Two Riders Were Approaching… (1987)

Two Riders Were Approaching… Review

Two Riders Were Approaching… is the tenth issue in the twelve-issue series Watchmen, written by Alan Moore and drawn by Dave Gibbons.

This issue served pretty much the same purpose as ‘Old Ghosts’ did – it is a transitional story that continues it, but not enough important things happen here, thus making it seem almost like filler. The first half was particularly underwhelming as the story came to an abrupt halt. Rorschach is always intriguing, but Dan continues to be the most uninteresting character of the bunch.

There is this hilarious moment where Nite Owl dons a winter costume that looks like, well, an owl. It was ludicrous and stupid, but that was presumably the point, so ultimately I found those panels delightful. Whereas the first half was too slow and unimportant in the bigger scope of things with the mystery stalling a bit and being stretched too thin, the second half picked up momentum and this is where the meat of the story lies.

The two superheroes going down the mountain made for instantly memorable imagery. The illustrations in this issue are gorgeous and frequently even stunning, especially in those snowy landscapes. The revelation that Adrian Veidt is behind it all worked and the cliffhanger with Ozymandias appearing ominously made for one of the best endings of any Watchmen issue.

I just wish that they discarded those pirate comics that came as an afterthought in most issues. Here, it was particularly uninteresting and it halted the progress of an already slower issue significantly. But at least those panels were very well illustrated and the final supplement was quite solid, if not great.

Two Riders Were Approaching… is a slower issue at first, but it picked up momentum in the second half, ending with a particularly effective cliffhanger.

My Rating – 4.2