BEFORE WATCHMEN: The first issues of this first batch

So the big news months ago was that DC  was doing a series of mini-series set before the legendary WATCHMEN comic called, oddly enough, BEFORE WATCHMEN. There was much excitement and also gnashing of teeth from comic fans who saw this as both a good thing and also ultimate heresy Alan Moore even went as far as telling fans that if they read these books that he never wanted them to read anything he wrote ever again. Sorry Alan: I guess that means me! Anyway, the first issues of the first five mini-series are out and here’s what I have to say:

MINUTEMEN #1: The story is set in 1939, told in flashback by Hollis Mason: the original Nite Owl. We meet all the major players. Hooded Justice wears a hood(duh and is pretty intensive in how violet he is in dealing out that justice). Sally Jupiter has her own photographer and everything she does is played to publicity.  Eddie Blake was all attitude and violent tendencies. Byron Lewis, Mothman, had to find courage in the bottler or worse before every flight. Dollar Bill was a publicity stunt created by a bank to cash in on the superhero craze. Ursula Zandt, A.K.A. The Silhouette was a dedicated lesbian crime fighter who fought for the unfortunate and kept her sexuality hidden. And lastly, Nelson Gardner was Captain metropolis and the man responsible for bringing the team together.

It’s a total Darwyn Cooke production. So, if you like his style of art and the care he put into projects like NEW FRONTIER and THE SPIRIT, you will absolutely LOVE this book.  If you find his work too quirky, you won’t even get to the beauty of his writing. Cooke is a perfect person to be working on a BEFORE WATCHMEN series as he totally respects the characters.

SILK SPECTRE #1: Set in the turbulent Sixties, it’s the tale of the Laurie Juspeczyk, daughter of the original Silk Spectre. She has to live in her mother’s sometimes offensive shadow, complete with Mom trying to train her to be the second Silk Spectre. She has to endure the taunts and teases of some of her classmates and eventually takes out her frustrations on one of them. Frustrated by it all, she and her boyfriend Greg jump into a multi colored mini-van and head off to San Francisco.

Again, it’s that Darwyn Cooke guy turning in  a beautiful respectful story. this time, he has Amanda Conner handling the art duties and she knocks it out of the park, like she always does. A great read and a great LOOKING read at that. Next issue, the road trip continues.

COMEDIAN #1: It’s the early 1960’s and Eddie Blake is hanging out at the Compound with the Kennedys. He’s playing football with the President of the United States and having private conversations with the First Lady. She basically puts the bug in his ear that results in the death of Marilyn Monroe. He also gets an assignment to help take down Moloch The Mystic. But it all goes bad quickly as President Kennedy is assonated. It’s November 22^nd, 1963 and everything the hero and the villain knew has changed.

If you have read anything I have reviewed in the past twelve months, you know how much I like Brian Azzarello as a writer. He has turned the industry on its’ ear with 100 BULLETS and his work on the current WONDER WOMAN. He writes gritty noir fiction and emotionally interesting characters. Now you let J. G. Jones illustrate that and you’ve got a heart felt winner.

NITE OWL #1-It’s 1962 and Daniel Dreiberg lives with his dysfunctional parents. Well, at least his father is. Dan worships Hollis Mason-the Nite Owl. Going as far as finding his secret hideout, breaking in and arranging a meeting. Soon, Dan’s abusive father dies of a heart attack and Dan begins his training as Mason’s eventual successor. Two years after Mason retires and the world is in darkness. Nite Owl teams up with another superhero Rorschach and they have their initial meeting of what will eventually become The Watchmen. 

The story is okay and J. Michael Straczynski does just fine telling a neat little origin. What takes this book to new heights is the team of Andy and Joe Kubert. That, in and of itself, is the reason you should buy this book.

OZYMANDIAS #1: It’s 1985 and Adrian Veidt is telling us his origin story. It begins with his parents arriving in New York in 1939. Adrian is born and is a tortured and tormented genius who joins a Dojo to protect himself. He graduates high school at the age of 14 and by the time he is 17 he is taking post-graduate courses at Harvard. That’s when he learns his parents have died in a traffic accident and Adrian’s world changes. Richer than he can imagine, he tours Turkey, does Hashish and bathes in the beauty of the antiquities there. He returns home, meeting and beginning a relationship with a troubled woman named Miranda. She dies of a drug overdose and Veidt transforms into Ozymandias.

The big bad villain of THE WATCHMEN has a back story that now makes you sympathetic to him. This is truly a well-written tale from comics legend Len Wein and some absolutely beautiful artwork from Jae Lee.  

And, as a bonus, each issue of these mini series has two pages from Len Wein and John Higgin’s (yeah…he was the colorist on the original WATCHMEN series) pirate drama THE CURSE OF THE CRIMSON CORSAIR. This is the story we have all wanted to see as it is inspired by the Tales of the Black Freighter story-within-a-story from the original series. And it appears this is the story Len Wein has always wanted to write. Great moody stuff.

So, in conclusion, Alan Moore needs to lighten up. While he and Dave Gibbons told the story they wanted to, this series of series do not insult me and I don’t see this as a truly money making venture. Look at the creators involved. They are all here because of the chance to pay their respects to some classic characters.