Watchmen #5

Moloch wakes up to hear someone intrude his home and picks up a gun for safety. Remembering his last encounter with Rorschach, he checks the refrigerator and inside finds a note that reads "Behind You". Moloch turns around to be confronted by Rorschach, who then interrogates him about The Comedian's visit to Moloch's a week before his murder, and makes a reference to Moloch being one of the many victims given cancer allegedly by Dr. Manhattan. After threatening Moloch by locking him in the fridge, Rorschach realizes that Moloch has no part for discrediting Manhattan. He then instructs Moloch to leave a note in a trashcan with any information discrediting Dr. Manhattan.

Meanwhile, Steven Fine and Joe Bourquin are at the scene of a murder-suicide in which a man, fearing nuclear holocaust, had murdered his two daughters before taking his own life in front of his wife. After having finished questioning the wife who is then escorted to a hospital, the detectives express their fears and concerns that similar more incidents will happen in response to the news of the Soviets invading Afghanistan. Bourquin tries to dismiss the possibility of World War III to occur over the war in Afghanistan. The detectives soon leaves while Bourquin advise Fine to not let this horrible incident ruin his day.

The newspaper vendor talks about World War III with a delivery man, who puts forward the idea that in World War III, as opposed to World War II, there will be no place to run to. The vendor muses on the delivery man's words before dismissing the likelihood of a nuclear war and starts complaining how the war is disrupting his newspaper deliveries.

During this time, Dan and Laurie are having lunch at a diner. Laurie tells Dan that she has no home to go to and her is suspended by the government, as they saw no further use for her after Dr. Manhattan had left Earth. Sympathetically, Dan offers Laurie to stay at his place. As Laurie and Dan leave the diner, they are observed by an unmasked Rorschach, who waits for news from Moloch, via a secret message.

Adrian Veidt is about to meet with representatives from a toy company who are proposing new characters in their Ozymandias line. While walking with his secretary, a gunman attempts to shoot Veidt but fatally shoots the secretary. Veidt fights and quickly subdues the gunman, who eventually bites into a suicide capsule to prevent Veidt discovering who sent him.

At police headquarters, Fine and Bourquin are looking over evidence taken from the murder-suicide case, reflecting on the recent attempt on Veidt's life, and trying to do paperwork on Edward Blake's murder. They then receive a phone call from an anonymous tip who gives them information on the whereabouts of "Raw Shark".

Rorschach arrives at Moloch's place in which Moloch wanted to see him. He only finds Moloch murdered, with a bullet in his head. Suddenly, the police with Detectives Fine and Bourquin have surrounded the building and demand Rorschach to come out and surrender. Rorschach realizes he has fallen into a trap and attempts to escape. After subduing several SWAT members, Rorschach jumps out of the window and lands on the street where he is immediately overwhelmed by the police. He is then unmasked, revealing him to be the doomsayer who has been appearing sporadically in the city.

The mariner decided to find a way back home and un-burying his shipmates so he could use their gas-bloated bodies to support his raft. The mariner leaves at night and sustains himself by eating captured sea gulls and drinking sea water in small amounts. He is soon beset by sharks, who take away the dead shipmates' bodies. The mariner is then attacked by a large shark that he eventually kills by stabbing a splinter of the mast into its eye. The dead shark provides the mariner with food and support for his raft since it was entangled with its cords.

Treasure Island: Treasury of Comics is a book which details the creation of Tales of the Black Freighter and the appeal of pirate comics, which first became popular after the 1950s when comic books were briefly scrutinized (except for certain comic books that were inspired by government-sponsored agents). Due to the government acting in favor of the comic book industry, EC Comics dominated the marketplace of pirate-related titles throughout the 1950s. Soon after other publishers began following EC's example.

In May 1960 Tales of the Black Freighter was created by artist Joe Orlando and relatively new writer Max Shea and published by National Comics (now called DC), and tells the story of "a vessel from Hell" that takes on the souls of "evil men so that they may walk its blood-stained decks for all eternity." Although the title did not escape controversy as it was notable for its horrific scenes of piratical brutality and excesses, it did not lose its audience.

After nine issues, Orlando left the project - due to creative differences with Shea - and he is replaced by Walt Feinberg, a relatively unknown but capable artist who is best known for his western titles.

One of their more notable collaborations was the two-part "Marooned" story in issues 23 and 24. A one-character story about a young mariner shipwrecked by pirates of the Black Freighter and his desperate attempt to warn his hometown of the hell-ship's approach. Until issue 31, Shea quit the project following similar creative differences and he disappeared from the public eye.