Watchmen Wiki
Register
Advertisement
For other versions of Blake, see Comedian (disambiguation).

"Once you realize what a joke everything is, being the Comedian's is the only thing that makes sense."

—Eddie Blake to Doctor Manhattan in Vietnam


Edward Morgan "Eddie" Blake, also known as the Comedian, was a masked vigilante and paramilitary operative for the United States government. A first generation costume adventurer, he was a member of both the original Minutemen of the 1940s and the Crimebusters. Blake had been active for forty-five years through the aid of government-sponsored activities and the press conjuring him into a patriotic symbol of war and victory.

Biography[]

Early life[]

Edward Morgan Blake was born in 1924. Almost nothing is known about Blake's early life. In 1939, Blake became a costumed adventurer known as the Comedian, wearing a gaudy yellow-and-purple boiler suit and domino mask. He gained city-wide attention after he thwarted a robbery of a jewelry store in SoHo. He also had a number of highly publicized clashes with members of the Garbino organized crime family. Hollis Mason had described him as a "particularly vicious and brutal young man" who was an effective vigilante, managing to expunge most organized crime from the New York harbor.[1][2]

Minutemen[]

Joining the Minutemen[]

In the fall of that year, Blake read an advertisement in the New York Gazette written by Nelson Gardner with the help of Laurence Schexnayder that asked all other costumed adventurers to step forward, a unification that spawned the Minutemen. He was the sixth official member to be accepted into the group. Since he was the youngest member of the group he had always made jokes that he was going to outlive and even bury all of them, as well as always having been flirtatious with fellow Minuteman Silk Spectre. As World War II began in Europe, he wished that they would be sent where the action is.[2]

Assaulting Silk Spectre[]

On October 2, 1940, Blake attempted to sexually assault Silk Spectre while she was getting dressed. At the time, he was 16 and she was 20. As she exclaimed 'no' to his sexual advances, he persisted and she clawed him in the face; Enraged, Blake punched her in the stomach and face until blood was spilling from her mouth and laid her on the ground barely able to move. Hooded Justice interrupted the assault in time and caught Blake with his pants down over her semi-conscious body. He savagely attacked Blake, breaking his nose and kneeing his groin, then held him up to face him. (While he coughed up blood, it dripped from his chin to his shirt in a small drop about where his badge would be years later). Blake laughed and said "This is what you like, huh? This is what gets you hot..." but to this Hooded Justice only replied, "Get out."[2]

Expelled from the Minutemen[]

Blake had been expelled from the Minutemen with minimal publicity, but Sally Jupiter's agent, Laurence Schexnayder, persuaded her not to press charges against him for fear of what it would do to the group's image, so he continued his profession on his own,[3] although his self-restraint continued to slip.

Independent Crimefighter[]

New Costume[]

Following his expulsion from the Minutemen, Blake continued to fight criminals as an independent costumed adventurer.

In 1941, Blake was stabbed by a small-time hoodlum and was seriously injured. Due to this, he decided to upgrade his costume into a leather-based uniform for his own protection,[4] and began carrying a pistol.

War Hero[]

In the 1940s, Blake was drafted into World War II, where he served as a special operative for the OSS and Army Intelligence. He gained recognition as a war hero for his efforts and successes. In May 6th, 1945, Blake made a bet with a military officer that he could kill all seven Japanese prisoners of war with just eight bullets at a range of 50 paces. Blake shot and killed seven Japanese prisoners of war. Blake was court martialed for the incident, but the charges were dropped due to lack of evidence. While in Tokyo, Blake contracted Syphilis and was treated by Dr. Edward Ross.[5]

Around 1949, he had another encounter with Sally Jupiter while she had been married to Laurence Schexnayder. One year later she had a child that would be later revealed to be Laurie. While never explicitly mentioned, the second sexual encounter between the Comedian and the first Silk Spectre is said to be consensual, and at the end, in spite of everything, Sally had feelings for the Comedian.

