WATCHMEN 5

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

ore entirely fictional.

All characters featured in this

publication and the distinctive

likenesses thereof ore

trademarks of DC Comics Inc.

Printed in Canada.

DC Comics Inc.

A Warner Communications Company. ©

Zns
FEARFUL SYMMETRY
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3 MORE .OFFICER
CAPALDI WILL DRIVE YOU
,

TO THE HOSPITAL

AMD, THAT'LL 6LOW N

OVER. WORLD WAR
THREE, IT'LL (NEVER
HAPPEN. NOBODY'S ^l
/“o/lvvy CM/*!/ //!/_/
s' better. V SURE. THIS WAR'S
SOT l-ookin eesious.
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TODAY'S MAKES A 60 V START

GAZETTE / R 6 URIN 6 ESCAPE
C routes ,v kuow 1 .

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j conceived
OF BUILDING
A RAFT,,, ^

&UDDENLW TV) ,

RECALLED THE !

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STOMACHS OF N
THE BURIED MEM, 1

THEN SHUDDERED
At THE IDEA X
FOUND MVSELF / HUMW
CONSIDERING fe

?2 or WHEN T CONSIDERED
, 7A/£ NATURE OF MY /
situation. A/
 ,

Everything I LOVED,
EVERYTHING 1 LIVED
Clinging to
THE MEMORY \
y REMOVING THEIR CLOTHING,
r TORE IT TO RIBBONS,
FOR OEPENDEO UPON OF MY WEE'S BINDING THEM TOGETHER.
MY REACHING DAVIDS -
EYES, IDRAGGED
TOWN IN ADVANCE OF , MEN UP FROM
THAT TERRIBLE
V FREIGHTER. 'y
t y UNDERGROUND,
SAND TRICKLING
0 CCASIONALLY,
T WOULD PAUSE
’

FROM THEHR J IN MY WORK,

. SOCKETS. ENTRANCED SY ’

THE STARTLING
BEAUTY OF A
TATTOO OR THE
ENIGMA OF AN
OLD SCAR . .

By afternoon, i'd felled\

ENOUGH YOUNG PALMS TO 1 Cast, across
BUILD THE DECK OF MY THE NIGHT seas
CONVEYANCE, AFFIXING IT TO
LTHE HUMAN FLOAT BENEATH
x Sast, borne on
Satisfied, i waited THE NAKED BACKi
FOR DUSK and EBB TIDE, OF MURDERED
THEN EMBARKED V MEN.
HEADING EAST.

N Stomach filled with

With dawn came 'Cent speed BY RAW MEAT: GULL BLOOD
THE GULLS .DRAWN MY HUNGER,
wy HUN&tzKM WAS
I V\A' CAKED UPON MY CHIN, I
TO THE CARRION ABLE TO RIP ONE DRIFTED ON TOWARDS
\ UPON WHICH MV J FROM THE AIR. I DAVIDSTOWN. MY HOMS
TRANSPORT r\ HAD NOT EATEN 'NWAS THERE
A
-
RESTED. /A SINCE THE
SHIPWRECK a .

Tothing WOULD
TAKE IT FROM ME
 PLUS, THEY
,
'SUSPENOED MV
1
EXPENSE ACCOUNT f

SO ALL I HAVE IS
MY SAVINGS IT WAS
JUST " OKAY ,V/E<eE
TAKING YOU P HOME
AND MONEY- /
CHEW ON ~
THAT-
 .

CUACH'& TOU&UAL . OOROSS 5TRSST. BOYS WITH

OGTcsee
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-zier, ig&s. sproy cans wsrs DSFacirvs

ol
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asanoonsp BuiLDins. u
y woxer\ or eueven gy ^--L MSMOPIZSP THSIR DESCRIPTIONS/
SHouTine outside. disturbed Tnen ppepaRep for work.
to Pinp i Hap FaLLen
,

I
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TH 2 5 kin FROM MY Heap .

TIRSDSR THan T THOUGHT.

