Like Rosen said, there are a lot of similarities between Moore’s graphic novel and the Book of Revelation.

I had never given the doomsday clock much thought when I first read Watchmen, I assumed Moore intended it as a more literal countdown to a detonation or perhaps to the climatic action. The clock signifies what John and, on some level, everyone in the world is counting down to, the end times. The clock is important to the story because like Revelation, it portrays the end time as something that is foreseeable and predicable, which is important to all the prophetic figures (in this case, represented by Dr. Manhattan) in apocalyptic stories.

Rosen quotes Moore as saying that he tries to “examine the human world and human beings” within these circumstances. I think this is made clear by the ending of Watchmen. The majority of the characters feel that it is for the good of the planet that they don’t expose Veidt’s plot. This is another strong mirror of Revelation. Like the destruction of New York City, Revelation promises death and destruction, however in both narratives the destruction is little compared to the rewards and peace that come after it. Watchmen exemplifies the human predisposition to look toward the apocalypse as a new beginning.