The Good
The best scene of this issue is the action sequence as the Comedian busts into Moloch's hideout and goes gun crazy on everyone in the room. As an action sequence, it's paced so well, and the panel composition is amazing. There's a great sense of movement in JG Jones' art in this scene.
My favorite moment of this issue was by far the most humorous. After Comedian kills Marilyn Monroe, he kisses her on her butt cheek. I actually laughed. But in all fairness, I like the idea of these iconic fictional characters working in the real world with iconic pop-cultural characters. Seeing Blake with JFK, Monroe, and Jackie Kennedy was pretty cool, and knowing that he has a hand in the lives and deaths of these characters is even cooler.
Even though I had a few problems with this issue, I am very excited to continue reading this book. I think there's a lot of potential for a good overall mini-series, and the flow of this issue was nice, and it was a pretty fun read overall.
The Bad
Here's where my confusion began. From what I remember, and it's been a few years since I read the original Watchman graphic novel, I believe Dr Manhattan alludes to the fact that Comedian kills JFK. In the film, Zack Snyder flat out shows it. In this issue, Comedian is completely confused and upset the president was shot. I have a feeling a big part of this character's mythos is going to be completely changed here, and I'm not too happy about it.
Eddie Blake is so passive and tame here. It's not the same Comedian we know from the original book. This was a bad guy working for the good guys, and here we have the good old boy playing football with friends.
Eddie Blake's most memorable/horrifying moment from the original graphic novel is when he attempts to rape Sally Jupiter. The scene shows that he tends to view women more as meat than an actual person, that being said, why does Jackie Kennedy seem to put him in his place with every word she sputters? In their conversation together, he seems incredibly submissive. This isn't the Comedian we all know.
The Verdict
I desperately wanted to like this comic. I truly did, but there's just too many contradictory elements straying from the original character for me to enjoy it. If this wasn't a Before Watchmen book, and the main character wasn't Eddie Blake, this book would work a bit better. I really like Brian Azzarello's writing and J.G. Jones' art most of the time. The art was good here, but the writing wasn't nearly as solid as it usually is.
On the up side of things, the end of the issue has a great action sequence leading up to a weird moment/reveal. Great art here by JG Jones. I like the idea of bringing super-heroes into American history, like we see with Eddie and Marylin Monroe.
On the down side, I thought Eddie Blake killed JFK. How could he be at two places at once or not remember what happened? I have a feeling there's going to be a lot of changes to the character by the end of this series.
Overall, I'd mildly recommend this issue, even though I wasn't a fan. I'm hoping that this mini-series picks up, but right now, it's a tad less than sub-par.