SHOULD Be MORS oaeSFUL.,

on wav out op room , our in GTReer. mepecreo on FORTieTH ano ssv/enTH,

AAST LanPLODY. USUAL- DSFacep BUILpmO-^ILHOUSTTS $aw dreibers ano xuspeczYK
OOMPLOinTS R£ HYOISne ono pioturs in doorwcvY/ Man anp Leavins Din or. thsv
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WHITE NSOK. PPSSH OnSS.
IT
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gnTSRino DinsR, gouOHT ooFpee this city is an oniMOU/

THSn SOT WaTOHinOAAY MOILDROP, FieRce ano co^ap ncareo.ro
IMMEDlOTSLY OOROSS STREET. ,
understood it t reod its
^nrw— DRO ppins^, its scfinTS.THe
r MOYSMSnT OF IT-5 POROSlTES,,
PaSSERS-BY Maoe VORIOU5 •

peposiT^-- oanDY wpappeQG,'

newoROPSR^ a pcur of keds
5 T|2 an 6 LSD gYOWn Laoes,
Tonoues L.o Luno out horribly.
 , , !' . T
TELLYA THE
TRUTH, THIS
WHOLE BLOODY
/ IT'S \
LIKE,T
£fe THE
CLAMBERED
SUN V\
MESS, IT6IVES DUNNO PRECARIOUSLY
Me A FUMNV HOW OVER THE WORLD'S
FEELIN' L0N6 WE SLIPPERY RIM, THE
INSIPS CAN ENORMITY OP MY
Y'KNOW? ,
HOLD SAVAGE BREAK-
FAST STRUCK ME
,

\ OAA i

A/VD Z <S/?£W . i

^ FAINT. --HJ

^watca/
r
YOU
you
XY C VERYTHING
TtLTEP- ABOVE.
FAPATHY
7
see? 1 T^/e GULLS
slaughterhouse
S
WATCH THE I scavengers' '
EVERYBODY CHORUS AFFORDED
financial WHEELED ( ESCAPIN' NO DISTRACTION s
PA6ES. THOSE HUNGRtL Y INTOCOMIC FROM AAV
SUYS, THEY'RE TUST SCREAMS BOOKS AN NAUSEA, AND
gonna i DRESSED IN TV. 'MAKES FELL R ETCHING, \
j

make a / FEATHERS. J
,
ME , TO MY KNEES.
,

l KILLING J, V S'CX" A BETWEEN MV RAFT'S

TIMBERS, BOSUN
RIDLEY STARED J
. HA AT ME. ,/J

WlS EVES, HIS IT'S OUR 1

NOSE, HIS CORSE
CHEEKS SEEMED WE SEE
INDIVIDUALLY EVERY
FAMILIAR, BUT DAMNED
MERCIFULLY I CONNEC-
COULD NOT TION
PIECE THEM
TOGETHER- NOT
INTO A FACE EVERY y*
I KNEW- DAMNED
LINK ,
1ST -~—r-r/0

AFGHANISTAN^ Si
PAKISTAN HEXTT
During the WAR, 1
AFTERNOON, I
P07EP FIT-
W CLUED
V MURDER,
"

FULLY my
, , r ATTEMPTED
ENEMIES' { ASSASSINA-
'
hideous TION .,TU\E
BANNER FRONT PAGE
FLAPPING l IS A N16HT-
PtSMALLY IN L MARE I .

\ MY DREAM S.

Irrationally, aav firet

THOUGHT WAS OF THE CORPSES,
^
BURSTING THEIR BONDS,
ATTEMPTING TO CLAMBER p
UP INTO THE AIR and PRY- i /

NESS ,BUT NO. SOMETHING Lj

\
HAD CRUSHED
BENEATH M
m
~
T MEAN ' ,

ALL we SEE
IS WHAT'S ON
THE"
v SURFACE a

17
hg*T, wenT to Qer&\eve
Face from at. Lev. ouTsioe
UTOPia, pouce ResTPaineo
a YOUTH on KT- 2-0 £5
.

