Of the various Watchmen protagonists, Doctor Manhattan might just be the most difficult nut to crack as far as writing a spinoff series goes. For one thing, the character exists on a fundamentally different plane, not perceiving time the same way as a normal human and thus isn't well suited to the traditional flashback approach. For another, Watchmen #4 casts a looming shadow. That was the chapter which featured Jon on Mars, reflecting back on his life's journey in a very fractured but wholly engrossing narrative. Can even a writer of J. Michael Straczynski's caliber compete with that?
For much of Before Watchmen: Doctor Manhattan #1, the series plays out exactly how I feared all the Before Watchmen books would. It's an extremely competent book that looks great but doesn't show much in the way of originality... until the end, that is.
Straczynski delivers a script that falls very much in line with Moore's Watchmen #4. Once again, Jon narrates the entire book as we view a fractured array of scenes from his past and present (the present again being his self-imposed exile on Mars). All the familiar elements are there, from his lifelong obsession with clockwork to his troubled romantic entanglements to his increasing detachment from reality. Most of the settings are familiar as well. We see new glimpses of his childhood, his time as a researcher at Gila Flats, and the early days of his superhero career. There's little on tap we haven't seen in some capacity other than a brief look at Jon's college years. But even that mainly serves to reinforce the notion that he's always been more interested in science than human interaction.
The saving grace of most of these pages is that Straczynski captures Jon's voice really well. There's a similar sense of intelligence and sad, world-weary detachment to all of Jon's narration. There's also more interplay between words and imagery than we've been seeing on many of the books, which is a crucial factor in capturing the feel of the original series. If much of this reads like a facsimile of Watchmen, it's a very accurate one.
Adam Hughes' helps set the book apart even in its most redundant moments. Hughes was an interesting selection, as given his talent for drawing gorgeous, pinup quality female characters, one would have assumed he'd be given the Silk Spectre assignment. But he fits in well here, with a very elegant, detailed style that captures the Watchmen aesthetic well. He only occasionally adheres to the strict, nine-panel format of the original series, but there's still a geometric quality to his page layouts and a very clear sense of storytelling. And yes, he does deliver the occasional beautiful female. If anything, his Silk Spectre is rendered a little too sultry for a 16-year-old girl. Also worth noting is the coloring, which really helps capture Jon's otherworldly powers and strategically shifts between cold and warm hues where the script dictates.
As mentioned, what Straczynski does in this issue is keep his cards close to his chest, only revealing in the final pages what he really has planned for the remainder of the book. Throughout the issue he explores the notion of quantum mechanics and the way specific actions can determine what course the future takes. That comes to a head at the end, where it finally becomes clear that Straczynski has something far more ambitious in mind than simply paying homage to a great character. Maybe it was a bad idea to wait so long before getting to the point in a four-issue series. Even so, I'm far more excited at the prospect of issue #2 than I was issue #1.
Jesse is a writer for IGN Comics and IGN Movies. He can't wait until he's old enough to feel ways about stuff. Follow Jesse on Twitter, or find him on IGN.
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