Before Watchmen Omnibus

Before Watchmen

by Brian Azzarello, J. Michael Straczynski, Len Wein

The New York Times best-selling prequels to the best-selling graphic novel Watchmen are collected together for the first time and in a special DC hardcover Omnibus!

Takes a look at the world before the critically acclaimed graphic novel Watchmen, by some of comics' top talents, including Eisner Award-winning authors Brian Azzarello and Darwyn Cooke, multi-award winning authors Len Wein and Michael Straczynski. With art from Joe Kubert, Amanda Conner, J.G. Jones, Lee Bermejo, Adam Hughes, Jae Lee and John Higgins.

Dive deeper into the world of Watchmen by following the famous characters around in their own solo stories. Witness Rorschach's story to see how one of the most dangerous vigilantes in the comics world started down his dark path. Find out how the Vietnam War and the Kennedy assassination revolve around the Comedian. Take an introspective look at Silk Spectre as she struggles with her overbearing superhero mother and her scattered path toward taking the mantle of the Silk Spectre.

Find all of this and more when you discover what happened before Watchmen in Before Watchmen Omnibus. Collects Before Comedian #1-6, Before Rorschach #1-4, Before Minutemen #1-6, Before Silk Spectre #1-4, Before Nite Owl #1-4, Before Dr. Manhattan #1-4, Before Moloch #1-2, Before Ozymandias #1-6, Before Crimson Corsair #1 and Before Dollar Bill #1.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Dc Comics, Superheroes, Science Fiction, Graphic Novels Comics, Fiction

1064 pages, Hardcover

Published December 24, 2018

About the author

Brian Azzarello (born in Cleveland, Ohio) is an American comic book writer. He came to prominence with 100 Bullets, published by DC Comics' mature-audience imprint Vertigo. He and Argentine artist Eduardo Risso, with whom Azzarello first worked on Jonny Double, won the 2001 Eisner Award for Best Serialized Story for 100 Bullets #15–18: "Hang Up on the Hang Low".

Azzarello has written for Batman ("Broken City", art by Risso; "Batman/Deathblow: After the Fire", art by Lee Bermejo, Tim Bradstreet, & Mick Gray) and Superman ("For Tomorrow", art by Jim Lee).

In 2005, Azzarello began a new creator-owned series, the western Loveless, with artist Marcelo Frusin.

As of 2007, Azzarello is married to fellow comic-book writer and illustrator Jill Thompson.

information taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Az...

Reviews

[Chad · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yes, we could get into a debate on whether these should exist or not and that it goes against the creators' wishes, but the fact of the matter is they do exist and they are actually pretty good. DC was determined to make this happen so at least they got some top notch creative teams to work on them. Darwyn Cooke, J. Michael Straczynski, Lee Bermejo, Adam Hughes, J.G. Jones, Amanda Conner, Andy and Joe Kubert, and Jae Lee are just some of the contributers.

The omnibus puts the issues in publication order instead of by story. I thought that was a bit of an odd choice as I do think these read better separately. Below are my reviews for each story.


Minutemen ★★★ - Story and art by Darwyn Cooke
The Minutemen were the Golden Age superheroes of the Watchmen universe. Some of the Watchmen characters like Comedian and the original Silk Spectre were part of the team. Cooke doesn't have much of a story to tell other than most of the members were frauds, faking cases, killing bad guys. That's the problem with these 6 issues though it that there isn't enough of a story. The book is extremely dark in tone. His art is fantastic though.

Silk Spectre ★★★★ - Story by Darwyn Cooke. Art by Amanda Conner
I thought this story was a lot of fun. Laurie is fed up with her overbearing mother and runs away from home with her boyfriend to San Francisco. The story is goofy in places but that actually works in favor of Amanda Conner's art. This is the best art of her career as far as I'm concerned. I love the mod designs. Her Silk Spectre costume is spectacular, blowing away Dave Gibbons's original design. Her characters are so life life and animated that this story could have been longer.

The Comedian ★★★★ - Story by Brian Azzarello. Art by J.G. Jones
I liked how the Comedian's relationship with the John and Robert Kennedy was explored. The stuff in Vietnam went on how too long and the political angle was too vague. Azzarello does this kind of thing a lot. He doesn't really know what to say at times and consequently says nothing with lots of vague inferences. Basically the story boils down to the Comedian being the world's biggest scumbag while in the employ of the CIA for 6 issues. J.G. Jones art is fantastic!

Nite Owl ★★★★★ - Story by J. Michael Straczynski. Art by Andy and Joe Kubert
We see the current Nite Owl's origin and then takes place during Nite Owl and Rorschach's partnership. I liked Nite Owl falling in love and loved how Straczynski made this a rated R version of Spider-Man and the Black Cat. I absolutely loved getting to see Joe Kubert ink his son's work. You could see both their styles in the pages with Andy's layouts and Joe's heavy, grittier inks. It was great to see the two of them work together.

Ozymandias ★★★★★ - Story by Len Wein. Art by Jae Lee
Man, the art in this is superb. Jae Lee gives the book an alien look that worked very well with the origin story of the emotionless smartest man in the world. I really like how as the story progresses it dovetails into what happens in Watchmen. It's almost a "behind the scenes" story for Watchmen.

Rorschach ★★★★ - Story by Brian Azzarello. Art by Lee Bermejo
Bermejo was the perfect choice of artist for a story set in seedy Times Square of 1970's New York. His art captures the time period perfectly when the area was overrun with peep shows, strip clubs and hookers. The story is really dark and graphic. There was also a serial killer on the peripheral of the story that seemed to be nothing more than an excuse to insert more images of violence towards women into the story. Rorschach ignores what's going on for most of the story in favor of going after a drug dealer.

Dr. Manhattan ★★★ - Story by J. Michael Straczynski. Art by Adam Hughes
I get what Straczynski was trying to do here, using quantum physics to tell a story of what ifs and could have beens. It partially worked. Some of it was neat, but some of it was also boring. Adam Hughes is always a fantastic artist.

Moloch ★★★★ - Story by J. Michael Straczynski. Art by Eduardo Risso
This 2 part story was the tale of two halves. The first issue was Moloch's origins. The second issue dovetails into Watchmen and what happened to Moloch after he's released from prison a changed man. I've always been a fan of Risso's stylistic, shadowy art.

Dollar Bill ★★ - Story by Len Wein. Art by Steve Rude
Dollar Bill's story was covered in Minutemen. This was completely unnecessary. It didn't add much besides how he got hired and a bunch of Jewish stereotypes. Even Steve Rude's art wasn't as good as I've seen in the past. It's cluttered and a bit sketchy.