THINGS
TO COM
 PAN,
REALLY,
YOU DON'T
KNOW HOW
GRATEFUL
I AIA FOR
THIS.
 .

Good readers, know this- f Whatever was ^vl J CLUNG TO MY

napes is wet. hades is j, gENEATH M Y BOAT v * MAST AS THE
COMMENCED A VIOLENT PLATFORM TILTED
thrashing, Almost FURTHER. THE
%JfWA
mm 'Teeth that seemed SPILL INS ME AMONGST / WATER BEGAN
55? to move indepen-
DBNTLY OP THE UPC
THE GNAWING
HORRORS. J ^—/< TO Soil white.
SOMETHING WAS
<

'

ik'WTJ TORE at MY RAFTS

,
. SURFACING • 4
Svt/T-4 SUPPORTS TINY .

mV K A
PREHISTORIC EYES
i\ -TtT 3 glistened, seeming
nv\l( cl MAP WITH RASE
l V
> \ \ YV EVEN IN REPOSE./

How SHALL r V Terrified lest <t should "

DESCRIBE IT ? IT
(V/tg MASSIVE f LIKE
NO SHARK VD EVER
HEARD TELL OF, WITH
SKIN NEITHER BLACK
NOR WHOLLY WHITE
re-suemerge and drag me
WITH IT, I FELL TO MY KNEES
CLUTCHING A SPLINTER OF I
MAST THAT HAD SNAPPED 1
OFF IN MY HAND. ^
.

SUT A PAlE AND

mottled yellow. A

,, AND, IN THAT INSTANT,

WE KNEW EACH OTHER
TrlALF BUND ; HA LF
DEAD, WHOLLY DERANGED
^
SY AGONY-, THE YELLOW
LEVIATHAN ATTEMPTED
TO SWIM AWAY, DRAGGING
MV RAFT IN ITS ,
BLOODY WAKE. fPp~

J HUNG ON ~
DESPERATELY
CURSING IN
THE SITTER,
STINGING SPRAY.
 l

BRIN&IN&
TaMT NIEHT
£MlNO SHARE,
^ r 6AY
WOMEN
'tTHSUCH i LtOHT TO THE
HOUEHTS it WORLD."
r WOULD HAVE A&AINST 0COMFORT '

CHUCKLED AT RAP BP E ,X DRIFTED

THE INVERSION
OF NATURAL
ROLES HAD NOT
mv parched ,
n
I
ON, MAET-
.E5S INTO
THE DAWN. /
,

LAU&HTER
SEEMED SO
HATEFUL H .
OK AY. YEAH, X KNOW
WHO WE'RE TALKING ABOUT
N/OW WHERE,,? okay. eot
THAT. WHEN WILL HE
THERE? 16 HE,,?

YEAH.
UMDER-
6TOOD •

WE'RE ON
OUR WAY.
v
evE
SEEN
RUNNINE
W WAS
T WAS
IT UNDERgOSS ?
IT TIMMY
tneouon the aiMMiCK op.
NAMES, i THE KINb OF SKIN?
LOT OP QUESTIONS-
no answers.

maybe 4

YOU CAN
ENLIGHTEN
ME.

vzzc
. NOW, IF THERE'S
ANN BODY IN THERE
WITH YOU, X WANT
HH ...THEN YOU FOLLOW
THEM WITH BOTH HANDS
CLEARLY VISIBLE -T'M
C'MON,
RORSCHACH-
LET'S MAKE
YOU TOSEND THEM SO!NS TO (StVE THIS A
OUT FIRST YOU THIRTY r- NICE CLEAN
UNHARMED,,. b SECONDS.,. r-C- SURRENDER.
FRAMED.
SET UP.
walked
RISHT
INTO IT.

Sj=> -3&(j

STUPID
STUPID
STUPID.
 T'M ON / WATCH
AWH 'OH, '
OUT! WATCH
, T'/V OUT HE'S
,
BUeuiNE TORCHING
THE BTAIRE

r HEY'. WE
NEED MOCE
WAt£r UP
HE EE/ AND
WHERF'S OUR
6O0DAMNED
BACKUP ?

