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A review by drtlovesbooks
Before Watchmen: Minutemen/Silk Spectre by Darwyn Cooke
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.