Watchmen #4-9 (1986-1987)

Watchmen #4-9 [Grand Comics Database links: 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9; Comic Book Database: 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9]
(December 1986, January through May 1987)
DC Comics
(Version read: Watchmen trade paperback edition (1987) [LibraryThing] [Amazon])

Credits:
Writer: Alan Moore
Penciller: Dave Gibbons
Inker: Dave Gibbons

Series Notes: Numbers 4-9 of a 12 issue limited series. Each issue has a primary story (#4: "Watchmaker", #5: "Fearful Symmetry", #6: "The Abyss Gazes Also", #7: "A Brother to Dragons", #8: "Old Ghosts", #9: "The Darkness of Mere Being") and secondary back up text features (#4: a supposed article or book introduction addressing Dr. Manhattan's impact on political events; #5: a faux history of the comic book, Tales of the Black Freighter, seen in the Watchmen lead stories; #6: Rorschach's police report; #7: an article supposedly written by Dan Dreiberg (Nite Owl 2) for an ornithological society journal; #8: an editorial in the right wing New Frontiersman newspaper; #9: Sally Jupiter's (Silk Spectre 1) scrapbook).

Comments: Series continues to grow more interesting as I make my way through the middle chapters. Chapter (and issue number) four gives us an indepth look at the origin and background of Dr. Manhattan. Chapter five continues the present day plot lines forward, including an attack on Ozymandias, Dan Dreiberg (Nite Owl 2) and Laurie Juspeczyk (Silk Spectre 2) getting together, and Rorschach being ambushed and captured by the police. Chapter six is all about Rorschach and his background while Rorschach is in prison. Chapter seven (one of my favorites so far) focuses entirely on Dan and Laurie and their growing relationship. Chapter eight gives us Dan and Laurie (as Nite Owl and Silk Spectre) leading a jail break to spring Rorschach from prison. It also features the apparent death of one of the older generation former masked heroes. And chapter nine reunites Laurie and Dr. Manhattan on the surface of Mars where Dr. Manhattan has been since issue number four. Particularly memorable is the moment he transports her there with his powers. She immediately begins to asphyxiate as he has forgotten that she will not be able to breath (and he apparently does not need to breath, himself). After a moment of her falling down an inbankment and flailing around, he says, "Oh. Of course. Please forgive me..." and creates an aura of oxygen around her. Laurie spends the issue imploring Dr. Manhattan to intercede into the growing threat of nuclear war back on Earth, but he remains largely unmoved by her pleas. In the meantime, we learn more about Laurie's background via flashbacks.

That brings me where I last left off. Three more issues/chapters to go. (Dang, I just looked ahead a bit to see when we'll see Dr. Manhattan again and I think I accidentally caught a glimpse of them figuring out who the one killing masked heroes is. I hate it when I do that. Oh, well, I hope to finish with Watchmen in the next day or two so that I can catch the movie version while it's still in theaters.