DAMMIT,
ARE THEY
FOLLOWING
US, OR
WHAT'’
 ,

UUUW...NO <

NO PAIN. GET
UP. MU&T 6ET ? WHO 7 1

UP. SEEN WHO HAS

. FRAMED,,. j> DONE THIE>
TO ME 7

NO MY '.

6IVE !

SACK
IT WELL
WHO /S
WE r

1 4 Q fl1
L ;/
yJRJr *1^XV^9'r/r<

r
WHO /SHE 7 THIS
P U6LV ^
LITTLE ZEBO 15 THE
TERROE OP THE UNDER WORLD
...AND WE'GE 60NWA LOCK
HIM Z/D WITH THEM. IT'S
KARMA MAN/ EVERYTH IMS .

. EVENS OUT EVENTUALLY. .

 is
reprinted from
The £° U °«rn< 3 the Treasure
Of -.res I

fsfanrTrelsury
Editions, New
a
aut hor an

A
X, As
close of the 1950s
discussed in our
saw
last chapter, the

E.C.’s line of Pirate titles spheric

permission or
publishers.

science fiction and horror to the different atmo-

demands of pirate stories than many of his

dominating the marketplace from a near unassail- E.C. contemporaries, he was perhaps the best
able position. The brief surge of anti-comic book respected artist in a rapidly burgeoning field, and
sentiment in the mid-fifties, while it could conceiv- fans awaited the first issue of TALES OF THE
ably have damaged E.C. as a company, had instead BLACK FREIGHTER with relish.
come to nothing and left them stronger as a result. Nor were they disappointed. The first issue is

With the government of the day coming down The script— by then-newcomer
classic Orlando.

squarely on the side of comic books in an effort to Max Shea— while sturdy enough, is cliched and
protect the image of certain comic book-inspired predictable in comparison with the work that Shea
agents in their employ, it was as if the comic indus- did later, and in that first issue was easily out-

try had suddenly been given the blessing of Uncle shone by the darkly compelling majesty of Orlan-
Sam himself-or at least J. Edgar Hoover. Unsur- do’s textures, shadows and faces.

prisingly, as one of the few companies to antici- The story served as an introduction to the vessel

pate the coming massive boom in pirate-related that lent the book its title, and which was itself

material, E.C. flourished and their hold upon the apparently borrowed from a ship referred to in
field remained unchallenged. Brecht and Weill’s THREEPENNY OPERA’. In that

Until May, 1960. That date saw the first publica- first story, three men with different paths through
tion of an extraordinary new title from National life have all been led to the same dockside tavern

Comics, now DC. The book was called "Ihles of the in search of work. The place is deserted save for a

W
Black Freighter’, and while its sales never shadowy innkeeper who serves them ale in silence

and the large, dark figure of a sea captain who sits

at the next table and listens to them recount their

A MAN ON stories to each other.

The stories are recounted as small, self-

FIFTEEN JK contained tales within the larger narrative that

frames them, and are all effective

twist-ending yarns that reveal the various tellers to

if predictable

DEAD MEN’S CHESTS be utterly unprincipled and worthless creatures

capable of almost any act of treachery. Overhear-
ing their stories, the sea captain says he is

quite topped those of the E.C. giants such as impressed and offers them passage upon his ship.
PIRACY and BUCCANEERS, in terms of critical By the time the men are aboard the ship and have
acclaim and influence upon later books of the noticed the dreadful, deathly smell that seems to

same type, TALES OF THE BLACK FREIGHTER exude from the ship's timbers, it is too late. The
made an impression upon the comic book land- three hapless sailors learn that the ship is a vessel
scape that remains to this day. Indeed, with DC from Hell itself to take on board the souls of evil

comics currently reprinting the first classic thirty men so that they may walk its blood-stained decks
issues of the title and apparently meeting with for all eternity.

