Before Watchmen: Doctor Manhattan
Writer: J. Michael Straczynski. Artist: Adam Hughes No one really knew what to expect from Doctor Manhattan in this mini series. I mean, in in the original Watchmen, Doctor Manhattan was astounding. The way his story was told was so unique, his part in the Watchmen world so beautifully told and of course his back story was presented in such a great way as we travelled through the blue guys relationship with time that it will always be a consideration as the one of the greatest chapter in comics. But where next? What would Straczynski possibly do with a character we literally know all the ins and outs of and has set a benchmark so high in story telling, pop culture is really only just catching up with it. Well Straczynski took hold of Doctor Manhattan and ran with it in a big bad way. To boil it down to the basics, he essentially offered up the concept that while on Mars, Manhattan dissembled time, looked at every possible outcome of multiple realities, tore them apart, largely due to their devastating outcomes and focused on the reality hes in now. That is really a simplistic description of events because what Straczynski actually did was provide one of the best comic book mini series of 2012/2013 and wasnt afraid of the character he chose to do it withs limitless boundaries. Pinning much of this to the idea that until a box is opened it is full of limitless possibilities, Doctor Manhattan sees his life through many changes. What if he didnt go back for the watch and walked out of the box unchanged? What would happen to his family, his friends or indeed the world? Straczynski wrote all of this beautifully, studied the tiniest of moment and grandest of universal events all within a few panels at a time and Adam Hughes made all this all the more beautiful with some absolutely stunning artwork right across the board. Arguably Straczynski broke some rules about the Docs powers, though I for would argue Manhattans powers always seemed limitless to me and everything within the pages of this mini series worked for this long time Watchmen fan. Really each and every step of the way Straczynski sells his concept, he re-defines the rules and achieves the impossible of actually doing Doctor Manhattan justice without watering down the vast possibilities on offer via the big blue guy. Doctor Manhattan ends up not only being the best thing about Before Watchmen for me but one of the best things about comic books in quite a while.