The most critically lauded graphic novel of all time is getting a set a prequel series this summer. Whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing will ultimately lie within the pages of the series. Retcon Punch will be there with snarky remarks and unfair comparisons to the original every step of the way. This is the nerve center for reviews and write-ups of every single issue of each of the mini-series, plus anything else we write related to Watchmen.
Context
Retcon Punch’s reactions to the Before Watchmen announcement
Retcon Punch talks about the late additions to Before Watchmen
The Mini-Series
Minutemen – (6 issues) Writer and Artist: Darwyn Cooke
Silk Spectre – (4 issues) Writers: Darywn Cooke and Amanda Conner; Artist: Amanda Conner
Comedian – (6 issues) Writer: Brian Azzarello; Artist: J.G. Jones
Nite Owl – (4 issues) Writer: J. Michael Straczynski; Artist Joe Kubert and Andy Kubert
Ozymandias – (6 issues) Writer: Len Wein, Artist: Jae Lee
Rorschach (4 issues) Writer: Brian Azzarello; Artist: Lee Bermejo
Dr. Manhattan – (4 issues) Writer: J. Michael Straczynski; Artist: Adam Hughes
Moloch – (2 issues) Writer: J. Michael Straczynski; Artist: Eduaro Risso
Dollar Bill – (1 issue) Writer: Len Wein; Artist: Steve Rude
The Curse of the Crimson Corsair – (35 issues) By: Len Wein and John Higgins
Note: This pirate-themed back-up story runs for 2 pages at the end of every single issue. We will be discussing it every 6 issues. (Editor’s Note: Beyond trashing the concept, it’s borderline impossible to finds something to say about this story until it’s concluded.)
Epilogue – (one-shot)
Release date – ??? – Patrick is of the opinion that this thing doesn’t exist anymore. If anything changes that opinion, we’ll let you know.
Retcon Punch 
Can someone please just hand me the last few Comedian, last Minutemen and last Rorschach issues and let this damned thing be over. I’ve lost all interest in finishing any of the other titles at this point. The most recent issues of Dr. Manhattan, Moloch, and Nite Owl are sitting at the bottom of a stack of comics that I’ll get around to reading when I run out of stuff that I WANT to read. Completionism is a disease :*(
You can straight up skip the last issues of Moloch and Nite Owl and simply feel good about yourself. The fact that the last Comedian is coming out almost TWO MONTHS after they originally planned on wrapping this thing up is really frustrating. Also, I know we have the Epilogue listed on our schedule (release date ???), but that thing hasn’t been mentioned in any DC press for a long time.
Gotta wedge Dollar Bill in there somewhere, too. It’s Wein again, but at least Steve Rude will be a new contributor so that there’s a wild card in play.
Even if we add a week for each “new” issue, the series should end by the end of February, not the end of March.
There was a period of like 3 weeks where no B4 Watchmens came out and I think that about killed my enthusiasm. Even though I fully expect Minutemen, Comedian AND Rorschach to end well, I’m not particularly pumped for them. Momentum is important.
Oh, I’m right there with you. Minutemen 6 will be masterful but inherently a bummer. I do hope that Hollis takes out HJ, though. What can I say? I love vigilante justice, but only in fiction. Comedian has been a brilliant character study, but also never a feel-good title. Except for Silk Spectre, the well-crafted titles have worked pretty hard to make me uncomfortable or sad (which is, admittedly, typical of Watchmen). The funny thing to me, though, is that I find Rorschach to be the least ambitious of any of the *good* BW titles, and yet its the one I could outright read 50 more issues of – just Rorschach’s street-level adventures in that Azz/Bermejo gritty, filmic, late-70’s NYC. I need to what happens when Rorschach chases a suspect into CBGB’s during a Cramps show – things like this.
I think there’s a little bit more to the way Azz depicts Walter’s mental illness that makes Rorschach a little uncomfortable for us to talk about the series. Issue 2 was ESPECIALLY effective at making us all kinda draw lines in the sand and say “if you believe ____, you’re not being sensitive to mental disease.” Which makes the whole exercise deep as fuck, but also sorta hard for me to have a ton of fun with. I love love love reading it, but holy hell is it hard to talk about.