Who reads the watchman, part II

When the Watchmen came out in 1985, it was a monthly twelve issues. I would re-read each issue almost daily waiting for the next issue. In many ways, i believe that was the proper way to fully appreciate the book, rather than speeding through the whole thing at once. My only point is that I strongly recommend that you spend some time studying each page, and each chapter -- because there are amazing treasures to find. I have read this literally hundreds of times -- and I just reread it and spotted little pieces, transitions, subtle touches that I have missed every other time. That's how this book/series works. So Don't rush it -- take your time and read it with a close eye.

Like these panels for example. One is from the pirate comic, the next one is one of Rorschach. So the first thing we notice is that neither panel is isolated from the other in that the newstand operator's word balloon is in the pirate panel, and the pirate comic caption drifts over to the "real world" panel. Both captions/word balloons comment on both stories simultaneously. But then notice how there's a visual continuance also between the two panels with the horizontal raft and arm and the vertical mast and sign handle. The fact that the sign handle is farther to the right in its respective panel creates the illusion of movement for Rorschach when juxtaposed with the first panel as the mast (morphed into sign handle) progresses from the middle to the right. This even sets up a recurring thought of Rorschach as the approaching unyielding primeval shark -- Rawshark, in fact.

So please take a page or two and just study it closely -- look for the connections, the style, the absolute brilliance. Don't just read it for the content; it deserves More.