The Curse of the Crimson Corsair ★★★ - Story by Len Wein. Art by John Higgins
This ran as the back 2 pages of each comic book. It's really difficult to put together a good story like that but Wein does it. Higgins's art is great. Gives the story a timeless horror comic quality.

[Kay · Rating 3 out of 5]

What a behemoth! This may be the biggest comic book I've ever read (it took me weeks!). And while I didn't really think this was necessary (Watchmen is pretty self-contained), I did enjoy the "beginnings" of each of the Watchmen. I also didn't mind the way this volume was published with the issues printed in chronological order and not by title. It made reading the issues I didn't love easier, as I knew I'd get something else next. Like eating a mixed bag of candy.

Overall this omnibus gets a 3.5 rating.

I've broken up my review by story, below.


Before Watchmen: Minutemen written and drawn by Darwyn Cooke was my favorite. I'm a huge fan of Cooke's art, and the marriage of his style to the Minutemen's origins in the 40s was just perfect. The story itself was kinda dark, and at times, disturbing, but overall this is a 4.5 star story.
Nite Owl, Police officer Hollis Mason, was my favorite character. (The story with Bluecoat and Scout especially broke my heart.) I also really enjoy getting to know Silhouette & Mothman. Hooded Justice's end was very upsetting. As was Silhouette's, but we all knew that was coming.

Before Watchmen: Nite Owl written by J. Michael Straczynski and art by Andy Kubert and Joe Kubert was my second favorite of this collection. I guess I just have a thing for both of the Nite Owls. I like my heroes earnest... & I also love Dan in love. *shrug* 4.5 stars.

Before Watchmen: Dr. Manhattan written by J. Michael Straczynski and drawn by Adam Hughes was so pretty. I LOVED the art. But the story itself didn't really advance Dr. Manhattan's character for me. (Except that his mother was Romani & killed by the Nazis. That's a representation we don't see a lot of, and I was glad for it.)
I think his story was supposed to read a little high brow ("what is time?", and all that) but kinda flew over my head instead.
4 stars cuz the art was just gorgeous.

Before Watchmen: Ozymandias written by Len Wein and drawn by Jae Lee was good, but a little bit much at times. It's hard to connect to the genius behind the curtain pulling all the strings.
Sometimes I loved the art for its weirdness, sometimes it was hard to get through.
I stand pretty in the middle on this story.
3 stars.

Before Watchmen: Moloch written by J. Michael Straczynski and drawn by Eduardo Risso was both good and hard to connect to, like Ozymandias's story. Not sure why. Maybe it was the superiority complex paired with righteousness that both Moloch had (though he was humbled at his end) and Ozymandias had.
3 stars.

Before Watchmen: Silk Spectre written by Darwyn Cook and Amanda Conner and drawn by Amanda Conner was only OK, as well. I liked the beginning issues but the SF hippy storyline was a little long-winded. The bad guys being "The Man", of course.
3 stars.

Before Watchmen: Rorschach written by Brian Azzarello and drawn by Lee Bermejo was a bit disappointing. Rorschach is a favorite character from Watchmen, and I didn't love these issues. The art was difficult at times (gritty to the extreme), and he read a little bit stuck as a character. All the other characters have moments of growth, but I'm not really sure we get that from his issues. If anything, some of his best lines come from the Before Watchmen: Nite Owl issues.
2.5 stars.

Before Watchmen: Comedian written by Brian Azzarello and drawn by J.G. Jones was my least favorite of the stories. His whole character arch was unnecessary, and the whole book would have been fine without these issues. He's in Before Watchmen: Minutemen, and Before Watchmen: Ozymandias, and Before Watchmen: Silk Spectre enough that we see his character (and get to know him for anyone who hasn't yet read Watchmen).
His relationship with the Kennedys was confusing, his time in Vietnam was gratuitous, & all the politicking (him being a government man) read flat.
1 star.

The Curse of The Crimson Corsair story written by Len Wein and John Higgins and drawn by Higgins was super confusing to me. I forgot that Watchmen also had a pirate story throughout (I had to Google it as a reminder), which apparently was there to mirror the growing sense of threat/panic in the comic's main plot. If we look at The Curse of Th Crimson Corsair through that lens, I guess it was weaved through to mirror all the "origin" stories in Before Watchmen. In the end, we see The Crimson Corsair was Gordon McClachlan all along... Maybe it's a "you can't fight your fate" kind of thing/secret identity reveal?
2.5 stars.

Before Watchmen: Dollar Bill written by Len Wein and drawn by Steve Rude was a simple short one. Like Before Watchmen: Minutemen, we get to see the origins of Dollar Bill, a Minutemen who was a crimefighter off-page and who tragically dies off-page. Now, I really liked Dollar Bill's story, but can't help hating it at the same time. There were too many antisemitic caricatures for one short story. First, we have the Broadway manager. He wasn't too bad, but was obviously a fat mucky-muck type, and his "Oy" was tiring. The real antisemitic caricatures are the National Bank owners: Howe, Abie, Dewey, and Cheatem. "Dewey, Cheatem & Howe" is "the gag name of a fictional law or accounting firm, used in several parody settings" (had to Google it). That's fine, though I'm not sure why Wein felt the need to add an Abie (Jewish nickname for Abraham) or have them drawn as identical Jewish caricatures with hook noses, big lips, short, dark hair, and glasses. They call Bill "boychik" (a Yiddish indearment) and go off for a "nice pastrami on rye" after filming their first scammy commercial for Dollar Bill. I see Wein was Jewish, so I hope these caricatures weren't purposefully antisemitic, but "Jews owing the banks" is some Elders of Zion conspiracy shit I don't need to see in my comics. :(
So whether it was purposefully done or not, it was shit.
No rating given.

[Judah Radd · Rating 5 out of 5]

I went in with very low expectations. I’d read Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons give interviews about why this shouldn’t exist, and I guess I just sort of assumed that this would be an exploitative attempt to cash in on a legendary comic.

I couldn’t have been more wrong.

First of all, let’s talk about the amount of talent that was brought together here: Lee Bermejo, Brian Azzarello, JM Straczynski, Andy Kubert, Jae Lee, Len Wein... they really spared no expense. These are among the best in the field. And, it shows.

