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mschlat 's review for:
Before Watchmen: Nite Owl/Dr. Manhattan
by J. Michael Straczynski
Some caveats: I never thought the Before Watchmen project was necessary or even desirable --- I think Moore and Gibbons' work is an outstanding piece of literature on its own. I have also never read any Straczynski that moved me. So I probably wasn't very disposed to the book to start with, and only really picked it up due to vague curiosity and the Adam Hughes artwork.
That being said, I thought the Nite Owl story was horrendous.
I do have to give Straczynski credit --- none of the stories are simple fill-ins with little connection to Watchmen. Indeed, the stories here are more appropriately titles During Watchmen than Before Watchmen. However, the Nite Owl story decides to give the character almost the same awakening he experiences in Watchmen before the events in Watchmen. It pretty much invalidates much of the character development in Moore's work. Moreover, the Kubert art, while nice, seems like an odd fit with a Ditko-inspired character. Also, we have a rampaging stereotyped insane Christian fundamentalist preacher as a villain.
The Dr. Manhattan story is better, if only because it explores the physical and metaphysical implications of the character. However, we still end up with a scene that totally reinterprets the events of the core novel just to titillate the continuity fans.
That being said, I thought the Nite Owl story was horrendous.
I do have to give Straczynski credit --- none of the stories are simple fill-ins with little connection to Watchmen. Indeed, the stories here are more appropriately titles During Watchmen than Before Watchmen. However, the Nite Owl story decides to give the character almost the same awakening he experiences in Watchmen before the events in Watchmen. It pretty much invalidates much of the character development in Moore's work. Moreover, the Kubert art, while nice, seems like an odd fit with a Ditko-inspired character. Also, we have a rampaging stereotyped insane Christian fundamentalist preacher as a villain.
The Dr. Manhattan story is better, if only because it explores the physical and metaphysical implications of the character. However, we still end up with a scene that totally reinterprets the events of the core novel just to titillate the continuity fans.