Watchmen is one of the greatest comic book series of all time, routinely featured on best graphic novel lists. Alan Moore’s and Dave Gibbons’s Watchmen is a meticulously crafted piece of work, with so many details to examine. These details can be overlooked and readers might miss Rorschach stealing sugar cubes or the many smiling faces. Another is the shape of the speech bubbles in Watchmen.
Post-Vietnam speech bubbles
The majority of Watchmen is set in 1985, with readers following the various costumed vigilantes during this time. The speech bubbles during this period are therefore the most common, and considered the standard for the book. At first glance, the speech bubbles appear normal, but on closer inspection something is off.
Dave Gibbons was the illustrator for the series and he was also the letterer. He designed the speech bubbles of the characters, with a couple of notable exceptions mentioned later, to feature slight angles, instead of being circular or oval. This was to depict an uneasy time, where people are on edge and things are not right.
Notably, the earliest instances of these slightly jagged speech bubbles in the Watchmen timeline is during Doctor Manhattan’s and the Comedian’s stint in Vietnam. In Watchmen, US and the South Vietnam forces were victorious. It was in Vietnam that both Jon and Eddie committed horrendous acts of violence. The speech bubbles act as another visual clue to them losing their humanity and empathy.
Pre-Vietnam War speech bubbles
It is worth contrasting those more contemporary speech bubbles to those shown in flashbacks to pre-Vietnam, such as shown during the attempted formation of the Crimebusters. In them, speech bubbles are illustrated in a more traditional manner i.e. smooth circular and oval shapes.
Nostalgia, and the intoxicating effects of it, is a running theme throughout Watchmen. Characters often talk almost wistfully of those times and the speech bubbles are an element of this. They attempt to subtly show things as being simpler. This is in contrast to the frequently horrible things being discussed or shown in those panels.
Rorschach’s and Doctor Manhattan’s word balloons
It should be highlighted that certain characters have their own speech bubble designs. Doctor Manhattan is one, as his speech is shown in concentric shapes, the middle one a light blue matching his skin tone. The outer ring creates a similarity to his hydrogen symbol. The whole effect differentiates Doctor Manhattan from the others even more.
Rorschach is another character who stands out because of their speech bubbles. Like others, Rorschach’s word balloons are round in his early career. However, after the distressing night where he confronts a child killer (shown in Chapter VI), it changes. Kovac’s speech bubbles become distorted and very rough around the edges. This adds a visual gruffness to his voice, but also enhances the sense of Rorschach being unbalanced.
What is interesting about Rorschach is what happens when he is captured at the end of Chapter V by the police. The officers pull his mask off leaving Walter Kovacs screaming “No! My face! Give it back!”. When he says this, readers see his speech bubbles change to the same style as other characters.
Lettering and speech bubbles should not be taken for granted. Gibbons here however shows that even subtle changes can elevate storytelling. Spend a little longer looking at speech bubbles in the next comic you read and think about what the font and placement are trying to convey.
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Buy Watchmen #1 Facsimile Edition – Forbidden Planet UK
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