Today, Will and I went over some significant details from Chapter One of Watchmen. As the text begins in medias res, the relationship between characters was somewhat opaque. To clarify, I had Will recount all of the things he knew about each character: Adrian Veidt, Hollis, Dan Dreiberg, the Comedian, Laurie Jupiter, and Dr. Manhattan. Using the specific details from the text, Will was able to visualize the background story which connects these characters: at one point, each was part of the masked vigilante group, the Watchmen. Using the setting details, we analyzed the character Dr. Manhattan: what are his powers? Why is he working for the U.S. government? Is this somehow connected to Nixon's continued reelection into 1985, the year in which the book is set? Using these questions as his guide, Will induced that Dr. Manhattan's powers were probably responsible for the U.S.'s winning of the war in Vietnam, which is somehow connected to Nixon's reelection. As graphic novels leave us with visual clues, I had Will go back and look for items/images which foreshadow the impending doom that the novel's narrator, Rorschach, seems to foresee. Will identified a ticking clock, an image of a mushroom cloud, and blood on the streets to support the idea of impending doom. Good discussion.