considerable success, it would seem that its The identity of the captain is never made clear

impact remains undiluted despite the quarter cen- —is he meant to be Satan, or is he himself a vic-

tury that has elapsed since the original publica- tim of the ship? But this scarcely matters when
tion. confronted with Orlando’s breathtaking rendition.
What exactly was it that made TALES OF THE From the marvelous scene in the first man’s story
BLACK FREIGHTER so special? Despite the fact where two ghouls fight to the death with shovels in
that nowadays most people are attracted by the the worm-infested tunnels
controversy surrounding the later issues of the beneath a churchyard, JOE ORLANDO, CIRCA 1953
book, it should be remembered that this title was right through the haunt-
very popular from the outset. So: What was it that ing and evocative final

fascinated all those thousands of readers in the shots of the horrible black
first place? ship drifting away into the
Well, to begin with, it was almost certainly the white mist, the art is

artwork of Joe Orlando, who drew the entire book breathtaking, conveying a

from its first issue through issue nine, with the tangible sense of doom
exception of GALAPAGOS JONES, a rather insipid and evil even in those
back-up feature that lasted until issue six. Orlando, places where the writing
having been successfully tempted away from his fails to do so.

well-received run of 'SARGASSO SEA STORIES’ in With the issues that fol-

E.C.’s PIRACY by National editor Julius Schwartz, lowed, Orlando’s art con-
was regarded as a star amongst pirate artists, and a tinued to shine while the
prize catch. Having adapted more smoothly from scripts supplied by Shea
IT)

also began to gradually improve in quality as the Freighter which they climb to take their rightful

writer became used to the medium. With rapidly positions on board the ship, remain some of

increasing confidence, Shea began attempting Orlando’s most haunting work on the series.
ideas for stories which at the time seemed wildly By issue five, reader reaction was obviously in
radical and innovative. The third issue’s story, favor of the title, and the praise seemed to be
“Between Breaths’; is told from the viewpoint of a divided equally between Orlando and Shea.
man who is drowning, alternating between mem- According to insiders, receiving fan mail for the
ories of his past life as they flash before his bulg- first time in his life had an adverse effect upon
ing eyes and horrific descriptions of what it is like the writer, who began to see himself as the driv-

to drown. Even read today, the story induces an ing force of the book, becoming increasingly
almost tangible sense of suffocation, so that fin- resentful of Orlando’s clearly important role and
ishing the story and putting the book down is harassing the artist with impossibly detailed
actually a relief. The closing images, with a multi- panel descriptions and endless carping requests
tude of dead and drowned men walking across the for revisions of artwork already drawn.
ocean bed towards the anchor rope of the Black Despite growing friction within the creative
team, both lasted on TALES OF
THE BLACK FREIGHTER until

the ninth issue, when Orlando

asked Schwartz to take him off

the book, citing the ego of the

writer as being the major factor

in his decision. During those nine

issues they crafted many memo-
rable stories together, including
the most famous of all, “The
Shanty of Edward Teach”, in issue

seven. In this story, narrated in

rhyme by the dead pirate Edward

Teach (otherwise known as Black-
beard), we first begin to see the
dark and pessimistic moral sensi-
bilities showing that were later to

form most of Shea’s work on the

series. These are more than ade-
quately matched by Orlando’s art-

work, and there can be few

readers of that period who will

forget the heart-stopping close-up

shot of Blackbeard, portrayed as

violent and leering evil incarnate,

in which he seems to look out at

the reader and remind them that

their own position is perhaps no

more noble than Teach’s own: “I

tread a lurching timber world, a

reeking salt-caked hell-, and yet,

perhaps.no worse a world than

yours, where bishops stroll

through charnel yards with

pomanders to smell; where vile

men thrive and love crawls on all

fours.”

