4.5A very enjoyable read, but rather unnecessary. Don't get me wrong: I loved Watchmen and am going through all the related materials I can find, but this novel went over some things hinted at by Watchmen that were much more interesting when left to the imagination. Regardless, Hollis Mason is one amazing man and this story really highlights that. A very heart-warming bromance between him and Byron, 11/10.

Note: This is a guest review written by me for the Civilian-Reader blog.My prior experience with Watchmen is limited to the 2009 film adaptation. I remember that it was an extremely weird experience, as I had no prior familiarity with it and I was rather confused for the whole of it. My friends helped fill in a few blanks later during dinner and then that was that. As you can no doubt tell, I was not motivated to go pick up Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ graphic novel and read the source material....

I am rereading the whole Before Watchmen series, in anticipation of whatever DC will be throwing in their Rebirth era. I have started with Moloch and Dollar Bill, and now Minutemen.This six-part series is written and illustrated by the late Darwyn Cooke. Issue one serves as an introduction to the members of the Minutemen, each having given a varied number of pages.If you are a fan of Darwyn Cooke and/or have read Watchmen, Minutemen is highly recommended. This series treads on a new path, an alm...

The drawings aren't that good and don't fit the Watchmen universe at all. It's like your typical modern something with manga-like elements I never liked. Some pages were almost like Teen Titans. It's that bad. It doesn't fit the atmosphere and there's no charm of the original Watchmen. At all.The story feels extremely boring and forced. It's like they just wanted to milk Watchmen a bit with this. It doesn't feel like there was a true reason to make this. The original Watchmen included everything...

I like the artwork. For some reason the plotline didn't grab me.

Well this comic was nice, fast explaining some quick origins. Art was ok, the origins were alright. Age recommendation: T/12+ due to violenceRating: 7.5/10 or 3.8/5

The Minutemen issue with DC Comics’ “prequel” of Alan Moore’s and Dave Gibbons’ classic was nicely done. The problem I had with the original Watchmen were the many vignettes and breaking up the story into news articles – which is OK, but was overdone. Rather, Darwyn Cooke (DC’s New Frontier, Richard Stark, etc.) does a great job of updating the beginnings of the Watchmen and reflects on what would happen if a team of heroes got together during the Great Depression. How would they get together?Th...

This was my favorite of the 'Before Watchmen' series. I felt that the pace, tone and and themes were the most reminiscent of the original Watchmen novel. Themes such as the 'heroes' failings and moral ambiguity (especially Silk Spectre's and Dollar Bills greed and vanity as well as the general lust for violence).I feel this is the only one that actually adds to the universe while many of the others you wondered why they bothered ('Before watchmen Rorschach/Comedian', Im looking at you!)Plus I lo...

This was more like an intro issue. We meet the Minutemen and get an intro to each member. Nite Owl is the narrator because most of this is an info dump kind of issue.

First off the drawings are not that good .. drawings of dave gibbons were better than that in (it's time) second i get the feeling that they're trying to make the minutemen more like the justice league, more super hero and not like they were originally a bunch of ordinary people wearing costumes trying to be super heroes.i liked the crimson corsair tho .. looks promisingother than that i'm not really optimistic.

Had to stop at the 50% mark. Started off really great–fresh writing and original concept. But the halt starts at about the 30% mark and never quite picks up again.

At first I was hesitant to read Before Watchmen due to Alan Moore's reaction to it. But eventually curiosity took over and I started. This series is about the first group of masked adventurers The Minutemen.It is narrated by the first Nite Owl and I actually enjoyed reading it. There's a somewhat funny side to it. And the thing I liked the most about it was reading about the not so familiar characters of the Mothman, the Hooded Justice and the Silhouette. And you understand some of the reasons b...

This series of back stories is brilliant in both style and content, reflecting back on the golden age of super heroes but with critical eye.

This is for issues #1-6, read together but not in the bound edition with "Silk Spectre." When "Before Watchmen" came out, I started reading all the series month by month, but abandoned the project after three months or so into the first set of mini-series. I didn't find the stories compelling enough - or enhancing my understanding of the "Watchmen" universe enough - to commit to the whole thing. Now that I can pick up each mini-series from the library and appreciate it on its terms, I'm more inc...

Although not officially Moore-approved, this six-issue collection gives a glimpse of the glitz and glamour of the original group of superheroes, before Watchmen. We get a short introduction to the members of the crew (most of which have their own volumes in the "Before Watchmen" series), and how they came about and interacted. Some amusing fails from their early attempts to foil justice (remember these aren't superheroes, these are guys who donned a costume and went looking for trouble), leading...

A first introduction to the Minutemen in this prequel to the Watchmen!

Good book

Doesn’t look like Watchmen, but that’s good. It does, however, conjure that Watchmen vibe quite well. I’m curious to see where this goes.

I'll try and keep this review short-ish, I love Darwyn's art and he is a solid storyteller. I love the original Watchmen by Moore and can only see these stories as something separate because pretending they are part of the Watchmen cannon would be like someone trying to add doodles to the Mona Lisa. So as independent stories I found them very readable but they did read like fanfic, trying to take the original characters and paint backstories on them that seem really out of place. Also, the twist...

I’m finally reading all of Before Watchmen and I have to say great start! Knowing what I know from the original comic, it’s fun to see what the Minutemen were like in their prime. And Darwyn Cooke was a perfect person for this story. I love his writing and his artwork. I can’t wait to read the rest!