We read and covered Watchmen for patrons. The book Alan Moore will probably be remembered for (sorry, Jerusalem). Here we cover our own history with the comic, and then some details and history of the book and its creators.
All four in depth bonus episodes, covering three chapters a piece is available on the patreon. In episode 4 we go into further details of what we might expect from the upcoming HBO show.
Intro – We just got a whole bunch of crap to go over, and we start like a shotgun blast.
Chapter 9: The Rood in the Wall (skip to 21:06) – An actor from Doctor Who: The Trial of the Time Lord acts like an American detective for awhile. It both is and is about shoehorning shit into a story.
Chapter 10: The Jolly Smokers (skip to 38:05) – The concussed flamingo takes a trip he paid for through the oldest trade.
Chapter 11: Go See Now This Cursed Woman (skip to 45:40) – The novel wraps up… mostly.
Afterlude: Chain of Office (skip to 1:03:25) – Alma’s art show is described in detail.
Intro – We are getting tired. And the book starts to wear thin on some of us.
Chapter 5: The Rafters and the Beams (skip to 6:40) –
We get the history of African immigrants to Northampton. Black Charley
leaves the third dimension. A new character is introduced.
Chapter 6: Under the Bridge of All Saints (skip to 24:17) – A play about pedophilia. And incest. Becketts and Johns are there. We have a strong reaction to it.
Chapter 7: Eating Flowers (skip to 43:25) – Snowy Dies. The Universe ends… eventually. Snowy lives again.
Chapter 8: Cornered (skip to 1:05:40) –
Jim Cockie is marxist. Well, a reformed Marxist. But really he is just a
neolib twat. Roman Thompson thinks he is a wanker. But also maybe he is
being haunted.
Wade sees a lot of themes Moore will later revisit in Jerusalem in the Doctor Manhattan chapter.
Fearful Symmetry. Oh hey look: symmetry.Black freighters and toy manufacturers. All bout that Grateful Dead poster. Rorshach’s Abyss. Has this aged the worst for us?
For “the greatest super hero story ever told” we sure have a lot of criticisms to make.
Intro – We talk about… basically stuff we will talk about later too. We have lots of theories.
Chapter 9: The Trees Don’t Need to Know (skip to 15:55) – Marjorie drowned, and then fell in love with the written word. We talk about Phyllis alot though. And there is a semen obsessed sea monster. I guess that is worth mentioning. Also, some incest and rape is discussed.
Chapter 10: Forbidden Worlds (skip to 43:35) – Bill’s chapter. But wha’s up wit his mom? TRIGGER WARNING: Violent rape is unfortunately discussed at a tasteful but substantial length.
Chapter 11: The Destructor (skip to 1:12:50) – “The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles. Freeman and slave, patrician and plebeian, lord and serf, guild master and journeyman, in a word, oppressor and oppressed, stood in constant opposition to one another, carried on an uninterrupted, now hidden, now open fight, that each time ended, either in the revolutionary reconstitution of society at large, or in the common ruin of the contending classes.”
Intro – We talk about how Alan Moore writes a lot, and how that is overwhelming.
Chapter 5: Flatland (skip to 13:07) – Reggie Bowler had a horrible life, but his death is turning out to be a hoot.
Chapter 6: Mental F(l)ights (skip to 31:35) – Two big guys get into a fight over a game of pool. One of them called the other a naughty word.
Chapter 7: Silent Swords (skip to 50:40) – War! Huh! What is it good for? Controlling the masses and entrenching oppressive power structures. Say it again!
Chapter 8: Malignant Refractory Spirits (skip to 1:18:50) – Some naked ladies start a fire and probably all free will is a lie.
As much as he may hate it, it’s the book that will probably be mentioned first in his obituary. We read the first three chapters of Watchmen and talked about it. What are some of the themes, some of the politics, and how does this book reflect a younger writer nearer to the beginning of his career?