In 1949, there appeared to be a movie produced by Stellar Studios starring or featuring the Comedian in the works. It was titled Okinawa Dawn and seems to be based on his adventures in the Pacific theatre, possibly inspired by war hero Audie Murphy's biographical movie about his own exploits. The page of the script that was revealed shows the Comedian alongside several soldiers. One of them has wandered into danger and the Comedian fights all protests and runs off to save him. He is ambushed by a hidden Japanese soldier. A fight ensues and ends with the soldier at the Comedian's mercy. He has a knife, poised to slit the soldier's throat, but throws it aside and ties him up, saying "Looks like the war is gonna end a bit early for you, friend."[5]

Government Sponsored Activity[]

House UnAmerican Activities Committee[]

During the 1950s, while his former peers were column-fillers, Blake flourished as the only masked adventurer left still making headlines due to his government connections which were transforming him into a sort of patriotic symbol of American justice.[6]

During the House UnAmerican Activities Committee hearings, Blake was the only vigilante not forced to testify due to his involvement with the government.[7]

In 1960, Blake and other former Minutemen attended a Red Cross charity event for the India Famine along with other new heroes, like Doctor Manhattan. He discussed a little with a troubled Captain Metropolis.[6][8]

By 1966, Blake carried out a variety of covert operations and military campaigns for the United States government, and became a expert at blackmail, torture, political assassinations, strategy, and tactics.

The Crimebusters[]

The Comedian Mouthing off to the group

First meeting

Hollis Mason, the original Nite Owl, had published his autobiography Under the Hood in 1966 and he disclosed the Comedian's sexual assault on Sally Jupiter, though Blake never sued the author.

That same year, he was invited to join the Crimebusters by Captain Metropolis, but he quickly ruined the older hero's hope of a new team by mocking him, claiming he was only doing it for vanity and glory, and even set his display on fire while saying that old fashioned crime-fighting methods were useless for saving the world when the threat of nuclear war lay overhead at all times.[2] This rant opened Ozymandias's eyes.[9]

It was also here that the Comedian met his daughter, Laurie Juspeczyk, now the new Silk Spectre, and asked her if her mother ever talked about him, but their conversation was quickly broken up by an angry Sally Jupiter. The Comedian seemed genuinely perplexed that Sally was still holding a grudge against him, saying he thought they had settled their differences.[10] Ozymandias saw the three from the distance arguing.[9] Laurie noted that the Comedian looked sad as he watched them drive away, and felt sorry for him. That was until her mother told her of their past history (but still not telling Laurie that she was his daughter), after which she felt nothing but disgust and hatred towards him.[10]

Vietnam War[]

While in Saigon, he teamed up with Doctor Manhattan who joined in the effort in March 1971. Together they played a major role in the United States' war with Vietnam.

Shortly after Manhattan's godlike powers forced the North Vietnamese into full surrender,[8] Blake was confronted by a Vietnamese woman he had apparently impregnated. He told her bluntly that he planned to leave the country immediately without her, and in a rage, she slashed his face with a broken bottle. Blake shot and killed her.[2]

His injury led to a disfiguring scar that ran from his right eye down to the corner of his mouth, giving his face the impression that he was constantly sneering; after this incident, he wore an enclosing leather gimp-style mask when dressing as the Comedian. He was court-martialed for the incident but the charges were dropped for lack of evidence.

Political Activity

In March 14, 1973, Blake attended a fundraiser for Richard Nixon where he gave a speech, in which he was questioned regarding his time as costumed adventurer.

In 1974, a banquet was held in his honor. G. Gordon Liddy and Gerald Ford were there as well as Doctor Manhattan with Laurie Juspeczyk. Blake was with a company discussing the deaths of Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein who were found in a garage, and the publication of underground newspapers that linked them to a conspiracy; Blake joked that the editors of Berkeley Barb took drugs and came up these stories; he also joked about John F. Kennedy's death. Then Laurie (who had drunk too much) approached him, accused him as a rapist, leaving Blake petrified. She even threw a glass of drink at his face. Angered, Manhattan teleported her home.[10]

The Keene Act[]

The costumed adventurers faced massive backlash and rioting in the 1970s. Masked adventurers were sent to quiet the unrest and the Comedian teamed up with Nite Owl II in his Owlship. During that time, Nite Owl reminisced that the Comedian mistook the Owlship's flamethrower for a lighter and almost caused a disaster.[11] The Comedian responded violently to the protesters, throwing a grenade driving the crowd away scared, shooting one who was painting a graffiti against the vigilantes. He explained to his mate that there is an Act in the making, but until then the adventurers must protect the people "from themselves". He claimed that he didn't go crazy like the others, and keeps things in proportion, trying to see the funny side.[2]

In response to those events, the Congress passed the Keene Act, requiring all heroes to register with the government if they wished to remain active. The majority of them "retired" in anonymity, while one other, Rorschach, continued his activities in open defiance of the law. Doctor Manhattan and the Comedian were the only two who registered with, and were employed by, the government.[8]

Iranian

The Comedian later resolves the Iranian Hostage Situation around 1979 and frees the captives. This action silences many of his critics, though Laurie Juspeczyk still hated him.[8] The Comedian's actions during the hostage crisis are suggested to have traumatized those who were rescued by him.

