WATCHMEN 4

Published monthly and

copyright © 1986 DC Comics Inc.

666 Fifth Ave, New York, NY 10103

All Rights Reserved.

The stories, characters and incidents

mentioned in this publication

are entirely fictional.

All characters featured in this

publication and the distinctive

likenesses thereof are

trademarks of DC Comics Inc.

Printed in Canada.

DC Comics Inc.

A Warner Communications Company.

TWO wouee INTO IWY FUTURE,
r OBSERVE meteorites FROM
SU>5S BAUCONV, THIN KINS
ABOUT ^AY FATHER

TWELVE 6EOOND& INTO AAY

OPEN MY FIN6ERS.
PAST, I
THE PH0T06RAPH IS FALLIN6.

MV father admired the

SKY FOR ITS PRECISION •

HE REPAIRED WATCHES.

ZZEDISn
SEATS HSLt,
OUTTA ME,
BCJT I'M
OMTV AM
A6SISTAMT,,
6ME 8UV5 ME A BEER /THE
FIRST TIME AWOMAN HA^
EVER DONE THI$ FOR ME.

AS SHE PASSES ME THE

COLO, PER6P1RIN6
OUR FIN6ERS TOUCH
 TULV, iqsq .I'AA KETUPNINS
IT'S
TONEW JERSEY ON VACATION,
VI5ITIN6 OLD UNIVERSITY
FRIENDS.

JANEY SHARES THE TRIP

FROAA ARIZONA. HER MOTHER
LIVES IN TERSEY.

HE 6IVE6 US AN ADDRESS
WHERE WE CAN PICR UP
75-CENT PRINTS, AND WE
WALR OPF TOWARDS THE
TILT-A-WHIRL, LAUSHIN6
AT HIS MISTAKE.
 HE EXPLAINS THAT TWE
TME ACaOBt^T DOOR HAS LOCKED AUTO-
ALMOST UPON matioally while the
ME MOW. semerators warm up
FOR THIS AFTERMOON'S
expeniMeHT- removing the
INTRINSIC. P/eUD PROM
concrete slock FIFTEBU-

v I ASKhimwhat
HAPPENED TO THE
OTHER POUPTeeN..
\
TMe POOR SUAAAS gEMINP
HER X LOOK AT DR. t&LASS
.

SUT we LOPIcrs AWAV. I CAW

li i&OOD AS NEW. AUL TWE ATOMS IN THE
TEST CHAMBER ARE
HEARTWe ^WIELDS StlDINS SCREAMIN6 at ONCE
BAC< FROM TWe PAgTICUE TWE AIR SBPIA/S TOO
CANNOf^S WARM, TOO QUICRLV.
X WANT VERV MUCH
Tweee's
&0l^eTHIH6
IN M'/
poc<er. X
TARE IT
OUT TO
erAM(N£„
 SEPTEMBER. P' TOKEN
IT'g>
funeral service is
BEIN& HELD. THERE'S r SAW
MOTHHNS to 6UR.Y. DID YOU A PICTUR&
READ about XE5US H-
THIS COMMUNIST CHRIST,
6UV WHO'S WHAT'S
(T'S OOTOgER. XANEY PLACES RUNNINS CU&A ? > WRONS
OUR XERSEY snapshot THIS CfiiS'TRO ? WITH SUVS
BEHIND SLASS IN THE THESE DAYS?
BESTIARY. IT'S THE ONLY THAT
PHOTO&RAPH OF ME
ANYONE HAS.
 I LIKE IT VERY
MUCH. ITS ATOMIC
sTKUcruee is a
PECFECTSie^P/ LIKE
A CHBCKBe-
SOABP. |T'5,„

TAMEY?
WHAT'S UP?
ABEVOUCOLP?
CAN RAISE THE
TEMPBRATURe
 .

NOW O'UNB, A
IT'S
CWAEITV EV/EMT WITM
eeVEBAL CO&TUAAeO
adventubees attendins
...FEIEMDLV AAIDDUE-
A6ES MEN WWO LIEE
TO DRESS UP- I
HAVE NOTHIIN6 IN
COMMON WITH THEM

ONLY the VOUM6EST,

CALLED OZYMAND/AB,
SEEMS INTEBESTINS.;

IT'S NOVEMBER THE

.

NEWSPAPERS CALL ME
A CBIMERSHTER SO
,

THE PENTAGON SAYS I

MUST PISHTCeiME.
IN MOLOCH'S UNDER-
SKOUND VICE-DEN,
THE SISHS TURN TO
SCREAMS OF TERROR.

