And so, “Minutemen” comes to an end and though we here at Multiversity Comics got significantly less interested in the ‘Before Watchmen’ line as the weeks went on, it’s still worth taking a look at the event’s flagship title and how it all shook out at the end.
Assume some minor spoilers though none are very specific.
Written & Illustrated by Darwyn Cooke
“You’ll do what I say or I’ll burn this place to the ground and kill every person you know.”
1. Well, Darwyn Cooke Does Draw a Handsome Comic
Whether you agree with the entire premise of “Before Watchmen” or not, there’s no denying that Darwyn Cooke’s style is a beautiful match for the Golden Age-era Minutemen. but truly anything that Cooke lends his style to should be picked up by fans of the medium, as his works tend to relatively few and far between. What lies ahead after the “Parker” books and this, we can only guess, but no matter what it is it will have his trademark handsomeness and professionalism.
This issue in particular is a nice showcase of the modern “Watchmen” cast and Cooke’s chance to draw terrific pages with Nite Owl, Rorschach, and the Comedian. but it’s this full page Dr. Manhattan piece that really wows.
2. So Much for Ambiguity
As nuanced and subtle as the terrific art is, at times, that’s how overt and explicit the plot is. Moore dropped several bits of lore and legend into “Watchmen” in an effort to build a mythos without spelling everything out or tying up every thread. “Did the Comedian kill Kennedy?” is the obvious one, for which Brian Azzarello made sure to wipe out any doubt.
If you enjoyed the mysterious disappearance of Hooded Justice in “Watchmen”, then read no further into “Before Watchmen”, because that one’s out of the bag too. “What happened to Hooded Justice?” Alan Moore never intended to tell us, because the minor mystery was more intriguing when it was left to be tangential and inessential. The plot itself is fine, but the running theme in “Before Watchmen” seemed to be: “Remember that thing that you pondered after reading Watchmen, because it was left ambiguous?” Well, this is how it happened…”
And that’s just so much less enchanting.
3. Plenty of Parallels
Where Cooke succeeds is in drawing parallels to the original plot of “Watchmen” in the story of the Minutemen, without calling too much attention to it. There’s a final “storming” of a fortress. There’s a vigilante who deceives the heroes to his own end. Just as with Rorschach’s Journal, a tough decision is made as to how much of the real story will come out. The results are significantly different than they were in “Watchmen”, but the moral parallels are there and handled pretty well.
4. When Smart Characters Make Dumb Decisions
The problem with that climactic scene that parallels all of that stuff in “Watchmen”? Hollis Mason himself admits that one call to the cops would have had the place swarmed and Hooded Justice would have been taken down. Instead, we get a stubborn decree of “It has to be us (to take down Hooded Justice)” as they enter the tower where Hooded Justice waits. Two characters without powers and at a significant disadvantage are taking matters into their own hands. It didn’t “have to be them” – it’s just that the story needed it to play out that way. It cheapens the somewhat tragic side of that climax.
5. Where Do We Go From Here Now That All Of The Children Have Grown Up?
Again, whether you agree with the premise of “Before Watchmen” or not, it should come as a relief that the past won’t continue to be re-written after this. At least, not anytime soon. “Minutemen” was an all-encompassing and sprawling story of this crimebusting team. It has a beginning and an end, and to explore the middle any further would dilute the original product even more. You might say that “Watchmen” has been diluted already, so what’s stopping them from diluting “Minutemen”? Well, at least the “Minutemen” was an unexplored corner of “Watchmen” lore. It didn’t need exploring, but it really does feel significantly separate from the characters that we followed in Alan Moore’s original work.
Continued belowThere doesn’t seem to be any plans for further adventures of these characters, nor any sort of ongoing insertion of them into the DC Universe. At least, nothing in the “Minutemen” product would lead you to believe that. Instead, we’re left with a book that reads well and looks good from front to back, but blunts the edges of another creator’s seminal work, and there’s no way around it now.
Final Verdict on Issue #6: 5.8 – some contrivances keep the series from ending as well as it could have.
Final Verdict on Miniseries: 6.8 – a fine enough work on its own and the best of the “Before Watchmen” spread, but was it worth it? Not really.
