A review by onceandfuturelaura
Before Watchmen: Ozymandias/Crimson Corsair, by Len Wein
3.0
It was lovely, and visually very much a tribute to The Watchmen. The Ozymandias section had some good story touches too. After the first time Ozymandias and the Comedian tussle, Ozymandias muses “Then, I, too, walked off into the night, wondering what sort of government would employ someone like the Comedian in the first place.” Yeah. Good question, also-walks-into-night-boy.
Not long after, Adrian Veidt was invited to JFK’s inauguration, and hears him say “The world is very different now. For man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human poverty and all forms of human life.” This could have been in The Watchmen itself. Moments later, Veidt recognizes the Comedian, who, it seems, is on a first name basis with JFK. What sort of government indeed.
Definitely puts a bow on the idea that the Comedian got the joke. One midnight swim in Central American waters, and he might have prevented the prevention of nuclear war.
The Crimson Corsair portion was also lovingly colored. Felt a lot like H. Rider Haggard meets Lovecraft, with all the uncomfortable racial subtext that implies.
Like The Minutemen, not a dense text. Gets closer an exploration of the moral questions, but so relentlessly from the point of view of the apollonian narcissist it can’t help to lack the density of the canonical text. Not worth getting eaten by a giant snake god for, but entertaining enough.
Not long after, Adrian Veidt was invited to JFK’s inauguration, and hears him say “The world is very different now. For man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human poverty and all forms of human life.” This could have been in The Watchmen itself. Moments later, Veidt recognizes the Comedian, who, it seems, is on a first name basis with JFK. What sort of government indeed.
Definitely puts a bow on the idea that the Comedian got the joke. One midnight swim in Central American waters, and he might have prevented the prevention of nuclear war.
The Crimson Corsair portion was also lovingly colored. Felt a lot like H. Rider Haggard meets Lovecraft, with all the uncomfortable racial subtext that implies.
Like The Minutemen, not a dense text. Gets closer an exploration of the moral questions, but so relentlessly from the point of view of the apollonian narcissist it can’t help to lack the density of the canonical text. Not worth getting eaten by a giant snake god for, but entertaining enough.