After Orlando’s departure, the

art for the series was taken over

by a relatively unknown but
supremely capable artist named

Walt Feinberg, previously best

known for his work upon numer-

ous western titles where he would
often provide excellent fill-in

issues that nevertheless seemed

 TREASURY

TREASURE

OF

ISLAND
COMICS
to go unnoticed when slotted in between the work escape from the island by what may be one of the

of great western comic artists such as Gil Kane most striking and horrific devices thus far in
and Alex Toth. Despite having Orlando’s early pirate comic books: digging up the recently bur-
work on the series to live up to, on TALES OF ied and gas-bloated corpses of his shipmates, the
THE BLACK FREIGHTER, Feinberg was finally mariner lashes them together and uses them as
given a chance to shine. For some reason, there the floats on an improvised raft on which he
are few incidents on record relating friction hopes to reach the mainland (hence the title of
between Feinberg and Shea, and indeed the two this chapter.) On reaching the mainland safely
of them continued to work together on the book
until issue thirty-one, at which point Shea quit

(perhaps the moody and temperamental writer

was making a deliberate effort to control his

behavior, having been taught an expensive lesson

by Orlando’s departure).
In any event the next twenty or so issues of the

book became every bit as much instant classics as

the Orlando issues had, a fact not hindered by

Shea’s gradually developing skill as a writer.

The stories that came from his pen in this per-

iod are uniformly dark and sinister, balancing

metaphysical terrors against an unnerving sense

of reality, particularly when applied to matters of
mortality or sexuality. Readers who came to the

series expecting a good rousing tale of swash-

buckling were either repulsed or fascinated by

what were often perverse and blackly lingering
comments upon the human condition. Tales such

as “The Figurehead”, which deal unflinchingly upon his horrific craft we see the increasingly dis-

with male homosexuality, and the harrowing traught and dishevelled mariner trying desper-
“Marooned” spring most readily to mind. ately to reach his home, even resorting to murder
In “Marooned”, a two-part story occupying to acquire a horse for himself.In the final scenes,

issues twenty-three and twenty-four of the book’s thanks to the skillful interplay of text and pic-

run, we see Feinberg and Shea at their blood- tures, we see that the mariner, though he has

freezing best. Unusual in that it is a one-character escaped from his island, is in the end marooned
story narrated mostly in captions, “Marooned” from the rest of humanity in a much more terri-

tells the story of a young mariner whose vessel is ble fashion.

wrecked by the Black Freighter before it can Problems set in for the book around issue

return to its hometown and warn it of the hell- twenty-five, when Shea began his controversial

ship’s approach.

island with only his dead

shipmates
we
for

experience the frantic

Cast adrift on an uninhabited

company,

T A L E S O F THE
mariner’s torment at the
knowledge

bestial
that while

trapped on his island, the

crew
Freighter are surely bearing

down upon his

of

town,
he

the
is

his
BLACK
home, his wife and his
dren. Driven by his burning

desire to avert this calamity,

we see the mariner

chil-

finally
freighter
 5
CHAPTER

M run of issues based around the contents of plun- as those in any of his stories, the writer appar-
dered books in the library of the Freighter’s cap- ently vanished from his home one morning and
tain, including banned tomes supposedly has not been seen since, although police are con-
originally headed for eternal suppression within tinuing their inquiries. In his wake he leaves not

the vaults of Vatican city when stolen en route by only a string of excellent novels and screenplays,
the pirates. Described as ‘blatantly pornographic’, but also an exemplary run of pirate stories which

four of the projected five stories were rejected by today fetch mint prices of almost a thousand dol-
DC, which brought about the argument in which lars according to the Overstreet Guide.Stories there

Shea quit the book and comics as well, going on to be rediscovered and reexamined, like so many
to write such classic novels as the twice-filmed of the fascinating sunken treasures lurking just

FOGDANCING. beneath the surface of this fabulous and compel-

At the time of this writing, Shea’s where- ling genre,

abouts are unknown. In circumstances as strange

62
 writer

DAVE GIBBONS
illustrafor/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 admin.

PAUL LEVITZ
executive vp

JOE ORLANDO
vp-creative director

ED SHUKIN
vp-circulation

BRUCE BRISTOW
marketing director

PATRICK CALDON
controller
 covers by
DTe.
story pages by
TI-iPKid
tag designed by
Aivcar