Written by Juanita ‘Obi-Juan’ Bonner Volume IV: Shattered Visage…!  Catch up on the journey so far, by way of Juanita’s reviews of Volume I, Volume II and Volume III. Depicted on his self-reincarnated Karnak temple, slash fortress throne in Antarctica, the cover and one variant (both Jae Lee), gives us an idea of how Veidt sees himself. Confirming this thought, the second variant (Mike WM Kaluta), looks to be a naked statue of Ozymandias, appearing to be Alexander the Great, balancing on a ball analogous to what we saw Veidt do at the Red Cross charity event in Volume III. At this point, I’ve decided that one could do a full character analysis just on these original and variant covers alone! “Autobiography continued, December 29, 1960,” Adrian dives right into his crime fighting on the dark streets of New York. He reflects on his fellow vigilantes and notes that comparatively, his acts of heroism are purely selfish… to improve his skills and occupy his evenings. In almost an effortless fashion, Len Wein has slipped in a key piece to Adrian’s psyche. He doesn’t seem to care that he’s actually helping people. Rather, he’s fixated with the overall impending doom and that somehow, he’s the only savior. This is perplexing for the blatant hero contradictions alone. This reader ponders… apparently, for Adrian, as depicted here and in the original works, the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few and I feel an eye roll coming on! After vanquishing a particularly nasty gang called The Flying Tigers with ease (and ego), Adrian leaves them tied up for the police slipping “back into the night…” Moving into the New Year, due to his status, we see Veidt attending John F. Kennedy’s inauguration. We also see him being thanked by Kennedy for helping his campaign and meeting the First Lady. As he departs, Veidt detects “an oddly familiar face” speaking with the President. Calling him Eddie, Kennedy moves to embrace this man while Adrian, with an arched eye of suspicion, notes a cold chill. Edward Blake, I presume… The next scene shows the fortress. Several weeks have passed and Adrian continues his deep dive into Dr. Manhattan by asking to see “all new recorded footage.” It’s here we get a small taste of just what Dr. Manhattan is capable of as he annihilates a band of thugs under “master criminal Moloch,” by reducing them to atoms. Adrian notes that the good Doctor seems to have very little regard for human life which concerns him greatly. I can’t help but think how ironic this is given this is the man who fights for justice to “improve his skills” and later takes millions of lives to suit his maniacal plan. Does he truly believe he is a god and has any greater right over someone like Dr. Manhattan? Jumping ahead to the spring of 1962, Adrian is in attendance to the 45th birthday party for President Kennedy. Marilyn Monroe occupies the majority of the page with her now infamous rendition of happy birthday. [1] After her performance, Veidt is introduced to Miss Monroe by Kennedy. He quickly notices her close interaction with both the President and his brother Robert. A week after the birthday event, Nite Owl reveals his identity on television and a short time later as himself, Hollis Mason, releases his autobiography, Under the Hood. I fondly think back to Watchmen and how they use excerpts from this book to give insight to the original Nite Owl (Ch. 2 and 3). While Adrian is reading this vigilante’s accounts in his throne room, the many screens interrupt him with the death of Marilyn Monroe. Ruled a suicide from barbiturates, Veidt thinks otherwise and that this is; ”somebody tying up loose ends.” Cut to October, we see depictions dealing with the Cuban Missile Crisis [2] and Adrian noting the hands of the doomsday clock being adjusted. He is interrupted by Marla with visitors asking if Veidt can get ahold of Ozymandias immediately at the President’s request. Later, in the Oval Office, Ozymandias presents himself to the President. Kennedy addresses him as Adrian and he admits that hiding his identity from the President was futile. I imagine Veidt as somewhat surprised and simultaneously impressed that the President knew his identity. Candidly, the President tells Veidt the U.S. is on the brink of nuclear war and he’s considering sending Dr. Manhattan “to put an end to the problem.” Wanting the advice of the world’s smartest man, Kennedy asks, ”should I?” Adrian, delighted the President has asked him for input, counsels against it stating, “Once Doctor Manhattan is used for something like this, there’s no turning back.” They conclude the conversation with Ozymandias offering to personally look into the matter. By the end of the crisis, just as Adrian predicted, the Russians back down. They remove their missiles from Cuba in exchange for the United States removing its own from Turkey. The page ends with Kennedy thanking Veidt while the next page picks up 13 months later in Dallas, Texas. Shots are fired! [3] Three days later the presumed gunman, Lee Harvey Oswald, is gunned down by Jack Ruby during a transfer by police. The day after, with news on his multiple screens about the Presidential assassination, Veidt studies all the recorded footage. Searching for something amiss, sadly, Veidt comes to the conclusion that “not even the world’s smartest man is able to predict everything.” Just like Watchmen, the parallels to real life are whimsical. In fact, even more so here since the story isn’t changed drastically like with Nixon and his extended Presidency. Instead, knowing the past is set both in real life and in Watchmen, Len Wein merely infuses this history to seamlessly include Ozymandias, who obviously isn’t aware that The Comedian is the real assassin… fantastic!  In the coming pages, during the following spring, we see Hollis Mason’s protégé, the new Nite Owl and Rorschach make their individual debuts. I happily acknowledge that in true fashion, Nite Owl is light on his feet and Rorschach is heavy with his fists, each dispatching criminals in their own way.
