Contributed Notes for Chapter XIIBook XII: Throughout the series, every time we see Rorschach, his face is changing -- no panel ever duplicates another. Until we get to the scene where Adrian explains his triumph. There is a 3 panel segment where the heroes are realizing exactly the position they are in, and are compromising their ideals. Rorscach is unchanging throughout -- "Never compromise."
Greg Bole XII.1.1 Pale Horse -- a reference to Death riding a pale horse from the Bible [Book of Revelations]. Krystalnacht -- a reference to the Nazi Holocaust (both names first seen I.24.1). In 1939 it was "the night of broken crystal, when there was a sweep of the state-empowered police and young Nazis through the Jewish sections of the German cities, when every pane of glass that was in any way related to the Jewish culture -- be it the window of a store, a synagogue, or a private home -- was shattered. 'If we rid ourselves of the scum known as Jews,' the authorities said, 'We will have solved the social problems of the nation.'" (From E for Ecstasy by Nicholas Saunders). The name of that band might remind us of neo-Nazism, right-wing "skinheads," and other hints of fascist revival in the pop culture of the eighties. Or so I think. -- sam
Joshua Merrill XII.1 Look at the bloodstain above the Pale Horse poster. Just like the one on the smiley face, isn't it? XII.10.9 Two more riders are approaching.
Matt Rhodes XII.24.5 Check out the shape of the blood-stain that is left when Rorshach is disintegrated by Jon Osterman. Is it me, or does that look an awfl'y lot like the 'blobs' that keep reappearing (on Mars, on Veidt's snowdome, on the Comedian's smiley-face, etc.)?
Eric Weidhorn XII.27.1 ...Ozymandias is sitting in a meditative fashion as he expounds: "Jon... I KNOW people think me callous, but I've made myself FEEL every DEATH. By day I imagine endless FACES. By night... Well, I DREAM, [sic] about swimming towards a hideous... no. Never mind. It isn't SIGNIFICANT..." This obviously refers to the "play within the play" [or comic-within-the-comic] and shows Ozymandias to be doomed to an eternity aboard the Black Freighter. Juxtapose this dream with the fate of the "Marooned" guy.
James Harvey XII.6.1 We see the big vagina-mouthed alien bursting through the institute--on the sign for the institute, most of the letters are broken off, or covered over with slime so now the sign reads "OR AL DIE." The ripped off floating newspaper looks a bit like an L, so it actually reads "Or all die." So Alan Moore is saying, this monster has to appear in New York, and kill all these people, and fool people into thinking they are under attack from another dimension: "Or all die." Stephen BrogeeApril 28, 1998 XII.2 I thought you might be interested in this: In issue 12, page 2 a sign say "November 2nd, Pale Horse in concert with Krystalnacht" Krystalnacht is German and it translates to "the Night of Breaking Glass." This term was used to describe an anti-Jew riot prior to World War II. It's an appropriate term because quite a few windows have been broken.
Daniel Baumann XII.31.5 The Graffiti has changed from 'Who watches the Watchmen' to 'Watch the skies' with obvious implications. The implications are even more obvious if you recall the 1951 film The Thing from Another World, in which a form of alien life threatens to wipe out human civilization. Though the aliens are defeated, the movie ends with typical fifties paranoia. In voice-over, the hero says, "Watch the skies. Keep watching the skies." For flying saucers, Russian bombers, whatever. -- sam
Adam Noble XII.22.3 I found Laurie's line very stirring. Sometimes grim things have to happen in life to make you realize the vast beauty behind it all, even life's trivialities.
JM XII.19.7-20 Veidt, with his arms outstretched, and blood pouring from his hands, looks very much like a Christ figure. The saviour?
Joe Gallagher XII.6.1 I believe there's a hidden smiley face. Look at the electric hydrant - the plug forms two eyes, the lower curve forms the smile, and there's a familiar bloodstain across the yellow plug. (It may be in one of the other "Ground Zero" panels.)
Joe Gallagher XII.24.4 After Rorschach gets vaporized, the black stain he leaves looks a LOT like the same familiar bloodstain on all the smileys.
Erik Gustafsson XII.27.6 Have you noticed the scene at the end where Dr. Manhattan talks with Veidt while standing in Veidt's planetarium? (I don't know if that's the right word for it) When he takes the "Manhattan transfer" out of there, he leaves a cloud in the glass bowl -- a cloud with an uncanny reference to one left by an atomic bomb. Will the world be destroyed in a nuclear holocaust anyway? |