloons are flying in the air behind the pair.

Panel 6.
Jon holds the photo in one hand and looks at it, a sad expression on his face.

Panel 7.
Holding the photo in one hand, Jon turns and leaves the bar.

Panel 8.
Jon walks away from the bar, back to the desert.
Page 21.
Panel 1.
Jon stands on top of a sand dune, looking at the bright red star. Behind him is the broken fence and the sign for Gila Flats Test Base.

Panel 2.
A close-up of Jon's head as he looks at the star.

Panel 3.
The reader looks at Jon as if we are above him. He's holding the picture in one hand and looking up, smiling.

Panel 4.
A large panel the size of three regular panels. A bright globe of light surrounds Jon's vanishing figure, enveloping the sand dune on which he was standing and extending several feet above his head. The globe is ringed with a thin line of red, and blue dots are spread across the area. Blue and purple rays of light shine out from the edges of the globe.

Panel 5.
The broken fence and the sign for the test base. In the distance, on top of the sand dune, four thin lines of blue smoke drift towards the sky.

Panel 5.
The lines of smoke drift up, past the red star and the other stars.

Panel 6.
The lines continue drifting up past the red star, and the comic book text reads "That night, I slept badly beneath cold, distant stars, pondering upon the cold, distant God in whose hands the fate of Davidstown rested. Was he really there? Had he been there once, but now departed?"
Page 22.
Panel 1.
The sun is rising over New York. It's still low in the sky, behind several of the skyscrapers. The newsvendor is taking a copy of the New Frontiersman down from the side of his stall. Its headline is "Our Country's Protector, Smeared By The Kremlin." Across the street is the sign for the Promethean Cab Company. Its logo is a torch, and its slogan is "Bringing Light To The World." The comic book text continues, "The morning sun found me no more wise, no less troubled. Further down the shore, several of the beached corpses had become inflated by gas." The newsvendor says "You seen *this*? He's *gone!* *New Frontiersman* says it's the *Russians*!"

Panel 2.
A large panel the size of two regular panels. The newsvendor is holding the copy of the New Frontiersman in front of him, showing it to the man with the "The End Is Nigh" sign. He says "I *mean*, what's *next*, y'know?" The man with the sign points to the newspaper posted to the side of the stall and says "Give me a Gazette, as well." The Gazette's headline is "Dr. Manhattan Leaves Earth," and it shows a picture of him yelling. Near the two men, the boy continues reading the comic book. The comic book text continues, "I set about burying the sodden carcasses, matching odd limbs as best I could. With them, I buried all hope for my family's survival."

Panel 3.
The newsvendor takes down the newspaper, handing it to the man. He says "Sure. There y'are. Y'know, I had it tagged for a *red smear* from the *start*. I'm a *newsvendor.* How about *you*? I see the *world* didn't end yesterday."

Panel 4.
The man rolls up the newspaper and puts it in his pocket. He says, his face impassive, "Are you sure?" The boy hasn't looked up from his comic. The comic book text continues, "Using driftwood, I began a pit, deep and wide. I had never seen nor imagined so many dead people."

Panel 5.
As the two men continue talking, the boy reads his comic. The page he is looking at has three panels. The comic book text continues, "Noon came and went. By dusk, the crater was deep enough and I commenced hauling those cold, maimed, wretched things into the bed I had prepared."

Panel 6.
A large panel the size of two regular panels. The first panel of the three shown in the comic book in the previous panel. It shows the sailor dragging rotting, twisted corpses into a large pit. Behind him, the sun is setting and gulls are flying in the air. The comic book text continues, "Dragging and cursing, I hoped my wife and daughters might be tucked in by gentler hands when their turn came. I began to weep again. Dear God, who would protect them?"