What we have are a series of minis, ranging from 2 to 6 issues a piece. While some are better than others, all are very, very good. They expand on the familiar Watchmen characters and flesh out people and events that we’re already familiar with. Duh, right? That’s what everyone expected. What I didn’t expect was for the new stories to be so incredibly compelling. Not only do they enrich the original, they also stand on their own. If this book had been made as is and Watchmen had never happened... this would still be a classic.

Powerful moments, fascinating character development and mind blowing art make this a critical must.

[Vicente Ribes · Rating 4 out of 5]

No llega al nivel de la obra de Alan Moore pero contiene buenas historias. Me gustaron sobretodo los números dedicados a El comediante, Dollar Bill y Rorschach. Los mejores fueron los dedicados a los Minutemen, desde el cómic original que siempre quise saber más de ellos y ahora que han hecho la nueva serie de televisión estaría bien que alguien creará una sobre los Minutemen ya que los trozos de la serie donde aparecen me gustan mucho.

[Brent Ecenbarger · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Before Watchmen Omnibus collects the entirety of DC’s Before Watchmen comic series, including several mini-series, a one shot and the backup stories. I was on the fence about reading this for a few reasons. I love the original Watchmen, and Alan Moore as a writer. Moore was morally against this series coming out due to DC’s contract taking advantage of the success of the book to prevent him from ever getting the rights to his comic. Aside from the ethical issues, Watchmen is a complete story, and it really doesn’t need any additional set up to enjoy it, so what could this event add to it? The stories are presented in this book in I assume publication order, but as they are distinct stories that sometimes overlap I think it’s easiest to review them individual by mini-series.

Before Watchmen: Comedian #1-6 written by Brian Azzarello and art J.G. Jones – The Comedian has the most history to choose from for any character in the Watchmen universe, being part of the Minutemen, The Watchmen, and not being overly developed in the original graphic novel. The mini-series delves into his time of working with the Kennedy’s and going to Vietnam, showing the progression from effective killer to nihilist. This was my least favorite of all the mini-series in the book, particularly the war stories which were not very interesting. Also, between his character here and in the Ozymandias series, I had a hard time buying the Comedian’s reaction to figuring out Ozymandias’s plan. The art was very nice, as it was through most of this Omnibus. 1.5 out of 5.

Before Watchmen: Rorschach #1-4 written by Brian Azzarello and art by Lee Bermejo – I really enjoyed the first two issues in this mini-series, but the ending was awful. Rorschach’s origin was hinted at in Watchmen, and nothing here felt inauthentic in that respect. His visiting the same diner over and over also felt true, as did his relentlessness. The art was good, but didn’t stand out compared to the rest of the Omnibus. The end of the book, along with the Rorschach ending in the Nite Owl series really took the invincibility out of the character, having him get his ass kicked and captured. Along with the Comedian, Rorschach was the character that was hurt the most by getting more story about him. 2.5 out of 5.

Before Watchmen: Minutemen #1-6 written and art by Darwyn Cooke – One of the two stand out books in this set, this book succeeded for a few reasons. First, the art was gorgeous, with the late Mr. Cooke’s art being different from everything else in the book but perfectly fitting the early generation of heroes. Perhaps more importantly, many of the characters were here only mentioned in passing in Watchmen, so as a reader I was learning about interesting characters from a book I loved, with almost nothing conflicting with the original text. My only complaint was the final resolve on Hooded Justice was interesting, but I preferred not knowing what happened and keeping him a mystery. 4.5 out of 5.

Before Watchmen: Silk Spectre #1-4 written by Darwyn Cook and Amanda Conner with art by Amanda Conner – The Silk Spectre was probably the least interesting of the Watchmen character in the original book (even in the greatest superhero story of all time, women characters get short changed). Nothing here changed my opinion, particularly with one issue being an extended acid trip. Most of her development felt like it took place more to show the relationship between her mother, the original Nite Owl and the Comedian. I did like Conner’s art a lot, with it being up there with the Nite Owl for my next favorite after Minutemen. 2 out of 5.

Before Watchmen: Nite Owl #1-4 written by J. Michael Straczynski and art by Andy Kubert and Joe Kubert – This was my second favorite book in the collection. Once again, I enjoyed getting to know original Nite Owl Hollis Mason more, and the additional story arc for the new Nite Owl was also solid. In addition, the early scenes with Rorschach were great. I probably wouldn’t have minded the ending, if the other Rorschach story hadn’t also neutered the character as a threatening presence. The art was also fantastic, jumping between both version of the hero and looking great either way. 4.5 out of 5.

Before Watchmen: Dr. Manhattan #1-4 written by J. Michael Straczynski and art by Adam Hughes – Everything about this series felt like it was trying too hard. Moore’s version of this character was perfect, straddling the line between man and god. Stracynski’s was much more bogged down by the contradictions and was less interesting. The original that we’ve already seen gets retold, then split via a sliding doors style divergence. The end of the book gets flipped upside down for a few pages, which was fairly cumbersome with the massive size of this omnibus. Adam Hughes is obviously a superstar artist, and the art looked up to his normal standards but I don’t think it was the best match for the material, feeling too slick and removing the ethereal nature of the character. 2 out of 5.

Before Watchmen: Moloch #1-2 written by J. Michael Straczynski with art by Eduardo Risso – Much like the Rorsach mini-series, I loved the first half (issue) of this, and didn’t care for the second half (issue). Along with the Minutemen, Moloch was a great character to explore more of his past without worry of contradicting what was in the original series. When the first issue ended with Ozymandias picking him up from prison, I thought “that’s a perfect way to wrap that up.” The next issue felt completely unnecessary, and over-explained what Moore perfectly described succinctly in the original series. The art was probably the ugliest in the book but still more than adequate overall and very clear to follow the story. 3 out of 5.

Before Watchmen: Ozymandias #1-6 written by Len Wein with art by Jae Lee – Jae Lee’s art is the most polarizing in this book, and I’d normally lean to not being a fan. It can work with the right material, but here it was a touch more gothic than the character would require. The storyline followed the Moloch path of being interesting until it went into over explaining territory. When they said Before Watchmen, they meant right before, as this one leads up to the events of the book and even has several events taking place during Watchmen. I prefer the over explaining to the stories that actively made me like the character’s less, but much of this felt unnecessary (particularly the Comedian portions). 2.5 out of 5.

Before Watchmen: Dollar Bill #1 written by Len Wein and art by Steve Rude – This was the simplest story in the book, giving the biography of a character that we basically only knew two things about. First, he was in the Minutemen, and second, he was shot and killed when his cape got caught in a door. Although there’s not a ton more to the character, what was there was good and didn’t detract at all from Moore’s initial thumbnail version of the character. Rude’s art was very good, and compared favorably to most of the Omnibus. 4 out of 5.

