Before Watchmen: Nite Owl
Writer: J. Michael Straczynski Artists: Andy and Joe Kubert Around the web, Nite Owl got its fair share of mixed reviews but I have to say that within the page of J. Michael Straczynski mini series lay some of closest genuine Watchmen feeling stuff in the entire Before Watchmen run. I realised early on that the era of Nite Owl and Rorschach crime fighting duo is some of my favourite stuff in Watchmen. Having a story set around these two in New York made for pure delight and Straczynski nailed Rorschach better in these pages than he was handled across the rest of Before Watchmen. In fact in one scene he introduced Rorschach in such a classic way, it almost felt Batman good. Elements like Nite Owls relationship with Twilight Lady and the beginnings of Nite Owls love of getting it on in costume was one thing but fleshing out his back story, his path to becoming Nite Owl II and some of the darker paths both he and Rorschach walk down in these pages just made for good times all around. Sure, I would have liked to have seen a bit more focus on the Keane Act and how that affected our two main heroes but the crazy priest stuff was twisted enough to make the mini series work anyway (again Rorschach gets some great panel time with this stuff). Also the relationship between Dan and Hollis was a nice addition and at its core the Nite Owl mini series reminded me just how much I like the character, his insecurities, his wide eyed enthusiasm for the costume and of course how the world of Watchmen chips away at him enough to make him second guess his actions.