Before Watchmen: Minutemen / Silk Spectre

In 2013, DC Comics released this two-part volume pairing Darwyn Cooke’s Minutemen—a solemn, visually stunning prequel that reexamines the original team through the lens of its photographer—with his Silk Spectre (co-plotted with Amanda Conner), a noir-tinged coming-of-age story for the first Silk Spectre. Cooke wrote and illustrated both entries, bringing his signature mid-century modern aesthetic and deep empathy to the Watchmen mythos. While the Before Watchmen initiative was controversial, this collection stands out for its focused, character-driven storytelling and Cooke’s singular artistic voice.