History ComicBook / Rorschach2020

* AmbiguousEnding: While the actual mystery driving the series ends up solved, the series itself manages to end on many layers of ambiguity: [[spoiler:the detective realizes the whole assassination plot [[FalseFlagOperation was hijacked by Turley as a conspiracy to make himself look more favorable in the election]], while simultaneously realizing he'd become strung into the same [[UnscrupulousHero ruthless philosophy of brutal vigilante "heroism"]] as Rorschach, a combination which ends with him murdering Turley in cold blood. Did he do the right thing as an AntiHero in [[CrapsackWorld a bleak world where neither sides have good intentions]], or is he [[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope now just another vile psychopath acting delusional extremism]]? Whichever way you slice it, the detective decides to quietly slip away and [[RunningGag watch a pirate movie]] -- whether he ends up with consequences for his crime [[KarmaHoudini or not]] will likely never be answered.]]

** Myerson's earlier creation, ''Pontius Pirate'', seems to be an expy for ComicBook/SpiderMan, whom Ditko created with Stan Lee. In issue #7, we even get a recreation of the cover of ''ComicBook/AmazingFantasyNumber15'', or rather its alternate-universe ''Astonishing Suspense #15'', complete with the pirate in the same pose.

** Myerson's earlier creation, ''Pontius Pirate'', seems to be an expy for ComicBook/SpiderMan, whom Ditko created with Stan Lee. In issue #7, we even get a recreation of the cover of ''ComicBook/AmazingFantasyNumberFifteen'', or rather its alternate-universe ''Astonishing Suspense #15'', complete with the pirate in the same pose.

* AluminumChristmasTrees: There's a lot of direct references to real world people and their work (most prominently William Myerson being [[NoCelebritiesWereHarmed a humongous analogue]] to Creator/SteveDitko), but one of the most obscure yet most integral to the plot are those regarding Otto Binder (prolific sci-fi comic writer, most known for creating ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} and his work on [[ComicBook/{{Shazam}} DC's Captain Marvel]]). The [[ConspiracyTheorist "Static Man" conspiracy theory he created]] was [[https://bleedingcool.com/comics/the-real-story-of-frank-miller-otto-binders-rorschach-seance-tape/ something he really did]] -- late in his life and following the premature death of his daughter, he became convinced that he could communicate with spirits by listening to the static of recording tape. The tape which the detective finds off of Myerson's body in issue #1 is also directly based on a real séance recording between Binder, Creator/FrankMiller, and a few other close friends -- the transcript is almost completely identical to the real deal, sans the "Tom Fagan" in attendance being substituted for the fictional William Myerson.

** Yet another conspiracy theory weaved into the mix was provided by [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otto_Binder Otto Binder]] ([[AluminumChristmasTrees partially based on a very real theory the actual Binder believed in]]). The belief is that Doctor Manhattan secretly embedded instructions for a weapon that could fight the squids, and they could only be deciphered through recording tape static and listening carefully for any messages. The message that the Rorschach copycat deciphered? ''"Kill Turley"''.

* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: Zigzagged. [[spoiler: It's revealed that the Turley campaign eventually learned of the assassination plan and decided to run with it as a FalseFlagOperation, hoping to score sympathy votes and damage the Redford campaign by framing them as being responsible. Unfortunately, their point man learned almost too late that the assassins were a little too good at what they were planning to do, meaning that Turley's life was genuinely in danger. Fortunately for them, however, they manage to stop them in the nick of time. ''Un''fortunately for them, the detective they then hire to get the false flag operation back on track gets sucked in the Rorschach vortex and ends up finishing the job for real.]]

** The posthumous distance from the real man allows characters to pull bits and pieces of what they preferred about [[SociopathicHero his torrid brand of vigilante justice]], and similar to how [[Series/Watchmen2019 white supremacists appropriated his bigotry as a manifesto]], {{Conspiracy Theorist}}s here took inspiration from [[BlackAndWhiteInsanity his insane, absolutist view of the world]] to justify terrible crimes. The series makes it loud and clear that Rorschach/Walter Kovacs is, above all else, an '''AntiHero'''. He may have genuinely wanted to make the world a better, safer place, but he was also [[SociopathicHero a raging nihilist]], [[NoSocialSkills a barely-functioning misanthrope]], by all definitions [[AxCrazy violent and insane]], to a point that [[KnowNothingKnowItAll he wasn't even very good at his own job]]. Rorschach exists on a very complicated edge of good and evil, and the series reinforces that while he fell into becoming as disturbed as he is, it's almost inevitably born of people trying and failing to reasonably cope within a flawed world, and [[AntiRoleModel mot someone you want to consciously replicate.]]

