Watchmen In Dr. Hollis Mason's Under The Hood

There is no doubt that Watchmen is a graphic novel rich with intertextuality. Not only does Watchmen make references to other superhero comics by parodying popular heroes, such as Captain America as the Comedian and Superman as Dr. Manhattan, but Watchmen is full of internal intertextuality, from the newspapers and advertisements that litter the streets of New York to the personal files, publications, and mementos of the heroes in the novel. The most significant of these documents are the expository materials, particularly the books, which appear at the end of each chapter and allow the reader to view materials within the world of Watchmen. Often these materials are considered “extras” that add detail to the setting of the novel and allow Moore …show more content…
Manhattan: Super-Powers and the Superpowers, and how they define themselves as individuals through personal mementos such as Sally Jupiter’s scrapbook. By using these books to portray different facets of the identities of the members of Watchmen, Moore and Gibbons not only construct a realistic alternate world, but also complex and realistic heroes to populate it. Hollis Mason’s book Under the Hood, illustrates how the Watchmen are defined by the superheroes of the past, especially the Minutemen. In the first chapters of Under the Hood, Hollis describes his own motivations for becoming a superhero and reveals that superheroes in the Minutemen were initially traditional and moral heroes. Although he lacks superpowers, Hollis is a prime example of this ethical traditional hero, presenting a contrast to the corrupt group the Minutemen and Watchmen become. In his article “Alan Moore, Watchmen and some notes on the …show more content…
Manhattan: Super-Powers and the Superpowers, establishes Dr. Manhattan’s public reputation as a threat to society. For example, in the introduction of the book Glass explains the ways that Dr. Manhattan’s presence has affected relations between the U.S. and the Soviet Union, making him a god with the power to either protect the world or destroy it. This opinion is not only expressed within the text of this chapter, but also in the title page of the book. The words “Dr. Manhattan: Super-Powers and the Superpowers” dominate the top of the page, followed by a picture of Dr. Manhattan as the Vitruvian Man, a picture drawn by Leonardo da Vinci that depicts an ideally proportioned man standing inside a geometric circle and a square. By placing Dr. Manhattan within the square and circle, this picture suggests that he now represents the ideal human. Yet, unlike the Vitruvian Man, Dr. Manhattan is not contained within a circle and square, but within a hydrogen symbol and a flag with Soviet and American iconography. This hydrogen symbol not only resembles the circle in the Vitruvian Man, but also represents Dr. Manhattan’s extreme power, suggesting that Dr. Manhattan exists beyond human comparison, making him a god among men. Further, the box containing Dr. Manhattan is not the geometric box represented in the Vitruvian Man, but a flag depicting both