The Crimson Corsair backup stories by Len Wein and John Higgins and art by Higgins – Much like the original Watchmen, there’s a pirate story that goes throughout the book that is seemingly unrelated to the rest of the series. Here it’s about a Gordon McLachlan tries to stop an execution then gets tried for mutiny, before being thrown off a boat and ending up on a ghost ship and needing to track down three items to get his soul back. I felt the first few chapters (written by Wein) were better and more clear, advancing the story more each time. The latter ones involved in tracking down tattoos and baby ear rings were less interesting. The art was very stylized which was nice to set it apart from the rest of the book but at times the storytelling wasn’t the focus. 2.5 out of 5.

As a whole, in case it’s not clear from above this book worked when it took the Minutemen or Moloch and expanded on the events from Hollis Mason’s book. Aside from the second Nite Owl (who also benefited from being tied into the Minutemen), the rest of the characters were less successful in telling interesting and worthwhile stories. This is a huge book to carry around, but help up well over a two week reading. I would have preferred if they grouped the mini-series together in a semi-chronological order, and then put the pirate story together as well. If I reread this book, that’s how I will approach it.

[Shaun Stanley · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Before Watchmen omnibus collects the miniseries Comedian 1-6, Rorschach 1-4, Minutemen 1-6, Silk Spectre 1-4, Nite Owl 1-4, Dr. Manhattan 1-4, Moloch 1-2, Ozymandias 1-6, Crimson Corsair 1 and Dollar Bill 1. It is written by such comic superstars as Brian Azzarello, Darwyn Cooke, Len Wein, Amanda Conner, and J. Michael Staczynski with art by Lee Bermejo, Jae Lee, Amanda Conner, Darwyn Cooke, Eduardo Russo, Joe Kubert, Andy Kubert among others.

The prequel to one of the greatest comic series of all times spans many years with stories telling the origins of the Minutemen leading up to events set right before the original series. There are some really good stories in here but it feels like DC was scared to do much with the characters and property. The best book by far is Darwyn Cooke pulling double duty on The Minutemen. Darwyn was the perfect choice to capture the feel of the time period and flesh these characters out more. All of the heroes feel like everyday people caught up in the day to day life of being a superhero. I also really like the Nite Owl series which focused on Nite Owl and Rorschach investigating a serial killer who has been murdering sex workers. The Rorschach, Ozymandias, Moloch, and Dollar Bill books were all pretty good as well. While the Silk Spectre and the Dr. Manhattan books was beautifully drawn and colored, not much actually happens. My biggest disappointment was The Comedian series. I feel Azarellon isn't always clear what he is trying to say and I feel like I'm missing pages of story. The Comedian was the perfect book to really explore more about the character but instead just added to what Watchmen had already set and continued to make Blake an insufferable asshole.

I really enjoyed this book, I just wish DC took more risks. They played it too safe. If you are a big fan of Watchmen, I do think it is worth reading, just don't go in expecting as book as important as Watchmen.

[D.H.]

A fun and very comprehensive look at the Watchmen… and Minutemen.

The book delved into greater depth for many character of the original, some of which were more interesting than others, but overall, it was a real treat for fans of the original. The backstory of the original Minutemen felt organic to the Watchmen, and I especially liked the stories of Silhouette, and the extra depth given to the original Nite Owl – in particular his relationship to Laurel gave real heart to the story. Speaking of, Silk Spectre II as a teen in 60s SF was a treat, and I love the period true graphics.

I personally didn’t find some of the other stories as interesting, as they were characters that were already fully fleshed out in Watchmen (e.g. the Comedian, Dr. Manhattan). There was *more* added to the story, but nothing really new. And the same goes for the Crimson Corsair story within a story. And as a final quip, Ozymandias was drawn in a different style which I didn’t much care for.

Overall, fun and worthwhile.

[Greg Kerestan · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Before Watchmen" is not anywhere near as good as "Watchmen," but that's in part because "Watchmen" is all but untouchable. This massive omnibus, part prequel, part Elseworlds and part "what if," veers wildly between almost-perfect and just-okay, with only one detour into crap. Essential? Maybe not. Enlightening? Sometimes. Worth a read? Absolutely, especially given that this is one of the few editions of "Watchmen" outside the original graphic novel.

[Brian · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you loved the HBO show and wondered "How did they get from the original comic series to there?" the Omnibus gives you a hint. It collects all of the prequels into one volume. It's dense, too dense to cover in this space.

I recognize this run didn't make many fans of the original graphic happy. I appreciated that it filled in some of the holes in the stories of the Comedian, Dr. Manhattan, Night Owl, Ozymandias, Rorschach and Silk Specter. Plus, a quickie on Dollar Bill, more on the Silhouette and the original Nite Owl, and an overview of the supergroup that birthed them, the Minute Men. There's even a short run on Moloch, the villain with a critical role. The take on the Comedian might be the most disturbing.

These are complicated characters and getting the mix of revelation and mystery correct across that many titles is tough. The authors are true to giving you regular folks who find themselves in extraordinary circumstances, the feeling of these being people. Except for Ozymandias, he's always who he is, but the back story shines light on how he got there. And Rorschach, always fucking Rorschach.

The artwork by Jae Lee and Lee Bermejo pops off of the glossy pages.

[Patrick Soucy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Re-Reading these stories in chronological order is a treat! I really don't like how they ordered the comics in the omnibus (they are in publishing order), but I can jump in any story/comic I want, so it's all right! The list below is my preferred way to read all the Watchmen stories: in chronological order, going issue by issue, based on the dates and events. I decided to place all the Before Watchmen: Dr. Manhattan issues at the very end of Watchmen #12, because it spans from various events starting in 1938 until the very end of Watchmen #12 (1985) and serves as a prequel to DC Rebirth/Doomsday Clock.

