Watchmen

Laurie climbs aboard Dan’s old Nite Owl ship, playing with the buttons until she sets off the flamethrowers by accident. Laurie wonders why he has kept it ready, thinking that perhaps he will have to use it again, but Dan insists that his whole career was “just a schoolkid’s fantasy that got out of hand” (216). Even so, he is glad his career advanced his knowledge of aviation. He shows Laurie the intricacies of the ship, and she marvels at it and how expensive it must have been. Dan admits that he became a costumed hero because he was “rich, bored, and there were enough other guys doing it so I didn’t feel ridiculous” (220). He also looked up to Hollis and wanted to be “part of a fellowship of legendary beings” (220). They banter about the harmful effects of being a costumed adventurer, and what might be sitting within Dan’s utility belt, but then he shows Laurie his night-vision goggles, and she is impressed, even though she still jokes about them.

Laurie admits that she does not miss Dr. Manhattan, that she is used to being alone and enjoys having her privacy back. Dan talks about how he still writes for ornithological journals, but the news interrupts with stories of Rorschach’s imprisonment, Soviet advances into Afghanistan, and the missing writer of “Tales of the Black Freighter.