* SanitySlippage: [[spoiler:Ever since Issue 3, the detective's sanity is put into question. Come the end of Issue 11, the sanity is nonexistent.]]

** The posthumous distance from the real man allows characters to pull bits and pieces of what they preferred about [[SociopathicHero his torrid brand of vigilante justice]], and similar to how [[Series/Watchmen2019 white supremacists appropriated his bigotry as a manifesto]], {{Conspiracy Theorist}}s here took inspiration from [[BlackAndWhiteInsanity his insane, absolutist view of the world]] to justify terrible crimes. The series makes it loud and clear that Rorschach/Walter Kovacs is, above all else, an '''AntiHero'''. He may have genuinely wanted to make the world a better, safer place, but he was also [[SociopathicHero a raging nihilist]], [[NoSocialSkills a barely-functioning misanthrope]], by all definitions [[AxCrazy violent and insane]], to a point that [[KnowNothingKnowItAll he wasn't even very good at his own job]]. Rorschach exists on a very complicated edge of good and evil, and the series reinforces that while he fall into becoming as disturbed as he, is almost a natural inevitability of sorts, it is one born of people trying and failing to reasonably cope within a flawed world, and [[AntiRoleModel he is not an admirable man you want to consciously replicate.]]

** The posthumous distance from the real man allows characters to pull bits and pieces of what they preferred about [[SociopathicHero his torrid brand of vigilante justice]], and similar to how [[Series/Watchmen2019 white supremacists appropriated his bigotry as a manifesto]], {{Conspiracy Theorist}}s here took inspiration from [[BlackAndWhiteInsanity his insane, absolutist view of the world]] to justify terrible crimes. The series makes it loud and clear that Rorschach/Walter Kovacs is, above all else, an '''AntiHero'''. He may have genuinely wanted to make the world a better, safer place, but he was also [[SociopathicHero a raging nihilist]], [[NoSocialSkills a barely-functioning misanthrope]], by all definitions [[AxCrazy violent and insane]], to a point that [[KnowNothingKnowItAll he wasn't even very good at his own job]]. Rorschach exists on a very complicated edge of good and evil, and the series reinforces that while the fall into becoming as disturbed as he is is almost a natural inevitability of sorts, it is one born of people trying and failing to reasonably cope within a flawed world, and [[AntiRoleModel he is not an admirable man you want to consciously replicate.]]

* TheExtremistWasRight: Though not in an easily evident, [[RightForTheWrongReasons or even consciously correct way]]. [[spoiler:Laura and Myerson's specific belief that assassinating Turley would save the world from being invaded by brainwashing space aliens is played as complete hokum, but their underlying philosophy of acting on [[AntiHero a corrective, if cruel form of heroism]] as being [[NecessaryEvil a necessary evil in an already dark world]] is slightly less disputed with. The story ends up siding with the idea, [[BeingEvilSucks but only marginally]]; once it's revealed that Turley and his presidential campaign [[FalseFlagOperation hijacked the narrative of the assassination plot as a political stunt]] -- effectively just another monstrous abuse of power for a self-centered goal -- the detective murders him for real with little to no remorse.]]

'''Ron''': ''(resigned annoyance)'' [[ThisIsGonnaSuck Shit.]]

-->'''Laura''': Just at our worst moment, when an alien invasion destroyed us: ''POOF''. Gone. And we were confronted with two possibilities: One, [[TheBadGuyWins they abandoned us]]. [[CrapsackWorld The bad of the world]] was just too mighty for the good they represented. [[DownerEnding They lost and they hid and they died and hope is nothing next to power]]. Two, [[FlingALightIntoTheFuture they planned]]. They passed on their legacy to us. We are the superheroes. There is a chance. A chance for good to overcome, for the righteous to triumph. They didn't retreat. They sacrificed to give us a chance. Personally, I prefer option two.

** Very shortly after [[spoiler:the detective murders Turley]] in issue #12, a drop of blood is shown splat onto a "Vote Turley" pin in exactly the same fashion as [[ArcSymbol the famous blood-splattered smiley face]]. The detective also ends up being told that [[YouAreTooLate he's 35 minutes too late]]... to see a ''midnight'' screening of a movie.

** Very shortly after [[spoiler:the detective murders Turley]] in issue #12, a drop of blood is shown splat onto a "Vote Turley" pin in exactly the same fashion as [[ArcSymbol the famous blood-splattered smiley face]]. The detective also ends up being told that [[YouAreTooLate he's 35 minutes too late]]... to see a ''midnight'' screening a movie.

