Hollis Mason, the original Nite Owl, recounts his exploits with The Minutemen during the 1940s, while in the midst of his retirement, he faces opposition to the publication of his tell-all autobiography, Under the Hood in the early 1960s. Although it heavily retconned certain characters’ backstories by suggesting that a large part of Under the Hood was dirty lies and cover ups, it debuted to positive reviews.
The series was created by a British collaboration consisting of writer Alan Moore, artist Dave Gibbons, and colorist John Higgins. Watchmen originated from a story proposal Moore submitted to DC featuring superhero characters that the company had acquired from Charlton Comics. As Moore’s proposed story would have left many of the characters unusable for future stories, managing editor Dick Giordano convinced Moore to create original characters instead.
Moore used the story as a means to reflect contemporary anxieties and to deconstruct and parody the superhero concept. Watchmen depicts an alternate history where superheroes emerged in the 1940s and 1960s and their presence changed history so that the United States won the Vietnam War and the Watergate scandal was never exposed. In 1985, the country is edging toward World War III with the Soviet Union, freelance costumed vigilantes have been outlawed and most former superheroes are in retirement or working for the government. The story focuses on the personal development and moral struggles of the protagonists as an investigation into the murder of a government-sponsored superhero pulls them out of retirement.
As he awaits the final moment for his master plan to come together, Ozymandias reflects on what brought him there and makes an autobiographical recording of his life that spans 1939-1985 (when the story of Watchmen takes place). We see his early studies and adventures, the beginnings of his financial empire and his crime-fighting career, and his first unnerving encounters with The Comedian and Doctor Manhattan—the latter of which prompted him to build his Antarctic fortress of Karnak, aid in resolving the Cuban Missile Crisis, and retire from crime-fighting to concentrate on saving the world at any cost. The story debuted to mostly positive reviews.
The plot takes place in the early 1960s, where 15-year-old Daniel Dreiberg is trained by Hollis Mason, the Nite Owl who led the vigilante team The Minutemen, as he narrates his first adventures as the second Nite Owl. Dreiberg and Rorschach did not get along, but they started an early partnership when they begin looking at a series of prostitute murders. Each recalled the abuse their mother suffered when they were children. Nite Owl inadvertently allows seduction into his world of vigilantism, courtesy of the dominatrix madam The Twilight Lady; while Rorschach turns toward religion, bringing the duo back together to solve the case. The story debuted to mostly positive reviews.
Moloch, alias Edgar William Jacobi, was an ex-nemesis of the Minutemen who played a macguffin role in the original series. This story reveals engrossing information about Moloch’s childhood, his turn to villainy, and new details surrounding his death.
EHT Comics 