On my first reading of Watchmen, I expected the text
pieces in the back of each issue would all be excerpted chapters from Hollis
Mason’s autobiography Under the Hood, as each of the first three
chapters included these excerpts. I
found it interesting – delving into Mason’s psyche to see what prompted him to
become a costumed adventurer humanized him in a way that could not be fully
realized in the main comic. And, by way
of Mason’s inside knowledge, I also got to know the other members of his
“spandex set.” Of course, once I read
chapter four, it was evident Moore planned on utilizing a variety of “resources”
from the world of Watchmen to fully flesh out these characters.
Much of the text in Under the Hood only tangentially
relates to the main narrative, as it mostly deals with Hollis Mason’s personal
history. But Moore also peppers these
excerpts with little details that flesh out the world of Watchmen,
providing insights into this alternate reality not as easily conveyed through
the comic narrative. The biggest hurdle comic
books have as a storytelling medium is the lack of space within the
format. Moore’s use of prose at the end
of each chapter was an elegant solution to this disadvantage.
One interesting detail gleaned from Mason’s autobiography
was the fact that comic books began in exactly the same manner as they did in
our “real world.” Hollis Mason, during
his time as a beat cop, discovered Action Comics #1 and the Superman
story therein, when he saw the kids on his beat reading it. Mason asked one boy if he could read his copy
– ostensibly to forge bonds with those he was sworn to protect – and was
immediately captivated by the costumed hero from Krypton. Like the pulps he’d enjoyed when younger,
this new adventurer spurred Mason’s imagination and inspired his own later
costumed exploits.
It was no coincidence that in the world of Watchmen,
“real superheroes” came to the fore in 1939, just as their four-color analogues
in our world were exploding in the public mindset. But with real superheroes like Hooded Justice
and Nite Owl and Silk Spectre, the allure of superhero comics quickly
faded. With the real thing who needed a second-rate, static version printed on
cheap newsprint? This was the first of many differences between the world
of Watchmen and our own, a difference that also accounted for the
popularity of pirate comics in this alternate reality.
Moore knows his comics history, which probably explains why
he chose to have superheroes arrive in the world of Watchmen at the same
time as their rise as comic book characters in our own world – along with the
obvious narrative uses an older generation of heroes could provide his
story. Similar to this costumed
adventurer fad in the 1939 of Watchmen, the era of this golden age of
heroes spanned roughly the same decade that the golden age of superhero comic
books did in our own. The popularity of
costumed adventurers burned hotly during the early part of the 1940s, but with
the successful conclusion of World War II, that popularity waned. In 1949, the Minute Men disbanded and things
became quiet on the costumed adventurer front, coinciding roughly with the
decline of the golden age of superhero comics.
But the Silver Age was just around the corner, as, in the back-matter
for Chapter IV, Dr. Manhattan was
introduced to an unsuspecting world in March, 1960 (which falls somewhere in
between the birth of the Silver Age of superhero comics – with 1956’s Showcase
#4 introducing the new Flash – and that of the Marvel Age of comics – in late
1961 with the publication of Fantastic Four #1).
Perhaps the most interesting detail in the back-matter for
these first four chapters can be found at the end of Chapter III (in Chapter V of Under the Hood), when Hollis
discussed Hooded Justice and his exit from adventuring. Hooded Justice was the first superhero, and
when the Minute Men disbanded, he was the one who disappeared like a wisp of
smoke. Even his fellow adventurers did
not know his true identity. But the New Frontiersman wrote an article
linking the disappearance of circus strong man Rolf Müller with that of Hooded
Justice – both figures vanished shortly after the hearings before the House UnAmerican
Activities Committee (HUAC). This was
followed, three months later, by the discovery of a decomposed body that washed
ashore near Boston and was believed to be Müller.
This might seem like some innocuous, titillating conjecture,
but when the connections are made with scenes from Chapter II, page 7 and Chapter
XI, page 18, the truth falls into place.
The first scene takes place just after the Comedian’s rape of Silk Spectre. Hooded Justice comes in on them and physically
beats the Comedian, who threatens Hooded Justice, telling him “…I got your
number, see? And one of these days, the
joke’s gonna be on you.” In the latter
scene, Ozymandias is recounting his formative years as a costumed
adventurer. Early on, he decided to
research his masked predecessors and investigated the disappearance of Hooded
Justice. This investigation led him to
the government operative responsible for the initial investigation after the
HUAC hearings, one Edward Blake, the Comedian.
Blake reported he was unable to find Hooded Justice and the case was
closed. Ozymandias contemplates the
possibility that Blake may have found Hooded Justice and killed him, reporting
his failure so that it would not be pursued further. Add this to the speculation that Hooded
Justice was Rolf Müller, and we realize that Ozymandias’s conjecture is
correct.
I know there are some who refuse to read the text pieces at
the end of each chapter of Watchmen.
That is certainly their right, and the main story can be enjoyed without
them. But those who don’t include the
back-matter as part of their reading are missing out on a lot of details that
enrich and expand the main narrative in so many ways. Moore infused this book with seemingly
insignificant pieces of information that, when formed into a whole – like the
bits regarding Hooded Justice’s exit from adventuring and the subsequent
discovery of the decomposed body of Rolf Müller – provide a fuller, richer, and
more satisfying experience. That, above
almost everything else, is what sets Watchmen apart from so many other
comic stories.
-chris
