Watchmen, Alan Moore’s seminal graphic novel about a world where superheroes were real (with all the weird emotional baggage that implies), has been coming back with a vengeance lately. DC published a sequel comic, Doomsday Clock, a couple of years back. HBO released a well-received sequel series just last year, and now, DC has announced another sequel: Rorschach.
Rorschach is the uncompromising, unpleasant superhero who always wears shifting ink blot mask, like a Rorschach test. If you’ve read the comic, you know that Rorschach dies in the end, killed by Dr. Manhattan when he proves unwilling to keep the secret of how Ozymandius killed a million people in New York.
So how is he back? Well, he’s not. The new comic is set 35 years after the end of the original, where Rorschach has become an icon, with a new breed of crazies coopting his trenchcoat-and-fedora look to further their own aims; one tries to assassinate the first major opponent President Robert Redford has had in decades. That’s kind of similar to how Rorschach was used in the HBO show, where his look is adopted by white supremacists angry with President Redford’s inclusive policies. And the similarities don’t end there.
“Like the HBO Watchmen show and very much like the original ‘86 Watchmen, this is a very political work,” said writer Tom King. “It’s an angry work. We’re so angry all the time now. We have to do something with that anger. It’s called Rorschach not because of the character Rorschach, but because what you see in these characters tells you more about yourself than about them.”
Yeah, but you’re still gonna use the character’s likeness to sell the book, right?
Image: Rorschach/DC Comics
It’s interesting that Rorschach always seems to inspire the worst kinds of people, but then again, Moore always meant him to be a bit cracked. Talking to LeJorne Pindling of Street Law Productions in 2008, Moore explained how Rorschach started as a take on Batman: “I thought, ‘Alright, if there was a Batman in the real world, he probably would be a bit mental.’ He wouldn’t have time for a girlfriend, friends, a social life, because he’d just be driven by getting revenge against criminals… dressed up as a bat for some reason. He probably wouldn’t be very careful about his personal hygiene. He’d probably smell. He’d probably eat baked beans out of a tin. He probably wouldn’t talk to many people. His voice probably would have become weird with misuse, his phraseology would be strange.”
"I wanted to kind of make this like, ‘Yeah, this is what Batman would be in the real world.’ But I had forgotten that actually to a lot of comic fans that smelling, not having a girlfriend—these are actually kind of heroic. So actually, sort of, Rorschach became the most popular character in Watchmen. I meant him to be a bad example, but I have people come up to me in the street saying, ‘I am Rorschach! That is my story!’ And I’ll be thinking, ‘Yeah, great, can you just keep away from me and never come anywhere near me again for as long as I live?’"
And this is far from the first time Alan Moore has criticized comic book fans. The guy lives to provoke and I kind of love it. And I’m pretty sure Moore wouldn’t approve of the new Rorschach story, just how he didn’t approve of HBO’s Watchmen show, but it’s coming anyway.
In addition to the writing from King, Rorschach is illustrated by Jorge Fornés (Batman), colored by Dave Stewart, and lettered by Clayton Cowles. The first of 12 issues will come out under DC’s Black Label line on October 13.
To stay up to date on everything fantasy, science fiction, and WiC, follow our all-encompassing Facebook page and sign up for our exclusive newsletter.
Get HBO, Starz, Showtime and MORE for FREE with a no-risk, 7-day free trial of Amazon Channels