Nite Owl (I) Part 6: Watchmen #8 (April, 1987)

Hollis faces his end...

I have this issue in the Watchmen trade.

Hollis gets back in touch with Sally. They talk about the events of the night before and how Nite Owl and Silk Spectre have returned to the spotlight. Later, as Hollis prepares for Halloween trick-or-treaters, local gang-bangers learn about the second Nite Owl’s involvement in Rorschach’s escape from prison. They mistakenly blame Hollis for Dan’s actions, and decide to teach him a lesson…by killing him.

Notes of Interest:
1) Based on his conversation with Sally, this is the first they’ve spoken to each other since the reunion at Sally’s in 1962.

2) I must have missed something. There’s obviously a moment when Sally mentions making a decision between extra analysis or aerobics that affects Hollis in some way, but I don’t understand how. A dig about his book maybe?

3) Another part I don’t get is where Hollis is carving the pumpkin. I assume when he says “Like Rodin, huh?” he’s referring to the sculptor, and the jack-o-lantern is the masterpiece, but beyond that I have no idea.

4) Talk about classic Moore storytelling…First, Moore had the gang confuse Nite Owl with Nite Owl II, even though their costumes were completely different and Hollis was significantly older - a depiction of mobs distorting facts in order to justify their actions. There’s the panel where the gang’s knocking at the door, and we see Hollis getting up from a chair facing a fireplace. Above the fireplace are the various pictures of himself with the Minutemen and other framed moments from his past - a testament to all the good deeds done over a lifetime. There’s the panel showing Nite Owl in his prime, fighting what looks like a gang of thugs, and smiling. Immediately on the next page is the panel showing Hollis in the present, bloody and battered fighting a gang of thugs, with the silhouette of his statue forming a mask over his face – a death mask. There’s the statue itself (given to him at his retirement party in gratitude of his career) being used as the murder weapon – showing how perceptions of heroism change. Finally, there’s the last panel, with the three children finding the body – innocence lost.

WTF? Moment: When I first read this issue in 1988 (I borrowed the trade from a friend), I wanted to scream at the page. Heroes shouldn’t die this way. It made me so mad I wanted to throw it away (which would have angered my friend) and never read the rest. But of course I had to read the rest, and eventually bought my own copy. Over time, and with many re-readings, I have learned to accept how and why Hollis had to die, but MAN does it suck.