Nite Owl (I) Part 4: Watchmen #4 (December, 1986)

Hollis faces his retirement, and change…

I have this issue in the Watchmen trade.

We witness both times Hollis interacts with Dr. Manhattan. The first is in June, 1960 at a benefit event for the Red Cross. They’re both at the event, but we don’t see them talking. Their second meeting is in May, 1962 at Hollis’ retirement party. Hollis reveals that since things have changed in the crime fighting business, he plans to fix cars, and Dr. Manhattan has a few choice words about that.

Notes of Interest:
1) Hollis mentioned first meeting Dr. Manhattan at the benefit in his Under The Hood comments from Watchmen #3, calling it a turning point in his career.

2) Thanks to Dr. Manhattan, Hollis felt obsolete in two ways – as a costumed hero getting too old to continue fighting crime, and as a mechanic fixing cars that will no longer be made.

3) Hollis’ entire world came crashing down when Dr. Manhattan arrived. What’s interesting is that Moore could have made Hollis turn evil and plot to destroy Jon, or go batshit insane and end up in a padded room next to Mothman or simply say ‘to hell with it’ and commit suicide. Instead, Hollis writes his novel (giving us great insight to the Watchmen universe), does his mechanic thing (as much as possible), and lives somewhat vicariously through the activities of his unintentional successor.

4) Hollis, of all the characters in this story, is the one guy I’d want to hang out with, listening to his stories over beers, and I think that was Moore’s intention: to present someone readers could identify with as the ‘average guy’ who just wanted to be a super-hero, did it, and got out just as everything got (more) crazy.

WTF? Moment: Hollis was 45 years old when he retired, and a rather intelligent man. There’s no reason (aside for the plot points mentioned above) that he couldn’t have gone back to school to upgrade his mechanic skills for the new technology. Electric cars are different, but they still break down.