Pages 11 and 18

These pages also use the nine-panel grid. This section brings up Rorschach's journal and concentrates visually on hands and first-person perceptions of Rorschach, especially his face ("Nobody knows who I am"; "My face"). Notable themes include the Hiroshima lovers (both in the spray-painting and the attempted assault) and crowds. The Gunga Diner airship floats by in on page 18, and Rorschach makes a Rorschach blot out of the diner menu on on page 11. In 18.6 the model in the poster pulls up her stocking (background) while Rorschach pulls down his glove. 11.9 shows Rorschach's hands and the folded paper, with a caption reading: "New York opened its heart to me." 12.1 shows the folded paper and a word balloon saying: "this whole bloody mess gives me a funny feeling inside." Heart, insides, bloody mess... creepy, huh? The transition from pages 18 to 19 is established by Rorschach's rolled-up scarf and the line, "Sometimes the night is generous to me," set against the scarf that trails out of Laurie's suitcase as she says, "You really don't know how grateful I am." Generosity and gratitude: more symmetry.

11.1 may be the most symbol-laden panel in the chapter: it includes Rorschach's hands, the watch, the watch hands, the watch face -- all of which seem to collect into a complex of ideas and associations that are crucial signatures of Watchmen as a whole. Moore and Gibbons turn each word or image repeatedly, milking it for all the meanings they can. These pages also illustrate Rorschach's outsider status. The weird, distracted, hands-only view conveys his alienation from the rest of humanity. Finally, in terms of the panels they occupy, this is the closest any of the heroes (but one) come to the center of the book. Rorschach and his journal are getting close indeed to the heart of things.