Veidt/Castaway

In the graphic novel Watchman there are two war mentioned: Vietnam War and the Cold War. The Vietnam War was a conflict involving the US, approximately from 1965 to 1975 and the Cold War a state of political tension and military rivalry between United States and Soviet Union following World War II.[1]

       In the book a horrific alien invasion planned by Adrian Veidt, the smartest man in the world, whom comes in to conflict with his former team of masked heroes who would and do plan to stop him.[2]

      However, he will do anything to achieve his goal of world peace, which includes the killing of half of New York City.    

The pirate comic, a story of despair as a self-fulfilling prophecy, is one of the most obvious examples of linkage. It does affect readers' understanding of Veidt's plan and the role of hope in the book.[3] 

The Castaway assumes that the black freighter’s crew has devastated his hometown, and so he himself causes the carnage he feared. Veidt assumes that without his intervention, the world will end, and so he himself causes the book’s greatest destruction.

I think that part of the point of the pirate comic is to suggest that Veidt is wrong, that his deadly plan was not the only way to prevent World War Three.

There may be other various ways to prevent the war by not killing, if you know Veidt’s plan would you stop him or support him?

[1] "BBC - History: Cold War." BBC - Homepage. http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/coldwar/ (accessed April 1, 2013).

[2] Collura, Scott. "Cast of Characters: Watchmen - IGN." Video Games, Wikis, Cheats, Walkthroughs, Reviews, News & Videos - IGN. http://www.ign.com/articles/2008/08/01/cast-of-characters-watchmen?page=9 (accessed April 1, 2013).

[3] Shores, zantium's. "The Fredösphere      ." The Fredösphere      . http://www.fredosphere.com/2008/10/watch-it.html (accessed April 1, 2013).

Dr. Manhattan and the power of nuclear weapons

In the graphic novel Watchmen, Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons utilize the graphic novel form to highlight the shock of same characters for example, showing how Laurie Juspeczyk deals with the rape of her mother by the hand of the Comedian and how the murder of a young girl transforms Walter Kovacs into Rorschach.

However, one character's story connects the personal trauma with one of the novel's main themes and one of the major global issues discussed today, the fear of nuclear devastation. That character is John Osterman, the man who becomes Dr. Manhattan.

After his father realizes the power of the Atomic Bomb and after hearing of its effects on Hiroshima, a watchmaker, force his son to enter a career as an atomic physicist.

 In an unexpected accident at work, Jon is vaporized in an experimental intrinsic field chamber. However, Jon does not die in the experiment; he slowly reassembles himself, using his new ability to "control atomic structure" (Moore 4: 13). Reformed into a human-like (God figure) being with blue skin and blank white eyes, Jon tries to return to a normal life.

Nevertheless, because of his appearance, his super-human powers, and the lasting emotional consequences of his accident, he cannot. His powers make him crucial to America's defense strategy and the government even renames him Dr. Manhattan.

Although the fear of nuclear weapons and the devastation they can make, is an important global issue still present today, because of the many unstable nations like North Korea and some Islamic countries that are in possession of nuclear weapons.

That fear in the decade in which the novel was published was present in the everyday life. The fear of a possible atomic war between America and Russia was the central focus of the cold war, and is even the main reason of the plan architectured by Ozymandies to re-establish the peace and a worldwide cooperation.  

As we all know the power of nuclear weapons and the destruction they can provoke is a major global issue still discussed today.  

  

War and Watchmen

War and Watchmen

War is an organized and often prolonged conflict that is carried out by states and/or non-state actors. It is characterised by extreme violence, social disruption, human suffering, and economic destruction. Still today this evil phenomena takes place. Yes, I say evil: caresty, death, economic crisis, demolition, anger, loneliness, suffering...all characteristics or adjectives for war. War should be understood as an actual, intentional and widespread armed conflict between political communities, and therefore is defined as a form of political violence or intervention.

This theme of war is one of the major ones present in the comic book "Watchmen" by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons. Without making references over their plans on the Cold War, the book explains the story of a group of superheroes. Everyday, one of this superheroes gets involved into a war against the world: crimes, fights, murders etc. Even though its uselessness in real life, this theme gives to "Watchmen" an intriguing and interesting story, full of emotions...but it still classifies it as a bad behavior which means its teachings are educate. 

A way through which the two authors describe war as a wrong thing is seen in the last chapters. The aim of Ozymandies, even though his results were not all positive, was to prevent the possible Cold War.

Sources: 

1) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War 

"The nukes are gonna be flyin' like maybugs..." The Comedian

The Cold War, a global issue of the past and a main issue in the comic book “Watchmen” by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons.

            First of all, what was the cold war? he Cold War is the name given to the relationship that developed primarily between the USA and the USSR after World War Two. The Cold War was to dominate international affairs for decades and many major crises occurred  such as the Cuban Missile Crisis, Vietnam, Hungary and the Berlin Wall and many others.

For many the growth in weapons of mass destruction was the most worrying issue.

Weapons of mass Destruction, the main problem, the main issue that persists through time. Still today weapons of mass destruction are available to the most unpredictable governments.

In the novel “Watchmen” the main issue was nuclear war. The U. S. and Russian tension was at its highest rank. In the novel it showed with incredible detail what people thought, heard in the news papers and tv news. The Cold War propaganda which caused fear and concern.

One of the novels characters Adrian Veidt, the worlds most intelligent man, and also known as Ozymandias, came up with a plan to stop this imminent war crisis. Although his plan cost the life of many, it was not a totally wrong idea. The reader felt that Adrian was the antagonist of the story, but definitely not considered an “evil” antagonist. He came up with an alien invasion which would have reunited the worlds most powerful nations of that time to fight this greater evil.

"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings: Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"

Personally I wouldn’t have stopped Veidt if I were living in that time period because the only thing I knew was that the nuclear war was imminent.

Once again Nuclear weaponing and mass destruction weapons are one of the world most global issue. After its invention it has been the most discussed and most delicate topic, which concerns us all.

Source:

 http://www.watchmencomicmovie.com

www.historylearningsite.co.uk

www.dccomics.com/graphic-novels/watchmen