Original artwork, not a still
Once you realize what a joke everything is, being the Comedian is the only thing that makes sense.
— Watchmen • 1986
Behind the line
What it means
Our interpretation.
The Comedian's creed is that the world is a cruel gag and the only sane response is to play along, and Watchmen spends its length testing that. His cynicism cracks when he finds a plot even he cannot laugh at, which gives the joke its sting. Fans quote the idea whenever bleak humour is the only reaction left.
Context reviewed
In context
Spoilers for WatchmenShow the scene
The Comedian, Edward Blake, is the murder victim whose death opens Watchmen (Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, DC, 1986-87), and issue #2 shows what he believed. At his funeral, in flashback, he scoffs that reuniting the heroes as the Crimebusters is a joke. In Vietnam, he tells Doctor Manhattan that once you see the joke of everything, being the Comedian is the only thing that makes sense. Days before his death he turned up drunk and frightened at the door of the old villain Moloch, hinting at an island and a horror he had discovered.
Sources (3)
- Watchmen fandom: Chapters in WatchmenChapter II summaryReference checked
- Watchmen fandom: Eddie BlakeInfobox quote and BiographyReference checked
- Wikiquote: WatchmenEdward Blake/The Comedian sectionReference checked
Context reviewed
