Scan barcode
wayward's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Sexism, Violence, and War
Moderate: Sexual assault and Sexual content
pdz's review against another edition
3.0
Minutemen portion gets 4 stars, and the Silk Spectre portion gets 2 stars.
katharamalama's review against another edition
4.0
Really enjoyed the Minutemen segment of the book. Well written and involving. I especially liked the expansion of Silhouette.
The Silk Spectre story was also better than I expected, but not as good as the first part of the book.
The Silk Spectre story was also better than I expected, but not as good as the first part of the book.
bent's review against another edition
2.0
The first half of this book, dealing with The Middlemen, was very good. I haven't read The Watchmen in a long-time, but I could see how they synched up from my memory. The second half, concerning Silk Spectre, was terrible. The hackneyed plot, about gangsters putting something in the drug supply to make hippies into big consumers, was crap. It's also very similar to the plot of the movie "Josie and the Pussycats," probably not what you want to aspire to. I would give the first half of the book three stars and the second half one.
gabriel_andres's review against another edition
4.0
Must Read for any fan of Watchmen
The minutes entries were amazing
I expected a lot more for Silk Specter
Her issues came of as cliched and unoriginal
Art was amazing will deff buy the next one
The minutes entries were amazing
I expected a lot more for Silk Specter
Her issues came of as cliched and unoriginal
Art was amazing will deff buy the next one
ipacho's review against another edition
4.0
The best stories, both in narrative and drawing, from the Before Watchmen. I loved specially Minutemen: awesome tale, incredible drawings; the perfect "prequel." Silk Spectre was more straightforward, but I was expecting a lot less.
drtlovesbooks's review against another edition
4.0
What it's about:
What I thought: This has been the best of the Before Watchmen collections. It adds some interesting layers and insight to several characters, rather than just retreading stories that have already been told.
I feel like the "Minutemen" series could have been expanded to give some more thoughtful coverage to some of the story elements - I would love to see more about Silhouette's work, and I'm curious what the writers would do with more time to explore Mason Hollis's somewhat ambivalent feelings about homosexuals, and how he might resolve the blatant homophobia of some of the Minutemen with his embrace of Byron's world view and his unrequited love for Silhouette.
But the additional insight into Byron as a person was very interesting (even if it was a little limited in its scope), anddiscovering that Eddie manipulated Mason into killing someone who may (or may not) have been Hooded Justice added a very interesting subtext to their interactions, while also serving to highlight how thoroughly twisted Eddie is .
Similarly, seeing Silk Spectre II's upbringing and rebellion against her mother was engaging. Some of the elements were a big heavy-handed, particularly for readers of the original Watchmen who know how things eventually turn out (her thoughts about Dan and Jon, specifically). But the story, although a bit out-there and bordering on the fantastical, added some interesting depths to Laurie.
I also was particularly taken with how the art was used in several points along the story to capture a mood in a very unusual way, and that those were then collected to create a collage toward the end that showed how Laurie has changed over the course of the story.
Why I rated it like I did: This was one of the few entries in this series worth the read. It's definitely not a necessary addition to the canon, but it's interesting, and shows that these stories could have really been a lot more interesting.
What I thought: This has been the best of the Before Watchmen collections. It adds some interesting layers and insight to several characters, rather than just retreading stories that have already been told.
I feel like the "Minutemen" series could have been expanded to give some more thoughtful coverage to some of the story elements - I would love to see more about Silhouette's work, and I'm curious what the writers would do with more time to explore Mason Hollis's somewhat ambivalent feelings about homosexuals, and how he might resolve the blatant homophobia of some of the Minutemen with his embrace of Byron's world view and his unrequited love for Silhouette.
But the additional insight into Byron as a person was very interesting (even if it was a little limited in its scope), and
Similarly, seeing Silk Spectre II's upbringing and rebellion against her mother was engaging. Some of the elements were a big heavy-handed, particularly for readers of the original Watchmen who know how things eventually turn out (her thoughts about Dan and Jon, specifically). But the story, although a bit out-there and bordering on the fantastical, added some interesting depths to Laurie.
I also was particularly taken with how the art was used in several points along the story to capture a mood in a very unusual way, and that those were then collected to create a collage toward the end that showed how Laurie has changed over the course of the story.
Why I rated it like I did: This was one of the few entries in this series worth the read. It's definitely not a necessary addition to the canon, but it's interesting, and shows that these stories could have really been a lot more interesting.