History ComicBook / Rorschach2020

** A branching theory is presented by Muscles in issue #4: he and Laura believed that following the squid invasion, Dr. Manhattan dispersed the original heroes at their request -- including Rorschach, who they erroneously believed survived, and excluding Ozymandias, believing he refused -- by destroying their bodies to hide their souls into other bodies. This led Laura to believe [[{{Reincarnation}} that Rorschach's soul had been reincarnated into Muscules]], inspiring him to [[LegacyCharacter take up his mantle]]. While the understanding of events as they literally happened is incorrect, [[RightForTheWrongReasons the real Rorschach did in fact die by Dr. Manhattan's hand in a fashion similar to their hypothesis]], so this theory is played for [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane a little more credibility]].

* ConspiracyTheorist: Laura, her father, and their little miner militia all believed that [[ComicBook/{{Watchmen}} the squid attack of '85]] was all caused by the US government (specifically the Redford administration) to placate the populous. Believing that the squids can also [[BrainwashedAndCrazy brainwash people]] and may strike again, they all planned to take up arms and "free" the US with lots and lots of guns. Disturbingly, once Laura's father reads the morality fable between [[ComicBook/MrA "The Citizen and The Unthinker"]] and begins questioning his morals, he immediately thinks [[AndThenJohnWasAZombie the squids have taken him]] and opts to [[DrivenToSuicide commit suicide by proxy]].

* PensieveFlashback: The series begins doing this in issue #3, contributing to [[MindScrew its increasingly trippy blending of fiction and reality]]. Prior to the issue, frames depicting flashbacks (greatly suggested to be accurate depictions of the past) and the present-day tend to mirror each other location-wise, but the time period of each is very clearly delineated. Issue 3, however, begins merging flashbacks of different periods of the late Laura's life together (namely by showing her [[CorruptionOfAMinor murdering her father as a preteen per his request]], then coming back to visit his still-remaining corpse with the fake Rorschach as an adult), which lets the viewer know that what we're seeing isn't strictly literal, and is more of the detective visualizing Laura's diary as he reads it. The direction is ''really'' solidified (and [[SanitySlippage subsequently more worrying]]) when said flashback figments [[MergedReality proceed to talk directly to the present-day detective]].

* BoomHeadshot: How the new Rorschach goes down. It ends up becoming a plot point because the headshot makes it even harder to tell who the perpetrator actually is. [[spoiler:Laura also shoots her father this way in Issue 3. And the detective envisions getting shot in the head by Rorschach in his head in Issue 11.]]

** Dark Fife appears to be this universe's equivalent of ComicBook/{{Batman}}.

** Dark Pipe appears to be this universe's equivalent of ComicBook/{{Batman}}.

Not exactly. The local law enforcement feels that there might be more to this than meets the eye. Namely, who the hell was the guy under the Rorschach mask this time? As such, a detective has been tasked to figure out how deep this rabbit hole goes. But can he handle what he finds out?

* BattleInTheCenterOfTheMind: After several teases about it throughout the story, one [[ends up occurring in the detective in full come Issue 11]]. [[spoiler:He loses.]]

* ContinuityNod: Rorschach's elevator shaft kill of Captain Carnage is shown.

* AndThenJohnWasAZombie: Issue #11, [[spoiler:the detective becomes a Rorschach.]]

* BoomHeadshot: How the new Rorschach goes down. It ends up becoming a plot point because the headshot makes it even harder to tell who the perpetrator actually is.
* BrainwashedAndCrazy: Laura "The Kid" Cummings was raised by rural militia who believed that various people were "infected" by the Squid's telepathy. Unfortunately, this belief basically led to them thinking that anybody expressing any sort of dissent towards them was affected, which led to Laura's father murdering her mother and later Laura kills him at his request when he thinks he's also affected.

* {{Cliffhanger}}: The first issue ends with one, [[spoiler:heavily implying that the Rorschach wannabe may have been Walter Kovacs back from the dead...]]

