Nothing New, Nothing Important
This was not good. Again we have the ubiquitous "knowing winks" to the "real fans" of Watchmen, with the bloody smiley faces, the Rorschach blots, and on and on - but none of them are clever or meaningful or trenchant. They just irritate and magnify how inferior this tripe is compared to the original. Apparently we are supposed to revel in the violence, gore, grotesque, and obscenity. Watchmen has its share of violence and language (and nudity), but it is not an endless litany of vulgarities and splatters such as we have here. Less is more. Apparently the "this is how they really talked" drive for "realism" is somehow supposed to make this an enjoyable read - it fails. Mr. Azzarello tries to give us a new look into the heart of the Comedian, almost trying to get us to feel sorry for him with the loss of President Kennedy (whom the Comedian loves) - but we don't feel sorry for the Comedian. Even if he is the only one "right" about this version of the Vietnam war, that just gets us irritated at politicians, it doesn't kindle sympathy for the Comedian. As with many of the Before Watchmen stories, the artwork tries to be too gritty, the writer tries to be too clever, and the whole is a jumbled mess (very little of the issues "Eighties" takes place in the '80s). Hey, is that Gordon from V for Vendetta? (I know, it's Liddy.) I almost care, but the rest of the "story" (a hodgepodge of chronologically tortuous memories) just weighs one down and prevents any genuine interest in the "sensitive" Eddie Blake.
The Rorschach mess is, as others have said, a total waste. It is a tribute to meaningless violence. Nothing is learned about Rorschach, vigilantism, or the "world Before Watchmen." This is a nauseous disgrace, both of storytelling and artwork. Unlike Watchmen, which uses violence and grotesque elements sparingly and for important dramatic effect, this embarrassing pile of offal demands we delight in violence and obscenity - even while apparently trying to tell us Rorschach is different. I get that it's a younger and inexperienced Rorschach who makes mistakes, but it's not a story that does anything positive or important. Rorschach doesn't even do anything right: everything is solved by coincidence and luck, and Rorschach doesn't even learn the right lessons about how he failed.
Perhaps no one bothered to think through "what is the purpose of a Before Watchmen series" idea before they started. If the point was to cloud the histories and characters with ambiguities and contradictions (contradicting what Moore/Gibbons created), well done, team! You have succeeded.
