Like sands through the hourglass, our four-part series on Watchmen continues with a look at issues #7-9 of the groundbreaking comic series written by Alan Moore, drawn by Dave Gibbons, and published by DC Comics!

As the world marches closer to the brink of nuclear war, Dan Drieberg and Laurie Juspeczyk become lovers. They also defy the nation's ban on costumed heroes and rescue the residents of a burning building. Determined to find out who's killing other masked adventurers, Nite Owl hatches a plan to spring Rorschach from prison, bringing the police to his front door. Just when things couldn't get any worse, Dr. Manhattan appears and whisks Laurie away to Mars to talk, with the literal fate of the world hanging in the balance!

Can Dan and Rorschach avoid being collared by the cops? Can Laurie convince her godlike former boyfriend to save the world? Can any of them survive long enough to make it to that floating crystal palace known as ... The Comics Canon?

Things Discussed in This Episode:

• Spoiler and content warnings
• The ridiculous sex scene in the Watchmen movie
• The transformation of Dan Drieberg
• Is Laurie Juspeczyk a strong character?
• The Comedian and Silk Spectre: a missed opportunity
• The relative stakes of Dan and Laurie's epiphanies
• Why do characters tack extra phrases onto the ends of sentences?
• The political cartooning of "Stan Kelly"
• A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs
• The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury
• Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars Trilogy
• Department of Corrections

Join us in two weeks as our four-part series concludes with a look as issues 10-12!

Until then, why not peruse our new spring line of Comics Canon merchandise? We also invite you to check out King Krackle from our friends at Category 4!

Last but not least, please be so kind as to rate us on iTunes, send us an email, or hit us up on Twitter or Facebook, and we may read your comments in an upcoming episode. And as always, thanks for listening!