Watchmen is a comic book series and graphic novel written by Alan Moore and drawn by Dave Gibbons published by DC Comics. It tells the story of an alternative 1985, where the world is at the brink of a nuclear war at the height of the cold war. Five superheroes, all but one ordinary human beings, and all of them harboring complex emotional ties and relationships with each other and the world around them, are brought back together after the death of a sixth reveals a disturbing conspiracy which has implications for the whole world. The comic jumps from page to page between flashbacks from 1930's to the 1980's, and also to a meta-comic (comic within a comic), Tales of the Black Freighter, that parallels and mirrors the stories narrative and several characters from the Watchmen world. It is the only graphic novel to appear on Time Magazine's All Time 100 Novels list. The graphic novel is credited as being one of the main influences of today's comic book world, pushing writers into more realistic and grittier writing. The graphic novel has since been turned into a film, which was released in March 2009 worldwide.
Confirmed influence on Lost
Damon Lindelof called Watchmen "the greatest piece of popular fiction ever produced". Source: Entertainment Weekly Also, writer Brian K. Vaughan, who is best known for his works in the field of comics, cited Watchmen as "definitely" the inspiration for his start as a writer.[1]Javier Grillo-Marxuach, writer/producer in Seasons 1 and 2, has stated that Watchmen "was a topic of much discussion among those of us in the writers’ room who were comics-minded." [2]
Shared themes / Shared scenes
Watchmen
Lost
In Watchmen, a character named Adrian Veidt/Ozymandias forms a theory that war and environmental damage will lead to humanity’s destruction in the mid-1990s. Veidt concocts a way to save humanity. The plan involves the deaths of millions of innocent people, but he justifies this to himself that the cost of life to millions will save billions.
The TLE'sSri Lanka Video describes Enzo Valenzetti's predicted demise of humanity, and Alvar Hanso's plan to avert that disaster. It also describes Thomas Mittelwerk's extension of the plan which involves the killing of large numbers of people, justified by the end result of saving all of humanity.
Doctor Manhattan has the hydrogen symbol on his forehead.
Writer Javier Grillo-Marxuach revealed that the DHARMA logo at the start of the Sri Lanka video is of a hydrogen atom, and a direct reference to Doctor Manhattan's symbol.
The main characters of Watchmen recall scenes that occurred before the events of the graphic novel.
The main characters of Lost recall scenes that occurred before the events of the show.
Adrian Veidt sends a group of scientists and artists to a mysterious island.
This is very similar to the operations of Alvar Hanso and the DHARMA Initiative on the Island.
Edward Blake/The Comedian was murdered for discovering the secrets of Adrian Veidt's/Ozymandias' island, where evil plans were being hatched by scientists.
In the Lost Experience, Rachel Blake's life is at stake because she is uncovering the Hanso Foundation's secret plans for the Island in the Sri Lanka video.
An elderly newsstand vendor named Bernard started a newsstand because his wife, Rosa, had died.
The issues of Egyptology become increasingly present in the later part of the series, with Ozymandius seen meditating above a pyramid with the Ankh symbol around it. Anubis is also referenced in the final chapters of the novel.
Egyptology references have been shown in more recent episodes of Lost, with the Ankh symbol seen in "LaFleur". Further, the four-toed statue has finally been shown complete (albeit from behind), looking quite similar to Anubis. Egyptian Hieroglyphics have been a theme in the show since season 2, and the Island has been shown to have some Ancient Egypt-like influence on it, at one point.
Laurie Juspeczyk/Silk Spectre II's mother, the first Silk Spectre, was raped by Edward Blake/The Comedian. Laurie hated him for the way he treated her mother. During this time, Laurie finds out that The Comedian not only abused her mother but was her biological father, and despite the rape and abuse suffered, her mother still loved him, and mourned his death.
This mirrors Kate's relationship with her mother, which is also strained. Kate also finds out after his death that the man she believed to be her mother's abusive new husband was in fact her biological father. Despite this abuse, Kate's mother also still loved him, and mourned his death.
Adrien Veidt’s name as a masked adventurer was Ozymandias, the Greek name for Ramses II. The following is a poem about Ozymandias, which may be analogous to the statue seen in "Live Together, Die Alone, Part 1":
“
In Egypt’s sandy silence, all alone,
Stands a gigantic Leg, which far off throws
The only shadow that the Desert knows: –
“I am great Ozymandias,” saith the stone,
“The King of Kings; this mighty City shows
“The wonders of my hand.” – The City’s gone, –
Nought but the Leg remaining to disclose
The site of this forgotten Babylon.
- Horace Smith.
”
Shelley's version of this poem is the one that actually appears in Watchmen. It deals more directly with the impermanence of political power and civilizations, and therefore is thematically relevant to the fall of the DHARMA Initiative during the Purge, or the fall of human civilization as predicted by the Valenzetti Equation :
“
I met a Traveler from an antique land,
Who said, "Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read,
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed:
And on the pedestal these words appear:
"My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings:
Look on my works ye Mighty, and despair!"
No thing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that Colossal Wreck, boundless and bare,
The lone and level sands stretch far away.
- Percy Bysshe Shelley.
”
Doctor Manhattan experiences time in a nonlinear fashion, due to his superhuman abilities. He is able to see things before they happen and after they happen. After his accident, he appears naked. Additionally, he keeps a picture of his human self and his former girlfriend Janey Slater.
Desmond Hume time travels on multiple occasions, most notably when he turned the key, experiencing one long period of time travel as well as many after-effects ("flashes"). He also became "unstuck in time", traveling between the past and the present. After his accident, he appears naked in the jungle. Desmond keeps a picture of himself and his girlfriend Penny, posed the same way as Jon and Janey.
