Review: Before Watchmen- Ozymandias/Crimson Corsair
Quick Summary
Pros: The Ozymandias story is extremely interesting and handles the character very well. The artwork is positive throughout the entire book.
Cons: The Ozymandias story has a few portions that feel unnecessary. The volume’s other two stories are lackluster.
Overall: This is a volume that is worthwhile for what it does with Ozymandias. It details the character’s background and takes a deep dive into his unique approach to life and heroics. Unfortunately, the volume’s other stories are not nearly as good and are generally underwhelming. Fans interested in seeing more of Ozymandias will find plenty to enjoy in this volume.
Story
Before Watchmen: Ozymandias/Crimson Corsair, by Len Wein, is a bit mixed when it comes to the story. The Ozymandias portions of the book are almost entirely positive. Ozymandias is a fantastic character and the way he is expanded upon here only manages to make him more interesting and make his story more compelling. Unfortunately, the “Crimson Corsair” and “Dollar Bill” stories, also collected here, are not nearly as good. Neither story is downright bad but both simply feel mediocre. In the end, this volume is worthwhile for Ozymandias but not much else.
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Ozymandias/Crimson Corsair opens with Ozymandias’ life story. It starts with his youth, explains his rise to power, and then moves on to his development of the plans that will eventually be executed in Watchmen. The entire time, his off-the-charts intellect, his complex morality, and his unique approach to problem-solving are on display. All of this helps make for a compelling lead character who is highly entertaining to read about. I was uncertain learning more about the enigmatic Ozymandias would be worthwhile but, after seeing his journey from childhood to adulthood, I’m glad I got to read this prelude.
The main downside to the story is that portions of it end up being a bit repetitive. The comic returns to many of the events from Watchmen but simply shows them from Ozymandias’ point of view. There are a few times where this offers some worthwhile perspective but there are just as many that are simply redundant.
Ozymandias/Crimson Corsair then closes with two short and mediocre stories. The first is the “Crimson Corsair”, a pirate story akin to Watchmen‘s “Tales of the Black Freighter”. However, unlike “Tales of the Black Freighter”, this is not as immediately relevant to other events in the Watchmen universe and contains a pretty generic theme. It ends up simply reading like a moderately interesting pirate tale, instead of a worthwhile piece of Watchmen lore.
Finally, the volume closes with a Dollar Bill one-shot. This comic is mostly just an expanded history for Dollar Bill’s character. This would be compelling if it managed to do anything interesting with the character but what is presented here barely feels different than what could already have been gleaned from Watchmen or seen in the Before Watchmen: Minutemen series.
(spoilers end here)
Art
Ozymandias/Crimson Corsair opens with some stunning visuals in the Ozymandias chapters. Here, Jae Lee captures the regal appeal of the character through some gorgeous artwork. The depictions are all great and the pages are laid out impressively. There are points where the quality of the artwork makes it feel like Ozymandias’ story was ripped from the pages of an ancient storybook, rather than being a superhero comic.
The rest of this volume’s stories also contain some impressive work. The Crimson Corsair story, by John Higgins, contains dark and sinister visuals that match the darkness of this pirate tale. Meanwhile, Steve Rude’s work on the Dollar Bill story is classic in the way that suits the Golden Age theme present there. All in all, this collection has plenty of beautiful visuals.
Continuity
Before Watchmen: Ozymandias/Crimson Corsair is one of several prequels to the Watchmen series. Though technically set before Watchmen, it is best to read this book after reading Watchmen.