MINUTEMEN #5: Beginning in 1947 with the death of Dollar Bill, the team goes through a slow decline. Sally Jupiter gets married and has sex with Edward Blake during her wedding reception. later, the team attain the greatest victory at the Statue of Liberty with the help of two Japanese ex-patriots trying to defeat the countrymen. Sally's daughter is born and the government forces the team to disband. Finally, Hollis continues to look into the child murders and ends up finding a secret too overwhelming for even him.
Darwyn Cooke has taken this title and these characters to an incredible new level. This is truly the best title in the series. I also am forced to give out a big slap in the head to DC Editorial by giving us Chapter Seven in the WIDE WERE HIS DRAGON WINGS chapter of THE CRIMSON CORSAIR...but they end by saying: TO BE CONTINUED. WHERE??? The answer...
RORSCHACH #3: Rorschach continues to fight crime while The Bard continue to cut up women. Walter gets to make a date with Nancy at the diner, but he never gets there as he ends up in a battle with Rawhead and his men. What's worse, Nancy meets a dark stranger who may not be the night in shining armor he pretends to be.
Brian Azzarello and Lee Bermejo brings us another highly disturbing, albeit penultimate chapter in the tale of the masked vigilante. The art is gooey and gritty and Azzarello paints a picture of a city on the edge. In addition, DC Editorial gets another WTF shout out from me as they give us Chapter Eight in the WIDE WERE HIS DRAGON WINGS chapter of THE CRIMSON CORSAIR...but they end by saying: TO BE CONTINUED. And again I cry-WHERE??? That is answered below...
DR. MANHATTAN #3: Jon Osterman reflects on those moments in his life that lead up to his evolution into Dr. Manhattan. We see images from his past including the death of his mother at the hands of the Nazis, his meeting and involvement with Janey Slater and concluding with that fateful day in 1959.
J. Michael Straczynski fleshes out Osterman's past and does so by pulling out a prop from BIG BANG THEORY and coupling it with a famous line from the movie SEVEN. Does it succeed? Not for my taste. Although Adam Hughes artwork continues to blow me away! Added slap in the head to DC Editorial by giving us Chapter Nine in the WIDE WERE HIS DRAGON WINGS chapter of THE CRIMSON CORSAIR...but they end by saying: TO BE CONTINUED. Guys: WHERE??? That might make life easier on all of us if you sent us to the book that FEATURED the next chapter! My assumption is that this is the next to last chapter because the next tale we get is in...
MOLOCH #2: Moloch attempts to make a new life for himself by working for Adrian Veidt. Along the way, he is sent to visit Janey Slater and deliver her a package of special cigarette that Adrian has designed. But, unknown to Moloch, they were designed to give her cancer. And poor Moloch finds himself suffering from the same disease. Then, one night, Edward Blake shows up and confesses to his former enemy. Not long after, the Comedian dies in a fall from his apartment.before it is all said and done, Edward Jacobi figures out Adrian Veidt's grand plan and it costs him his life.
Welcome to the final end of Moloch. This two issue series got better as it progressed. We see the full machinations of Adrian Veidt and poor Edward Jacobi finds himself an unwitting player in the grand scheme. J. Michael Straczynski and Eduardo Risso do a nice job of bringing this character to his final destiny. The book also features the final chapter of the Crimson Corsair saga, continued from who knows where(as it doesn't seem to flow from Chapter Nine to this...it really seems like something is missing!) as it is simply called CONCLUSION. I see it as a poor excuse for DC to put out those chapters as one big book(it will appear in the collected OZYMANDIAS, along with DOLLAR BILL) with bonus stuff and charge a ridiculous price just so you can read the story all at once.
OZYMANDIAS #5: Inspired by THE OUTER LIMITS, The Architects Of Fear, Adrian Viedt decides to create his own alien to scare the world into peace. In the end, he creates a hybrid Lynx he names Bubastis. Meanwhile, he orders Marla to have several buildings built on a small tropical island where he feels he can disappear. In 1971, President Nixon orders Dr. Manhattan into Vietnam, to end the war. At this point, Veidt feels Nixon has crossed the line and holds a press conference where he reveals his identity to the world and resigns as a superhero. The masked heroes get involved in the Police strike of 1977 and Veidt dons his costume yet again to help in the fight. In the end, The Keene Act is passed and superheroes are banned. Although Adrian Veidt may have one last trick up his sleeve,
Len Wein and Jae Lee bring us a rather complex penultimate chapter to this tale of the smartest man on Earth. Veidt always seems to be one step ahead of the world, even after the trump card known as Dr. Manhattan comes into play. But the whole idea that he creates an alien and then doesn’t truly use it to bring about peace is confusing. Is this a plot line that just stops? Honestly, Moore has always mentioned seeing the Architects of Fear episode and thinking how it paralleled his tale. But Wein doesn’t use the idea for more than a few pages. I guess it was just his way of tying this series to that one.
COMEDIAN #5: Edward Blake helps Benway escape from behind enemy lines deep in the jungles of Vietnam. We also get lots of images of the war, including the Mai Li Massacre, that apparently he was involved with. They arrive in a village and one soldier, tired of the horrors of the war, commits suicide. Just as the pair are ready to leave the jungle, a helicopter comes in and kills Benway. Meanwhile, the Comedian's methods become hand delivered to Robert Kennedy.
This title can't end soon enough. What started out so grand has become a parody of itself. We see Edward Blake setting foot in every possible setting during this tumultuous time in Modern American history. And it has become trite and predictable. Brian Azzarello's dialogue is great, but it is just a little too preachy for me. I LIVED watching the war on TV, Brian. And having a cover with an image stolen from a World War II vintage LIFE magazine is just poor. SHAME ON J.G. Jones!
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