Some
of the most interesting characters come from the people we least expect. I
didn’t understand the brutal nature of the Comedian, Edward Blake, in the Watchmen,
and I don’t condone some of his behavior. However, he is a character who was
hyper-aware of his situation, society, and reality and chose to express it
through a parody, a “joke”, by joining the harsh, cruel world to see if anyone
noticed.
I
really like how the end of Chapter II repeated and combined scenes from Blake’s
murder in Chapter I and flashback scenes in Chapter II. The panels alternated
between murder and flashback to display Rorschach’s explanation of Edward
Blake, the Comedian. The red filter of killing scenes were kept the same. The
flashback scenes were given an orange tint, similar to a sepia tone, if they
weren’t already. The alternating scenes and colors gave the readers a
desperate, unfortunate, dark sense of mind.
Comedy can be a mask or an advanced form of understanding. Once you get to that point of realization, it’s like there’s nothing left to do but laugh. It reminds me of real-life comedians and how they present their audience a different way of looking at things without being overtly offensive. After learning more about Edward Blake, it also reminded me of Batman’s Joker. He is not just insane, but is highly intelligent and aware of his actions (we just don’t understand him completely because his back story is complicated).
I agree that there are some striking similarities between the Joker and The Comedian, and I find it interesting that they are portrayed on opposite sides of the fight. There's something especially scary about a villain, or a villainous figure, who has lost all respect or appreciation for humanity. The idea of pain and suffering being comedic seems to indicate they have lost the ability to empathize, and thus the ability to show mercy. I think it is what makes them both so effective in their roles. On a side note: You briefly mentioned the orange associated with the Comedian and I love it's use. The Joker is so much colder than The Comedian in some ways, but the sort of harsh, feral-ness of the comedian works so well with the burning (almost fire-like) orange tonality.
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