Pages 10 and 19

This is a seven-panel layout, with a large horizontal center panel interrupting the usual grid. The jump to page 11 is both textual and visual, with the debris on the table and in Rorschach's sink coinciding nicely with the line, "We're both leftovers." The match between pages 19 and 20 is textual, as Dan says "Hell and damnation," and the sailor/narrator begins: "Hades is wet. Hades is lonely." These pages contain the first images of actual mirrors that occur in this chapter, as well as some implied mirror reflections. Dan's and Laurie's poses mirror one another across these pages, especially in the fourth panels, where on page 10 Laurie gets up and walks away from Dan (10.4), with her back visible in the mirror behind him. On page 19, Dan is standing so that his reflection faces the reader (19.4), looking toward the mirror that Laurie faces.

In both cases Dan is looking at Laurie but she is not looking at him -- we are seeing the couple from two separate, composite perspectives. They are continually speaking through the mirror images, suggesting a lack of direct communication. Does she really see him? The corresponding empty space next to Dan in 19.7 suggests that she doesn't. The detective-story element in Watchmen comes into play here: Laurie, like the reader, fails to see what's right in front of her. Again, this is a main theme of the text. Be on the lookout, boys and girls.