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Tyler Bishop
Professor Jackie
English 114B
25 February 2014
Watchmen, Heroes or Villains?
When comic books first became popular in the late 1930s, most seemed to cherish and
even idolize these figures as the perfect type of person. These men and women that had acquired
super human abilities stood out from the rest, not only by being different but by their willing to
help and save others when in their time of need. Watchmen, by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons,
takes this worldly view of superheroes and twists it, putting the heroes as average citizens with
normal lives and adds how hard it is to be a superhero when none are wanted. Many heroes
morals and ethics are tested as they fight crime, leading them to decide what is right or wrong.
The Comedian, otherwise known as Edward Blake, seemed to choose the darker of those two
paths, leading people to question if he really is a hero. He is the perfect example of a superhero
with ambiguous morals, because throughout the story Edward Blake makes borderline life or
death decisions, but only if they suit his needs.
Edward Blake is looked at as one of the most cutthroat superheroes in Watchmen, due to
his violent behavior as a superhero. Blakes actions of doing what he wants when he wants first
got out of hand with Sally Jupiter, aka The Silver Spectre, when he tried to rape her, but was
apprehended by Hooded Justice (Moore and Gibbons 2. 6). Despite having a previous
relationship with Sally, her being a superhero, and her being a fellow ally on the superhero team
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The Minutemen, Blake still acted the way he did. He seems to run more on carnal or animalistic
urges and actions, rather than rational easily thought out decisions. This is what sets him apart
from the rest and alienates him as a superhero with ambiguous morals. As a superhero he is
supposed to have good morals, but throughout the story he shows that he doesnt always have
goon intentions. During his work in Vietnam, The Comedian still showed no remorse for his
actions. After impregnating a local Vietnamese woman, he tries to disown his responsibility to
the child, but as a result is attacked by the woman and filled with rage when he shoots her and
walks away like he solved another small problem (Moore and Gibbons 2. 15). These reactions to
a problem as if it doesnt matter show the twisted view of Edward Blake. Even though he is a
superhero and his sole duty is meant to help people, if he blatantly decides to do what he wants,
he will do it, and wont care of the consequences because to him the world is a very cruel place
and that is just one more thing added to the list. His reaction after shooting her is not of regret or
remorse; it is of anger for getting injured for such a petty thing. This in turns, fuels more violence
and he inflicts it at those he is supposed to protect.
During the riots of 1977, The Comedian seemed to have the mentality of Shoot first, ask
questions later. After seeing a woman, drawing on a wall with spray-paint, he immediately says
Drop that can, and shoots at her. Even though the bullets are rubber, he aimed and fired at
civilians with no hesitation (Moore and Gibbons 2. 18). This example is a perfect example why
Edward Blake, despite being a superhero, has ambiguous morals because he only does what he
wants when he wants to even if it contradicts his job as superhero and while being a superhero,
who is supposed to up hold the law and be just, he just does what he thinks is best for the world
that he views so cruelly. In Chapter 4 of Watchmen, Dr. Manhattan, aka Jon Osterman, explains
that Edward Blake, The Comedian, fits perfectly in with the madness and pointless butchery of
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the war of Vietnam. Jon seems to infer that Blake is one of a select few who know the cruelty of
mankind, but instead of stopping or rejecting it, he accepts it and embraces it, allowing him to
disregard human lives as if they were nothing. He seems to view events happing as they were
bound to happen soon or later, but at the same time enjoys the thrill or cruelty in the world.
According to Ervin Staub, at Psychologytoday.com, Moral courage means acting on one's
values in the face of potential or actual opposition and negative repercussions.(para. 3) So in
turn this puts Blake on the right side, at least morally for him, but for us it then becomes a
discussion of ethics while still labeling him as a destructive hero. This statement is meant to
show that Edward Blake can be a super hero despite his ambiguous morals by stating that even if
his morals change, his view on courage does not falter once making him a candidate for being a
super hero. Meaning that will all his hate and rash actions he still has the ability to be helpful in
some situations, despite being uncaring of his actions. Blake seems more at peace and can
understand far more than the other Watchmen, like when he discovered Adrians plan before the
other Watchman, but couldnt do anything to stop it.