A smiley face is found near Edward Blake's corpse.
The original Henry Gale's hot air balloon is notable for the fact that it is adorned with a smiley face. A short distance away is Henry Gale's corpse.
Edward Blake is attacked and thrown out of an apartment window and falling to his death after inadvertently discovering Veidtt's plans.
John Locke is attacked by his father for attempting to reveal his conning plans, and is thrown out an apartment window, falling several stories.
The Veidt Corporation owns numerous shell companies and engages in both a public front (Shoes, Perfume) and secret scientific research.
Adrian Veidt's jungle atrium in the middle of a frozen wasteland (Antarctica) is where he launches a massive alien into New York City and attempts to stop the Cold War.
Benjamin Linus's frozen room in the middle of the jungle is where he moves the island and attempts to stop the war with the freighter. It is the opposite of Veidt's base (but still similar) in the way that Veidt's was a jungle in the middle of ice while Ben's was ice in the middle of jungle.
Watchmen features a comic within the comic called "Tales of the Black Freighter." The highlighted story (titled "Marooned") chronicles a shipwrecked man's attempts to warn his family about the impending doom that will occur when a mysterious, black, pirate freighter arrives at the town.
Lost features a mysterious, ship-wrecked vessel -- apparently from the same time period as the Black Freighter -- called "The Black Rock." According to an auctioneer selling the ship's first mate's journal, the Black Rock set sail from Portsmouth, England on March 22, 1845, and was believed to have been lost at sea. Somehow, however, it became stranded in the middle of the island.
In Watchmen, the above mentioned parallel comic is read by a young boy named Bernie.
In Lost, Walt, who resembles Bernie in height, weight, and appearance, reads a comic book that also mirrors the situation on the island with the polar bear.
In Watchmen, The Story ends with the blood on the smiley face being ketchup.
In Lost, Hurley tells the police it's just ketchup on his shirt.
In Watchmen, The phrase deus ex machina is used. Dr Manhattan: Now, I believe we have a conversation scheduled.
Laurie: God, Yes. Yes, I was just thinking... But Jon, how did you know? I need to see you, you appear... I mean, it's all so Deus Ex Machina...
Dr Manhattan: "The God out of the machine." Yes. Yes, I suppose it is...
In Lost, an episode is named Deus Ex Machina
In Watchmen, An egg is cracked open during a near homicide and the bad guy is stuffed in a fridge.
In Lost, Keamy cracks eggs in the flash sideways before being shot by Sayid while Jin is in the fridge.
In Watchmen, Tales of the Black Freighter contains a story of a raft and sharks.
In Lost, The episode Adrift contains a tale of a raft and a shark.
In Watchmen, Rorschach defends himself by lighting hairspray and turning it into a torch.
In Lost, Locke defends himself from the Polar bear by lighting hairspray and turning it into a torch.
In Watchmen, There is mention of a writing style where you start a story with such a sad introduction that the readers sympathy is with you to the end. "Start off with the saddest thing you can think of and get the audiences sympathies on your side. After that believe me it's a walk.
In Lost, The story starts out with a very sad tale about John Lock, whose Mother is crazy, whose father betrays him and he loses his ability to walk.
In Watchmen, One of the bad guys swallows a poison pill.
In Lost, Jack is given a poison pill to give to Sayid, then swallows it himself.
In Watchmen, one of the main characters, Rorschach is sent to prison and psycho-analysed.
In Lost, one of the main characters Hugo is psycho-analysed and sent to prison.
In Watchmen, there is short story of a person being startled by a shrieking owl.
In Lost, Hurley is startled by a shrieking bird that makes a sound - "Hurley"
In Watchmen, As a little girl Laurie drops a snowglobe in slow motion and her Dad yells at her.
In Lost, Sun drops a glass ballerina in slow motion and her Dad gets angry about it.
In Watchmen, A watch is woven into Dr. Manhatten's story line. His father fixed watches. Jon fixes a watch for his girl friend and this is woven into his story line.
In Lost, Jin receives a watch from his father in law and this watch is also woven into Sun and Jin's story line.
In Watchmen, A freighter is blown up at sea.
In Lost, A freighter is blown up at sea.
In Watchmen, A main character logs into a character based computer screen.
In Lost, The computer screen in the hatch looks very similar. Michael logs in to a character based computer with a green screen and a blinking cursor.
In Watchmen, Ozymandias views the world through many television screens.
In Lost, Mikhail watched the off island world through many television screens.
In Watchmen, Hollis Mason retires from his old life as a superhero to work as a mechanic, but is forced to return to his old life when he is attacked and killed.
In Lost, Juliet retires from her life of violence and job as a fertility doctor to work as a mechanic, but is forced to return to that life when Amy goes into labour and the Oceanic 6 returns to the Island, which leads to her death after the Incident.
See also
Apocalypse - Article on apocalyptic references in Lost
Desmond Hume time travels on multiple occasions, most notably when he turned the key, experiencing one long period of time travel as well as many after-effects ("flashes"). He also became "unstuck in time", traveling between the past and the present. After his accident, he appears naked in the jungle. Desmond keeps a picture of himself and his girlfriend Penny, posed the same way as Jon and Janey.
as the Black Freighter -- called "The Black Rock." According to an auctioneer selling the ship's first mate's journal, the Black Rock set sail from Portsmouth, England on March 22, 1845, and was believed to have been lost at sea. Somehow, however, it became stranded in the middle of the island.