Panel 7.
The newsvendor looks down at the boy and points at him, saying "*Hey!* Are you back *again*? Listen, when are ya thinkin' o' *payin'* for that *funny book*?" The comic book text continues, "The freighter was almost upon them. Who would care for them, now I was gone?" Behind them, the sun has risen past the tops of the skyscrapers. A city worker's truck, with its apple symbol, passes in front of the newsvendor and the boy.
Page 23.
Panel 1.
Laurie is looking shocked and worried, saying "*Gone*? What do you *mean*, he's gone?" Forbes is behind her, still wearing his sunglasses, with one hand on her shoulder.

Panel 2.
A large panel the size of two regular panels. Forbes, still holding her shoulder, gestures with his thumb and says "I don't know where you spent last *night*, Ms. Juspeczyk, but haven't you read the *papers*? *Dr. Manhattan* left *Earth.* Now, please... We have to give you a *cancer scan* and ask some *questions*..." They are standing in the hallway of Laurie and Jon's apartment, Laurie still wearing her trenchcoat. A man wearing a full-body hazmat suit is leaving the hallway, holding a hazmat container in front of him. The hazmat suit has "US Army" written on it, and the hazmat containers are all marked with the yellow and black trefoil radioactivity symbol. Another hazmat container has been placed by the door on which "Danger, Quarantine Area" was painted the previous day. Some red paint from when the soldier dropped his paintbrush is splattered on the floor. Inside the bedroom, there are other men wearing hazmat suits.

Panel 3.
A large panel the size of three regular panels. Laurie enters her bedroom, an upset look on her face. She says "*Cancer scan*? What *is* this? Who're all these *people*?" Pointing at a man who is taking a framed picture off the wall, she yells "*Leave that alone! That's my mother's!*" Another man is going through the closet, taking out clothing, another is putting the bedsheets in a hazmat container, a third is getting a reading with a Geiger counter and a fourth is kneeling on the floor. Forbes, following Laurie, says "Ms. Juspeczyk, we *have* to ask... Did you place Dr. Osterman under any *emotional stress* last night?"

Panel 4.
Laurie looks back at him angrily. Curling one hand into a fist, she says "*What*? Are... Are you *blaming* me for something? Wh-Who do you think you *are*? Listen, when *Jon* gets back, you're in *big* trouble..." Forbes takes off his sunglasses, closes his eyes and rubs the bridge of his nose, an exasperated look on his face. He says "Jesus Christ, I have taken enough of this."

Panel 5.
Forbes points at Laurie, glowering at her. He says "*Listen*, lady, if our *psychologists* are right, quote *Jon* unquote is quite possibly *never* coming back! Your *meal ticket* has flown the *coop!* The *linchpin* of *America's* strategic *superiority* has apparently gone to *Mars!* But you're *right*..."

Panel 6.
Forbes puts his sunglasses back on, saying "I *am* in *big trouble*... And *you're* in big trouble..." Laurie, stunned by the news, watches a man in front of them tossing her pink bra into a hazmat container.
Page 24.
Panel 1.
Forbes continues, "...And we're *all* in *big trouble!*" Dan is lying in bed, sleeping soundly on his back. Falling across him is the shadow of a man wearing a fedora.

Panel 2.
A gloved hand tosses a newspaper onto Dan's chest. It is a copy of the Gazette, with the headline "Dr. Manhattan Leaves Earth." 

Panel 3.
Dan sits up, rubbing his eyes and making a "Wmuh?" noise, the newspaper still on his lap. On the nightstand beside him is a lamp, a clock which reads 7:25 and his glasses. Some books are stacked on the shelf underneath.

Panel 4.
Dan sniffs, making "Fnff, fnff-fnff" noises, as he puts his glasses back on.

Panel 5.
As Dan puts on his glasses, his gaze falls on the headline of the paper, and he looks shocked. He reaches for the paper, tilting the news section up to get a better view. Rorschach is offscreen, but his characteristic speech bubbles show him saying "Good morning, Daniel. Brought you your Sunday paper."

Panel 6.
Rorschach continues, "The Comedian murdered, Dr. Manhattan exiled... Two of us gone. All within a week. Who next? Veidt? Juspeczyk? Me?" Rorschach has his mask pushed up over his nose, and is applying some of Dan's cologne to his neck. He's holding the bottle in one hand, and the glove that he removed to apply the cologne lies next to it. Dan looks shaken as he looks up at Rorschach.

