J.G. Jones really is a terrific cover artist, and I unabashedly love this one. Some people might think it's cheesy to have the blood trail perfectly in the shape of Vietnam, but it works for me. Vietnam was one of the darker chapter in the Comedian's life, and perhaps his biggest regret. During his drunken confessional with Moloch, Eddie Blake hinted at even worse deeds he committed than killing the woman pregnant with his child. So this cover actually gets me excited to explore this era.
Tim Bradstreet's variant is an even more beautiful work of art. I love the black-and-white on yellow. It's edgy and moody and grabs my attention right away. True, it doesn't give any indication of what the story inside is going to be about, but that's not the purpose of a variant cover. An odd, but intriguing choice is swapping out the Comedian's trademark smiley face button for Dr. Manhattan's symbol. There is potential for an interesting story there — perhaps Eddie was originally a fan of Dr. Manhattan, only to learn the hard way just how devoid of empathy the world's most powerful being is. Sadly, that story is not in this issue.
Looking for an excuse to throw in more real-life celebrity cameos, Brian Azzarello opens this issue at the boxing match between Sonny Liston and Cassius Clay (later to be known as Muhammad Ali). Eddie has ringside tickets with Robert Kennedy, who has oddly chosen this extremely public and noisy setting to discuss his upcoming Senate run. Eddie tells Robert he's been asked to go to Vietnam, but Robert advises him to avoid it.
Naturally, Eddie ignores his friend's advice and gleefully starts butchering enemy troops as soon as he gets the chance. Azzarello then diverts into a lengthy, generic Vietnam War tale that really doesn't seem to have anything to do with the Comedian or Watchmen at all. We're introduced to a handful of commanding officers who are frustrated by their lack of resources. They realize the only way to win this conflict is to enlist the aid of local sympathizers, but they need some cash to actually arm those locals. So they enlist the aid of a drug dealer, helping him sell drugs to America, which in turn funds their off-the-books war activities.
It's all ... fine, I guess. If you're in the mood for a comic about Vietnam. But that's not what I was looking for. I wanted a story about the Comedian, taking place in the unique universe of Watchmen. There's absolutely nothing in this story that couldn't have happened in any other story or movie about the Vietnam War. There's nothing the Comedian does that couldn't have been done by any other run-of-the-mill anti-hero who plays by his own rules.
I'm fine if Azzarello and Jones wanted to make a comic like this. But that should have been a separate series under the Vertigo label — not disguised as a Watchmen comic. This issue is not only disappointing, but it's a little insulting.
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