Before Watchmen: Nite Owl #2 Review

Comic: Nite Owl #2Written By: J Michael StraczynskiPencils By: Andy KubertPublisher: DC ComicsRelease Date: OUT NOW IN STORES & DIGITAL DOWNLOAD (VIA COMIXOLOGY)

rating: 4.5

Nite-Owl and Rorschach hunt down some street thugs and meet up with The Twilight Lady but with the crime fighting duo's differing views on women of the night, the pair have a falling out. The first page of this issue is hands down my favourite thing in Before Watchmen so far. There's a great Nitw Owl shot and a flat out amazing Rorschach moment and pretty much from there, Nite-Owl confirmed itself as my favourite part of these Watchmen prequels. Straczynski continues to tell his part of Before Watchmen with bold and confident strides, Kubert's artwork, somehow feels the closest to Gibbons work in the original Watchmen and between the creative pair they are not afraid to play with the characters they've taken on. Flashbacks, backstrories, extensions of what we already know and inner monologues, all come at a quick pace and Straczynski is making this Nite-Owl and Rorschach team-up period everything it was in Watchmen and it's a joy. I love this pair's chemistry and differences. Nite-Owl's awkwardness around Rorschach's oddness is always fantastic and having the majority of the events told from Dan's point of view is great, even when we see Rorschach off on his own in his obsessive, lonely life. There's one great nod at things to come here when the original Hollis Mason has a flash of something we're bound to see in future Minutemen issues, hinting that these individual arcs will begin to feel a little more connected. However this issue really focuses on Dan's struggle not to be held back by what's expected of the name he carries and the glamorous image crime fighting portrays to the public. Nite-Owl's desire to do right mixed with Rorschach's drive to stop any and all wrong, made this a great issue and given how much I love both of these characters, I just didn't want it to end. When it does it goes out strong and I can't wait to see what happens next issue. Before Watchmen: Week 9 Overview:

"Nite-Owl could be accused of just expanding on elements we know about already but Straczynski and Kubert are doing their part of Before Watchmen with plenty to love and a real respect for the Watchmen characters. There's a sense things might start interconnecting within this series a little more now as well and even Crimson Corsair seems to be going somewhere too."