Silk Spectre

Silk Spectre
Laurie Juspeczyk as Silk Spectre.
Art by Dave Gibbons.
Publication information
PublisherDC Comics
First appearanceWatchmen #1 (September 1986)
Created byAlan Moore
Dave Gibbons
In-story information
Alter egoSally Jupiter (I)
Laurie Juspeczyk (II)
Team affiliationsMinutemen (I)
The Crimebusters (II)
Notable aliases(Laurie)
Sandra Hollis
Laurie Jupiter
Laurie Blake
The Comedienne[1]

Silk Spectre is the name of two fictional superheroines in the graphic novel limited series Watchmen, published by DC Comics. Created by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, the original Silk Spectre, Sally "Jupiter" Juspeczyk, was a member of the crimefighting team the Minutemen, while the second, Sally's daughter Laurel "Laurie" Jane Juspeczyk, became a member of the vigilante team Crimebusters, also known as the titular Watchmen.

In the early stages of the series' development, the characters were Charlton Comics superheroes and the female superhero was supposed to be Nightshade.[2] However, Moore did not find Nightshade particularly interesting[3] and was not even very familiar with the character.[2] After the idea of using Charlton characters was abandoned, he decided to model Silk Spectre on superheroines like Phantom Lady and Black Canary (also an alias shared by mother and daughter).[3]

The Sally and Laurie Juspeczyk versions of Silk Spectre made their live-action debuts in the 2009 film Watchmen, in which they were played by Carla Gugino and Malin Åkerman, respectively. An older version of Laurie Juspeczyk, now known as Laurie Blake, appeared in the 2019 limited television Watchmen, played by Jean Smart.

  1. ^ "MEMORANDUM : VEIDT & RORSCHACH" (PDF). HBO. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
  2. ^ a b per Alan Moore's original character drafts, as reproduced in Absolute Watchmen, Titan Books, 2005, p. 443
  3. ^ a b Cooke, Jon B. "Alan Moore discusses the Charlton-Watchmen Connection". Comic Book Artist #9