Darwyn Cooke and Darwyn Cooke have been the best creative team of the whole Before Watchmen endeavor. Do they keep it going with the third issue of Minutemen?
Written and Illustrated by Darwyn Cooke
“I’m not here to bust you, I’m here to recruit you. How’d you like to work for your Uncle Sam, Eddie?” And don’t miss the latest chapter of the CRIMSON CORSAIR backup epic from writer LEN WEIN and artist JOHN HIGGINS!
1. Darwyn Cooke the artist takes charge
Sure, he kind of always does that, but Cooke was superb as always on art in this issue. It’s not just his standard character models and atmosphere and environments, but the page design that really stands out. I love the way he innovatively incorporates Dave Gibbons’ nine panel page design into whole page, making each panel a tiny portrait in the overall pastiche of Gibbons’ work. Cooke isn’t just insanely gifted, but he’s clever, and the way he delivers his art is about as impressive as anything in Before Watchmen.
2. Character first
Hollis Mason was a pretty big part of Watchmen, but in Minutemen, he takes center stage. In Cooke’s hands, he’s an incredible character, someone who has a dichotomy running through every fiber of his being. He’s a cop…but he’s also a vigilante. He’s good hearted and in for the right things…but he can’t resist the allure of the glamour of Dollar Bill. He’s a sharp guy, a cop…but he can’t read the writing on the wall with the woman he loves. Cooke has taken Mason and elevated him to a level Moore didn’t have time to take him to, and arguably this type of work wouldn’t have even interested him to begin with.
For me, the best moment of this issue was when Mason throws caution to the wind and reveals his full name to Silhouette, and how the purity of his intent elicits a response from the typically cold character. He’s a good man, and it’s that quality that makes him stand out so much in the world of Minutemen.
3. The Comedian makes his move
In this issue, two things are revealed about The Comedian: the guy is a huge badass and he is pretty much evil. I’m not sure if it is his dispatching of Hooded Justice (physically and verbally) or the way he uses fake sorrow to manipulate his soon-to-be-former teammates that really seals that deal, but the guy is operating on a different level than everyone else. He exists in the polar opposite realm of the Venn Diagram of this universe as Mason, and his presence here is fascinating in how it develops the character while solidifying his worst (and perhaps most interesting characteristics).
4. This remains the best Before Watchmen title…
Writing, drawing, covers, everything. This is a top notch, well made comic. Cooke brings these characters to life, fills their mouths with snappy dialogue, brings the atmosphere of this era to life…you name it. The guy crushes all over the place. Minutemen is a Darwyn Cooke comic. That is impossible to deny, and that means the quality of it is as well.
5. But where are we going?
There are three issues remaining now, and it’s hard to visualize where this is actually going. And I’m not saying that this is a pointless endeavor, thus it is a bad comic. It just feels like it isn’t naturally building somewhere, and that lack of aim removes a certain amount of tension from the story. As I told fellow MCer Walt Richardson, it almost could be titled “Under…Under the Hood.” It’s like a look at Hollis Mason’s time as he tried to bring Under the Hood to life, with flashbacks and details filled in around it. That is by no means bad, but it is just hard to visualize this as a complete narrative as we currently stand. For me as a reader, that is the biggest problem with the endeavor to date.