Around that time the Comedian had missions against Marxist republics in South America.[12] In his civilian identity, he was known as a diplomat.[13]

Events of Watchmen[]

While on a plane during a mission in 1985, Blake noticed suspicious activity on an uncharted island. He infiltrated the island and learned of its purpose, the realization of which was severely traumatizing. Unable to bear the burden of knowledge alone, Blake broke into the apartment of Edgar Jacobi, who had fought Blake years earlier as Moloch the Mystic, and rambled drunkenly about the island.[2]

Murder[]

On the night of October 11th, 1985, Blake was writing a personal letter to Laurie Juspeczyk until Adrian Veidt, who was controlling the island's activity and had bugged Moloch's apartment for his own reasons, barged in and attacked Blake, beating him up and then throwing him through the apartment window resulting in him falling to his death. An investigation of his death is brought forward by both the New York City Police Department and Rorschach, the later suspecting foul play. The CIA informed Doctor Manhattan about his death, and theorized that Libya was responsible.[12]

Legacy[]

Eddie Blake's Final Message[]

When his apartment was broken into, he was writing a note to Laurie Juspeczyk.

The note reads as follows: "Dear Laurie, I don't know what your Mom has told you about me but I really Well, I think that something terrible is going to happen soon, and before I die I just wanted you to know I lo"

The note cuts off there, presumably when he is interrupted.

Funeral[]

Blake's funeral was held at a cemetery in New York City under the pouring rain. Because of Blake's heinous actions as a military operative, protestors chanted outside the gates of the cemetery. In attendance were Adrian Veidt, Jon Osterman, and Dan Dreiberg, and Walter Kovacs, the later who remained outside the gates of cemetery to hide his identity from the rest of them. His coffin was covered with the American flag.[2]

Rorschach's Investigation[]

Following Blake's death, a rogue vigilante named Rorschach began to independently investigate the murder. While searching Blake's apartment, Rorschach discovers a hidden closet containing a costume and other items that indicate that the murdered man was the Comedian, a former member of both Minutemen and the Watchmen. This discovery raises Rorschach's suspicion of a plot to kill costumed adventurers ("masks"); his continuing investigation into Blake's murder leads to a much larger, more horrifying secret.

Thermodynamic Miracle[]

While trying to convince Doctor Manhattan to save the Earth from nuclear war, Laurie Juspeczyk came to the shocking realization that the Comedian was her father. This revelation provoked an unexpected emotional response in the superhuman Manhattan, who was stunned that two people as different as the Comedian and Sally Jupiter could come together and produce a child, and that child being Laurie, he realized that such odds of improbability extended to all members of the human race. This revelation encouraged Manhattan that human life was worth saving and, later, gave Laurie a chance to reconcile with her mother.[14]

Abilities[]

  • Peak Human Condition: Throughout his long career as a costumed adventurer and government operative, Blake developed and maintained a physique that granted him extreme, albeit non-superhuman, levels of strength, speed and stamina that the average human did not possess. His immense physical prowess allowed Blake to fight and defeat a young Ozymandias early in the latter's career. However, despite his incredible capabilities, Blake was not strong or fast enough to keep up with Veidt when the former was in his 60s and had been ambushed by the latter. He could even land on his feet from several feet in the air without being hurt, weakened or slowed down. However, there are people who have overpowered and beaten him, such as Hooded Justice, who bashed his face to a bloody pulp while restraining him (albeit that time, he was caught off guard), and Ozymandias, who thoroughly dominated a dispirited Blake in their last confrontation.
  • Master Combatant: Blake was an incredibly skilled, self-taught hand-to-hand combatant who was in excellent physical condition, even at the time of his death. In the Under the Hood excerpts it is revealed that the Blake defeated Ozymandias in combat during their first encounter - a loss that Adrian Veidt never got over personally. Veidt described Blake as the "perfect fighting man" when he revealed to Nite Owl II and Rorschach how he had stumbled upon his plan to trick the world out of impending disaster and bring an end to all war. In denigrating his mortal enemy's martial prowess as amounting to little more than a "skillful feint" and "devastating uppercut", Ozymandias perhaps described exactly how Blake had beaten him when they first met.
The Comedian Barbequing

