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Image of full page. Notice extra wide margins and contrast between original board color and toned image area from framing..
Artwork Details
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Description2024 started off with a Little Nemo Sunday and now 2025 starts off with a Watchmen page. Two opposite ends of the comic art royalty spectrum yet perhaps more in common than one might think at first. Perhaps I'll get to that in a moment. For those in the TLDR crowd, no worries, I don't blame you but for those of you that want to read more, sit back and lets see where what I have to say goes.A Watchmen page is one of those things I'd always wanted but didn't want bad enough to pay enough to get one. When they were $4-5k, I didn't want to pay more than $3k for one. When they were $7-9k I didn't want to pay more than $5-6K for them and so I was always a day late and a penny short. The ship was leaving without me. I'd pretty much given up hope of getting on but then this page was offered up. It was more than I wanted to spend still but this time I said I'd take the plunge paying more than I wanted to have a ticket to ride on that ship after all. Perhaps it is the Black Freighter I bought a voyage on. So now I am on board. Before I talk about the page, I have a secret to confess. I don't really like the Watchmen comic. I never did. I bought a leather bound copy of it shortly after the original print run and read it. I have read it in total 4 times including around the time the movie came out. I find it a tedious read. It is long, disinteresting and a struggle to get through. I like a lot of Alan Moore's other books like V, From Hell, Swamp Thing and Halo Jones (my favorite) but Watchmen, not so much. I think the concept and some of the scenes are really cool but the rest doesn't work for me. That is probably why I didn't pursue it further all these years and pay up when I should have. What I wouldn't give to be back in the day when the pages were $5k again. So here I am paying way to much for a page from a book I don't even like. WTF! What I have come to appreciate from Watchmen is the art and design that was put into the book. For me, this is what elevates the book and drove my desire to own an example. The simple 9 panel grid used to great effect. The visual queues and clues. The use of imagery and motifs. As much as I don't like reading the book, I do like flipping through and looking at some of the sequences and pages. So here is a solid page without any costumes on it but a key scene and with features that I like. I'm sure there are many out there with a much deeper insight into this than I have but I'll share what I see. The mirroring and repetition of images. The first and last panel are similar with the glass in the hand and then with Laurie's face in the hand in a similar design. The use of circles and spheres are throughout the book with everything from the watchmen pin(first and last panel of book and appears 3 times on this page), radiation hazard signs, gears, the circle on Dr. Manhattan's forehead, the clock, snow globe, Vitruvian man images, Night Owl's goggles/ship, the bubble around Silk Spectre on the moon, radar screen...if you look you could go on for sometime and these elements make it onto the covers too. Nothing is random with Alan Moore. That first image with the distorsion looking through the glass is another element used well with either distorted images or reflected images used in storytelling. You could equate some of this with the idea behind the Rorschach test. Like a large tic-tac-toe game the diagonals are interesting sequences. The diagonal from the first, fifth and 9th panel have that round central image like an O won game. The third, fifth and seventh panel diagonal have a changing in perspective of the Comedian and Laurie apart and then together. The remaining 4 panels are of The party and alternate with these more important panels both storytelling wise and visually. None of this is accidental. You will see similar page designs and nuances if you look for them throughout the book. From a content point of view, this is a key scene in the story with the Laurie confronting the Comedian about the assault of her mother. A MeToo event about 30 years too early. This is also the moment you might realize that Laurie might have a Luke Skywalker moment in her future with the revelation that the object of hate is indeed her father. A lot could be said about Gibbons art on this book. I like his art in general but he was never one of those artists who had a real standout and unique style. Dave did a really good job of taking the instruction he got from Alan Moore (which are notorious for being very in depth,long, detailed and fastidious) and bringing them to the page faithfully. Not such an easy task and I'd imagine this is the most faithful any artist has been to Moore's prose. I had a lot more to write but got cut off by CAF limits. I had a bit to talk about on the physical original art itself, Moore's writing and I wanted to tie it back in with the Little Nemo I mentioned at the beginning. Oh well! Social/Sharing |
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Comments on this Artwork
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Marcus Wai 
Member Since 2005
1 - Posted on 1/9/2025
It's a great page as this is the emotional climax to Laurie's storyline as she has to live with the burden she never asked for. The first panel is looking through a glass of a stiff drink and calling out to the cover to remind us of the power of nostalgia and how it blurs reality. Maybe it's nostalgia for that place and time that made you buy a page from a story that you didn't like. It would be a bottle of Nostalgia that Laurie hurls to destroy Dr. Manhattan's construct on Mars and bring reality back into focus.
Oystein Sorensen
Member Since 2005
1 - Posted on 1/9/2025
No superhero costumes - so what? Great page, great example of graphic storytelling!
M L
Member Since 2015
2 - Posted on 1/9/2025
Great page and it's interesting to hear your thoughts on the book. Too bad the CAF limit didn't let you circle back to Little Nemo...
