WATCHMEN: DC Comics Reveals First Look At Planned RORSCHACH Spinoff From BATMAN Writer Tom King

WATCHMEN: DC Comics Reveals First Look At Planned RORSCHACH Spinoff From BATMAN Writer Tom King

DC Comics is returning to the Watchmen franchise following Doomsday Clock, and a first look has now been shared for the upcoming Rorschach spinoff which is set 35 years after the original story...

By JoshWilding - Jul 15, 2020 06:07 AM EST
Filed Under: DC Comics

DC Comics has announced that Tom King, Jorge Fornés, Dave Stewart, and Clayton Cowles are taking charge of a new Watchmen spinoff series simply titled Rorschach. Set 35 years after the events of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' classic Watchmen, it's going to be a 12-issue maxiseries published under DC's adult-orientated Black Label imprint. 

"Like the HBO Watchmen show and very much like the original '86 Watchmen, this is a very political work," King explains. "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."

It's unclear whether this Rorschach series will tie into Doomsday Clock in any way, but it's certainly an interesting decision to pick up with the character after he died at Dr. Manhattan's hands. 

Check out the synopsis, along with a preview of the issue, below:
 

It’s been 35 years since Ozymandias was exposed for dropping a giant telepathic squid on New York City, killing thousands and ending the public’s trust in heroes once and for all. The Minutemen are gone; only their memory lives on. Especially the infamy of Rorschach, who has become a cultural icon since Dr. Manhattan turned him to dust.

Rorschach may have spoken truth, but he wasn't a hero...

So what does it mean when Rorschach reappears as part of a pair of assassins trying to kill the first candidate to oppose President Robert Redford in decades? 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.  


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GhostDog
GhostDog - 7/15/2020, 6:41 AM
I like King so this is a must read
tmp3
tmp3 - 7/15/2020, 6:45 AM
Doomsday Clock felt like such a betrayal for everything that Watchmen was about. Lindelof's sequel felt like such a beautiful extrapolation of what Watchmen was about.
I think Tom King's a really great writer, and his Mr. Miracle was one of my favorite comics of the 2010's. I think he clearly takes a lot of inspiration from what Moore/Gibbons did with that book, so I'm interested to see what happens. I just... don't know how to feel about DC constantly milking something as singular as Watchmen was, especially with how mind-numbingly dumb all their Dr. Manhattan decisions have been (especially the most recent one... ugh)
GhostDog
GhostDog - 7/15/2020, 6:58 AM
@tmp3 - Doc is a power up at this point.
AbidNaga
AbidNaga - 7/15/2020, 7:17 AM
@tmp3 - You didn't like Doomsday Clock? While I agree that Lindelof's Watchmen felt more like an extension of Watchmen, I do like how Doomsday Clock was basically the antithesis to Watchmen.

Before getting into why, I'm just gonna ignore anything Johns didn't do with those characters in the universe.

Had Doomsday Clock just ended up as DC Vs. Watchmen, I'd definitely agree with you, but at the end of the day, it felt more like a criticism (maybe not the right word, how about counter-point?) to Watchmen. Or if anything else, saying that this cynicism and grit does in some way define Watchmen, but it shouldn't define mainline DC tonally. All these non-Moore stories will definitely exist interdependently of the original Watchmen to the majority, but for the DC timeline to exist in basically an modern cold war that's on the verge of not nuclear destruction, but more so superhero destruction (with the whole US superhero thing), it was great seeing the humanity & hope of the characters to be intact and counteract that of the Watchmen characters.

More specifically, I really loved how Johns really hammered in the point of the significance of Superman. And how in many ways, the story and Superman rejected the themes and ideas of Watchmen, not in a general sense, but in their own world/bubble. Also really liked how it ended with Manhattan being inspired by Superman, rather than a brawl or return to status quo.
Doomsday8888
Doomsday8888 - 7/15/2020, 7:50 AM
@AbidNaga
F*cking hell, it's like I wrote this post! :P