Comedian using a flamethrower during the Vietnam War

  • Master Marksman: Blake was proficient with virtually all military and non-military grade weaponry and was an master marksman. He was able to wield high caliber assault rifles, shotguns, as well as handguns with great accuracy. He even utilized a flamethrower during his time in the Vietnam War.
  • Master Assassin: As a government-sanctioned agent from 1942 until his death, Blake was very skilled in assassination techniques, as well as received professional training in special operations, urban and guerrilla warfare, espionage, intelligence gathering, and military tactics. In these covert disciplines, he proved so talented and effective that during the 1960s and 1970s he was a "Black-Ops" type agent for the U.S. government, possibly as part of the CIA's elite "Special Activities Division". He fought as an active combatant and government liaison in several wars, most notably World War II and the Vietnam War killing several enemy combatants with no mercy.
  • Gifted Intelligence: Despite his incomplete education, Blake was highly intelligent and possessed remarkable detective skills of deduction and analysis. He was the first costumed adventurer to discover Ozymandias' plot, and the first character to fully recognize Doctor Manhattan's growing detachment from humanity. He also correctly intuited Hooded Justice's sexual orientation (although he apparently wasn't the only member who suspected this).

Equipment[]

  • Leather Body Armor
  • .45 Pistols
  • Knives
  • Tear Gas Grenades

Personality[]

Blake is a cigar-chomping, gun-toting vigilante turned paramilitary agent. He is described variously as "deliberately amoral" with a "practiced cynicism", meaning that he usually has little regard for social conventions or human life. Always in character as the Comedian, he describes the world as a sadistic joke that only he understands, but in the end his practiced cynicism is shattered when he discovers a plot that he regards as a "practical joke" even he can't believe anyone would pull.

Appearance[]

The Comedian's hidden costume

Comedian's later costume

While in the Minutemen, the Comedian's costume was extremely gaudy, consisting of a bright yellow and purple boiler suit. He has purple gloves and boots as well a similarly colored domino mask over his eyes to protect his identity. Also, he had a bright red belt buckle in the shape of a laughing face. In 1941, due to an unexplained incident, he was stabbed and decided to convert his armor into something more protective. He then produced the armor that would serve him throughout the rest of his career, made out of thick leather and patriotic shoulder pads, although he kept the same mask for quite some time. On VVN Day in Saigon, he was slashed in the face with a bottle by an unnamed Vietnamese woman he had gotten pregnant. Afterward, he wore a more protective and concealing gimp-like mask.

Blake was fairly slight but lean (and mean) when introduced as a member of the Minutemen, but his physical stature greatly increased over the years, which could be attributed to the fact that he was only a teenager at the time he served with the group. At the time of his death, Blake was quite tall and had a very well-built, muscular physique despite being in his early sixties. He was described as being 225 pounds, being built like a linebacker, and being in terrific shape despite his age.

Trivia[]

  • The Comedian was created by Watchmen writer Alan Moore and illustrator Dave Gibbons, although, like all characters in the series, he was based on a Charlton Comics character, in this case the Peacemaker, created by writer Joe Gill and artist Pat Boyette.
    • According to Moore in one interview[15], he admitted that, in addition to being based on Peacemaker, also borrowed some aspects from Marvel characters like Nick Fury and Captain America. This can be seen in Blake's later patriotic costume and status as a World War 2 veteran (much like Captain America), as well as being an agent for the united states government and his scarred face (similar to Nick Fury).
  • The Comedian's machismo attitude, misogyny, and violent behavior bring forth to mind a later comic book character called Soldier Boy from The Boys, who is another dark twist on classic Captain America-type heroes. Both the Comedian and Soldier Boy have military backgrounds, were employed by the U.S. government as government-sponsored mercenaries, and have been linked to controversial historical events such as the assassination of John F. Kennedy.
  • The name Edward Blake is a play on the name of movie director Blake Edwards, [16] best known for the Pink Panther film series. His character design is said to have been based on actor Burt Reynolds.[17]
  • The Comedian is one of the only masked vigilantes, along with Captain Metropolis, to be a member of both the Minutemen and the Crimebusters.
  • In Issue #5, the number of the case file for his murder held in the police department is 801108. It is a palindrome, with symmetrical digits, like many other elements in that issue.
  • Watchmen author Alan Moore has stated that the character of the Comedian was based in a large part on G. Gordon Liddy. Liddy himself appears a few times in Watchmen as a separate character at a banquet in Blake's honor he is mentioned in the text and laughs at Blake's reference to the assassination of John F. Kennedy; he also appears when President Richard Nixon arrives at NORAD.

Gallery[]

References[]

Advertisement