Panel 7.
Rorschach continues as he pulls his mask back down, "You? By the way, you need a stronger lock. That new one broke after one shove." The epaulet on one shoulder of his coat is broken, hanging off his shoulder awkwardly. Dan is looking back down at the newspaper.

Panel 8.
Dan looks up and repeats in small text, "My new lock?" Rorschach turns away, leaving the room and saying "Poor choice. Get more expensive one. Can't be too security conscious. Especially not these days."He is placing the cologne in the breast pocket of his trenchcoat. The cologne is a square bottle with a stylish "N" printed on the front.

Panel 9.
As Rorschach leaves the room, he continues "These days, nobody's safe. Be seeing you. Thanks for the coffee and cereal." Dan looks back at the newspaper, with its headline "Dr. Manhattan Leaves Earth" and its picture of Jon yelling. Underneath the picture is the subheading, "Benny Anger Show Uproar."
Page 25.
Panel 1. 
The newsvendor says "Y'know, *super-heroes* are *finished*. These days, it's all *pirates*." The comic book text continues, "Exhausted, I slept atop the grave, dreams ringing with the horribly familiar screams of children. I saw the Black Freighter bearing down on all I loved..." A terrifying ship, with a skull and crossbones logo on one sail, is sailing through the seas. The deck is thronged with rough looking men with swords.

Panel 2.
The comic book text continues, "...But I was powerless to stop it." A scroll-shaped panel proclaims "Continued Next Month." The newsvendor, sitting by his stall, continues "Back in '39, before the *real* masked men showed up, super-hero comics were *enormous*. Guess their appeal wore *off*..." He is looking forward, not at the boy, and gesturing with one hand. Behind the boy, a cord is plugged into the spark hydrant.

Panel 3.
The newsvendor continues, "I remember there was *Super-man*, *Flash-man*... Uh-oh! Here's the *evenin' edition* delivery..." The boy looks up, annoyed, and says "*Hey*, man, *I* ain't buying *this*! Ripoff story ain't got no *endin'*!" Behind them, plugged into the spark hydrant, is a purple vehicle with a logo of a triangle within a circle.

Panel 4.
The newsvendor takes a stack of papers from the deliveryman, who is standing in the back of his van handing them down. He says "Gimme a *break*, willya? I'm acceptin' a *consignment!* Thanks, Chuck." The boy stands up, tossing his cigarette to the ground, and says "Just left *hangin'* with that *ship* comin' in gonna *kill* everybody. Shee-it. I'm goin' *home*." Behind him, the driver of the purple van removes the cord from the spark hydrant. In the street on the other side of the intersection, people are entering Gunga Diner.

Panel 5.
The newsvendor, holding the stack of papers, says "Let's see what's *happenin'* in the world this fine Sunday ni..." He looks shaken, and says "Oh, Jesus." The boy comes up to him, waving the comic, and says "Jive *pirates*, man. You can *keep* it." The panel background is plain yellow, with no other details.

Panel 6.
The newsvendor turns toward the boy, a stricken look on his face. He says "What? No... No, you... You can *have* it..." He takes off his orange newsboy cap and hands it to the startled boy, saying "An' y'can have my *cap*, too. Listen, you get home to your *mom*, okay? You be *good* to her..." The panel background is plain black, with no other details.

Panel 7.
The newsvendor hugs the stack of papers to his chest, gesturing with his free hand, and says "I mean... I mean we all gotta look *out* for each other, don't we? I mean, that's *my* philosophy..." The boy pulls the cap over his head, holding the rolled-up comic in his hand as he backs away, looking slightly confused. He says "Uhhh... *Sure!* Hey, thanks for the *stuff*, man. Listen, I gotta *go*. You take *care*, man." Behind him, the purple van is driving away. It is starting to rain.

