How a throwaway sketch resulted inWatchmen's most iconic symbol

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What if superheroes were real?

Here, Gibbons discusses how his work has since become pop culture iconography.

Credit: ROB MONK/GETTY IMAGES; ALAN MOORE & DAVE GIBBONS/DC COMICS

It was sort of typical of the way most things in the series worked out.

[Alan Moore and I] talked for hours and hours about what we wanted to do.

The one thing we knew about the character of the Comedian was he couldnt look like the Joker.

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He couldnt look like a deranged clown.

So I thought, Who else would be a comedian?

Who could I think of?

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So he was very much a toughened-up version of Groucho Marx, which was what I had in mind.

But of course, that looked kind of dull because camouflage by definition syncs into the background.

So I thought, How about if he was dressed in black?

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But he looked very serious so I thought, I wonder what would lighten it up a bit?

This big hulking dark character, with this little splash of bright, silly color.

Alan saw that and he liked it.

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And when he wrote the first issue it had to start with the death of the comedian.

And then we pull back and see more?

So he wrote that into the first script.

But then we realized that what we had in that smiley face badge was really the ultimate cartoon.

A black and yellow smiley face, with a splash of really realistic blood on it.

Its crazy that it was almost a throwaway.Oh sure.

When I came up with that I had no idea what Alan would do with it.

So he turned it into what it was.

Its like all things in the creative process.

You just throw as much stuff out as you’re able to and sometimes something just fits.

WithinWatchmen,the Comedian also has that purple buckle before the smiley face.

A lot of those old style superhero costumes, Golden Age of comics costumes, looked a bit clunky.

So what hes actually wearing is a Pierrot costume.

One of the classic clowns is called the Pierrot.

Hes the one with the ruffle around his neck and the big buttons.

So I designed that to look a bit like that.

The worlds become much darker.

And its a more functional costume than a dressing up fancy dress kind of costume.

Ive actually got that framed on my wall they have the blood splat a bit different.

Its like its hit the side of the badge and then a piece of it has run across.

But thats really why I designed it the way it was.

That was pretty much the first shape I came up with.

That looked good enough to me.

That is definitively what it was.

Its something familiar that now has a different meaning.

Ive always loved symbols and Ive used them quite a lot in my work.

AfterWatchmen, I went on to do a thing with Frank Miller about a character calledMartha Washington.

And shes in the U.S. Army which has now been rebranded as Pax, in other words Peace.

Its the Peace Force.

F. Kennedys presidency where it was a very real and scary thing.

I think its becoming a real and scary thing now.

But I think its getting closer to midnight.

And I, like everybody else, am very worried about that.

We never had any clue that it would last as long as it did.

So we were utterly surprised.

I think DC comics were completely surprised it lasted so long.

That was what the scheme was behind it.

It seems to be a common theme.

That echoed whats inWatchmen.Its as resonant today as it was then.

Im thrilled and delighted, but completely surprised that it does still have relevance today.

But working with him he was a complete professional.

So thats one of the questions I get asked, and thats how I answer it.

That is the most common question I think.

And of course, we didnt.

Thats the kind of thing I ask.

And what are you reading right now?

Are you reading any comics or graphic novels?Its funny.

I tend to get a lot of comics sent to me free.

I really enjoy this series calledSheriff of Babylonwhich DC published recently.

I tend to read anything that friends of mine do.

Anything that Mark Millar does, or Alan does, or Frank Miller does.

Those are the kind of books I read.