The comic book event of the summer is nigh!  Before Watchmen, the much-anticipated prequel series to Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ Watchmen, will consist of seven limited series and an epilogue one-shot.  Stay tuned, as the Fanboy Comics crew will be reviewing each title as it is released. Hurm. 

Well, after some delays and scheduling weirdness, it’s finally here: the final chapter of Before Watchmen: Silk Spectre. Was it worth the wait?

Yes, yes it was. Seriously, this has been a great mini-series, and this issue brings it to a satisfying conclusion. What can I say about the artwork that I haven’t already said over and over again? Amanda Conner’s facial expressions are fantastic, adding a layer of richness to the storytelling that I had no idea I wasn’t getting from other books until I discovered it in this one. Everything just works: the slightly faded color palette employed in flashback scenes, the detailed background work . . . every aspect of this book feels well thought-out and alive. Laurie’s dream-world panels are back, and, this time, they mirror the tumbling chaos into which her life has descended, rapidly devolving from the idealistic images she once had into a dark morass of modern abstraction. It’s just perfect. This is what the comic medium is for, and the book is worth picking up for the art alone. I promise you will not be disappointed.

The writing is similarly impressive. A lot has happened in the previous three issues of this series, and this final book does a good job tying everything up. This is a story about many things: the complicated relationship between a mother and daughter, the end of innocence, and coming of age in a turbulent time. It is all adeptly handled, and in a way that feels honest and real. Darwyn Cooke and Amanda Conner deserve major props for creating a Watchmen prequel that firmly establishes itself in the same universe without being a slave to its source material. Sure, the consumerism-drug subplot was sort of weird (I guess it is supposed to lay the foundation for the rotting society we see in Watchmen?), and they couldn’t resist being a little cute at the end when we see what Laurie thinks of each hero that shows up for the Crimebusters meeting. On the whole, though, this was an amazing title, and one that will stand the test of time.

And now, it’s time for:

JORDAN ATTEMPTS TO FIGURE OUT THE CRIMSON CORSAIR BACK-UP STORY USING ONLY THE BITS IN SILK SPECTRE

I don’t . . . is this even the same story from before? I can’t even . . .

I guess the best way to sum up these back-stories is that it really super sucks to be that guy.