Before Watchmen: Ozymandias #3 Review

Ozymandias encounters new friends and foes and starts to build his empire.

Before Watchmen: Ozymandias #3

Ozymandias, while investigating the mystery of Hooded Justice, is in the crosshairs of none other than Comedian.  They battle each other with each hero having the upper hand at times.  Ultimately, they end up in a draw.  When Ozymandias returns to his everyday world of Adrian Veidt, he learns that Dr. Manhattan has gone public.  Preparing for the worst, he instructs his assistant/bed partner to begin cornering the market on bomb shelters and start the construction of an impenetrable fortress in the Antarctic.  Later, he’s invited to an event where he meets mystery men of past and present before returning to his newly built fortress to study Dr. Manhattan further.

Without a doubt, this series is the crown jewel of the Before Watchmen event.  Len Wein has done what others writing these books has been able to accomplish.  Instead of resting on the laurels of giving the readers extended scenes of things we’ve already known/seen, or simply trying to shake things up with aggressive takes on a character, Wein is focusing on aspects of Veidt’s character or actions that have room for exploration.  There’s so much we see in the original story that we don’t get a chance to dive into.  For as mysterious as other characters like Rorschach and Comedian are, we’re given so much in such a short time that we can feel satisfied about simply knowing their archetypes.  Veidt was different.  We do learn a lot about his mission and his drive, but what we don’t see so much is when and how he built his hideaway in the Antarctic and why.

This book also feels the most like the original.  There’s a lot here to dissect and there are so many teases as to what will come but it doesn’t just come off as lip service.  It’s all so organic and natural that you really get the feel that you are still reading the original.  A lot of this might actually have much to do the character of Adrian Veidt himself.  It’s not that he’s necessarily the deepest or most interesting character in this universe.  However, he does have the most background to mine.  We don’t really see much of anything about Veidt’s past.  Outside of a brief scene back at the formation of the Crimebusters, there’s not much else seen from him that isn’t set in the present.  So it’s leaves such a great canvas for Wein to work with.

Then, there’s Jae Lee.  There’s so much you can say about any work he does.  There’s such a distinctive look to his art that it almost transports you immediately into this world and keeps locks you in.  While the characters often have a smooth and youthful look, Lee has a way to create such personality in each face that they tell stories of their own aside from the actual plot.  All around this is a pretty phenomenal series.

Tags: Before Watchmen Jae Lee Len Wein Ozymandias Watchmen