Text and Imagery in Watchmen

            Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, the authors/artists behind Watchmen did an outstanding job with linking the correct imagery with the appropriate textual content. The success of their Graphic Novel can be understood through Scott McCloud's book Understanding Comics. Understanding Comics gives readers the insight and knowledge of what it takes and how to properly execute a successful graphic novel. McCloud, through his text demonstrates that that comics are not just a sequence of images slapped together with text, but instead an art form. This art form can often be looked at as much more difficult than a regular novel. In the graphic novel Watchmen, a lot of the story is depicted and developed through the use of images. The non-textual content in the book progresses the story and gives the reader insight through the use of images.
             The use of images to tell the story and further develop the plot in Watchmen can be seen by focusing on a particular part of the text in chapter 2. On pages 14 and 15 this scene in particular focused on the use of imagery and I believe it could not have been executed as well with the use of just text. When Blake fires the gun at the pregnant woman Jon also known as Dr. Manhattan says, "Blake don't" the panel after that focuses on the barrel of the gun and a shell flying out with Jon helplessly saying "do it" (Moore and Gibbons, 15). This gives the reader the illusion of slow motion whereas in reality the plot developed in a matter of a split second, gun being aimed to gun being fired. .
             When the author chooses to emphasize an image in particular it generally hints to the reader that either there is something significant about the object and/or something big is about to happen. "You coulda changed the gun into steam or the bullets into mercury or the bottle into snowflakes! You coulda teleported either of us to goddamn Australia.But you didn't lift a finger.