8 Watchmen Characters Based On Charlton Comics
5. Silk Spectre / Nightshade
As the daughter of Sally Jupiter, the original Silk Spectre, Laurie Juspeczyk had some huge boots to fill. Her mother was an original member of the Minutemen, alongside Comedian and the first Nite Owl, and pushed her daughter to do the same. Fighting crime wasn’t something Laurie was interested in, but she agreed to please her mother.
Silk Spectre II is the series' main female protagonist, and is a flawed and fragile individual. We get to know her as a character through her interactions with her mother, and her on-again/off-again relationship with Dr. Manhattan. She is strong willed, and identifies as a feminist and humanitarian, who hopes to better the world, yet seems trapped in it.
She is modeled after the heroine Nightshade, who also dated the super powered Captain Atom. Nightshade was brought to life in the pages of Charlton Comics in 1966. Her look resembles the look of the first Silk Spectre, and her skills in martial arts were second to none.
As one of the earliest female protagonist to have her own comic, Nightshade was a perfect example of what a female superhero could be. It was wise for Moore to use this as Spectre’s foundation.