Panel 8. 
The boy runs off down the sidewalk alongside the purple van as the newsvendor holds the newspaper out in front of him. He replies "Yeah. Yeah, you *too*. A-and don't worry about payin' for that *book*. I mean, life's too *short*..." The Gazette's headline is "Russians Invade Afghanistan." It's accompanied by a map showing arrows depicting the movement of the Russian forces.

Panel 9.
The newsvendor, sitting on his folding chair, leans wearily against his stall, saying "Inna final *analysis*." 
Page 26.
Panel 1.
Jon is walking on the surface of Mars. The ground is colored deep, dark magenta and is dotted with rocks, some large, some small. His feet kick up puffy clouds of pink dust that follow him as he walks. Behind him, the sky is filled with stars. Offscreen, an unknown speaker says "Mr. *President*? The latest analysis is through. If the Soviets *continue* into *Pakistan*, it's 60% certain they'll try taking *Western Europe* also." Another speaker, presumably President Nixon, replies "Huh. If he *wanted* to live on a *red planet*, he should have stayed *home.*"

Panel 2.
A large panel the size of two regular panels. President Nixon and two other men are sitting at a long table, looking at a map of the world that's easily fifteen feet high. Afghanistan is colored red, and there is a red circle around it. In front of the table, a handful of men are standing around, looking and pointing at the map. Nixon's chair has the presidential seal on the back. He and the other men are pictured from behind. He puts his hands out and says "Well, General? What do *you* think?" The general, turning towards the President and the other man, puts out one hand in a gesture of explanation and says "We can be ready for a *first strike* within seven days. I'd advise against leaving it *longer*. We have a 54% chance of wiping them *out* before *half* their birds are *airborne.*"

Panel 3.
A large panel the size of two regular panels. The general continues, "I'm talking *total devastation.*" Jon continues walking along Mars' desolate surface. The dust cloud he has been kicking up billows out behind him, covering everywhere he has been walking and reaching more than twenty or thirty feet in the air.

Panel 4.
Nixon is shown from behind, holding a pencil in one hand and touching his chin thoughtfully. He says "Hmm. And would *our* losses be *acceptable*?" A man standing in front of him and holding a clipboard under one arm points to the map with a pencil and says "I'm running a program *now* which assumes that we've knocked out the *Eastern bloc* but that a *percentage* of their *warheads* were already *en route*..."

Panel 5.
The man continues, "...Any moment *now* we'll be able to give you an *overview*." Jon has reached the top of a large rock, and we see the scene below him as if from his perspective. It is a flat area, with a handful of small craters and rocks. His hands are clutching the edge of the rock, one of them still holding the photograph.

Panel 6.
A large panel the size of two regular panels. Clusters of red dots appear on the map, with lines extending from each one showing their paths. One cluster is centered in the Atlantic off of northeastern Canada, and the other cluster covers almost all of Europe. The man says "Ahh... *There* we are. Britain down, Germany down..." Nixon, looking at the map, says "Hmm. Well, I've seen *worse* scenarios." A man in a suit and glasses with short wavy hair points to the map and says "Is that some heading for our *east coast* there? At this point in our *contingency* plans, where should we *be*?"
Page 27.
Panel 1.
A large panel the size of two regular panels. Nixon replies, "Somewhere *else*, Henry." An unknown speaker says "Uh-oh. There goes *Boston*... and *New York*... *Baltimore...*" Jon is walking down the other side of the steep hill, billowing clouds of dust following him down. He looks to the side, out over the starry sky. In the far distance are low, rolling hills.

Panel 2.
The speaker from the previous panel, a bald man standing near the President's chair and smoking a long, thin cigarette holder with a ball near the tip, says "...*Washington*..." The man who prepared the simulation says "Wow. That's, uh..." They are watching the red circles hit the northeastern part of the United States. Light red circles ripple out from each point of impact.

Panel 3.
The man who prepared the simulation continues, "... That's pretty *breathtaking.*" Nixon replies, "*I'll* say. Do you have a projection of the *fallout drift* from that?" Jon, looking up at the starry sky, is smiling, an awed look on his face as the dust cloud billows up behind him.

