At first glance, the utilization of a graphic novel in a college freshman Composition class, outside of Maus or the works of Will Eisner, may strike many as odd. It certainly raised a few eyebrows when University of Tennessee Graduate Teaching Associates Mark Bernard and James "Bucky" Carter informed their students it was the supplemental text for their respective English 102 classes. Yet, due to recent events, the once dated graphic novel The Watchmen (1986, DC Comics) has been revitalized with new rhetorical significance. Implementing UT's standard pedagogical philosophy, steeped in the Aristotelian method of analysis and persuasion through the rhetorical appeals, Bernard and Carter seek to teach this critically acclaimed work in terms of genre, university standards, and historical context. This paper will explore their strategies for making an otherwise peculiar text an integral part of their curriculum and will focus on the importance of the work - one that deals with the "approaching apocalypse" nuclear scare that characterized much of 80s popular culture, international politics such USA-Russia-Afghanistan relations, terrorism, and massive tragedy in New York City - in this most crucial of rhetorical moments, that of life and learning in post 9-11 America.