Before Watchmen (USA)

[Walter Kovacs]

Mmm ora che escono gli HC potrei farci un pensierino 

[markko88]

A me sti hc misti non ispirano proprio

[Azrael]

Preview: Before Watchmen: Comedian #5

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[The man who falls]

Veramente una bella serie, in special modo i Minutemen e Rorschach. Sono tutti belli comunque

[Azrael]

In Watchmen, Edward Blake was kept at a narrative distance from the reader. All of his actions were shared through someone else's eyes, and this space made his immorality all the more shocking, especially because of the people around him. But in Before Watchmen: Comedian Blake is the narrative centerpiece, and therefore the reader has no distance from his violence, apathy, and sociopathic actions.

Because of this, we're not given anything we didn't already know. We get a bit more of Blake's psyche through an ongoing conversation, but even this is a retread of his inability to see the human side of things. We're not really appalled by anything Blake does in this issue, and when violence does occur, the narrative focus inhibits any revulsion, shock or disgust on the part of the reader.

When Azzarello finally does pull back and use someone else as a narrator, the comic gains a little bit of the distance that Alan Moore put between his readers and his anti-hero. Even when we were pulled into Rorschach's world in Watchmen, we were already on his side. In Comedian, however, no such feeling was ever established and so everything Blake does is everything we'd expect of him. Comedian is an origin story, but one that doesn't really give an origin. So in the final pages, told through a CIA report of Blake's actions in Vietnam, we're allowed to see things from outside of Blake's world, and they're horrifying.

Additionally, the character of Benway, a soldier who's stranded with the Comedian in the jungle, helps foil Blake so that we're able to see just how far over the moral line Blake has jumped. But Benway is underused and so even though the comic shows glimmers of depth, they aren't enough to salvage the story.

Due to the excess of dialogue and narration, J.G. Jones is limited to a lot of establishing shots. He occasionally plays with the panel design, but sometimes this is only a matter of shifting an image so that it's slightly askew. The moments for doing these have nothing to do with dramatic effect and instead seem more like an attempt to break up the monotony of the pages, which in turn only draws the eye more to the blank spaces around the panels.

Jones gets a few good close ups and in the final pages, he gets more of an opportunity to show his talents, but his time is cut short as a scene involving Blake ambushing a bunch of Vietcong soldiers ends abruptly with sound effects rather than visuals. But his focus on the cowardly Benway is a nice touch, particularly in how it establishes a human connection for the reader.

The final moments of the book bring the story back full circle, particularly Blake's connections with the Kennedys. Azzarello attempts to add a sense of political intrigue to the story but again, we're given nothing new, and nothing in this comic makes me want to see how it ends.

That's the real shame of Comedian — even with a character as flawed and immoral as Edward Blake, Brian Azzarello couldn't find anything to do with him except play off of his negativity rather than trying to explore and expand on what was established by others. And so maybe Blake's apathy has rubbed off because I can't find a reason to be drawn back for the final issue.

5/10

Newsarama

[Azrael]

Preview: Before Watchmen: Rorschach #4

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[Azrael]

PREVIEW: BEFORE WATCHMEN: OZYMANDIAS #6

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[Azrael]

The pretense of Before Watchmen: Rorschach seems to be centered on what makes Walter Kovacs Rorschach, and why he puts on the mask. Clearly, Azzarello attempts to show that not anyone can go out and be a hero. To be the hero Rorschach is takes more than brute strength and lack of fear.

Yet this idea is not clearly articulated in this final issue, and a lot of what Azzarello was building to feels deflated and anti-climactic. The killer stalking the women of New York, the gangster Rawhead and Walter's capture are all handled, but poorly. The one interesting moment is when Rawhead puts on Rorschach's mask, and then starts to internalize his own distress, using the mask as a way to cope with his demons while not exposing his vulnerabilities.

But with this newfound sense of self, Rawhead goes out to fight looters in the New York blackout. His demise, however, is reminiscent of Boba Fett — the greatest threat in the galaxy dealt with through clumsy shifting of feet. Rawhead meets a similar fate, yet with attenuated resolution. Rorschach also deals with the man accused of murdering women, but we've seen this before and nothing the character does adds any depth to his established persona.

The positive is Lee Beremejo, who has some great detailed shots of the main hero. In the earlier part of the comic, some of the backgrounds feel wasted but the intense detail Beremejo puts into his character designs more than makes up for this. Close up shots are where he does his best work, and the final pages off set the darkness of the book through a brilliant mix of colors.

Before Watchmen: Rorschach started strong, but then fizzled in the end. Partially it's the directionless story, but Rorschach was already so defined in Watchmen that Azzarello really had nothing to add to the character. I like the idea of a story of Rorschach's early years, but this story lacks any lucid purpose. Ultimately, we're left with a comic that looks good, but is hollow at its core.

6/10

Newsarama

[Azrael]

Preview: Before Watchmen: The Comedian #6

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[Azrael]

"BEFORE WATCHMEN" TRAILER TO AIR IN TIMES SQUARE

DC Comics' "Before Watchmen" series were a big part of its 2012 publishing plan, and the sequel to Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' "Watchmen" was one of the most unexpected developments in recent memory. With all the series wrapped, the publisher has begun to release hardcover collected editions of the many miniseries and, according to The New York Post, plans to advertise them with a video that will play on the Times Square Jumbotron in New York City prior to Comic-Con International 2013. The 30 second video represents the first time an ad for a comic book or graphic novel has run on the massive screen, and while the spot is short, it certainly gets the point across.



The "Before Watchmen" hardcovers include four installments: "Minutemen" by Darwyn Cooke and "Silk Spectre" by Amanda Conner and Darwyn Cooke; "Nite Owl" by J. Michael Straczynski and Andy Kubert paired with "Dr. Manhattan" by J. Michael Stracynski and Adam Hughes; Brian Azzarello's "Comedian" with art by J.G. Jones and "Rorschach" with art by Lee Bermejo; and "Ozymandias" by Len Wein and Jae Lee with "Crimson Corsair" by Wein and John Higgins.4

CBR

[Fuller]

Qualcuno ha preso gli hc Comedian/Rorschach e Nite Owl/Manhattan? Su amazon vengono tipo 17 l'uno