Panel 4.
A large panel the size of two regular panels. The man who prepared the simulation points to the map, which now has a dozen black trefoil radioactivity symbols covering the southern part of the United States. He says "Coming up *now*. With anticipated *wind patterns*, looks like *Mexico* would catch the *worst*. We could probably *salvage* a lot of the *farmbelt*..." Nixon looks to the side, holding his chin. In this sequence, he has always been shown from behind, but we see part of his face in this picture. His forehead is lined and his jowls are heavy. He says, "Losing the *east coast*, we'd *need* to. I don't *know*..."

Panel 5.
A large panel the size of two regular panels. Nixon continues, "I'd always kind of *hoped* that the big *decision* would rest with *somebody else.* This is going to take some *thinking about.*" Jon sits on a small rock in the middle of the red, flat plains, the dust cloud settling behind him.

Panel 6.
A close-up of the radiation symbols on the border between the United States and Mexico. Nixon continues, "It's like old *naval battles*. So much depends upon a quirk of the *wind*. The wind's a force of *nature*. It's totally *impartial...*"
Page 28.
Panel 1.
Nixon continues, "Totally *indifferent*." Jon looks down at the ground, his face expressionless.

Panel 2.
An extreme close-up of part of the radiation symbol. Nixon continues, "I think we'll give it a *week*, gentlemen, before bringing out our *big guns*..." 

Panel 3.
Nixon continues, "After *that*, humanity is in the hands of a *higher authority* than *mine*. Let's just hope he's on our *side.*" Jon holds the picture in both hands, looking down at it. Beyond it are the red rocks and sands of Mars.

Panel 4.
A large panel the size of six regular panels. Jon sits on the rock, one hand on his knee, looking out over the lifeless Martian landscape. The plains stretch out in every direction, with low hills far in the background, in beautiful hues of red and shadows in purple. Above him is the night sky, dotted with twinkling stars in different sizes. His face is grave and impassive, and he holds the picture in one hand.

Underneath this panel, in white text on a black background, is the quote "Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right? Genesis chapter 18, verse 25." To the right is a clock with no numbers or markings. The time is 11:51.



Supplementary Material Page 1.

Paperclipped to the page is a note saying "Presented here are the excerpts from Under The Hood. In this next chapter Hollis Mason discusses the traumas of the 1950s and the emergence of the new super-heroes. Reprinted with permission of the author."

Under The Hood.

Chapter 5.

The Minutemen didn't get to usher in the 1950s with a Christmas celebration the way we'd ushered in the '40s, and perhaps that's appropriate. The decade following the disbanding of the group was cold and bleak, both for me in particular and for masked adventurers in general. Plus, it seemed to go on forever.

I think the worst thing was the belated realization of just how much a fad we'd always been, something to fill the dead columns of the newspapers right alongside the Hula Hoop and the Jitterbug. Ever since Sally Jupiter married her manager, his tireless, shrewd efforts as a publicist had been noticeably absent. He'd recognized that the day of the costumed hero was over -- even though we hadn't -- and he'd gotten out while the getting was good. Consequently, we found our exploits being reported less and less frequently. When they were reported, the tone was often derisive. I can remember a lot of hooded vigilante jokes coming into circulation during the early fifties. The mildest was one that suggested we were called the Minutemen due to our performance in the bedroom. There were an awful lot of bright blue gags about Sally Jupiter. I know, because she told me most of them herself the last time I saw her.

A black and white picture, captioned 1947: Sally Jupiter marries Laurence Schexnayder. Can you spot the famous faces in the crowd? In the center of the picture are Sally and Laurence. Sally looks bright and happy, wearing pearl jewelry and showing off her wedding and engagement rings. She's wearing a low-cut black dress and carrying a bouquet of flowers. Next to her is her new husband, wearing a rose corsage. He's a delicate, prim looking man with a thin mustache and small glasses. He and the vivacious Sally seem to be a rather incongruous couple. Behind them is Hollis, wearing a suit and a corsage but also his headgear and mask, and behind him are Captain Metropolis and Mothman, both out of costume and smiling.