Minus a couple of things, we truly click with each other! :3
tmp3
tmp3 - 7/15/2020, 8:40 AM
@AbidNaga - My big issue was that it was using something as dense as Watchmen to simply do another story about how DC shouldn't be all dark & gritty, that it should be more hopeful, instead of just... writing more hopeful DC stories.
I think using Dr. Manhattan as a conduit to reset continuity is incredibly misguided, and that character is such an intensely interesting commentary on the belief of fatalism in the original source material, that it felt like they were dumbing him down to fit into Johns' 12-issue Superman love letter.
I agree with you with what Johns was intending to do with the comic, the whole hope vs cynicism angle, but I just feel like Watchmen is so much more than just dark superheroes. I also don't think it was ultimately that nihilistic as a piece of fiction, the idea that a lie of that magnitude had to be kept to "save" humanity is quite dire, but Laurie & Dan find love and Manhattan's sense of apathy begins to dissipate after his conversation w/ Laurie on Mars.
Also felt like they were aping the 9 panel structure from Watchmen for no real discernible reason outside of reverence for the original, but that's not a major issue lol
Doomsday8888
Doomsday8888 - 7/15/2020, 9:15 AM
@tmp3
Doomsday Clock was many things, not just a love letter to Superman and Geoff didn't use the Watchmen universe characters just to reboot the DCU.

He actualy -lol- clapped back at Moore and his criticism towards not just DC, but the whole superhero comicbook genre.
Cause, yeah, Watchmen was more than just "mhu cynicism".

One of Moore's many purposes was to deconstruct the genre, and if you want to reply to that criticism, then it becomes very important to use those characters, it's very efficient.

Obviously Geoff has already told countless hopeful stories with DC and he's been nothing but consistent, if you've been following him since day one, Doomsday Clock truly feels like...like everything was meant to end here with him.

Just like he said: "Everything he did, led to this story."

There's just no easy way do describe DClock, cause on surface level, it's mostly accessible to everybody -although i have some doubts over the concept of Metaverse, i don't know if people genuinely understand the...the potential and the meaning of it- but once you start to dig into it and most importantly if you have a rich DCU knowledge AND if you ACTUALLY and properly understand Watchmen, then...i mean, it's just a f*cking masterpiece all around.

It was NEVER meant to be a Watchmen sequel/remix/whatever, that's why Geoff unlike Lindelof, didn't name it Watchmen but Doomsday Clock, something that reminds the reader of both the Watchmen story, but also Superman.

And yeah, at the end of the day, it follows the structure, the themes and many other things of the original story, but there's always a twist, take tha Superman cape at the end of every single issue instead of the blood like in Watchmen.

And i shit you not, i f*cking knew he would pull that off! :P

Now eventhough i really liked the tv series, i kinda hated how they treated the characters there from the orignal comic but what's amazing is...just the amount of lil plot points that BOTH Geoff and Lindelof came up with, take the ending for example!
Incredible, shit was almost fated to end this way.

P.S. If you think Geoff didn't use well the 9 panel grid, then oh boy do i have bad news when it comes to King! :P
AbidNaga
AbidNaga - 7/15/2020, 10:26 AM
@Doomsday8888 -
https://2.bp.blogspot.com/Hb3XqM3YZBxcZezGVpOe1m9TBB5-48a69Y8g5kyqbGAEOmRUocokXMq6kTEvMScAE5AvDMDoXAevEKuz8IZtnIc9LyRe1Yir1h-5oKJRex3PGT_boy8mRh9-6EVvpRgv4Sf9dNW0cw=s0

Also I just quickly checked out Death Metal #2... and umm.... I though @tmp3 was making a joke about the batman who laughs. Boy was I wrong.
Doomsday8888
Doomsday8888 - 7/15/2020, 10:38 AM
@AbidNaga
Legit goosebummps!
You actually picked my favorite pages/panels!


Because it goes aaaaaaaaaall the way back to Secret origin:



:')




How can one man affect so much?

Also yeah, don't hurt yourself with Death Metal! :P

For whatever reasons, Geoff didn't end up rebooting the DCU, but Snyder wants to do that now.
Doomsday8888
Doomsday8888 - 7/15/2020, 6:45 AM
Considering how autistic King got recently, this could actually work.

On the other hand, i f*cking hate what Scott Snyder is doing.
tmp3
tmp3 - 7/15/2020, 6:48 AM
@Doomsday8888 - The Manhattan who Laughs
AbidNaga
AbidNaga - 7/15/2020, 6:54 AM
@Doomsday8888 - Haven't read strange adventures yet, but even reading Superman up in the sky, I'm always down for a Tom King mini-series.
A Tom King run or continuity significant story on the other hand....

Though I am a bit wary of any new watchmen thing, especially after how Johns knocked it out of the park in Doomsday Clock, and that basically satisfied any more Watchmen itch.

