DC Comics Announces New Rorschach Series From Tom King

John F. Trent |

Jul 15, 2020

DC Comics announced a brand new Rorschach series describing it as a “new vision of one of the most riveting characters from Watchmen.”

The 12-issue maxiseries will be written by former Batman writer Tom King and Jorge Fornés.

The series will be part of DC’s Black Label imprint.

It will be set 35 years before Ozymandias was exposed for killing thousands of people in New York City by dropping a giant telepathic squid on them.

In this time period only the memories of The Minutemen live on, the organization does not exist. Interestingly enough, they also explain that Rorschach has become a cultural icon after he was vaporized by Dr. Manhattan.

However, DC Comics explains, “Rorschach may have spoken truth, but he wasn’t a hero.”

And while he might have been vaporized in Alan Moore’s original 1986 Watchmen series, he or at least someone dressed like him will return.

Rorschach will be part of a pair of assassins who attempt to murder a rival candidate to President Robert Redford.

Given DC Comics’ description of the series, it seems the series won’t even follow Rorschach. Instead they explain it will “follow one determined detective as he walks backward in time, uncovering the identities and motives of the would-be killers, taking him deep into a dark conspiracy of alien invasions, disgraced do-gooders, mystical visions, and yes, comic books.”

King explains the maxiseries will be very political, “Like the HBO Watchmen show and very much like the original ‘86 Watchmen, this is a very political work.”

He adds, “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.”

The first issue will arrive on comic book shelves on October 13, 2020. It will retail for $4.99 and feature a cover by Jorge Fornés. There will also be a variant cover by Jae Lee.