Sally had a baby girl named Laurel Jane in 1949, and it seemed to be right about then that her marital problems started. These were widely discussed, so I don't think I need repeat them here. Suffice it to say that the marriage ended in 1956, and since then Sally has done a first rate job of bringing her daughter up into a bright, spunky youngster that any mother could be proud of.

The thing about that particular decade is that things first started getting *serious* then. I remember thinking at the time that it was funny how the more serious things got, the better the Comedian seemed to do. Out of the whole bunch of us, he was the only one who was still right up there on the front pages, still making the occasional headline. On the strength of his military work he had good government connections, and it often seemed as if he was being groomed into some sort of patriotic symbol. At the height of the McCarthy era, nobody had any doubts about where the Comedian's feet were planted politically.

That was more than could be said for the rest of us. We all had to testify before the House UnAmerican Activities Committee, and were all forced to reveal our true identities to one of its representatives. Galling though this was, it didn't present any immediate problems for most of us. With Captain Metropolis having such an outstanding military record and with my own service in the police force, we both were more or less cleared of suspicion right away. Mothman met with more difficulty, mostly because of some left-wing friends he'd cultivated during his student days. He was eventually cleared, but the investigations were both lengthy and ruthless, and I think that the pressure he was under at that time prompted the beginnings of the drinking problem that has contributed so much to his later mental ill-health.

Only Hooded Justice refused to testify, on the grounds that he was not prepared to reveal.

Page 2.

his true identity to anyone. When pressed, he simply vanished... or at least that's how it seemed. Vanishing is no big problem when you're a costumed hero -- you just take your costume off. It seemed quite likely that Hooded Justice had simply chosen to retire rather than reveal his identity, which the authorities seemed perfectly happy with.

The only detail concerning the disappearance of America's first masked adventurer that still nags at me was trivial, and maybe not even connected at all; it was brought up in an article that appeared in The New Frontiersman, almost a year after Hooded Justice vanished.
The author mentioned the disappearance of a well known circus strongman of the day named Rolf Müller, who had quit his job at the height of the Senate Subcommittee hearings. Three months later, a badly decomposed body that was tentatively identified as Müller's was pulled from the sea after being washed up on the coast of Boston. Müller, assuming the body actually was that of the renowned weightlifter, had been shot through the head. The inference of the article was that Müller, whose family was East German, had gone on the run for fear of being uncovered while the Communist witch hunts were at their most feverish. The piece also implied that Müller had probably been executed by his own Red superiors.

I always wondered about that. Müller disappeared at almost exactly the same time as Hooded Justice was last seen, and the two men had corresponding builds. Whether the body washed up on that Boston shoreline belonged to Müller or not, neither he nor Hooded Justice were ever seen or heard from again. Were they the same man? If they were, were they really dead? If they were dead, who killed them? Was Hooded Justice really working for the Reds? I don't know. Real life is messy, inconsistent, and it's seldom when anything ever really gets resolved. It's taken me a long time to realize that.

Two black-and-white pictures, lined up next to each other. The caption reads (left) Hooded Justice (right) Rolf Müller. Were they the same man? The picture on the left is of Hooded Justice from the picture of the Minutemen. Sally, half cropped out, is hanging off of his arm. He is a tall, muscular man, but his costume effectively conceals his identity. The picture on the right is taken from a circus poster, and shows a strongman carrying a large dumbbell in each hand, one raised above his head. He is white and bald, and has a luxuriant beard and mustache. He's wearing a skintight shirt, a wide studded belt, briefs, studded wristbands, tights and calf-high boots. The two men seem to be about the same height and their body structure is similar, and they are posing in a rather similar way, although Hooded Justice looks like he's carrying himself stiffly and Rolf Müller seems to have a more natural, comfortable pose.