Many lists exists on the web, but after having read the series many times, this is now my preferred order:

Curse of the Crimson Corsair: The Devil in the Deep…! - Part 1-10
Curse of the Crimson Corsair: The Evil That Men Do…! - Part 1-8
Curse of the Crimson Corsair: Wide Were His Dragon Wings - Part 1-10
Minutemen #1 - The Minute of Truth
Minutemen #2 - Golden Years
Minutemen #3 - Child's Play
Minutemen #4 - War Stories
Dollar Bill #1 - I Want To Be Pictures
Minutemen #5 - The Demon Core
Minutemen #6 - The Last Minute
Ozymandias #1 - I Met A Traveler...!
Ozymandias #2 - The Hand That Mocked Them...!
Ozymandias #3 - The Heart That Fed...!
Comedian #1 - Smile
Comedian #2 - I Get Around
Comedian #3 - Play With Fire
Silk Spectre #1 - Mean Goodbye
Silk Spectre #2 - Getting Into The World
Silk Spectre #3 - No Illusion
Silk Spectre #4 - The End Of The Rainbow
Ozymandias #4 - Shattered Visage...!
Nite Owl #1 - No Such Thing As A Free Lunch
Nite Owl #2 - Some Things Are Just Inevitable
Nite Owl #3 - Thanks For Coming
Nite Owl #4 - From One Nite Owl To Another
DC Heroes - Who Watches the Watchmen
DC Heroes - Watchmen: Taking Out the Trash
Comedian #4 - Conquistador
Comedian #5 - Kicks
Comedian #6 - Eighties
Ozymandias #5 - These Lifeless Things...!
Rorschach #1 - Damn Town - Part 1
Rorschach #2 - Damn Town - Part 2
Rorschach #3 - Damn Town - Part 3
Rorschach #4 - Damn Town - Part 4
Moloch #1 - Forgive Me, Father, For I Have Sinned
Ozymandias #6 - Nothing Beside Remains
Watchmen #1 - At Midnight, All the Agents…
Watchmen #2 - Absent Friends
Watchmen #3 - The Judge of All the Earth
Watchmen #4 - Watchmaker
Watchmen #5 - Fearful Symmetry
Moloch #2 - The Eleven-Thirty Absolution
Watchmen #6 - The Abyss Gazes Also
Watchmen #7 - A Brother to Dragons
Watchmen #8 - Old Ghosts
Watchmen #9 - The Darkness of Mere Being
Watchmen #10 - Two Riders Were Approaching
Watchmen #11 - Look On My Works, Ye Mighty
Watchmen #12 - A Strong and Loving World
Dr. Manhattan #1 - What's The Box?
Dr. Manhattan #2 - One-Fifteen P.M.
Dr. Manhattan #3 - Ego Sum
Dr. Manhattan #4 - Changes Perspective
====================================
DC Universe Rebirth #1
The Button - Part 1 - Batman #21
The Button - Part 2 - The Flash #21
The Button - Part 3 - Batman #22
The Button - Part 4 - The Flash #22
Doomsday Clock #1 - That Annihilated Place
Doomsday Clock #2 - Places We Have Never Known
Doomsday Clock #3 - Not Victory Nor Defeat
Doomsday Clock #4 - Walk on Water
Doomsday Clock #5 - There Is No God
Doomsday Clock #6 - Truly Laugh
Doomsday Clock #7 - Blind Spot
Doomsday Clock #8 - Save Humanity
Doomsday Clock #9 - Crisis
Doomsday Clock #10 - Action
Doomsday Clock #11 - A Lifelong Mistake
Doomsday Clock #12 - Discouraged of Man

[Fahad Ahmed · Rating 3 out of 5]

I first read the Before Watchmen event as it was coming out like a decade ago. Of course, I don't remember much about it from the time, and reading it all together is a lot different from reading the monthlies.

Before (Watchmen) I dive into the individual series, I think it's worth pointing out two things. The first is that all of these books definitely assume you've read Watchmen - and if you're a fan of comics, I think that's a safe assumption to make regardless! The second thing to point out is that, while these stories are sold in pairs of two in trades and hardcovers, the omnibus doesn't collect them that way. It instead orders the issues by release order. That might sound dumb - it did to me - but it actually really works to tell this epic story of the bygone age of heroes. There's some slight interconnectedness between the different series storylines, too. Oh, and it's a lot easier to get through the rougher ones when you have to encounter one issue after a few good issues.

That brings me to the storylines themselves, and for anyone who's looking to buy the trades, I'll structure this review as a review of those trades (the omni itself, I can only really recommend to crazy Watchmen fans like yours truly).

Before Watchmen: Minutemen/Silk Spectre:

If you were only going to buy one of these trades, it really has to be this one!

I don't know why more Watchmen spinoff content doesn't focus on the Minutemen era, there's a lot of room to work with there. Darwyn Cooke's story and artwork here is simply captivating! It's pretty much a portrait of all the sordid drama that Hollis Mason wrote about in Under the Hood - and a lot of the drama he left out! You'll surprised to find that The Silhouette is the heart and soul of the group, and the Watchmen universe really didn't deserve her. His artwork captures the optimism that used to exist in the golden age of comics, contrasting it sharply with the ugliness that the public never saw.

Btw, this book's Hooded Justice is very different from HBO's. I liked this book's Hooded Justice, but I doubt even Alan Moore could've outdone the HBO version, tbh.

The Silk Spectre mini is an unexpected delight. I don't think anyone was asking for a coming of age story about probably the least compelling character in the main cast of the original book, but this one works really well. It's far outshone by the other mini in this pair, but Cooke and artist Amanda Conner have come up with a fun story for Laurie that packs an emotional punch. As it happens, Laurie's story is now the only one that I'd want a second prequel for, imagine that.

4.5/5

Before Watchmen: Comedian/Rorschach:

From the best set of stories, we unfortunately come close to the bottom of the barrel.

If I was the editor in charge of this event and I had to come up with the writer for Comedian and Rorschach's books, I'd pick Brian Azzarello, too. But I'd also force him to actually read Watchmen, because his characterizations of these two characters is kinda off.

Comedian is a relatively fine book. I don't understand why he'd be such close friends with the Kennedy brothers, but this story offers an explanation for how Eddie Blake really became the nihilistic psycho that we all know and...hate, I guess. But his character development in Vietnam feels murky, and I think it relies a lot on history about the Vietnam War that a lot of people wouldn't know about.

The Rorschach mini, on the other hand, is comfortably the worst and least essential one. Not only does it do nothing for his character, we mostly see him being pummeled in this book as he starts off completely out of character and works his way into a more familiar Rorschach.

At least the former story is backed by killer art from J.G Jones. As for the latter, I was not a fan of Lee Bermejo's work, but I can recognize that it's really well done. The artists were clearly the stars of the show in this one.

3/5

Before Watchmen: Nite Owl/Dr. Manhattan (and Moloch):

J. Michael Straczynski is a legend in the comic industry, and with good reason. I mean, this trio of stories isn't going in his hall of fame, but I did enjoy reading them.

