A review by mash1138
Before Watchmen: Minutemen/Silk Spectre by Darwyn Cooke

4.0

This is a tough one..."Minutemen" was excellent, but I read "Silk Spectre" last, which is fresh in my mind, and wasn't nearly as compelling. Darwyn Cooke is fantastic, and I love how his somewhat cartoony artwork manages to still effectively convey the frequent brutality and violence of the world of Watchmen. As a writer/artist, he is a master craftsman of a storyteller, with pitch-perfect scripting and stunning artwork and compositions. He is also a master of "less-is-more," effectively conveying off-screen violence and tragedy in a way much more haunting and compelling than actually showing us. As far as characters are concerned, having the original Nite Owl narrate works very well, as the story is told alternately in the 60's, as he is approaching his fellow Minutemen about his soon-to-be-published memoir, Under the Hood," and then in the 40's and 50's, recounting the events which will appear in the aforementioned memoir. Captain Metropolis, Hooded Justice, and others are finally given rich, compelling, and often sinister background tales, all of which are full of satisfying depth. Themes of violence, sexuality, and what it means to be a hero are all examined quite effectively, making The Minutemen by far the best of these prequel stories (though I have yet to read Oyzmandias/Crimson Corsair). That being said, Silk Spectre is a disappointing mess. Amanda Connor, whose art is gorgeous, is also the cowriter of this tale, and I am guessing that this somehow explains the mediocrity of this story. Silk Spectre is a tale of a horrible mother (Sally Jupiter) a rebellious teenage girl (yawn), drugs, hippies, and big black hooker boots. I dunno...it just didn't work for me, and is the worst of Before Watchmen, in my opinion.