One of the big problems that faced costumed heroes at the time was the absence of costumed criminals of any real note. I don't think any of us realized how much we needed those goons until they started to thin out. You see, if you're the only one who'd bothered to turn up for a free-for-all in costume, you tended to look kind of stupid. If the bad guys joined in as well, it wasn't so bad, but without them it was always sort of embarrassing. There had never been as many costumed criminals as heroes, but with the end of the 1940s the trend grew much more pronounced.

Most of the crooks turned in their costumes along with their criminal careers, but some just opted for a less extroverted and more profitable approach. The new breed of villains, despite their often colorful names, were mostly ordinary men in business suits who ran drug and prostitution rackets. That's not to say they didn't cause as much trouble... far from it, I.

Page 3.

just mean that they weren't as much fun to fight. All the cases I ended up investigating during the '50s seemed sordid and depressing and quite often blood-chillingly horrible. I don't know what it was... there just seemed to be a sort of bleak, uneasy feeling in the air. It was as if some essential element of our lives, of all our lives, was vanishing before we knew entirely what it was. I don't think I could really describe it completely except maybe to somebody who remembered the terrific elation we all felt after the war: we felt that we'd taken the worst that the 20th century could throw at us and stood our ground. We felt as if we'd really won a hard-earned age of peace and prosperity that would see us well into the year 2000. This optimism lasted all through the '40s and the early '50s, but by the middle of that latter decade it was starting to wear thin, and there was a sort of ominous feeling in the air.

Partly it was the beatniks, the jazz musicians and the poets openly condemning American values whenever they opened their mouths. Partly it was Elvis Presley and the whole Rock'n'Roll boom. Had we fought a war for our country so that our daughters could scream and swoon over young men who looked like *this*, who sounded like *that*? With all these sudden social upheavals just when we thought we'd gotten everything straight, it was impossible to live through the 1950s without a sense of impending catastrophe bearing implacably down upon the whole country, the whole world. Some people thought it was war and others thought it was flying saucers, but these things weren't really what was bearing down upon us. What was bearing down upon us was the 1960s.

The '60s, along with the mini-skirt and the Beatles, brought one thing to the world that was significant above all others -- its name was Dr. Manhattan. The arrival of Dr. Manhattan would make the terms "masked hero" and "costumed adventurer" as obsolete as the persons they described. A new phrase had entered the American language, just as a new and almost terrifying concept had entered its consciousness. It was the dawn of the Super-Hero.

Manhattan's existence was announced to the world in the March of 1960, and I don't think there can have been anybody on the planet who didn't feel that same strange jumble of emotions when they heard the news. Foremost amongst this assortment of sensations was disbelief. The idea of a being who could walk through walls, move from one place to another without covering the intervening distance and re-arrange things completely with a single thought was flat-out impossible. On the other hand, the people presenting this news to us were our own government. The notion that they might simply have made it up was equally improbable, and in the face of this contradiction, it became gradually easier to accept the dream-like unreality of those first newsreel images: a blue man melting a tank with a wave of his hand; the fragments of a disassembled rifle floating there eerily in the air with nobody touching them. Once accepted as reality, however, such things became no easier to digest. If you accept that floating rifle parts are real you also have to somehow accept that everything you've ever known to be a fact is probably untrue. That peculiar unease is something that most of us have learned to live with over the years, but it's still there.

The other emotions that accompanied the announcement were perhaps harder to identify and pin down. There was a certain elation... it felt as if Santa Claus had suddenly turned out to be real after all. Coupled with and complementary to this was a terrible and uneven sense of fear and uncertainty. While this was hard to define precisely, if I had to boil it down into three words, those words would be, "We've been replaced." I'm not just talking about the non-powered costumed hero fraternity here, you understand, although Dr. Manhattan's appearance was certainly one of the factors that led to my own increased feelings of obsolescence and my eventual decision to quit the hero business altogether. You see, while masked vigilantes had certainly been made obsolete, so in a sense had every other living organism upon the planet. I don't think that society has fully realized yet exactly what Dr. Manhattan's arrival means; how much it's likely to change every detail of our lives.