THE MORALITY OF
MV ACTIVITIES
ESCAPES ME .
 SEE THie> ?
A MASKED MAN
IN MAV,iqfeZ, ALM0STMAKE6
RETIRES TO OPEN AN AOTO ME SOSQy r'M
BUSINESS. HIS REAL NAME IS
HOLUS MASON. WE ARE
TALKING AFTER A CIVIC
BANQUET IN HIS HONOR.
 . .

IN iq6q,X'iV\K5CEIV(N6 MEWS (S/AA AZATS

CLOSES DOWN
OF MY FATHEB's DEATH .
IN IR70. ON
LAURIE'S
TWENTIETH glRTHOAV^
we MOVE INTO OUR MEW
IN iqsq , HE'S OPEMINS A WASHIM6T0N APARTMENT. 7
TELESRAM FROM THE \.

MILITARY IMFOBMIMS
HIM OF HIS SDN'S - X'Ve {2EVE/3UED /VV TRUE
ACCIPENTAU PISINTE6KA- N.AME TD THE PUSUC .

TIOM. I NEVER COERECT - /\FTER P4TH£R'5 DEATH,

THEIR MISTAKE.
—
THECe ^EEA/\e LlTTt-E POINT
IN C0NCEAUN6* IT.
2

IT'S MARCH. X'M in

SAISDN, 6EIN&
reintroduced to
EDWARD BLARE, THE
comedian HE WORKS .

MOSTLY FOR THE

sovernment now.
I SUPPOSE I
DO TOO ,

BLAKE IS INTERESTINS
I have never met
ANYOME SO
deliberately amoral.

HE SUITS THE AS X COME TO

CLIMATE HERE UNDERSTAND VIETNAM
THE MADNESS, AND WHAT IT IMPLIES
THE POINTLESS ABOUT THEHUMAN
BUTCHERY,,, CONDITION, I ALSO
REALIZE THAT FEW
HUMANS WILL PERMIT
themselves such
AN UNDERSTANPINC.

Air

AND HE
Wi
’

j
ooBBt^'r cAee
IT'S IP75. THE PAPERS ARE
FULU OF THE PRESIDENT'S
PROPOSED CONSrnUTiOfJAL
AtAENDMeNT, ALLOWING.
HIWTO RUN NEKTYEAR
FDR A THIRD TERM.

AMIPST ALL THIS, THE

ommasrins and retire-
ment OF OZVMAl^DIA^
SOE5 Almost unnoticed.

U£ I
SMART
QUITS WDRLl
MAN II

GOES
PUBLI
 7TWT
AU6UST 3RD, 1^77: VI&ILANTI5M NOW
THE EMEC6ENCY tLLB^AL. A0A\f< A€?
,

BILL PROPOeeD (TW/^6» &EPO)RE1Hey

By SSNATOR ALTEPEP THE LAWS
<eehJB HAS SEEN TO accommodate
PAS SEP. ^TRATeOlCALLY
USEFUL TAUENTE
6-UCW AE MYSELF.
 * .-S. W -i*

we IQ61 MOW- LAUR\B AMD BUT THIS IS ILLUSION.

,,,
XARB eBTTUNG (MTO OUR THIN6S have their
MeWQUARTEP-^ AT THB SHAPE IN TIME NOT SPACE
CDCKEPELLEC MILITARY ALONE. SOME AAARBLE
,

RBeBARCiA CENref? IM BLOCKS HAVE STATUES

WITHIN THEM embedded

A
,

IN THEIR FUTURE.

IN IPSq,A CMILD IS WEEP/N6

roe ITS L-OST SAULOONS.

ir'5 AU6UST, iae>5. t'm ON THE COVEf? thebe IS

WALeiM6 THBOU6H iSRANP A DAMASEP POCKET-
CENTBAL STATION WITH WATCH STOPPED AT THE
,
UAUeiE WE STOP AT THE
. INSTANT OF THE SLAST,
NEWSSTAND AMD BUV A FACE CRACKED.,,
COPY OF TIME MASA-ZINE,
COMM EMDCAT/NS
HIROSf^lAAA WEEK. .
6/^TURMV the iqjH NOW- MV
HANDS ENClKCUE LAURIE'S
FACE.,,
The release

of atom power

has changed

everything

except our way

of thinking...

The solution

to this problem

lies in the heart

of mankind.

