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rosemarieshort's review
3.0
I think it's worth warning those that read the original Watchmen series that this comic resells the story of Dr Manhattan from there; almost a word for word retelling at that. If you never have, and never intend to, read the original than this will appeal. Otherwise you're rather throwing money away by purchasing; better to look at the Dollar Bill or Minute Men origins - you'll get more out of it!
scottpm's review against another edition
2.0
2 stars only because of Jae Lee's art. His art is worthy of 2 stars by itself. Ozymandias was good but it felt like there was nothing new there. The rest was not necessary.
sabregirl's review against another edition
4.0
Three-and-a-half stars. Ozymandias isn't my favorite character, he's probably one of the last ones so it was good that I got his over with first. It was predictable, they could've gone something completely different but they went for a Bruce Wayne type, save for him killing people who know too much or getting in his way. The only good part was the Crimson Corsair beginnings. Wasn't really expecting that at all!
jessjarbinks's review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
joshgauthier's review against another edition
3.0
Ehh... I would say that this was probably the worst of the Watchmen prequels.
Ozymandias: "The road to hell is paved with adverbs" said Stephen King, but these writers seem to have missed that memo. Apparently being the smartest man in the world means using way too many words to say everything. The beginning of the story was almost painful to read, but the writing did even out as it went on. That being said, Ozymandias's ego trip monologue about how he is going to save the world does have a few interesting insights and tie-ins to the other prologues and the main story, so it ultimately did provide some reward for reading it.
Crimson Corsair: I'm not really sure what the point of this one was. It feels like it ties very loosely to the pirate story in the original Watchmen, but that's about as much point as it has. With supernatural elements, dark content, and more moderately-tiring writing, I really only finished reading this to wrap up the Watchmen prequels. I guess, taken apart from the world of Watchmen, it was a little interesting. But the story was generally kind of choppy, hard to follow, and unrewarding.
Dollar Bill: This story saved the volume for me (a little). Dollar Bill's story was short, kind of fun, and actually provided some new information into the character. While still not particularly necessary to the Watchmen world, at least there was some benefit to reading it, and I was generally able to enjoy it. A fair ending to an otherwise forgettable volume.
Ozymandias: "The road to hell is paved with adverbs" said Stephen King, but these writers seem to have missed that memo. Apparently being the smartest man in the world means using way too many words to say everything. The beginning of the story was almost painful to read, but the writing did even out as it went on. That being said, Ozymandias's ego trip monologue about how he is going to save the world does have a few interesting insights and tie-ins to the other prologues and the main story, so it ultimately did provide some reward for reading it.
Crimson Corsair: I'm not really sure what the point of this one was. It feels like it ties very loosely to the pirate story in the original Watchmen, but that's about as much point as it has. With supernatural elements, dark content, and more moderately-tiring writing, I really only finished reading this to wrap up the Watchmen prequels. I guess, taken apart from the world of Watchmen, it was a little interesting. But the story was generally kind of choppy, hard to follow, and unrewarding.
Dollar Bill: This story saved the volume for me (a little). Dollar Bill's story was short, kind of fun, and actually provided some new information into the character. While still not particularly necessary to the Watchmen world, at least there was some benefit to reading it, and I was generally able to enjoy it. A fair ending to an otherwise forgettable volume.
pbobrit's review against another edition
3.0
Another one of the Before Watchmen collection. Loved the Ozymandias story, the artwork is phenomenal and the story is great bringing things up to the point of the beginning of the original Watchmen. Crimson Corsair was a good story, but less of a fan of John Higgins artwork. Dollar Bill was amusing but a throwaway.
chromiumboron's review against another edition
3.0
Let me just start off by saying I only read the Ozymandias half.
This was surprisingly okay. It was not great, but I was expecting to dislike it because I hate Ozymandias. It really helped explain why he is the way that he is though, and I like how it lead right up to where Comedian was killed. For not having been written by Alan Moore, I'd say it was pretty good. The art threw me off at first because it's so different than the original Watchmen, but it was still great.
This was surprisingly okay. It was not great, but I was expecting to dislike it because I hate Ozymandias. It really helped explain why he is the way that he is though, and I like how it lead right up to where Comedian was killed. For not having been written by Alan Moore, I'd say it was pretty good. The art threw me off at first because it's so different than the original Watchmen, but it was still great.
mjfmjfmjf's review against another edition
4.0
A prequel to The Watchmen - an autobiography of Ozymandias - which was great. A horror bit starring the Crimson Corsair which was unreadable crap. And a short bit on Dollar Bill which was kind of cute. The back-story on Ozymandias added quite a bit to the story and was done well. I especially liked the way it tied into the original with little bits of art and dialogue but from a different perspective. 3.5 of 5 considered how awful the Crimson Corsair story was.
jadedbee1227's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75