By the fall of 1964, we catch up with Veidt in his New York office building. He entertains a couple of men from his labs and they present him with a new fragrance. Marla, puzzled, asks, “We’re making perfume now, sir?” To which Veidt replies with statements of diversification and how Marla would be surprised at what he has planned for the company. Testing the smell of said perfume, Veidt approves stating “that’s it. That’s finally it” and orders mass production in time for the holidays. When again questioned by Marla what it is he smells in this approved concoction, he sadly says, “nostalgia.” Is it Miranda? Another love perhaps? I think back to the male lover in Volume I and the androgynous marketing used in Watchmen (Ch. 10; pg.31 Veidt Enterprises correspondence regarding Nostalgia). Maybe a different smell from his past; a warm summer breeze of flowers, a certain stop with his father? His mother? Either way, the author has once again brought my thoughts back to the original works (Other references include: Ch. 3; pg. 7 Nostalgia billboard ad, Ch. 9 cover and throughout, and), and I love it! [4] The last few pages of this volume center on the Watchmen themselves. Silk Spectre makes her debut on the west coast in 1965 then moves to New York a few months later. By April of ‘66, on a routine criminal pursuit and capture, a policeman presents Ozymandias with an envelope from Captain Metropolis. When asked by the policeman what’s in the envelope, having been invited to a meeting, Ozymandias replies, “maybe, just maybe officer… a new hope for the future.” Upon arriving to this meeting, Ozymandias sees a room full of masked vigilantes. A one page shot shows Dr. Manhattan, with Janey Slater by his side, Silk Spectre, seated on the end of a desk, Rorschach facing Captain Metropolis and The Comedian seated nonchalantly reading a newspaper. Parallel to the original works, this meeting plays out in more detail told from Adrian’s perspective rather than Dr. Manhattan’s (Ch. 4; pg. 17). At the helm, Metropolis begins the meeting by thanking everyone for coming, revealing his true identity as Nelson Gardner and welcoming everyone to the “first ever meeting of the Crime Busters.” He continues by pointing out that the country hasn’t had any masked heroes since the Minutemen who disbanded in 1949. Finally, he makes note that “specialized law enforcement is standing still. Crime isn’t.” While Metropolis is giving examples, The Comedian, still reading the newspaper says “bullshit.” Blake then verbally attacks the idea or rather Metropolis himself while Nite Owl and Rorschach chime in, each with specific viewpoints. Nite Owl believes pooling their efforts is a good idea. Rorschach doesn’t disagree, but questions the size of the group as “too big and unwieldly.” Ozymandias begins to suggest that with the right person, organizational structure will solve the problem. Cut off by The Comedian, Blake states in a questioning manner, “Oh, an’ I wonder who that would be? Got an ideas, Ozzy? I mean, you are the smartest man in the world right?” I ponder on just how much of an asshole The Comedian truly is. So much pent up anger, tons of arrogance, and don’t get me started on that self-righteous attitude of his. However, to some extent, I must commend a man for calling it like he sees it and The Comedian is the epitome of this. “Ozzy” goes on to say, “It doesn’t take a genius to see that America has problems that need tackling.” Blake mocks the idea that said problems are small enough to be handled by the likes of this group. I hate to agree with this asshole, but seriously, he might be right. The banter continues. Ozymandias pointing out that nothing’s impossible and intelligence is all it takes. “Which you got in spades, right?” Blake fires back. He then continues, calling the group a joke using Moloch as an example; that getting rid of him doesn’t matter or solves the problem. Rorschach begs to differ but The Comedian persists lighting Metropolis’ display on fire while noting that “It don’t matter squat because, inside thirty years, the nukes are gonna be flyin’ like maybugs and then Ozzy here is going to be the smartest man on the cinder.” He then makes his exit leaving Metropolis frantically upset about his display. The rest of the room, apart from Ozymandias, begin to leave with Metropolis trying to stop them to no avail. At the bottom of the page, a final close up on Veidt and his thoughts; ”and that was the moment I realized: that somebody had to be Me.” I marvel, for the seeds of the doomsday plan shall soon be sown! Before Watchmen: Ozymandias #4 - 'Volume IV: Shattered Visage…!' Writer/Artist: Len Wein/Jae Lee; Publisher: DC Comics Volume IV:
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