Before Watchmen: Comedian #2 Review

Before Watchmen: Comedian deserves some credit for being the only one of the Before Watchmen books so far to not attempt a standard origin story. The series skips over Eddie Blake's formative years and instead follows his misadventures in the '60s as a government agent. Unfortunately, despite the less formulaic approach, Comedian still falters quite a bit in its execution.

This issue jumps forward a bit in time, with Robert Kennedy planning his senatorial campaign and the war in Vietnam heating up. One thing that can be said for issue #2 is that the celebrity cameos are used a bit more effectively in how they highlight Blake's personal journey. However, the chief flaw of this book is that Azzarello keeps Blake at too much of a distance from the reader. The idea is that we're supposed to be witnessing a Comedian before his morals had become completely tarnished -- before he had accepted the cruel joke of life. However, the original series made it pretty clear that Blake was a bad egg from the start, so a lot of this evenhanded characterization rings false. This is one book where an internal monologue would probably have benefited the script.

The other drawback is that, once the issue shifts into Vietnam mode, it becomes a pretty standard war tale. Writers like Garth Ennis have found a wealth of dramatic meat in this conflict, but with Blake so emotionally distant in the story, there's just not enough of a hook here.

J.G. Jones' art is generally solid in this book. His real-life celebrities are instantly recognizable. His panels are cinematic and detailed. And unlike some Before Watchmen artists, Jones doesn't make an overt attempt to replicate the page construction of the original series, which in the context of this story is for the best. Unfortunately, much like in Final Crisis, Jones' line-work and level of detail aren't always consistent. There's a noticeable gulf in quality between issues #1 and 2, and it's doubtful the problem will improve as the book continues.

Before Watchmen: Comedian #2 wins points for trying to be a little different. But it loses far more for its uninteresting handling of the title character.

Source : feeds.ign.com