Although Dr. Manhattan was the most prominent by far of the quote 'New Breed' unquote of costumed heroes, he wasn't quite the first nor by any means the last. In the closing months of 1958, the papers mentioned that a major opium and heroin smuggling racket had been busted by a.

Page 4.

young adventurer named Ozymandias, who seemed to have quickly gained a reputation amongst the criminal fraternity for his boundless and implacable intelligence, not to mention a large degree of athletic prowess.

I met both Dr. Manhattan and Ozymandias for the first time at a charity event in the June of 1960. Ozymandias seemed to be a nice young fellow, although I personally found Dr. Manhattan to be a little distant. Maybe that was more my fault than his, though, since I found it very difficult to feel easy around the guy, even once I'd got used to the shock of his physical presence. It's a strange feeling... the first time you meet him your brain wants to scream, blow a fuse and shut itself down immediately, refusing to accept that he exists. This lasts for a couple of minutes, at which time he's still there and hasn't gone away, and in the end you just accept him because he's standing there and talking to you and after a while it almost seems normal.

Almost.

Anyway, at that charity event... I think it was Red Cross relief for the ongoing famine in India... a lot of things became apparent to me. Looking around at the other adventurers there, I wasn't happy with what I saw. The Comedian was there, imposing his overbearing personality and his obnoxious cigar smoke upon anyone within reach. Mothman was there, a glass in one hand, slurring his words and letting his sentences trail off into incoherence. Captain Metropolis was there, his paunch starting to show despite a strict regimen of Canadian Air Force exercises. Finally, leaving the two younger heroes aside for a moment, there was me: Forty-six years old and starting to feel it, still trying to cut it in the company of guys who could level a mountain by snapping their fingers. I think it was when that moment of self insight hit me that I first decided to finally hang up my mask and get myself a proper job. I’d been about due to retire from the police force for some time, and I started wondering about what I wanted to do now that the thrill of adventure had finally started to pale. Looking back over my life, I tried to work out what I'd been doing during my existence's happier stretches, in order to form a basis for my future contentment.

After much deliberation, I concluded that I'd never been happier than when helping my dad beat some sense into an obstinate engine down at Moe Vernon's yard. After a life of crime-fighting, no notion seemed sweeter to me than that of spending my autumn years contentedly making dead vehicles run again in the confines of my own auto repair shop.

In the May of this year, 1962, that's exactly what I opted to do.

I retired. To mend cars. Probably for the rest of my life. As I see it, part of the art of being a hero is knowing when you don't need to be one anymore, realizing that the game has changed and that the stakes are different and that there isn't necessarily a place for you in this strange new pantheon of extraordinary people. The world has moved on, and I'm content to watch it from my armchair with a beer by my side and the smell of fresh oil on my fingers.

Part of my contentment comes from knowing that there have maybe been some overall consequence of my twenty-three years behind the mask. This knowledge came to me in the shape of a letter from a young man whose name I'm not at liberty to reveal. He told me of his great admiration for my efforts as Nite Owl and proposed that since I'd retired and would no longer be using the name, perhaps he could borrow it since he intended to follow my example and become a crime-fighter. I've visited his home since then and seen some of the fabulous technology he intends to bring to bear on the war against crime. I was certainly far too impressed to refuse him the use of what I'd always thought was a dumb name to begin with, so by the time this sees print there may well be a new Nite Owl patrolling the streets of New York. Also, Sally Jupiter tells me that as soon as little Laurie's old enough she wants to be a super-heroine just like her mom, so who knows? It seems as if from being a novelty nine-day wonder, the super-hero has become a part of American life. It's here to stay.

For better, or for worse.

The page opposite the last page from Mason's book is black. At the very bottom is half of a clock, with a red, white and black edge and Roman numerals. The time is 11:51. Blood has covered the top edge of the page, and it starts to slowly drip down over the expanse of black that separates it and the clock.