Dan Dreiberg was a reasonably interesting character who just didn't merit enough attention in the story of Watchmen. Well, he gets his due here. This book explores his background and his burgeoning obsession with the OG Nite Owl, before flashing closer to the present to explore his relationship with women. JMS didn't pass up the opportunity to tell a story about Dan's relationship with a pre-insane Rorschach, who already harbored some extreme views about sex and women. Giving Rorshy a whole subplot was not a great idea - though this was a way better story than the one Rorschach got all to himself - but overall, I dig this!

As for Dr Manhattan...look, he's a tough character to write, and JMS definitely fell short of the mark here. After using the word quantum a million times, we launch into a story in which Dr Manhattan uses his omniscience to try and visit a time before the accident that created him, and this apparently creates some kind of a universe branching crisis. This book also implies that now, in the middle of the events of Watchmen, is when M realized that he can see across time but he can't change it. Oh well, at least the last issue explores his relationship with Ozymandias in a compelling way.

Finally, I wasn't asking for a Moloch series, but at two issues long, I can't say that I regret having it. This brief story does give us an inside look at Watchmen events that existed outside our perspective.

Once again, the art is killer! Art is the one thing that's almost consistently great throughout Before Watchmen. I wanna give a special shout to Adam Hughes' work on Dr Manhattan, which manages to follow JMS' twisty ideas better than JMS himself can.

3.5/5

Before Watchmen: Ozymandias/Crimson Corsair (and Dollar Bill):

Len Wein was the editor of Watchmen, and he was credited with a lot of what made that comic so great. I was frankly surprised that his writing was not as great as you'd expect with that pedigree.

Ozymandias is an alright story that's largely carried by Jae Lee's painterly gothic art. We kinda learned the broad strokes of Adrian Veidt's origins in the original series, and this elaboration on it doesn't really tell us anything that made this worth the read. I think the best thing for DC to have done was to pair it with one of the more interesting minis when collecting the event.

As it is, this set really is the worst of what this event had to offer.

Why on Earth did Dollar Bill need a one shot? He's clearly the least interesting one of the Minutemen, and the story that's told in this issue could've easily fit into their story. I would've preferred a one shot about literally any of the other Minutemen era characters. Don't bother looking for a cool twist on the Dollar Bill story that could elevate him to new levels of interestingness, it ain't here.

And finally, Curse of the Crimson Corsair. Look, I'm not the first to say that this was a pointless drag throughout these series. Though I've often defended Tales of the Black Freighter from people who don't get why it's important, even I have to concede that Crimson Corsair does nothing to accentuate the themes of Before Watchmen. On top of that, it isn't even independently a good story! This is also literally the one exception to the exceptional artwork throughout Before Watchmen - it's so dark and gloomy and grimy that I couldn't tell what was going on. I'm not entirely sure how it even ended! All I know is I don't much care.

If you aren't buying this omnibus, you might think it weird to skip the Ozymandias book of all books, but trust me, there's very little of value to be found here.

2.5/5

Overall: 3.37/5, rounded off to 3/5

[Yvonne Alf · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading about the backstories of the characters. Well, most of them. I think my least favorite stories where those of The Comedian and the Pirate story. Both where on one side rather boring and on the other side confusing and hard to follow. My favorite stories where Night Owl, the stories about the Minutemen and Ozmandias. While it was challenging to read the Hardcover in a linear way, it was also fascinating to jump between characters and back and forth in time. But I still contemplate to read the comics character by character one day since I sometimes lost oversight about what's happening in the different storylines.

[Russio · Rating 5 out of 5]

9 rather than the full ten, this is comfort reading in a way. In a world where infinite quantum possibilities exist, purists need to get with it and see this prequel as just another one of those. Enjoyably complex, the fleshing out of Nite Owl, Doctor Manhattan, Rorshach, Moloch and especially Ozymandias is most welcome. The Minutemen saga, for me, contains the most surprising twists and turns.

Constructed in episodic form, switching between stories allows a fascinating chronology (including some pre-knowledge) to form, which works better than reading the volumes individually. The Comedian is a very difficult character to enjoy (deliberately) but as events build up to the start of The Watchmen a certain satisfaction with how he starts that work grows.

Essential? No. Enjoyable? For sure.

[Ahdom · Rating 3 out of 5]

Alan Moore wrote some of the best characters in Watchmen. These stories pale in comparison to the original novel, that much perhaps is expected. However, I think that these stories were really good for the most part. I don't think that it were ever necessary to do these, but we got some great artwork and many great stories that happen to tie things together in a creative way. There are plenty of great writers and artists that contributed to this series. If you are a fan of Watchmen, you may really enjoy these. However, I could see purists taking offense. I just wanted to see what this series delivered and I was overall pretty satisfied, especially since I went in with somewhat realistic expectations for it.

[Beastyos · Rating 3 out of 5]

don't want to go too deep into the morality of this book, because I don't think it should exist either, but it does, and I must consume all watchmen content.

I think for this review I'm going to go over some general stuff and then talk about the specific limited series, the biggest issue with this omnibus is that all the issues are in order of release date, which is incredibly annoying, I mean I get it, it's how you would've read this "series" as it came out, but would it have been that hard to put all the issues in an easier to read order, you could still have the crimson crosssair story after all the issues, just change its location, it didn't bother me that much because I got through this omnibus in exactly one week (partially out of fear of forgetting what happened last time) but I can imagine someone has a live isn't gonna remember the exact story of the issue they read 2 weeks ago that had like 4 issues inbetween then and now, that's the biggest issue with the omnibus itself. Now let's move on to another issue that's nobodies fault, upside-down or sideways text, it's so hard to to hold this book, and you expect me to turn it upsidedown or sideway to know wtf is going on!?!? I know these comics weren't made with an omnibus in mind so I won't detract any points because of this, but it's annoying. There 2 other small things that bothered me about the omnibus in general, the inconsistency in the second nite owl's cowl and goggles and how in every comic at least 1 person finishes another person's sentences

Comedian: Not much to say about this one except that it was good

Rorschach: Rorschach has always been one of my favourite characters so a story with him in it I always almost always like, and I do, but it's just a bit disappointing, I would've loved a more Noir tone and artstyle, but what we got was still good ig, surprisingly quick read

Minutemen: One of my favourite stories in this omnibus, it's great to spend more time with the minutemen, we haven't had much time with many of them, except like Hollis, Sally and Blake. Really great cast of characters, good story and a great retro art style (but would've preferred a more comic retro art style like they did with Dollar Bill, would've been fun to switch from a typical golden age to silver age artstyle as we went from 40s to 60s)

