5.2 Reasons Before Watchmen is Turning Christmas into Easter

Editorial

BY: Kevin Mahadeo

Thursday, December 13th, 2012

Christmas may be less than two weeks away, but for some reason, we can’t stop thinking about Easter. Maybe it’s because after so many candy canes, we’re ready to eat something else—anything else—and those brightly colored Easter eggs are a lot of fun. After all, eating them is only part of it. You also get to decorate them and then hide them, and some of them are filled with chocolate and jellybeans and other types of sweet, sweet sugar-infused candy goodness. Then everybody goes hunting for them, and once they’re all found, whoever has the most eggs in their basket gets to point at all the other kids and laugh at them and reign supreme as King of the Egg Hunt! Bow before our mighty egg scavenging abilities! Hahahahaha!

::ahem::

However, those aren’t the only kind of Easter eggs. There are also those cleverly hidden little winks, nods and homages a comic book creator includes that reference another pop culture property or pays tribute to what's come before. And when it comes to the Before Watchmen titles, there are many fun Easter eggs to be found—which is why this week, we're highlighting some of them in 5.2 Reasons Before Watchmen is Turning Christmas into Easter!

1. Before Watchmen: Nite Owl

The Nite Owl limited series explores not only the early adventures of the world's second Nite Owl, Dan Dreiberg, but also his then-partner in crimefighting Rorschach. Two really cool Easter eggs focus on the latter: one involving two women referencing a material that would later be used for Rorschach's mask and the other features the first appearance of the infamous "The End is Nigh" sign he carries around as Walter Kovacs.

2. Before Watchmen: Comedian

Before Watchmen: Comedian focuses on one of the most deplorable characters in comics, tying the character's backstory and history into the actual history of the world by exploring his connection to the Kennedy Family, the death of a certain blonde bombshell and the tragic events of Vietnam. One interesting maybe-on-purpose-maybe-not image we found came in issue #2, where Eddie quotes Bob Dylan's "The Times Are a-Changin'." The renowned musician was quoted in the last panel of WATCHMEN #1 and that specific song was used in the opening credits to the 2009 film.

3. Before Watchmen: Ozymandias

Being the smartest man in the world isn't easy, as young Adrian Veidt discovered in the first issue of his self-titled limited series. In a very cool introspective scene, readers may notice the youngster's taste via a certain poster on his wall—one that would greatly influence his future plans. A very, very interesting moment also came in issue #3, where Ozymandias comments on his fight with the Comedian. Hmm... looks like that preparation came in handy in a few years later when the two tousled again.

4. Before Watchmen: Dr. Manhattan

Can we take a moment to just stare in stunned silence at Adam Hughes' art? Cause, Holy Moley Mary Marvel, it is gorgeous! Anyway, writer J. Michael Straczynski had the impossible task of creating a story told from a perspective of an omnipotent being—and he’s managed to pull it of spectacularly, with a deeply engaging philosophical tale of science and self. Along the way, he threw in two little nods: one in issue #1 with the young Jon Osterman receiving a rather familiar looking clock as a birthday present and the other in issue #2 where a possible future shows a victorious Ozymandias.

5. Before Watchmen: Minutemen

Focusing on the members of the Minutemen—the world of Watchmen's Golden Age heroes—the limited series features a number of references to the original graphic novel, it's characters, and twists on actual historical events. Issue #2 references Ozymandias' hinted at—and later proven true—ability to catch bullets, issue #3 featured a "Tales of the Black Freighter" comic hidden amongst Hollis Mason's collection, and the 10 o'clock time from issue #5 strongly resembles the initial positioning of the Doomsday Clock from the start of the original series.