Before Watchmen: Comedian | Rorschach
Writer: Brian Azzarello
Artists: J.G. Jones and Lee Bermejo
Great expansion on Rorschach and Comedian's characters, but could've had a better writer for the task...
Ranking: 3 stars
I'll be honest here, this volume of the BEFORE WATCHMEN series had great potential and promising stories. I just feel that Brian Azzarello wasn't the correct writer for DC to assign this project to.
Brian Azzarello (100 BULLETS, JOKER, LUTHOR, SUPERMAN: FOR TOMORROW) is one of the most baffling comic book writers I've ever known, and might be one of my least favorite writers in the comics' medium. He is well known for employing an "In medias res" (beginning a story at its midpoint, and the backstory often being told through the use of flashbacks) style, which is a creative storytelling technique used in literature and films, if executed properly. An example of a story where the technique does work would be the film BATMAN BEGINS. The reason it works here is because the viewer has clear references to Bruce Wayne's backstory implied in the present, even as his past is being revealed through individual flashbacks. Unfortunately, the methods that Azzarello uses to reveal past events are extremely obscure and disorienting for the reader (I experienced this problem in SUPERMAN: FOR TOMORROW). I'm no stranger to confusing authors as I'm a Grant Morrison fan, but his works are confusing as they contain references to literary novels and comics of the silver age (particularly his Batman run, which I loved unlike some people). Call me a hypocrite, but Azzarello's books are confusing to the point of where its hard to tell what's going on in the story, as the characters constantly interrupt each other, finishing the other's statement the dialogue, and overuses metaphors in the dialogue. I love the use of literary references in graphic novels, but there is a limit to how obscure the metaphors should be, and he surpasses it. Don't get me wrong; I don't hate Azzarello's books. He creates extremely intriguing stories, but the execution and portrayal of them often fails for me. BEFORE WATCHMEN: COMEDIAN|RORSCHACH, has taught me that his works are a steak that's not cooked to match my tastes.
The BEFORE WATCHMEN books are the prequels to Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons work on WATCHMEN, which was a near infinite masterpiece. These books act as additional backstories for all the characters presented in the original title, and were designed reminisce the impact these characters had on both the comics and literary industry. Although Alan Moore has openly announced his disapproval of the project, I was so moved by Watchmen, that refusal to read the prequels was not an option for me. As Rorschach was my favorite member of the Watchmen, I decided to start into the prequels with his story, as well as the Comedian's as they are both contained in this volume. I have to admit that Moore's belief that the prequels would ruin the integrity of the original work was erroneous; as I felt they helped expand the psychology of the heroes he created.
The Comedian's story told us about Edward Blake's relationship to the Kennedy family, and how his immoral and violent nature strained his friendship with Bob Kennedy. Comedian is the darkest member of the Watchmen, as he understands the savage nature of society, and chooses to parody it, to become a joke of it (he shows this during the darkest days of the Vietnam War). Despite Comedian coming off as an unlikeable jerk, the readers are able to care about him, as we see moments that prove that he's not evil, but is disturbed, and unafraid of the world's true colors. Moments that prove that he has a heart include him hearing about JFK's assassination during a raid on Moloch's lair, and a shocking ending about Bob Kennedy's death that is almost enough to make the reader cry. For Rorschach's story, the reader gets a glimpse of a defining moment in his crime-fighting career. Rorschach is occupied in tracking down a Prostitution gang leader known as Rawhead, while a serial killer known as the Bard is leaving cryptic poems about the true nature of society, in one of the most disturbing fashions I've ever seen. Molded and traumatized by the corruption that plagues society, Rorschach is willing to go any length to punish evil, even to the extent of killing criminals. While pursuing Rawhead, Rorschach learns not only about his inner self, but of ordinary citizens as well. The dark vigilante discovers what separates him from the rest of society, questions why he is compelled to do what he does, attempts to socialize among others, and learns that humans become reflections of themselves in times of crisis. These lessons Rorschach learned in this book, help expand his obsession to punish corruption, and show the reader why he is not afraid to give criminals the same brutality they inflict upon their victims.
So while I enjoyed how BEFORE WATCHMEN expanded the psychological profiles of Comedian and Rorschach, as well as the artwork by J.G. Jones (FINAL CRISIS) and Lee Bermejo (JOKER, LUTHOR), I just felt Brian Azzarello wasn't the right person to handle such an important project. His style was off-putting, which made it harder to enjoy the stories, especially Comedian's, as each chapter seemed to begin at a random point in the story, with little prior information to the events that took place before, which aren't revealed until the end of the chapter. This made the plot extremely confusing (not Morrison confusing), which annoyed me, as I could hardly understand what was supposed to be happening at certain points, and the dialogue kept throwing me off-track of the confusing elements I was trying to decipher. It just added on more and more material to decipher, which was not the best kind of experience to have while reading. I'm not saying it ruins the entire book, it just takes away some of the fun in reading it. Azzarello does a better job on the Rorschach story, it avoids his usual "In medias res" setup, but the writing is still a bit flawed as he overuses symbolism and metaphor in character's dialogue during some portions of the story (particularly the last chapter).
Despite the problems I had with the writing, I still plan on reading the rest of the BEFORE WATCHMEN books (Minutemen|Silk Spectre, Nite Owl|Dr. Manhattan, Ozymandias|Crimson Corsair) as they are written by different writers like Len Wein (SWAMP THING, X-MEN) and J. Michael Straczynski (AMAZING SPIDER-MAN, TV's BABYLON 5). I believe the other prequels will expand on the characters as this one did. So while I believe the Comedian and Rorschach stories deserved a better writer, I still enjoyed their stories, and saw them as a faithful continuation to Alan Moore's work that started it all. All in all, it's definitely worth checking out if you're a huge fan of Rorschach, Comedian, and Watchmen in general, but I will warn you that Azzarello can just be a polarizing author for some people.
He sure was for me...