Silk spectre: Fun, sweet and heartbreaking/warming story (depending on how you look at it) I don't have much to say about it besides that, except that sometimes, and it only happens like 4 times, there is a small goofy drawing kind of related to the story, like this one time where the titular character went on an "adventure" there was a fun drawing of a pirate ship, and I get it's probably her way to cope or showing her innocence and ignorance, but it kinda got me out of the story a bit, but that's just a me thing, it was fun

Nite Owl: Also one of my favourites if not my favourite story (which is totally not because this has the best portrayal of Rorschach out of the entire omnibus in it) it's difficult to explain what makes this story so amazing, it's the only series in this omnibus I'd really recommend

Moloch: A short and tragic tale, but a good one, sad we didn't get to see more of Moloch in Minuteman, because I would've loved to see a longer story of him in his prime, been wanting to know more about him since I heard about him in watchmen, still great story

Ozymandias: Oh boy, the worst one of them all, this one was hard to get through, especially the first 2 and a half issues, he's just so unlikeable, and I'm not talking about how he's suddenly cartoonishly evil in this whole omnibus tbh, but more so talking about how he talks about himself and his intelligence, I can't stand how much of an arrogant prick he is, not even in the charming way like Blake. After 2 and a half issues it became more bearable because I realised "this whole series is him describing his life, and making himself seem way smarter than he actually is" and somehow that made it a better read (probably helped by the fact that he talks about himself self)
Everytime I finished an issue and saw I was gonna read another Ozymandias issue, I think I groaned out loud, at a point I was even scared to turn the page, just to see his stupid face, what a jumpscare.
The art style is not for me, but it does fit the story, Veidt seems like the kind of person to really appreciate fine art and be painted in a beautiful paining style to be immortalised forever, in paint, along with the greats

Dollar Bill: I love this so much, best arts style in the whole omnibus, I love the style of hand drawn comics, and this replicates it nearly perfectly, a perfect classic comic vibe, I wish they did more of these one shots tbh, like Captain Metropolis, but this was great and I was so happy and surprised to find something like this in here

Dr. Manhattan: It's just more classic Dr Manhattan being Dr Manhattan, we all know how it goes, it's entertaining and good, but I'm insanely surprised doomsday clock did it so much better. Also why does this comic look like Archie wtf

[Norman Cook · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whether or not this was a cash grab by DC to capitalize on the popularity of the Watchmen franchise, it is clear that everyone involved put their best efforts into it. The lineup of creators has some of the best writers and artists available at the time, several of whom have sadly passed since then, making this somewhat of a tribute to them in reading it now. The individual series vary in quality from very good to excellent (the biggest dud being the Crimson Corsair serial which suffered from the way it was presented two pages at a time and that Len Wein stepped away from writing duties after the first few installments). The stories are remarkably well coordinated, being not only completely consistent internally but also with the original Watchmen. (So, a tip of the hat to the editors working in the background.) Some of the series here try to fill in plot holes from the original Watchmen, such as how The Comedian discovered Ozymandias's scheme (frankly, a bit unbelievable), or why Dr. Manhattan didn't do more to stop Ozymandias. But most of the stories fill in the backstories of the characters, backstories that don't really impact the original Watchmen but are interesting in their own ways. One of the difficulties with prequels is that the reader knows what's going to happen to every character, so much of the suspense is eliminated, and at the end there is often a soft climax that is unsatisfactory. This prequel suffers from these problems to some extent, but it is instructive to see the character development. I enjoyed revisiting these characters and seeing their growth. I would have liked to have seen more of Hooded Justice's story, but otherwise these characters are all well developed. The artwork throughout these series is outstanding, with particular kudos to Jae Lee (with a major assist from colorist June Chung) on Ozymandias, Darwyn Cooke on Minutemen, and Andy Kubert and his father Joe Kubert (probably the last work he did before passing, with Bill Sienkiewicz finishing) on Nite Owl. Overall, these new stories don't quite match the quality set by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons in the original Watchmen, but they come close. Purists can certainly skip Before Watchmen and not lose anything, but others can read these stories and gain a deeper understanding of some interesting characters.

[Nathan Aracena · Rating 3 out of 5]

Difficult one to review as there’s such a collection of varying comics covering origin stories of different characters and with different penmanship and lettering to each, it is certainly a varied read. Below reviews for each. Overall a 3 star due to the weaker editions but would have been 4 had it not been for the weaker ones.

⭐️⭐️ Comedian - Dull read to be honest. Not an interesting story
⭐️⭐️ Rorschach - likewise, definitely the two weakest stories of the series
⭐️⭐️⭐️ Minutemen - enjoyable enough back story of the minute men but wasn’t super in love with the artwork
⭐️⭐️⭐️ Silk Spectre - a little bit teen love/discovers lsd in san fran cringe but still quite a fun read
⭐️⭐️⭐️ Nite Owl - I enjoyed this one and seeing some light shed on Night Owl
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Dr Manhattan - although the story got a little diluted, the panelling and use of inverted pages is great. Really enjoyed the way this one was done
⭐️⭐️⭐️ Moloch - artwork cool and nice to see Moloch get a story
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Ozymandias - a bit wordy as would expect from Oz but the comic strips are brilliant, with the use of circles for panels visually stunning
⭐️⭐️ Crimson Corsair - bored bored bored. Great artwork but it’s more a book than a comic and the plot not original by any stretch
⭐️⭐️⭐️ Dollar Bill - fun and easy but doesn’t add an awful lot to the series

[Sivaraman · Rating 3 out of 5]

The original Watchmen story is self-complete. This collection of stories detailing the backgrounds of the Minutemen and their successors is trying to accomplish an arduous task: expand the world of Watchmen without affecting the original story and also be worthwhile. The result is a mixed bag.

While the art is consistently and shockingly gorgeous across this massive slab of an omnibus, the same cannot be said about the writing. There are a lot of repetitive elements as the focus shifts to different characters, and retelling the same beats from their perspectives rarely accomplishes any purpose. Some of the characters' journeys, like Ozymandias', feel bland since they essentially lead nowhere but to the inevitable original plot. Some, like Rorschach's and Nite Owl II's, add depth to their personalities. Some, like Dr. Manhattan's, are clever. But these are not the stories that add to the original Watchmen lore but simply character profiles in graphic format.

Did I need these backstories? Not probably.

