WatchmenComicMovie.com Forum

[b]Hey, how are you guys doing?
what is the doomsday clock?
I mean what does it represent in the story?
is there any connection between Rorschach and the doomsday clock?

_________________

Hi CrazyOmen,
Well, to me, the Doomsday Clock represents the tension between the United States and the Soviet Union as they head closer to nuclear war. It's a symbolic clock that gets closer to midnight as soon as events in the story progress, especially after Dr. Manhattan exiles himself to Mars. That is the catalyst for Veidt's master plan to bring about peace through mass destruction and death.

Hope that answers your question.

Quite simply, the Doomsday Clock is used in the graphic novel much as it's used in real life: As a visual representation of how close the world is to nuclear holocaust.

_________________
This is truly a madhouse. And I'm the lunatic running it. I've spent three years wondering if I should be proud or ashamed.

thx guys

_________________

There are visual references to the clock scattered throughout the GN. Most obvious and iconic is the bloody smiley.

In the "I DID IT!" panel, Adrien is holding his arms at five to midnight. He's "reset" the clock. Or has he?

_________________
"Ah, walking into a field of flowers. Nothing says 'I'm going to rip your f*cking head off' like walking into a field of flowers!"--MadWorld

_________________

ooooooooo-aaaaahhh

_________________
@RealSlimCAvery

I was wondering about the doomsday clock myself the other day. I think, aside from being obviously a count down to what Vedit is doing, the images of the clock between the chapters I feel build up the tension beautifully to the climax. The blood slowly going down the page is almost as painstaking as watching the hands of a clock move. I also think that the clock shows how Vedits plan was tuned to perfection to run like clockwork. As each chapter unfolds, another piece of the puzzle is put in place, like the cogs moving the hands of a clock ever closer to midnight.

I think time is an important theme of the book, as Vedits plan has been in the making for so long, and then the "I did it 30 mins ago" line really emphasizes that it is too late, the hands have moved past midnight, and in a sense, Vedit has re-set the doomsday clock.

apologies for the rant.

_________________
http://www.last.fm/user/nomapple

i cant find this line " i did it 30 mins ago"

_________________

Chapter XI, page 27, panel 1.

Easily one of the GN's most iconic lines.

_________________
This is truly a madhouse. And I'm the lunatic running it. I've spent three years wondering if I should be proud or ashamed.

Deleted

_________________

First of all, it's not a literal clock. It doesn't tick, nor do its arrows always move clockwise.

Secondly, the end of the Cold War didn't make nuclear doomsday impossible, nor did it remove the possibility of some other earth-changing event.

_________________
This is truly a madhouse. And I'm the lunatic running it. I've spent three years wondering if I should be proud or ashamed.

2 things.


1, why does tbone repeatedly call him vedit.

2. HOLYSHIT THE DOOMSDAY CLOCKS SERIOUSLY AT 5 TO FUCKING MIDNIGHT.

Brink of insanity is 1 minute to midnight. We haven't reached that point yet.

_________________

Not until I come along to screw everything up!

Anyway, yeah, the Doomsday Clock is an old Cold War thing I think NATO still has kicking around somewhere. In reality, I think it's at...8-5 mintues till, but I can't remember.

_________________

...

shit, I've always misread it. I wondered why they pronounced it Veidt in the Black Freighter dvd.

_________________
http://www.last.fm/user/nomapple

The Doomsday Clock used to really terrify me in the 80s. I remember the Cold War very well. I thought it was used very well in Watchmen.

_________________
Biosynth. Rorschach Fangirl.
http://rorschachsjournal99.blogspot.com/
http://gothicdragon99.blogspot.com/

According to Iron Maiden, it's TWO minutes to midnight you should worry about.

Thats absolutely amazing. You've ALWAYS read is as vedit?

....Wow.