Despite the fact that the pirates are supposedly the equivalent of comic book heroes in this world, there is absolutely nothing romantic, admirable or likable about the pirates in Tales of the Black Freighter. Indeed, Watchmen’s story–within–the–story features one of the darkest depictions of pirates in all of fiction, including other works where the pirates are villains. The Black Freighter itself seems to be a semi–demonic vessel which only the most evil of men are drawn to to join its crew.