The Watchmen

There is the story of Watchmen and then there is the characters which are the true core of the story. Each character is different in his or her own way and quite original in background and special ability. Let's take the top of the picture above which would be the big blue man Dr. Jon Osterman Ph. D or a.k.a "Dr. Manhattan". Dr. Manhattan preferably called is a current employee of the United States government and also free-lance employee of the military also. Dr. Manhattan was not always so blue and radioactive he was quite normal but during the year of 1958 when Jon Osterman was employeed as a new employee in a physics lab he encountered a freak accident. Grabbing a watch he left in the nuclear chamber and by misfortune the doors slammed shut and couldn't be opened as a safety feature and Jon Osterman's molecules were ripped apart and transfixed into a walking radioactive A-Bomb! Jon still remains a active government employee and currently resides at Rockefeller Research Military Installation, New York, New York, USA.

Next from the picture going right from Dr. Manhattan is another super-hero called the Nite-Owl II. to be specific. A.K.A. Daniel Dreisburg a former costume vigilante now retired after the Keene Bill was passed into effect forcing all superheros to disband except for a few. Nite-Owl like all the other Watchmen except for Dr. M is human as well and does not posses beyond human powers. Nite-Owl is very skilled in hand-to-hand combat and street-level fighting for which is well know by others. Nite-Owl is also a educated man who attended to Harvard Engineering school and majored in zoology and engineering. Daniel Dreisburg laid down his arms as a vigilante after the Keene Bill passed into effect outlawing them and layed low. Nite-Owl also had the skill to build the Owl Ship which is basically a completely circular jet/helicopter in one vessel. Which was often used during the Watchmen years for transportation purposes for the costumed hero's and as a shelter or bunker. The ship is 100% bullet-proof and fire-proof and is near impossible to penetrate, it is also all round for the purpose of not being able to be detected on radar. Nite-Owl has also been known for his romantic retreats with the dazzling Silk Spectre in the Owl Ship.

Next down on the list is the only female Watchmen is the heart breaker and crime fighter is Silk Spectre or Laurie Jupiter taking after her moms footsteps as a crime fighter.

She was also briefly associated with the group known as the Crime-Busters which was a prelude to Watchmen. She is still unofficially on the government payroll and lives in the private sector of Rockefeller Research Military Installation and has a romantic involvement with Jon Osterman or Dr. Manhattan. Laurie is a very skilled, independent girl and has proofed herself a good street fighter being able to take on multiple criminals at a time with little help! She is also intimately involved in past with both Dr. M and Nite-Owl and she is currently in hiding with Nite-Owl most likely on the Western Seaboard.

Next we have the story's leading protagonist and character known as Rorschach or known as Walter Kovacs. Rorschach is a detective and a superhero in one , he is also very skilled in martial arts, particularly Kenpo for which he has a black belt. In 1997 when the Keene Bill was passed outlawing the group Rorschach refused to lay down his arms and responding by killing a multiple rapists and leaving him in front of a police station reading a sign saying: "Never". Walter Kovacs had a very disturbed childhood growing up without a father and mother earning money by being the neighborhood prostitute. He is also an incredibly strong man with extremely quick reflexes and knowledgeable of using house-hold items as weapons. Rorschach has been revered by many citizens as a sociopath and senseless killing vigilante who shows no mercy for the cities worst criminals.

Our next super-hero slash mercenary is Edward Morgan Blake a.k.a. The Comedian who was a active ggovernment operative and soldier of fortune or mercenary. Blake was the oldest of the Watchmen with the most vigilante experience going back to the '40's when there was another superheros group known as the Minuteman. Though Edward was quickly thrown out of the organization when he was caught trying to rape a fellow Minutemen known as Silk Spectre I. Laurie's mother. Comedian remained on the years as a liaison to the US military during the Vietnam War as a soldier of fortune, spy, assassin and operative for which earned him to stay on the government payroll as a law sanctioned superhero after the Keene Law.

Our last superhero on the list is the awesome and very wealthy Adrian Veidt a.k.a. Ozymandias. Now turned industrialist and entrepreneurial marketing genius. Mr. Veidt is also called "the world's smartest man" which isn't known for sure but he sure seems he would be. Adrian Veidt was an original Watchmen but went solo two years before the Keene Act went into law. Making his alter ego public and true identity known for the world and putting fourth a marketing empire of his alter ego making posters, cologne, sneakers, action figures, and dieting books known as Vedit Enterprises. Mr. Veidt has demonstrated himself as a generous and philanthropic man giving billions in charities and good causes. In his personal life he is a vegetarian and a pacifist. He has religious practices such as a practicing Buddhists.

Who Watches the Watchmen?

Who watches the Watchmen? In the critical acclaimed graphic-novel The Watchmen ordinary citizens who live within the book ask this question: Who watches the Watchmen? This cannot never be known for certain but what can be known for certain is the history behind Watchmen and how this comic book became the greatest graphic novel of all time. Over twenty years ago writer Alan Moore and artist Dave Gibbons came together to ally in creating a very above average graphic novel. Since it's realease in 1987 Watchmen has been the only comic book to be awarded the Hugo Award for literature and featured in Time Magazine as one of the 100 greatest English of the 21 century.

The story line of Watchmen takes place in 1985 New York City during the high escalation and threat of nuclear war with the former Soviet Union. A group of super heros known as the Watchmen guard and protect the city as vigilantes against domestic and foreign threats. After a certain amount though the citizens of New York come to hate and distrust this group of vigilantes and want the police not the Watchmen to protect them. Espicially after a very sensitive article implements one of the super heros as a rapist and women hater. Following it in '78 a Senator Keene submits a bill which is passed into law called The Keene act forces all superheros put down their arms and retire from crime fighting. Only two remain on as government operatives while the rest retire or disband.

Years later after the Watchmen go their seperate ways one of them known as Rorscharch still continues his vigilante duties investigating a murder of one the Watchmen known as The Comedian who is still a government employee. Following the Comedian's death Rorscharch probe's his homicide further to find a much more massie plot involving the Watchmen group and the fate of planet Earth. Along the story line many things have changed in the American time frame. For instance ever since the transformation of Watchmen Jon Osterman into Dr. Manhattan because of a nuclear "freak accident" and the creation of his god like abilities America was able to win the Vietnam War. Generating awesome public relation from the victory Richard Nixon was able to ascend into a third term while maneuvering the Watergate incident.