* {{Expy}}: Myerson's creation, The Citizen, appears to be one to ComicBook/MrA, a Steve Ditko-original character whom Alan Moore twisted the basis of to conceive Rorschach.
* LegacyCharacter: Besides maybe Myerson, Laura's friend Muscles briefly took the mantle of Rorschach on her behalf. He ended up jailed for it and abandoned by her.

** Averted hard with Frank Miller who is revealed [[spoiler: to have been radicalized into a Rorschach cultist.]]

* ShoutOut: In the tape found on the new Rorschach's body, two of the people identifying themselves are Otto Binder (best known as the creator of ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}) and Creator/FrankMiller.

* RealityEnsues: Yeah, a headshot can stop a criminal right there and then...but it makes actually identifying the guy that much harder.

[[ComicBook/{{Watchmen}} In 1985,]] a troubled man named Walter Kovacs donned a mask with moving inkblots. He fought for justice and against compromise in the face of an impending Armageddon under the name of Rorschach until the day he died.

[[Series/Watchmen2019 In 2019,]] a band of fascists took the mantle of Rorschach and abused it for their own agenda.

* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: William Myerson, who is suspected to be the new Rorschach, bears similarities to Creator/SteveDitko, who in turn was the creator of Rorschach's direct inspiration ComicBook/TheQuestion.

In 2020, during a political rally, a man and his female accomplice both took upon that very same mantle and tried to assassinate a president elect named Turley, who is running opposite of Redford.

[[ComicBook/{{Watchmen}} In 1985,]] a troubled man named Walter Kovacs donned a mask with moving inkblots and fought for justice and against compromise under the name of Rorschach until the day he died.

[[Series/Watchmen2019 In 2019,]] a band of fascists took the mantle of Rorschach and abused it for their own purposes.

In 2020, during a political rally, a man and his accomplice took upon that very same mantle and tried to assassinate a president elect. They both died for their efforts.

* BoomHeadshot: How the new Rorschach goes down. Actually ends up becoming a plot point because the headshot makes it even harder to tell who the perpetrator is.

** The FBI agent the detective teams up with notes how Rorschach masks are still popular even after Oklahoma. This alludes to the events that occurred in the ''Watchmen'' miniseries on HBO.

* ShoutOut: In the tape found on the new Rorschach's body, two of the people identifying themselves are Otto Binder (best known as the creator of ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}) and Creator/FrankMiller.

* There's a prominent billboard advertising baked beans. One of the original Rorschach's signature scenes was eating from a can of beans.

* DecoyProtagonist: So, you thought from the title, this was going to star Rorschach himself, right? BAM! The guy gets blasted in the first page. The real protagonist is the detective assigned to figure out who's dressed as Rorschach.
* MythologyGag:
** There's a prominent billboard advertising baked beans. One of the original Rorschach's signature scenes was eating from a can of beans.

* RunningGag: Even in 2020, pirate stories are still all the rage in the ''Watchmen'' universe, to the point where there's even upcoming pirate movies.

[[ComicBook/{{Watchmen}} In 1985,]] a troubled man donned a mask with moving inkblots and fought for justice and against compromise until he died.

[[Series/Watchmen2019 In 2019,]] a band of fascists took that mantle and abused it for their own purposes.

In 2020, during a political rally, a man and his accomplice took upon that very same mantle and tried to assassinate a president elect. They both died for their efforts. Crisis averted, right?

Not exactly. The local law enforcement feels that there might be more to this than meets the eye. Namely, who the hell was the guy under the mask? As such, a detective has been tasked to figure out how deep this rabbit hole goes. But can he handle what he finds out?

* BoomHeadshot: How ''this'' Rorschach goes down. Actually ends up becoming a plot point because the headshot makes it even harder to tell who the perpetrator is.

* DecoyProtagonist: So, you thought from the title, this was going to star Rorschach himself, right? BAM! The guy gets blasted in the first page. The real protagonist is the detective assigned to figure out who's dressed as Rorschach this time.

* RealityEnsues: Yeah, a headshot can stop a criminal right there and then...but it makes actually identifying said perpetrator even harder.

''Rorschach'' is a 12-issue limited series by Creator/TomKing and Jorge Fornés and published by Creator/DCBlackLabel, centering around the eponymous vigilante from the ''Watchmen'' universe.