If only I hod
 MANHAHAN:
DR.
SUPERPOWERS
AND THE
SUPERPOWERS

BY PROFESSOR MILTON GLASS

I

Introduction

For those of us who delight in such things, the twentieth century

has, in its unfolding, presented mankind with an array of behavioral

paradoxes and moral conundrums hitherto unimagined and perhaps

unimaginable. Science, traditional enemy of mysticism and religion,
has taken on a growing imderstanding that the model of the universe
suggested by quantum physics differs very little from the universe that
Taoists and other mystics have existed in for centiuies. Large numbers
of young people, raised in rigidly structmred and industrially oriented
cultures, violently reject industrialism and seek instead some modified
version of the agricultural lifestyle that their forebears (debatably)
enjoyed, including extended communal families and in some instances
a barter economy in miniatiue. Children starve while boots costing
many thousands of dollars leave their mark upon the surface of the
moon. We have labored long to build a heaven, only to find it popu-
lated with horrors.
It is the oldest ironies that are stiU the most satisfying: man, when
preparing for bloody war, will orate loudly and most eloquently in the
name of peace. This dichotomy is not an invention of the twentieth
centxuy, yet it is in this century that the most striking examples of the
phenomena have appeared. Never before has man pursued global
harmony more vocally while amassing stockpiles of weapons so devas-
tating in their effect. The second world war— we were told— was The
War To End Wars. The development of the atomic bomb is the Weapon
To End Wars.
And yet wars continue. Cmrently, no nation on this planet is not
involved in some form of armed struggle, if not against its neighbors
then against internal forces. Furthermore, as ever-escalating amounts
of money are poured into the pursuit of the specific weapon or conflict
that will bring lasting peace, the drainon our economies creates a run-
down urban landscape where crime flourishes and people are con-
cerned less with national security than with the simple personal
security needed to stop at the store late at night for a quart of milk with-
out being mugged. The places we struggled so viciously to keep safe
are becoming increasingly dangerous. The wars to end wars, the weap-
ons to end wars, these things have failed us.
Now we have a man to end wars.
my association with Dr. Jonathan Osterman and the being he
Since
eventuallybecame are well documented elsewhere, I feel 1 need only
recap them briefly here. In 1959, in an accident that was certainly
unplanned and just as certainly unrepeatable, a young American man
was completely disintegrated, at least in a physical sense. Despite the
absence of a body, a form of electromagnetic pattern resembling con-
sciousness survived, and was able, in time, to rebuild an approxima-
tion of the body it had lost.

DR. MANHATTAN:
 II

Perhaps in the process of reconstructing its corporeal form, this new

and wholly original entity achieved a complete mastery of all matter;
able to shape reality by the manipulation of its basic building blocks.
When news of this being's phenomenal genesis was first released to the
world, a certain phrase was used that has— at varying times— been
attributed both to me and to others. On the newsflashes coming over
our tvs on that fateful night, one sentence was repeated over and over
again: 'The superman exists and he's American.'
I never said that, although I do recall saying something similar to a

persistent reporter who would not leave without a quote. I presume the
remark was edited or toned down so as not to offend public sensibili-
ties; in any event, I never said 'The superman exists and he's Ameri-

can'. What I said was 'God exists and he's American'. If that statement
starts to chill you after a couple of moments' consideration, then don't
be alarmed. A feeling of intense and crushing religious terror at the
concept indicates only that you are still sane.
Since the mid-1960s, when the dazed and numbed mass conscious-
ness first began to comprehend the significance of this new life form in
humanity's midst, the political balance has changed drastically. Many
people in this country feel that this is for the best. America's unques-
tioned military supremacy has also provided us with a certain eco-
nomic leverage where we can dictate the economic policies of the
western world and direct them to our advantage. There is little wonder,
then, that the idea of a world run by an omnipotent God-King owing
allegiance to the United States seems eminently desirable. By placing
our superhuman benefactor in the position of a walking nuclear deter-
rent, it is assumed we have finally guaranteed lasting peace on earth. It

is with this last contention that my most serious point of issue lies: I do

not believe that we have a man to end wars.

I believe that we have made a man to end worlds.

The assumption that America's opponents are powerless before Dr.

