Before Watchmen: Comedian #4 Review
Eddie Blake is lost at war and this Before Watchmen miniseries is following him.
Comic: Comedian #4
Written By: Brian Azzarello
Pencils By: J G .Jones
Publisher: DC Comics
Release Date: OUT NOW IN STORES & DIGITAL DOWNLOAD (VIA COMIXOLOGY)
rating: 2
We're back in 'Nam for the latest issue of Comedian and I don't know whether it's the insanity of the war or the fact the story flits all over the place here but what started as a strong title in the Before Watchmen run is slowly becoming my least enjoyable read of the Watchmen prequels.
There's nothing terrible here. The art if great, the writing, well paced and fitting for the wartime setting but I found this issue largely incoherent. An element of that is Eddie Blake losing touch with the world around him. War bearing down on him, the insanity of the relentless continuation of the battles and the increasing drug use by the troops, it's all enough to start breaking down Eddie Blake but this issue just felt like it was biding it's time rather than taking advantage of it's lead character's mental state. I was hoping the six issue titles in Before Watchmen would have more to say than this but both Comedian and Ozymandias are feeling like they are lagging in the middle a little bit. This issue didn't have much more to say than has already been said in previous issues and the scenes here blend into one another with little in the way of direction. I don't know, maybe the Before Watchmen experiment is beginning to show that it had nothing to bring to the table other than pretty artwork and spotlights on key moments rather than fully rounded stories to tell. I'm not too sure and I certainly don't want to start writing off what has so far been a great show of DC Comics talent but the last few weeks for Before Watchmen have felt like the titles have stalled a little bit and I'm hoping this Comedian issue proves to be the last of the plodding along for the series. 
Week 23 Overview: 
