recently I’ve been wondering again what Gl'bgolyb was doing on Earth, especially if all she was accomplishing there was ruining the Condesce’s plans… I’ve been bouncing around comparisons between the emissary and Maplehoof which haven’t really seemed to amount to much beyond “they were both cloned”, still leaving open the question of why the Condesce would clone such a problematic element. but if the Condesce really were, to coin a phrase, “pulling a Watchmen” on the governments of Earth, that would go some way toward explaining how having a genocidal monster on her side might have proved beneficial?
a pertinent detail that eluded my notice but I think points in a good direction: there’s some acknowledgement of Watchmen’s existence in Act 6 itself!
the rule of movie posters in Homestuck suggests we read further into this… and though the still itself is from the 2009 film, Jane’s “[c]omics aren’t really your thing” comment would seem to imply it was intended to represent the comic book character. as it’s equally likely, I think, that Jake would be interested in Watchmen as a comic book or Watchmen as a movie from the 2000s, both of these possibilities are worth examining. though I’m yet to see the film, my understanding is that it’s widely considered to be a pretty good adaptation, with the major change that there is no Gl'bgolyb in Snyder’s version of the story, and Manhattan himself is the threat used to unite humanity.
taking into account that Jake’s movie posters all fall into three categories - blue women, treasure hunting and overt references to Lord English - the fact that the funny mustache he’s drawn on Manhattan evokes a certain “wouldn’t it be funny if there was a version of Jake English that was an omnipotent radioactive man!” seems significant. certainly if “pulling a Watchmen” aligns with Gl'bgolyb’s promise to “UNITE THE TWO RACES”, the fact that Meenah tries to use English as a common enemy to bring the humans onto her side would make him a good Manhattan.
on the other hand, if we continue thinking of Gl'bgolyb in terms of Meenah’s disgust with sex and reproduction, it might also be relevant that Jane “felt kind of weird about having his BLUE MUTANT PENIS dangle over [her] head” while she slept. that she decides to cover it up with what she identifies as a “TROLL HOWIE MANDEL”, which she calls “even more obscene”, could even be taken foreshadowing Jane’s counter-disgust with the troll mode of procreation… Manhattan sitting on the same page as Swanson, who seemingly inspired Jane’s later foray into politics, would definitely suggest an intertwining of the two.
as a postscript, I couldn’t talk about this direct reference to Dr. Manhattan without also pointing out the explicit indication that Meenah has been to Mars…