Who Watches Peter Cannon? Peter Cannon Does, in Thunderbolt #2

When I first reviewed PETER CANNON: THUNDERBOLT #1, I went over the relationship the character has to WATCHMEN, and how the premiere of this series not only paid homage to that series but also absorbed it into its own story. Too brazen and in-your-face to be called a rip-off, Kieron Gillen and Caspar Wijngaard gleefully took the keys from Alan Moore, jumped in, and peeled out for a joyride in his jet-black Magickmobile.

That hasn't changed in the second issue, as the heroes are told the attach they thwarted was brought on by a Peter Cannon from another dimension, one who was likely watching them even at that moment. The team is seated at a round table with twelve seats, so you won't be able to miss the blood-as-clockhand touch that gets utilized, as well as the misquote from Rorscach -- not even a sly misquote, but a directly fourth-wall-breaking referential misquote.

They want to take the fight to their attacker, but it is believed impossible. Even Peter "Ozymandias" Cannon who watches admits that if the gulf could be breached he would not have sent drones. (But if drones can be sent, then it can be breached... But I digress.)

Fortunately, this title's Peter Cannon is smarter than that one, and he does find a metaphysical way to cross that divide -- a whole multiverse of divides, in fact -- through the use of...

...wait for it...

...magical comic book panels.

You'll have to read it to understand it. Nevertheless, it works, and the impossible confrontation is brought into being, and the references back to the source continue. It's almost like a WATCHMEN Easter Egg Hunt. The villain has been set up as a very formidable threat, made eminently evident on the last page, and the pacing and art keep the reader engaged at all levels.

I'm not sure how much longer Gillen can pull off the persistent "This is the next level of Watchmen" schtick before it gets tiresome, but I'm willing to give this one another issue just to find out. You should too.