Manhattan, while comforting, begins to fail before closer examination.
As I understand current Pentagon thinking, the conventional wisdom
suggests that when faced with an insoluble problem, the Soviet Union
will have no other option than acceptance of a loss of world influence
culminating in its eventual defeat. It has been demonstrated, at least in
well-supported theoretical terms, that Dr. Manhattan could at any time
destroy large areas of Soviet territory instantly. It has been similarly
theoretically demonstrated that, were a full scale nuclear assault to be
launched upon America from Soviet bases in the U.S.S.R. and Europe,
Dr. Manhattan would be able to deflect or disarm at least sixty per-
cent of all incoming missiles before they had reached their targets.
Against odds like that, it is argued, Russia would never risk instigating
a full-scale global conflict. Since it is not in America's interests to pro-
mote such a conflict, does that mean that global peace is once and
finally assured? No. It does not.
For one thing, it is an assumption based upon the belief that Ameri-
can psychology and its Soviet counterpart are interchangeable. To
understand the Russian attitude to the possibility of a third world war
one must firstunderstand their attitude to the second. In WWII, none
of the allied powers fought so bitterly or sustained such losses as did
the Russians. It was Hitler's lack of success in his assault upon the

SUPER-POWERS AND THE SUPERPOWERS

Ill

Soviet heartland that assxured his eventual defeat, and though it was
paid for mostly by Soviet lives, the entire world reaped the benefits. In
time, the Russian contribution to the war effort has been downplayed
and dismissed— most noticeably as our political differences became
wider— as we glorified our own contribution while forgetting that of
our estranged former allies. The Russians, however, have not forgotten.
There are still those who remember the horror of a war fought on their
soil, and almost certainly there are members of the Politburo in that

category. From my reading of various pronouncements made by the

Russian high command over the years, I am convinced that they will
never again permit their nation to be threatened in a similar manner, no
matter what the cost.
The presence of a deterrent such as Dr. Manhattan has doubtless
curbed Soviet adventurism, as there have been numerous occasions
when the U.S.S.R. has had to step down over some issue rather than
risk escalation into a war it certainly could not win. Often, these rever-
sals have been humiliating, and this has perhaps fostered the illusion
that the Soviets will suffer such indignities endlessly. This is a miscon-
ception, for there is indeed another option available.
That option is Mutually Assured Destruction. Stated simply. Dr.
Manhattan cannot stop all the Soviet warheads from reaching Ameri-
can soil, even a greatly reduced percentage would stiU be more than
enough to effectively end the organic life in the northern hemisphere.
The suggestion that the presence of a superhuman has inclined the
world more towards peace is refudiated by the sharp increase in both
Russian and American nuclear stockpiles since the advent of Dr. Man-
hattan. Infinite destruction divided by two or ten or twenty is still infi-
nite destruction. If threatened with eventual domination, would the
Soviets pursue this unquestionably suicidal course? Yes. Given their
history and their view of the world, I believe that they would.
Our current administration believes otherwise. They continually
push their unearned advantage until American influence comes
uncomfortably close to key areas of Soviet interest. It is as if— with a
real live Deity on their side— our leaders have become intoxicated with
a heady draught of Omnipotence-by-Association, without realizing just
how his very existence has deformed the lives of every living creature
on the face of this planet.
This is true in a domestic sense as well as a broader, international
one. The technology that Dr. Manhattan has made possible has
changed the way we think about our clothes, our food, our travel. We
drive in electric cars and travel in leisure and comfort in clean, economi-
cal airships. Our entire culture has had to contort itself to accommodate
the presence of something more than human, and we have all felt the
results of this. The evidence surrounds us, in our everyday lives and on
the front pages of the newspapers we read. One single being has been
allowed to change the entire world, pushing it closer to its eventual
destruction in the process. The Gods now walk amongst us, affecting
the lives of every man, woman and child on the planet in a direct way
rather than through mythology and the reassurances of faith. The
safety of a whole world rests in the hands of a being far beyond what
we understand to be human.
We are all of us living in the shadow of Manhattan.

DR. MANHATTAN;
AUN MOORE
write!

DAVE GIBBONS
illustrotor/letterer

JOHN HIGGINS
colorist

LEN WEIN
editor

RICHARD BRUNING
art director

JENETTE KAHN
president/publisher

DICK GIORDANO
vp-executive editor

BOB ROZAKIS
production manager

PAT BASTIENNE
mgr. editorial coord

TERRI CUNNINGHAM
mgr. editorial odmm

PAUL LEVITZ
executive vp

JOE ORLANDO
vp-creotive director

ED SHUKIN
vp-circulotion

BRUCE BRISTOW
marketing director

PATRICK CALDON
controller
 covers by
Ts,
story pages by
TI-iPKIc)
tag designed by
Alvear