Alan Moore’s Watchmen is known for being meticulously crafted, with text and Dave Gibbons’s illustrations littered with meaning. This rewards rereads as readers pick up things that were missed or hidden the first time. On occasion, some of those little details can be quite funny and this is one of those times.
Rorschach, the vigilante with the shifting mask, is an unusual character to say the least. A mix of some childhood trauma and a warped sense of justice, he is not someone you would want to meet in a dark alley, let alone have them in your home. Nite Owl, Daniel Dreiberg, is a bit more tolerant though, despite his uninvited visits to Dan’s place.
It was during the first visit we see as readers in Chapter One, where Rorschach had arrived to tell Dan of the Comedian’s death, that Rorschach pocketed some sugar cubes. It is a blink and you miss it moment; just an inconsequential movement drawn by Dave Gibbons. Later on in the chapter, Rorschach scoffs one down while talking to Laurie, the Silk Spectre.
Hardly a huge plot point, except it comes up again in Chapter 3. This time, Laurie is the unexpected guest at Dan’s place. Having had a fight with Jon, Dr Manhattan, Laurie was looking for a friend and Dan stepped up to console her. He tried to make her a nice cup of tea but was surprised to find her only had one cube left.
Rorschach is arrested
Even this is not the last we hear of the stolen sugar cubes. At the end of Chapter 6, there are some documents relating to Rorschach’s arrest, including his arrest details form. It is on this form that the items found on him are listed:
- 1 battery powered flashlight
- 5 individually wrapped cubes ‘Sweet Chariot’ chewing sugar
- 1 map New York underground and subway system
- Withered remains one red rose
- One dollar fifty-nine cents
- One notebook
- One pencil
- One broken bottle ‘Nostalgia’ cologne for men
- A residue of ground black pepper
Why the attention to detail given to the sugar cubes is hard to say. Moore might have included it just as a fun habit to include for Rorschach. Perhaps it is a characteristic of an impoverished adult looking for cheap energy. Does he just like them? Or is it the result of a man who is so used to self-reliance, he refuses to ask his friend for them. Or is it something else entirely?
Ultimately, it is those sugar cubes that link Rorschach to Dan, after a police detective notices the bag and questions Dan about it slyly. The detective returns with backup, causing Rorschach and Nite Owl to go on the run in Chapter 8, moving the story towards the final act.
Few, if any, graphic novels give this much time on seemingly insignificant details, but Watchmen is full of them. What else have you noticed?
Key Comics Vault 
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