Did they add anything to the world of Watchmen? Sure.

Do I regret reading these stories? No. The art alone warranted reading this, and the stories just ended up falling short while aiming for the moon though the original Watchmen is the freaking sun.

[bret riddle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rorschach was the only reason I read this, but I ended up enjoying the art of silk spectres, and her story. Ozymandias was always boring to me so no surprise I rushed thru his story. Doctor manhattan was interesting, kinda made me feel sorry for him but he ends up being a dick in the end and I didn’t like that he switched his partner from Rorschach to silk spectre and duck over his wife. Nite owl, I could relate to niteowl down to earth dork, just like myself. Waited for the girl he wanted. The minutemen was cool, liked seeing the before scenery, and what a shame it was that hooded justice was a pos in the end. Rip my boy dollar bill, you didn’t deserve to die the way you did🥲. Coolest one shot I read. Comedian had a fucked yo story, but he’s still a questionable person and hard to like guy with his decisions. Crimson Corsair yawn 🥱. Moloch was interesting to see the behind the scenes and his back story and hin and ozys behind the scenery. All in all I just think it coulda tied together more and made it more nail biting like the minutemen series was and Rorschach’s.

[Gabrii_i7 · Rating 4 out of 5]

O sea no me lo he acabado pero no me voy a leer nunca los 6 números del comediante así que en el fondo es como si lo hubiera terminado.

En general no suma mucho y de hecho a veces rompe el canon (cosicas ooc) ahora bien LA DE LOS MINUTEMEN!!! EXCUSE ME(? POR QUÉ ES TAN BUENA??? Los personajes más entrañables tienen tramas entre ellos siendo majos y es precioso *sniff* y los dibujos son del señor cuyo estilo marcó la serie de la liga de la justicia que devoré en la infancia y aaaah.

La del Doctor Manhattan tmb ta guay, es otra forma de meter referencias innovando y añadiendo ideas nuevas y recuerda a la wea que sacaron de House of X sobre la Moira.

Los demás, ñe, excepto para confirmar que todos tienen traumitas infantiles. (y bueno, la portada del Ozymandias siendo estrangulado por una pava con una máscara 👀)

[Luke John · Rating 4 out of 5]

A real mixed bag of non Alan Moore approved additional Watchmen material. Some stories succeed through their sensitive exploration of the subject characters, whilst others appear inconsistent with the source and clumsy in their handling of the heroes. The Comedian for me was a low point, feeling the least comparable in tone to the original series and the most damaging to the lore. Silk Spectre, on the other hand, was solid and expanded on the character in a meaningful and appropriate manner. Generally though there is more to enjoy here than to be disappointed in and worth reading for anyone craving more Watchmen.

[Wil · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall decent read. Not as great as the original Watchmen (very few comics are) but a fun read for anyone who wants more from that world and is interested in the characters presented but really not necessary of a read for anyone other than Watchmen enthusiasts. The Minutemen were probably one of the more interesting sets of characters to get a focus. I was happy to see some favorites such as J Michael Straczybski and Brian Azzarello shining bright as always while Lee Bermejo and Jae Lee showing off their beautiful artwork. While this is presented as a prequel, it’s majority is but there are some parts that take place during the events of Watchmen. It’s best as a supplemental piece of information for those who have read the original as opposed to a starting point for new comers.

[Terry Mulcahy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Goes deeper than Watchmen itself. Sure there are conspiracy theories galore, and everyone's backstory too, but in between the threads of each story runs a a recurring philosophical thread that really does get you thinking about life's dualities, absurdities, and moralities. Whereas Watchmen exposed the myths of superheroes, Before Watchmen, ostensibly a complete omnibus of the prehistory, goes after all of us. DC occasionally shows a dark side, and this tops 'em all. The writing and art are superb. Franz Kafka would have enjoyed it.

[Shelby · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lot has to be kept in mind about the original Watchmen book to tie in with this, at least to get a few details here and there, but overall it could be a good read on its own! The comics within are arranged in such a way to build up suspense and tell the story it needs to tell from all the angles it has. Having all the different artists and their styles change from book to book makes it feel like it's really from those different perspectives as well- like we're looking through their eyes.
Definitely a read for Watchmen fans!

[Aaron Robb · Rating 3 out of 5]

At it's best, it's telling stories within the Watchmen universe that give us more depth to the characters we know. At it's worst, it's unnecessary, and in some cases detracts rather than adds to the Watchmen mythos.

Plus:
The Minutemen series, Dr. Manhattan, The Crimson Corsair, and Moloch.

Minus:
The stuff with The Comedian felt like Before Watchmen at its worst.
In some cases, edgy for the sake of being edgy.

Interesting:
Worth a read, but I don't feel like I'm likely to re-read it anytime soon. It doesn't stand up to the source material.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mostly pointless, but I found it quite enjoyable. Very clever approach to what is essentially just a coloring-in of known details. The artwork is varied in style and absolutely fantastic overall. While Moore is not necessarily wrong in thinking this is a shameless cash grab, the level of care and craft, and thought that went into this dissolve any presumed cynicism.

It’s wholly unnecessary, but I enjoyed it, and it doesn’t take away from the power of WATCHMEN. It seems the artists took great pains to make sure that was the case.

[Josh Lagrimas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not much of a graphic novels reader but Watchmen piqued my interest and became a fan.

Even though I am not aware of their original works before this series, it is amazing how DC was able to assemble a team of great artists and writers to create a wonderful prequel to the massive hit that is Watchmen. It is not perfect and definitely has its own discrepancies with the original work but I respected the artistic liberties they all took and actually appreciated most of it.

[Natalie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I decided to give this a try and honestly, I enjoyed a good bit of it. Some character's sorties were better than others. My favorites were Nite Owls, Rorschach, and Silk Spectre (Laurie). It was neat to see Amanda Conner, who did the art for Silk Spectre and I liked the ingight into both Rorschach and Dan Drieberg's history (both their childhoods and their crime fighting escapades).

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whatever you do, read the original first!

Watchmen doesn’t need any sequels or prequels and this one doesn’t really add that much to the experience of the original. What it does do is let you spend some more time with the characters and overall I enjoyed it - especially Darwyn Cooke’s take on The Minutemen and Amanda Conner’s Silk Spectre.

[Terrance · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some of the mini-series titles are better than others, but overall I was surprised at how much I liked this collection. They really handled this almost taboo property well. This and the HBO show gave me renewed faith that there can be good Watchmen stories beyond the original.