Nerds That Geek Comic Book Review – ‘Before Watchmen: Ozymandias’ #1

9/15/2019

Written by Juanita ‘Obi-Juan’ Bonner

Prologue

I didn’t read comics as a kid. I know, I know… what am I doing reviewing a comic now and why Before Watchmen: Ozymandias?? To answer this, I must start with where I and Ozymandias began… Watchmen!

Published in 1986/87 as 12 individual issues, a full trade paperback (TPB) in 1987 and the only graphic novel in history to make Time’s top 100 novels of all-time list [1], Watchmen (Alan Moore/Dave Gibbons) would have been right up my alley back then. Nevertheless, it wasn’t until the feature length film of the same name (Dir. Zak Snyder) was on its way to theatres that I picked up the comics. I was a non-traditional student in college in 2009 and wanted to kill two goals: 1. to finally start reading comics and 2. to learn more about Watchmen before it hit theatres. I purchased the TPB and went to work. I absolutely loved it… and I loved the movie as well! Each unique in their own ways, they both seemed groundbreaking to me and I was hooked well beyond video to comics in their original form from then on. Down the road in 2014, I proudly got my hands, on a near mint (NM) condition set of the Watchmen series at Denver Comic Con (now titled Denver Pop Culture Con). A short time later in 2015, I also purchased a NM set of the Before Watchmen (p. 2012) series. With both collections safely bagged, boarded and tucked away, it wasn’t until recently, inspired again by video with the coming HBO Watchmen TV series (Damon Lindelof), that I finally decided to crack open my accompanying Before Watchmen TBP sets.

Why Ozymandias first? Well, several reasons actually. To begin with, not all the main characters from the graphic novel have been confirmed for the TV series, but Ozymandias (Jeremy Irons) made the list. Additionally, Ozymandias is impressively on IGN’s Top 100 Villains list [2]. On a more personal note, both in the comics and the movie, Adrian Veidt has always intrigued me…definitely because he was not represented enough in either format. I also learned that Len Wein served as the editor with Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons on the original works. With this pivotal character being given a backstory by an original Watchmen editor, I knew I wanted more! Finally, I believe he may be one of my favorite comic book characters thus far. So having said all that, let’s dive in! And I know these comics have been out for a while, but I still feel compelled to say ***SPOILERS AHEAD***

Volume I: I Met a Traveler…!

As a six-comic lot, Ozymandias, from the perspective of Adrian Veidt, opens somewhat where Watchmen began… 1985. Veidt is hidden away in his Antarctic fortress Karnak, named for a city in Egypt that houses The Temple of Amun, “the largest religious building in the world,” honoring Amun and other gods like Osiris and Isis. [1]

The artwork is stunning throughout. Particularly the original cover and its variants which all immediately give insight into the essence that is Ozymandias at the same time, giving the reader various styles of the overall look of this character. Several of the variants, done by different artists, run parallel with the Watchmen depiction of Ozymandias while Jae Lee takes liberties to show another adaptation on the main covers and the pages within. All of them striking in their own ways. I especially like the first variant (Phil Jimenez & Romulo Fajardo Jr.) as it shows a series of panels behind a pondering Ozymandias. Panel one is Egyptian with pyramids, pictographs and Pharaohs tombs. Two is Roman showing Alexander the Great. Three is New York with various telltale tentacles strung throughout, including around the twin towers. Finally, four appears to be nature or rather biologically driven with his self-created genetically-engineered pet lynx Bubastis resting to the right. Within the pages, we see panels overlap mixing past with present and thought from the actual against various dark and colorful landscapes. Much to my delight, Veidt decides to record his history leading up to the present day in Watchmen… the brink of world annihilation. With Bubastis by his side, Veidt plunges right into his childhood pre-World War II, expanding on the short background given within the original works (Ch. 11; pgs. 8-11).

Veidt’s father, a prominent businessman in “The Old Country,” books passage to the states as soon as he learns of his wife’s pregnancy to escape the looming fascist threat. With high hopes for his son, including presidency, Mr. Veidt wanted his child to be born in the United States. A few months later, in New York City, Adrian Alexander (after Alexander the Great) Veidt was born.

