Watchmen: Chapter XI - page 9

PAGE 9

Panel 1: where Joey is seen from a similar angle.

Note that the time clock in the background reads roughly 11:20. 

Panel 2:  In the background, calling to Joey, we have the same serviceman who put in the new locks at Dan Dreiberg’s apartment earlier in the story.

Panel 3:  In the background we can see Dr. Long’s wife on the right and the younger Bernie, leaning against the car charger, on the left.

Panel 4:  It is ironic that Joey and Aline are fighting about their relationship as they approach the wife of Dr. Long, a man who might have been able to assist them.

Panel 7:  Notice that Dr. Long’s wife is speaking with Bernie, the newsvendor, in the background.  In a couple of pages we will see this same scene from across the street. 

It is ironic, but appropriate, that the book on relationships Aline offers to Joey is titled Knots, as Aline is a “Knot-top,” which is one of the things that has created the schism between these two.

Panels 8-9:  Joey’s admission here – particularly her frustration at never having made love to Aline, followed by her wish to be dead – is mirrored by the Black Freighter captions, where we know the horror the protagonist feels as he laments how he came to this place “…with love, only love, as [his] guide.”

The description of a “black ocean” in the Black Freighter caption transitions directly to