Review: Curse of the Crimson Corsair by Len Wein and John Higgins

Guest post by Sean Korsgaard.

In the Watchmen universe, comics don’t star superheroes, not when you've got costumed vigilantes patrolling the streets. No, instead, they star spacemen, heroes, and other pulp trends, the most recent one being pirates – one such pirate comic, Tales of the Black Freighter, made passing appearances throughout Watchmen, and to pay homage to that, another such pirate title was tacked on to a number of the Before Watchmen issues, a tale of the Curse of the Crimson Corsair. So is it worth your pieces of eight?

Sailor Gordon McClachlan has had a rough time on his first voyage – driven to mutiny by a captain fond of keelhauling his sailors, and only saved from the noose by a Spanish warship that sank his own, he lies adrift for days before being rescued by the one ship no sailor ever hopes to see – the Flying Dutchmen, captained by the Crimson Corsair. The Captain makes clear the cost of his rescue is a steep one – his soul and a lifetime of service aboard the Dutchmen – and the cost of winning back his soul and freedom may be even steeper. What horrors must McClachlan face to win them back? What horrors must he commit? By tales end, he may not have much of a soul left to win back…

The art style is fantastic, helped along by writing that matches the pulpy pirate tale being told. It reads like an old adventure serial, one that leaves you longing for each installment.

If there is one complaint to be had, it’s that this title seems to have been one such victim of the behind the scenes drama at DC Comics concerning the Before Watchmen titles – it cuts off far earlier than it was planned, resulting in a rushed ending that seeks to provide some closure. It’s a real shame given this was up until that point one of the highlights of Before Watchmen.

So in the end, is it worth a look? Absolutely – even if it doesn't sound like your kind of thing, it’s free to read on DC Comic’s website. Go take a look, see for yourself – it makes a fine barometer for Before Watchmen as a whole, with this being a middle of the road offering from the entire line.

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Soldier, scholar, writer and web-voyeur, Sean CW Korsgaard has been active in the alternate history community since 2006, and was recently elected to succeed Mitro as President of the Alternate History Online Facebook group. In addition to his contributions at the Alternate History Weekly Update, he writes for several websites, including his own, which can be found here.

Review: Dollar Bill by Len Wein

Guest post by Sean Korsgaard.

This was a one-issue comic focused on Dollar Bill, the bank-sponsored vigilante most famous in both Watchmen and the Minutemen title for being a well-meaning do-gooder who was rewarded for his efforts with execution by firing squad when shot by bank robbers after his marketing-team mandated cape got caught in a door. I know that, given its nature as a tacked-on obvious last minute cash grab revolving around a hero whose greatest legacy may be a running gag in The Incredibles, you may be skeptical that this may be even worth looking at. I know I did, especially after Moloch. So I’m pleased to say that this was a very pleasant surprise.

Dollar Bill, or William Benjamin Brady as he’s known out of costume, was a Nebraskan All-American collegiate sportsman whom, following a career-ending injury, struggles to find a new purpose. Luckily for Brady, he lands a role as the mascot superhero of National Bank, treating him as a marketing ploy, as do the Minutemen, who take him on board for the publicity it will bring them. Yet it is here, once again in uniform, again before cheering fans, and fueled by adrenaline and renewed purpose, he takes to the role of Dollar Bill with enthusiasm and surprising sincerity – right up until a revolving door saw him on the wrong end of a Chicago typewriter.

The final result is a tale you never thought you needed to know until you read it. The title takes advantage of the fact that we don’t know much about Dollar Bill aside from his time in the Minutemen and his untimely death, and uses it to develop and humanize a character that so many of us wrote off as a joke. The tale of a Dollar Bill suddenly changes from a bank mascot doomed by his marketing team, to that of Bill Brady, a well-meaning and likeable guy who found his second wind in costume, and despite some struggles, gave everything he did his all, and it cost him is life. It cast an entirely new light on the character, allowing you to fully grasp the tragedy of his passing, to the point you may never look at the Dollar Bill the same way again.

Written by Len Wein, who also wrote Ozymandias and The Curse of the Crimson Corsair, Dollar Bill reminds us why he may well be the unsung hero of Before Watchmen, and topped off with a fantastic neo-Golden Age art style by Steve Rude, Dollar Bill managed to do in one issue with what was before a gag character what some of the other titles struggled to do in four to six with the main cast – tell an interesting story that casts new light on the Watchmen universe and its inhabitants, and enhances both in doing so. A pleasant surprise that comes highly recommended.

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Soldier, scholar, writer and web-voyeur, Sean CW Korsgaard has been active in the alternate history community since 2006, and was recently elected to succeed Mitro as President of the Alternate History Online Facebook group. In addition to his contributions at the Alternate History Weekly Update, he writes for several websites, including his own, which can be found here.

Review: Ozymandias by Len Wein

Guest post by Sean Korsgaard.

With the possible exception of the Minutemen series, the smartest man in the world is the one who benefits most from his Before Watchmen title, with the original Watchmen antagonist given a treatment that ends up perhaps the best title that ends up perhaps the best in the Before Watchmen line.

The story follows Adrian Veidt, aka Ozymandias, throughout his youth and coming of age, where he first begins to hone his brilliant mind and come to terms with his dreams of changing the world, and his rise as a billionaire businessman and innovator by day, and masked vigilante by night. Perhaps most important of all, we see him as he sets the seeds of his plans for world peace in motion, and with it, the events of Watchmen, and more than ever, get a glimpse into his thoughts and reasons for doing so, once again reminding us why the line over whether Ozymandias is a hero or villain all the more blurry.

Told in a brilliantly written first-person narrative by Len Wein, more than any other title, the writing sounds like it is from the voice of the title character, and is told in a way you may well believe it came from the thoughts of the world’s smartest man, as he wrestles with isolation, his plans and goals, and fleshes out the character brilliantly. Better still, is the art by Jae Lee, which thanks to its neo-classical look and almost whispy and fantastical look, is maybe the best looking title of the Before Watchmen line.

I said before that this is the best of the Before Watchmen titles, and I meant it. Though there were other good titles, and even a few that manages to meet the high standards set by Watchmen, Ozymandias alone left me wanting more, wishing that this was a regular series, and may be the only one that stands as a masterwork even without being tied to Watchmen. It comes with my highest recommendations, is undeniably a must read, one that practically begs you to look on this work, ye Mighty, and despair…

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Soldier, scholar, writer and web-voyeur, Sean CW Korsgaard has been active in the alternate history community since 2006, and was recently elected to succeed Mitro as President of the Alternate History Online Facebook group. In addition to his contributions at the Alternate History Weekly Update, he writes for several websites, including his own, which can be found here.