Greetings, fellow readers, to another issue of The Quad! In this review, I will be presenting “Rorschach,” a new comic that came out last week. For comic book fans that love DC and all things “Watchmen,” it was an interesting and riveting experience to never forget. The story takes place a couple years after the events of “Watchmen” and into the mid-‘80s, where an infamous murder took place during a campaign rally of Turley.
In reading the entire comic, I noticed that I felt there was some nostalgic feeling toward how the comic is represented. To me, I felt there was some sense of wanting to know fully well who was actually behind the mask. Based on looking at the variant art cover of the comic, it appears to visualize a middle-aged man working out with dumbbells and looking through a mirror, who appears to be looking right through me, breaking the fourth wall of reality.
For the first comic’s positives, “Rorschach” sets up the main plot in a way that keeps the main character of the story to be mysterious, yet impactful, leaving viewers pondering on what motive the police officer is taking in regard to “Rorschach.” I found myself pondering each picture caption as to when I will see or hear about the previous “Rorschach” or the past experiences with other notable characters of the “Watchmen” series. Another positive I noticed in the comic was its illustration covers. Unlike “Watchmen,” which has a cartoony feel, “Rorschach” carries with it an allure of noir illustration with realistic characters. In one of the points of the comic, I was blown away in noticing the action and reaction of law enforcement going after Rorschach, the masked vigilante, which ends bloodily. The last positive I had with this comic is its writing. As I read, I could not help but reread and look over the details of the comic, since there were some hidden images and concepts of what is mentioned. For instance, there was some mention of Walter Kovacs and a description of Adrian Veidt’s wall of fame plaque.
As for the comic’s failures, there were a few issues that I had noticed while I read the comic. For starters, the writing seemed a little off, given that there was not enough detail on the characters of the story. Since this is a first issue, it makes sense that the viewer would not want detailed descriptions or backgrounds of these individuals. Another issue I found was that the ending seemed abrupt. Whether it was a writer’s suggestion for a cliffhanger or something else, I am unable to know what the next issue is going to be focused on. The last issue I had with the comic was that it did not clarify the detective’s name. This leads the viewer to speculate if this individual is the villain of the comic or the actual antihero that the comic is alluding to. Regardless, the comic did well in setting up a Rorschach conspiracy.
Overall, the first comic book series copy of “Rorschach” sets up a mysterious and riveting storyline with questions ever looming. Based on its appearance, style and general theme, I would probably rate this comic a three out of five stars for originality. For “Watchmen” fans waiting for the next copy of “Rorschach,” they should read “Before Watchmen” or “Doomsday” for greater depth of character development and story plot. Till next time, this is Nicholas Bartelmo signing off.
Nicholas Bartelmo is a fourth-year student majoring in history. NB790429@wcupa.edu