I haven't read Death Metal, but given how Snyder is just having fun at this point, in that it feels like he's writing more so for the artist to draw cool stuff than story, I'm honestly afraid to ask.
Doomsday8888
Doomsday8888 - 7/15/2020, 6:59 AM
@tmp3
Don't even get me started, man...

@AbidNaga

Superman up in the sky was legit good actually, not gonna lie.
But his Batman run and especially Heroes in Crisis f*cking sucked.

Doomsday Clock is a f*cking masterpiece in my book, Geoff paid so much attention to the original comic showed so much respect and then you have f*cking Snyder turning everything into a...heh, a joke.


AbidNaga
AbidNaga - 7/15/2020, 7:24 AM
@Doomsday8888 - Yeah, Tom King on mainline runs or events is... not fun.

Also find it funny that Kings Batman run is subpar (imo), but his Superman mini was really good, and you have Bendis who's Superman is even below that (I say as I hold Tomasi tightly in my arms), but wrote a knockout batman mini.

I have too much of a bias for Snyder, because I really like all his mid JL-run and before stuff, and that he always seems like a really nice guy whenever I listen to him on anything. But yeah, he's no doubt in "[frick] it, i'm gonna do anything" mode. Especially when the backhalf of his JL definitely felt a bit Morrison light, and not in really good way.

Anyways, I'm excited to see Capullos art, so guess it sort of works
Doomsday8888
Doomsday8888 - 7/15/2020, 7:47 AM
@AbidNaga
Totally agreed on Bendis (ugh) and Tomasi (miss him!).

And yeah, Snyder has lotta passion, i like the dude but not his stories.
I actually used to love him back when he was writing Court of Owls, Death of the Family and Endgame.
But around Zero Year i...sensed something.
Time jump a couple of years later and i was dead right about him.
We got Metal, No Justice, his JL run and...well, as someone who has been reading DC comics for quite some time and reeeeeally values the DC Lore, let's just say it was impossible for me not to hate those stories. :P

Like, i'm super ok with dumb over the top comics but...not when it comes to that stuff.
Especially not when it comes to Watchmen.

Capullo rocks, nuff said.
oldnoname
oldnoname - 7/15/2020, 8:43 AM
@AbidNaga - Snyder's a great guy. Which is why it's so heartbreaking to not like his recent DC work at all. Even though I can see the passion behind it.
oldnoname
oldnoname - 7/15/2020, 8:44 AM
@tmp3 - Even worse, I think they refer to is as the "Bat-Manhattan Who Laughs"
TheUnworthyThor
TheUnworthyThor - 7/15/2020, 6:48 AM
Ha1frican
Ha1frican - 7/15/2020, 6:57 AM
That’s cool, I’ll read it and probably end up buying it since I own everything Watchmen aside from Doomsday clock which I’ll get when they combine parts one and two in hardcover
Kumkani
Kumkani - 7/15/2020, 7:07 AM
I like Tom King for The Vision and Mister Miracle alone, but why Rorschach honestly?
rebellion
rebellion - 7/15/2020, 7:21 AM
But how is he gonna write dialogue without 'bat' and 'cat' in every goddamn panel? Maybe its a silent comic. Huh. Hopefully.
soberchimera
soberchimera - 7/15/2020, 7:24 AM
Superspecialawesomeguy
Superspecialawesomeguy - 7/15/2020, 7:24 AM
Well he does tend to do better on characters that haven't been explored as much like in Mister Miracle and Strange Advenures, so hopefully he'll do well here...but on the other hand I have read his Batman run and Heroes in Crisis soo...

Saintsinnister
Saintsinnister - 7/15/2020, 7:26 AM
I have only read his Batman run. It was honestly enough to never read anything that he writes ever again.
rebellion
rebellion - 7/15/2020, 10:48 AM
@Saintsinnister - i liked mr miracle until the last issue which was just a terrible cliche. Why is it getting all that praise, i will never understand.
FlixMentallo21
FlixMentallo21 - 7/15/2020, 7:38 AM
Really? The Watchmen crutch again?
Lostcause
Lostcause - 7/15/2020, 8:02 AM
I'm in. I collect comics and dig King's work. I'm waiting for Batman and Catwoman.
Kyos
Kyos - 7/15/2020, 8:09 AM
I kind of like what I've seen in the first two episodes of the HBO show. Otherwise they should keep their filthy hands off of Watchmen.
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