The Comedian, while a self-indulgent superhero, was instrumental in the discovery of
Adrians plan of killing millions to save billions. Rorschach respected The Comedian because he
knew the world was full of cruel and savage things. So after his death Rorschach decided to find
out why and who killed The Comedian. His death is literally what the book is based off of, if
Edward Blake never died he, The Watchmen and half of New York Citys population would
probably dead due to Adrians plan. He is why the Watchmen came together and why it never
formed. He fathered one of the Watchmen and was even respected by others, not for his
experience but his insight on problems. He is actually the clue that pointed Rorschach and Nite
Owl, Dan Dreiberg, to Adrians company because Rorschach confronted Moloch, the
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Comedians arch enemy. When The Comedian met with the other super heroes to for the
formations of the Watchmen, he displayed his emotions on the topic and left some bad tastes in
some mouths, and one of those was Ozymandias. Adrian Veidt as known as Ozymandias, after
hearing the speech about saving the world, dedicated the rest of his life to unifying the world,
together as one, something even his idol, Alexander the Great, could not accomplish (Moore and
Gibbons 11. 19). He wanted to leave a mark, so he decided to do something even his idol that he
obsessed over couldnt. So alas he spent the remaining 8 years making investments and setting
up his plan to help unify the world by an alien invasion, which to save the world by sacrificing
some of the people he was meant to protect.
Others may argue that Dr. Manhattan, other known as Jon Osterman, or Adrian Veidt,
also known Ozymandias, would be better suited to be said to have ambiguous morals, but this is
simply not the case. Firstly, Dr. Manhattan may seem a better candidate due to his inability to
understand emotions well, as well as stating that Laurie is his only tie to Earth, but the thing is
once Jon Osterman became Dr. Manhattan, his morals changed but he never changed them after
he gained his superpowers (Moore and Gibbons 9. 8). He just developed a rather epithetic block
toward humans. His views are his own and they never changed. Adrian Veidt on the other hand,
decided to think that mass murder was acceptable if the result would outgrow the incident. His
view of The end justifies the means would make sense from a non-biased view point where in
order to prevent world destruction you sacrifice a small portion to save the rest. Adrian would
have probably been the character chosen if for not one thing; he was inspired by The Comedian
himself (Moore and Gibbons 11. 19). In this chapter Veidt explains his reason for coming up
with this plan and he want to stop the war but mostly prevent men like The Comedian from
getting the last laugh. This key situation is what set The Comedian above Adrian Veidt, that and
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the fact that Edward has been ambiguous from the beginning, rather than Adrian who changed
his mind after meeting Edward.
Despite his reckless actions and views toward the world, Edward Blake was not the main
antagonist in the story. With his death, he actually led the heroes to the Veidts base in
Antarctica, even though they didnt stop him he actually did help indirectly. If it wasnt for his
straight forward views of the world, Rorschach would have never admired him or would have
pursued his masked killer idea. Therefore in addition to the millions killed at New York, Dan and
Laurie would also be dead, which would prevent them from being superheroes in the future and
stopping future crime. During the Iranian hostage situation, Blake showed a lighter side rather
than his usual rambunctious character (Moore and Gibbons 3. 23). The Comedian usually solves
his problems with brute force and ignores the possible collateral damage, but in this case he
handle the situation with some care saving the citizens as well as keeping them un harmed. This
fact is mostly just supporting evidence for his credibility as a superhero and his importance to the
story. This act shows that he is actually a superhero rather than a questionable super villain with
his actions, but he always seems to be fighting for the right side despite his actions. Even
though Blake acts rashly and has explosive tendencies, he is a superhero and superheroes fight
evil and save people. According to J Kile, at Moralheros.org, What makes a hero different than
the average person is that they value their goal and are determined to reach it no matter what they
must sacrifice. (para. 5). Even though The Comedian makes rash decisions, his ability to
sacrifice his wellbeing to save and help other people is what makes him a hero, despite his weird
view towards the world.
As a result of his actions throughout the book, Edward Blake, aka The Comedian, is a
character of ambiguous morals. After becoming a hero and supposedly saving lives, he still acts
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violently toward the people he is supposed to protect. He thinks nothing of other but only of
himself, because to him the world is a dark and cruel world where the less fortunate die and the
privileged get what they want. Too him, life is just a joke because everything isnt funny until
there is a punch line and too him its humanity. He see the dark part of the world everyone else
want to avoid. He sees it, accepts it and lives in it because he understands what the world is
hiding and isnt afraid. Without humanity there would be no heroes, no Watchmen, no
Comedian, no war, no mass killing, and no pointless deaths and fights if there were no more
jokes.











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Bibliography
Kile, J. "5 Traits of a Hero." Moral Heroes RSS. N.p., 1 Dec. 2012. Web. 03 Feb. 2014.
<http://moralheroes.org/how-to-become-a-hero>
Staub, Ervim. "Moral Courage, Heroism and Heroic Rescue." Psycology Today.
Sussex Publishers, 29 Mar. 2012. Web. 25 Feb. 2014.
<http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/in-the-garden-good-and-evil/201203/moral-
courage-heroism-and-heroic-rescue>.