Mark Howland
Member Since 2004
1 - Posted on 1/9/2025
Lovely page and comments. It's a very handsy page also. Glad you boarded the ship. Never too late, I guess.
Chris K.
Member Since 2008
1 - Posted on 1/9/2025
It's a great page and a dynamite piece of visual storytelling on so many fronts - which you cover so well in your comments. We'll have to figure out a way to somehow loop back and get the Little Nemo comments from you!
Rick W
Member Since 2017
1 - Posted on 1/9/2025
The view from the Black Freighter bow looks just fine!
Bob Kopman
Member Since 2007
1 - Posted on 1/9/2025
As the Comedian is one of my favorite characters in the Watchmen, this is a very enjoyable page. Congrats on finally landing a page from this comic.
Stephen F
Member Since 2005
1 - Posted on 1/9/2025
An incredibly dramatic moment in the story. It's a great page!
Kavi H
Member Since 2018
2 - Posted on 1/9/2025
really great page!!! congrats on boarding the Watchmen train even if you did so with some reservation about the prices of the art and the quality of the story.
I wanted to read the rest of your story though, hope the CAF guys are paying attention we need a higher character limit ha.
Duke Fleed aka #1 Groo Fan
Member Since 2013
2 - Posted on 1/9/2025
At least you like the art! An iconic series in American comic history..it's a nice example and if you look ever so closely you will see a young J Jonah Jameson and possibly a few views of Modesty Blaise.. But you know I kid. Congrats on finally bringing one of these home!
Jeff Singh
Member Since 2004
1 - Posted on 1/9/2025
Duke Fleed aka #1 Groo Fan wrote:
At least you like the art! An iconic series in American comic history..it's a nice example and if you look ever so closely you will see a young J Jonah Jameson and possibly a few views of Modesty Blaise.. But you know I kid. Congrats on finally bringing one of these home!
I certainly saw the Modesty Blaise in Laurie. Wth Alan and Dave growing up in the UK, I wouldn't be surprised if the likeness was intentional. Literally dressed to kill.
John Voytek
Member Since 2008
1 - Posted on 1/9/2025
Beautiful and memorable page! I actually prefer these types of pages with engaging dialogue and plot development. I'm like you and not a big fan of this particular work, but I doubt there are many collectors that wouldn't want a Watchmen page in their gallery! Congratulations on starting the year with a banger!
Tony Marine
Member Since 2016
1 - Posted on 1/9/2025
Any Watchmen page is a great Watchmen page. I like Watchmen a lot - but the main premise of the entire story is pretty weak. But you don't read Watchmen for that premise - you enjoy the way the story is told. Lots of layers, and unique and original storytelling elements from Moore and some very well fleshed out and interesting characters (Doctor Manhattan is my favorite). I also love how it's a world unto itself. The whole thing made all the more better by Gibbons' incredible art. It's mind candy. What's not to like?? Congrats on finally getting on board!
Simon Ma
Member Since 2013
1 - Posted on 1/9/2025
Great page, fantastic write-up. You have joined quite an exclusive club – original-comic-art-collecting royalty. Congrats!
Ruben DaCollector
Member Since 2008
1 - Posted on 1/9/2025
Okay, we all know this piece may not hold a candle to anything you currently have in your Nightwing art collection, but still, the scene with Laurie confronting the Comedian is one of the most memorable scenes in my mind. Congrats on the acquisition and doubly so for being honest enough to admit you feel Watchmen is overyhyped and overrated, especially as Moore's own Swamp Thing run blows it away.
Tyler T
Member Since 2020
1 - Posted on 1/10/2025
A nine panel New Year stunner if I have ever seen it! Congrats on a piece of comic book history :)
Kin Wong
Member Since 2007
1 - Posted on 1/13/2025
Like you, I've never been a fan of Watchmen for the story or the art (though there are some pages with great emotional/visual storytelling, this one included). The thing I do appreciate though is the intricate planning that went into the series, from the panel layouts to the way pages mirror each other. That said, there's some good dramatic storytelling here plus the closeups along the diagonals, but I wouldn't have picked up on the tic tac toe O win. Thanks for sharing!
Jeremiah Avery
Member Since 2007
1 - Posted on 1/17/2025
Stunning art and congratulations on having this piece in your collection!
DC's Showcase
Member Since 2006
1 - Posted on 1/20/2025
Oh, and here it is! Big congrats on owning a piece of the puzzle :)
K Gearon
Member Since 2011
1 - Posted on 1/20/2025
That dialogue...tense moment, to say the last. Gibbons really pulled you in in these "quieter" scenes. Congrats!
Toni S
Member Since 2019
1 - Posted on 1/21/2025
What a moment on this monumental story!!!! Perfect 9 panels example!!!
Tom Coker
Member Since 2005
1 - Posted on 1/30/2025
So much great character development in this one single page. Wonderful!
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