Watchmen: Chapter IV - page 4

PAGE 4

Panel 1:  Professor Glass represents the “old” with his white hair, his bowtie, and the slide rule in his pocket, while Jon will become something completely new as Dr. Manhattan – something undreamt of.

This is also the first appearance of Wally Weaver, alluded to by Doug Roth of Nova Express in the previous chapter as having been Dr. Manhattan’s “sidekick” who died of cancer.

Panel 3:  The exchange between Wally and Jon here is a classic example of irony.  Wally:  “. . . even [Albert Einstein] couldn’t figure women!”  This is also emblematic of Jon’s failed intimacies, especially after his transformation into Dr. Manhattan.  Jon:  “Well, I guess he’s just human, like everybody else.”  This is a statement from somebody who will soon no longer be human.

Panel 5:  This image of Jon looking through the glass will be mirrored later in this issue, and will also be mirrored in chapter XI when we will see Ozymandias doing something similar.