Before Watchmen: Comedian #5 Review And Mini Series Wrap Up
Comic: Comedian #6
Written By: Brian Azzarello
Pencils By: J G .Jones
Publisher: DC Comics
Release Date: OUT NOW IN STORES & DIGITAL DOWNLOAD (VIA COMIXOLOGY)
rating: 3
This is it folks. The big finale. The end of the comic book series that no one ever thought would happen and when it did no one thought it would work. This is the last issue of the last mini series and Before Watchmen comes to an end. Excited? *Record scratch* Don't be, it's just another chapter of Comedian.
At the beginning of all this Before Watchmen hoo-har, it was thought that the final issue to be released would be Dr. Manhattan #4. This was very promising because it was a mini series that had places to go and could potentially deliver a killer final panel in the Before Watchmen run. Anyway, after a series of week;s off, massive gaps, odd release scheduling and frankly a largely underwhelming end to a mini comic book event that should have set the world of comics alight, we end with Edward Blake. Kicked out of Vietnam, about to be outed as a murderer by a close friend and a decision to make about sorting out a potential political mess, Blake's six part story arc comes to an end with a satisfying close. Much like the first couple of issues, the story focuses on the darker side of the Comedian without getting too war torn. How far with Eddie go for his country? How far will he go for himself and just how distant is he from the costumed hero origins that he's left behind? You'll find all this out and more within the pages of Comedian #6 and it all works. 
There's a great little bumping of heads between Comedian, Nite-Owl and Rorschach early in the issue and it provides a nice commentary on what Eddie thinks of the dark turns in costumed crime fighting. There is of course more talk of things we'll later see in the pages of Watchmen but the big event here is the Bobby Kennedy assignation. I won't spoil anything but the twist in the tale is dark and just when you think writer Brian Azzarello isn't going to take it where you think, he does and it makes for the perfect end to the largely uneven political thriller this mini series has been from the get go. The Comedian mini series was sometimes great, sometimes promising and sometimes a great dark showing of Edward Blake but all in all it was a little uneven, lost its way in the middle a bit and never really struck a compelling balance between the politics and the desire to show us Blake's descent into madness. I didn't come away from this feeling like I'd learnt anything more about Blake, beyond his friendship with the Kennedys and in many ways I feel he was better explored in some of the other Before Watchmen titles. This mini series was never a total write off but it did fall at the bottom end of the Before Watchmen pile for me. Speaking of which, I'll skip the Before Watchmen series overview for this issue and follow up soon with a countdown of the Before Watchmen line up and the highs and lows the controversial event left us with. Stay tuned folks, there's one last Before Watchmen piece coming soon... Mini Series Overall
rating: 2
