Before Watchmen: Comedian/Rorschach by Brian Azzarello
This was really cool to read. I am a big fan of Watchmen. I
think it is the type of graphic novel that should be read by every comic book
fan no matter if you prefer Marvel, or Dark Horse comics over DC. The writing
is spectacular and it has always been a story that has stuck in my mind.
When these books started to come out I was really excited to
see a little more of the characters I loved from Watchmen. It has been a long
time since I have bought monthly issues, but I have been trying to catch up
with graphic novels. This was graciously given to me by DC comics through
NetGalley for an honest review. I can’t tell you how excited I was to read this
and review it. The Comedian and Rorschach may not have been my favorite
characters from Watchmen but I have always wanted to know more about them.
The first part of the book is issues 1-6 of Before Watchmen:
The Comedian. In these pages we get to see a softer side to Eddie Blake. His
early days playing football with the Kennedys on a sunny afternoon, are a
complete opposite to his character in the Watchmen book. Finally a glimpse into
what made him so angry and dangerous. Of course these books try to mesh in some
aspect of history during the time period and Eddie Blake gets sent to Vietnam. He is
sent to be a spokes person to boost the war effort. Troops’ morale is boosted
by having a real life superhero helping in the trenches. That’s when things
begin to go horribly wrong. War changes people and Eddie isn’t the exception,
he becomes more angry and driven to win the war at any cost. He begins to
become the very thing he is fighting. This was a very interesting story and it
finally gives us a look into what made him. Eddie Blake always irritated me in
Watchmen and I was ok with the fact he is killed early on in that book, but
after reading this I feel for the guy.
The second part of this book collects issues 1-4 of Before
Watchmen: Rorschach. Rorschach’s story was a little different. This wasn’t so
much of an origin story; at least I didn’t think it was. We kind of see why he
is so violent towards criminals but really this was just an early instance in
his career as a hero. Rorschach is trying to protect a city he hates; he is
digging into a drug ring to clean up the streets. At this point Rorschach is violent
but not homicidal which is not like his character in Watchmen. While trying to
stop the drug ring he heads to the sewers to take out the supplier. In no time
he is beaten nearly to death and left in the stinking sewers to die. Of course
this doesn’t kill our hero and he rises with a new out look on the city. Its
true colors are black and red, pain and suffering is everywhere. Being soft is
not what is going to fix this. To make matters worse, while trying to stop the
drug kingpin who left him for dead the city is gripped with fear while a serial
killer is on the loose.
The serial killer sub plot is my only hang up. It had
potential to be such a great story or case for Rorschach to be apart of, but
instead it was just background. Killer kept offing victims while Rorschach pursued
his target. Rorschach and the serial killer meet at the end but it felt like
this was an after thought. The book was ending and there was still this loose
end so in a few pages it got wrapped. This was a great book and I really
enjoyed reading it. I am looking forward to reading the other graphic novels
with the other characters in the future.
What an interesting and thorough review.
ReplyDeleteThanks, I wanted to make this review something that worked for both fans of comics, and those who aren't fans. I also felt the book deserved this kind of review, it was a good read.
DeleteI can't wait for this series to be in a graphic novel arc. I see that some are out so I am checking to see if my library has them yet!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.amazon.com/Before-Watchmen-Vol-Darwyn-Cooke/dp/1401238920/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1355231466&sr=1-4&keywords=before+watchmen
I've been wanting to read all if these because I loved Watchmen, but this is the only one I have so far. Tried to win them on Goodreads but didn't. I'll check my library next as well. It was very well done.
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