Is the Comedian‘s story worth following?  Read on to find out.

The official description from DC:

“It’s something I’m good at. It’s war.”

Plus, a new CRIMSON CORSAIR backup feature from writer LEN WEIN and artist JOHN HIGGINS!

In all honesty, when Before Watchmen was originally announced I was really excited to read Before Watchmen: Comedian.  I thought the creative parring of Brian Azzarello and J.G. Jones would create a must-own series.  In the context of the Watchmen universe, the Comedian is a rather pivotal persona the bridges the gap between two generations of heroes.  He’s a character that gets around and touches peoples lives, whether they like it or not.

It’s that type of attitude that simply bleeds out of the script by Brian Azzarello.  It’s not without its side-steps, but for the most part the narrative set-up by the author yields a strong enough story.  It fits our protagonist quite well, but it doesn’t venture into any new territory.  It’s not bad, in fact it’s a fun if passable read, but it will leave fans eager to understand why they’re investing $3.99 into a story that’s rehashing ideas from the original series.

Each character and every background is layered with lavish details as J.G. Jones continues to do outstanding work on this book.  The world looks as you would expect it to, as we get to see some of the history surrounding this violent vigilante.  The overall design suits the script fine, but the art is so good that it simply begs for the narrative to take some daring strides in the remaining issues.

The back-up feature following the exploits of the Crimson Corsair continues to impress.  Len Wein writes the episodic journey quite well as John Higgins offers solid art that makes me yearn for a single release that collects the entirety of this story in one convenient format.

Before Watchmen continues to deliver impressive visuals, and while some of the stories have proven the reason for their existance, Before Watchmen: Comedian is still searching for its narrative context.  With that in mind this issue squeaks by with a light recommendation.

3/5