Watchmen Chapter IV - pages 26-27

PAGES 26-27

Panels 4-5 (p.26) to 1-3(p.27):    This is another example of the thought Moore & Gibbons put into the creation and the storytelling of Watchmen.  By utilizing a static image of Dr. Manhattan floating over the Martian landscape, these two artists allow the fortress Dr. Manhattan creates to grow up out of the sand, imbuing the imagery with motion, a difficult accomplishment with a static image on a two-dimensional space such as a comic page.

It is also noteworthy that much of the construction of this fortress consists of what appear to be giant cogs, hourglasses, and arrows (as might be found on a sundial), all aspects symbolically linked to Dr. Manhattan as a “watchmaker.”