As Adrian grew, it was clear that his intellect was not like that of other children. He was mastering complicated reading by age four and when he far exceeded the academic aptitude test at 6 years, his parents were called to the school under the school’s assumption that Adrian must have cheated. From there, after smoothing things over with the school, Mr. Veidt makes it clear to Adrian that he must keep his intellect a secret to prevent being treated differently and thought a freak by others. He tells Adrian whilst in his room, “Sadly my boy, life is never fair…what matters is to get through it alive.” A blatant sidebar for what’s to come, Jae Lee includes a poster on Adrian’s wall of a one-eyed alien squid called The Thing from Outer Space.” Nice! Reluctantly, Adrian complies. Knowing about the man Adrian becomes, I found myself thinking, is this why he speaks so few words? Stunted at an early age to quiet his thoughts… Through grade school, Adrian lived in a bullying environment and resisted defending himself. I wondered if being quiet and keeping to himself actually increased his daily interruptions of assault. Declining assistance from his father, Adrian decided to secretly train under a local Dojo and continued to resist defending himself. Many months later, when confronted again by the same tormenters, he warns the attackers, to which they do not heed, and he unleashes his fury with no remorse. Adrian’s power leaps off the page with a fierce intensity as the bullies suffer his wrath. Conversely, so does his calm nature after the fact. He is apt and still when standing in the principal’s office with his parents. A similar stance he often takes in adulthood… quiet, yet calculating.

Due to the nature of the violence and how badly his attackers were hurt, expulsion was on the horizon. Saved by his father with his influence and money, from then on Adrian no longer hid his intelligence. In fact, he excelled at an accelerated pace. A few years later when he had not yet fully reached manhood, Adrian’s parents were killed in a traffic accident. Devastated and alone, Adrian spends weeks in the antiquities wing of a local museum focused on a bust and the life of Alexander the Great. He pondered; ”How did one man drag a civilization barehanded from the blood and filth of such utter barbarity?” Adrian’s obsession with Alexander helps to build his cold, cunning character and adds an air of grandiose egocentrism at a very impressionable age. Simultaneously, the stories of Alexander also push this character towards more knowledge. Not just in books or museums, but through experience.

Giving up his entire inheritance to charity, Adrian books passage to northern Turkey determined to seek his own way. Wanting to compare his accomplishments to that of Alexander, Adrian set his sights high. As depicted by a full page map, we see that Adrian spent years following the routes of Alexander. Constant travel, training, and learning helps to further shape the boy into a man.

At one point, we also see Adrian depicted with a male lover, a hotly debated topic since the original Watchmen hit the pages in the 80s. Is he gay? Further reading says no! Given some hashish by this lover, Adrian wanders the dessert on his last night in the east. Similar to his explanation in Watchmen (Ch. 11; pgs. 10-11), Adrian relates the hallucinations and voices he hears to history, Kings, Pharos, and of course Alexander, further aligning his self-anointed king and/or God-like status.

As a master at Dojo and anything else he wished, Adrian returned to New York set out to make his fortune by manipulating the stock market. It is here he meets his beloved Miranda. Again, I ask… is he gay? Do social norms at the time dictate that he should be with a woman, particularly in the western world? Maybe. Even Matthew Goode, who plays Ozymandias in the theatrical adaptation (2009), stated, “He’s possibly homosexual.” [2] The character Rorschach comments in Watchmen that Adrian is possibly homosexual and reminds himself to investigate (Ch. I; pg. 19). There are also other undertones within both the graphic novel and the film that suggest homosexuality, but nothing is ever confirmed. Furthermore, considering the fact that Alan Moore has openly spoke out against other works surrounding Watchmen, written or otherwise, the mystery remained unsolved. However, it is clear through the pages of this prequel series that Adrian truly loves Miranda and when he loses her after a fight, to an uncharacteristic overdose, he is changed forever. I couldn’t help but wonder, what is love? Does it mean a mate, a friend, a lover, a co-conspirator or even a partner in crime? Is it all these things? My answer is yes, depending on the individual. Discussion on the sexuality of a graphic novel/comic book character is anyone’s right and I do agree that it is debatable in this case, particularly before a prequel emerged. Now that it has, I choose to embrace it and for me, I prefer to think of Adrian Veidt as a man of the world and similar to Alexander, he indulges in male and female companionship. Today, that would earn him the label of bisexual, which seems quite appropriate. Simply put, who he chooses to love is not set by the simple parameters of sex alone!

By the time of Miranda’s death, due to stock market manipulation, Adrian’s fortune is quite vast. He has also been coined “the smartest man in the world” and vigilantes like Nite Owl and The Comedian are already making headlines. He decides that reporting Miranda’s death may not bode well for his growing empire and prestigious reputation. Simultaneously, looking to Alexander the Great, he reasons the only way to right Miranda’s death is to go it alone. Donning his first vigilante suit made from an elaborate Halloween costume and pieces from his Alexandrian artifacts, the not yet named, Ozymandias is born. The volume ends; ”One way or another, justice was coming…”

Before Watchmen: Ozymandias #1 - 'Volume I: I Met a Traveler...!'
Writer/Artist: Len Wein/Jae Lee; Publisher: DC Comics

Prologue References:

Volume I References:

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