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Overanalyzing Anime
Blog Owner & Lead Writer
In this installment of Before Watchmen, we follow The Comedian just before, during, & just after his time in Vietnam.
I’ll start by saying that this comic changes a lot of what we know about Eddie Blake. For example, in the original #story it was suggested that Blake & Nixon had a close relationship, but that was retcon’d so that he would have a relationship with the Kennedy family. And, quite frankly, that choice was better for the overall story, in a number of ways.
I will say that the moments dealing with war were especially brutal, with much of the brutality coming from the jester himself. Blake allowed himself to truly “let loose” in the foreign land &, much like Ares, reveled in the bloody war. One U.S. soldier said it best when he claimed, “Blake is a maniac. Fortunately, he’s our maniac.”
More than any of the other comics in the series, this one is more beholden to the established history of the USA, probably due to the fact that the Comedian is a soldier & his story revolves around his involvement with real government officials. I may not be a history buff, but what I do know leads me to believe that author Brian Azzarello really did his homework.
Which, actually, brings me to the author. If you remember my Before Watchmen: Rorschach, I spoke about Azzarello not understanding the character of Rorschach.. well, that’s not the case for the Comedian. Azzarello does an excellent job capturing the essence of the nihilistic vigilante - even doing well to find new ways to make us see just how detestable the character truly is.
If I had one gripe with the story it would be the fact that I don’t believe it warranted a full six issues. Instead, I feel that a more concise story would have been more beneficial, as it was for some of the other entires in the BW series.
All in all, this particular story may not be for everyone - it deals with the Vietnam Conflict & does not attempt to pull any punches in that regard. However, if you’re a fan of war stories (or, of course, The Comedian) then I imagine this is a story you’ll enjoy.
My rating: 8/10
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