Top of the Pile - 1/30/13

Before Watchmen: Dollar Bill #1
Written by Len Wein
Art by Steve Rude

I’ve been picking up all the Before Watchmen books, but with most mini-series, I hold off reading them until they are complete. But this Dollar Bill issue is a one shot, so there is no waiting involved. This book made it to the top of this weeks pile only because Steve Rude did the artwork.

This issue of Before Watchmen tells the individual story of the hero Dollar Bill. A member of the Minutemen who turns out to be a normal guy with better than average looks who is hired to work as a bank mascot. The story Len Wein tells is ok. It doesn’t have the psychological depth that some of the other stories have. But it’s understandable since its a single issue book on a minor Watchmen character.

And for the Steve Rude art, it looks really good. I’ve kind of been watching his work since the Nexus books in the 80s, and the style looks pretty much the same (which is a good thing). Action poses and dynamic movement with a clear detailed line, its nice to see his artwork again in a comic book.

Now I guess I’ll need to read through the other Before Watchmen books pretty soon since they’re all winding down. And the guys at the comic shop say they are all pretty cool. So if this Dollar Bill book makes it into a collection, I’d certainly add it to our library. But I wouldn’t be too upset if it somehow got left out of the Absolute edition.