Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Reviews
Before Watchmen: Silk Spectre #3 of 4
DC Comics
Cooke & Conner
Silk Spectre issue three is the turning point for Laurie. She has her coming of age in this issue and it's a fantastic read. Visually we watch the progression of her feelings and her body language, while the story gives a natural next step to her life. The comic is not perfect, but it is a very good read.
When I thought about what Before Watchmen would be this book is what I imaged. Well, maybe not this story per se, but a point in time when the character decides that they want to fight crime leading towards their first outings in costume. Laurie is in love with Greg and living across the country from her super hero mom, Sally Jupiter. However, she's been trained to fight crime and when her love interest is put in jeopardy, along with other innocents, she can't sit on the sidelines.
The book is perfect up to a point. The opening helps to illustrate her feelings, the middle shows us the peril and the turning of the situation over in her mind, while the ending provides her decision and action. The book is great, but has two glaring flaws.
First, the book tries way too hard to jam in the original Watchmen material. All of the books seem to do this but during her trip on acid there is way too much foreshadowing to Dr. Manhattan right down to her discussion about the color blue. Secondly, but not apart from this, is the involvement of the Comedian. His role in this book actually takes away from the character tracing in the original work. From reading the original I never once had the impression that the Comedian had any involvement whatsoever in Laurie's life or decisions, whether they be subtle or not. This was a highly disappointing characterization.
The artwork is incredible. The opening sequence where Laurie is tripping is fantastic, but ends up being outdone when she takes on her new persona. The book has a nostalgic look to it but it feels so alive and vibrant that contradicts what you would expect if I said it looks like a golden age comic. The art has emotions, action, reactions and a sadness to it that is just terrific.
This issue represents the best single issue in the Before Watchmen launches. It's a great look into the moments where Laurie decides she can't pass up what she was meant to be and she also realizes she really doesn't want to pass it up either. The story does a fantastic job of showing the transformation of her thoughts, but the events also play out in a logical fashion. This was a great read.
4 out of 5 Geek Goggles