** Very shortly after [[spoiler:the detective murders Turley]] in issue #12, a drop of blood is shown splat onto a "Vote Turley" pin in exactly the same fashion as [[ArcSymbol the famous blood-splattered smiley face]].

* ContinuityNod: Rorschach's elevator shaft kill of Captain Carnage, something we never saw in the original ''Watchmen'' story, is shown here.

** In issue #1, there's a prominent billboard advertising baked beans, referencing one of original Rorschach's signature scenes of him eating from a can of beans.

** Issue #7 introduces a really unexpected Rorschach copycat: [[spoiler:''Creator/FrankMiller'', who converted to the identity after he was approached by Myerson and Laura and became involved in their assassination conspiracy. This appears to be a largely symbolic conversion as he doesn't directly partake in the killing, but nonetheless, it resulted in the detective stumbling on him [[BecomingTheMask wearing Rorschach's mask]] as [[DissonantSerenity he calmly watches the political rallies the duo were supposed to affect]].]]

* BattleInTheCenterOfTheMind: After several teases about it throughout the story, including instances where he speaks directly to an apparition of Laura, [[spoiler:one ends up occurring in the detective in full come Issue 11]]. [[spoiler:He loses.]]

* 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. [[spoiler:And then, Frank Miller got in on it and now so has the detective.]]

** Issue #6 once again alludes to the death of Kitty Genovese, with Myerson mentioning that he lived in the building where she was murdered. This story is incidentally more in line with the actual events of her death than [[DatedHistory the sensationalized story passed around during the writing of]] ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'', as Myerson's father passed by her window, but just assumed it was a personal quarrel and was none of his business[[note]]The infamous claim that [[BystanderSyndrome 38 individuals saw Genovese's murder in plain view]] was propagated by the ''New York Times'', and while most people (including Creator/AlanMoore) took this as fact at the time as there was very little base for counternarrative, it's been more recently accepted that it was a fabrication by the original author. Nowadays, it's believed that at best, a few people saw glimpses of a mild altercation, but not enough to suggest the murder that was happening[[/note]].

** Issue #6 once again alludes to the death of Kitty Genovese, with Myerson mentioning that he lived in the building where she was murdered. This story is incidentally more in line with the actual events of her death than [[DatedHistory the sensationalized story passed around during the writing of]] ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'', as Myerson's father passed by her window, but just assumed it was a personal quarrel and was none of his business[[note]]The infamous claim that [[BystanderSyndrome 38 individuals saw Genovese's murder in plain view]] was a highly exaggerated claim by the ''New York Times''. Most people (including Creator/AlanMoore) took this as fact as there was very little base for counternarrative, but it's been more recently accepted that it was a fabrication by the original author, and that at best, a few people saw glimpses of a mild altercation, but nothing to suggest the murder that was happening[[/note]].

** [[FreezeFrameBonus A brief one]] in issue #8, where during a flashback showing [[spoiler:Frank Miller]]'s capture at the hands of the police, one officer's wristwatch is clearly visible in a few panels, showing [[ArcSymbol it's just before midnight.]]
** Very shortly after [[spoiler:the detective murders Turley]] in issue #12, a drop of blood is shown splat onto a "Vote Turley" pin in exactly the same fashion as [[ArcSymbol the famous blood-splattered smiley face]].

** [[FreezeFrameNotice A brief one]] in issue #8, where during a flashback showing [[spoiler:Frank Miller]]'s capture at the hands of the police, one officer's wristwatch is clearly visible in a few panels, showing [[ArcSymbol it's just before midnight.]]

* CallBack: Muscles was ambushed and overwhelmed by law enforcement when he attempted to confront a target, much like how Kovacs was captured in ''Watchmen''.

** Issue #11 unravels [[TheReveal an even bigger thread]]. Issue #10 had the detective seemingly complete his story on the assassination plot, where he discovered that [[spoiler:Laura and Myerson found a government intermediary -- an independent security contractor named Oates -- who collaborated with the two on assassinating Turley, and was himself encouraged by President Redford, implicating him as conspiring to and nearly succeed at murdering his political opponent]]. ''However'', this all comes falling apart in issue #11 after the detective discovers [[spoiler:the fingerprints of Alan -- Turley's campaign manager who sent the detective on the case to begin with -- are identical to that on a bottle found in Oates' personal safe, contradicting Alan's claim that he never met Oates. Combined with the unresolved issue of why Oates was murdered by the duo, the detective realizes the vast multitude of other lies Alan gave him: Oates was working for Turley all the time, and [[FalseFlagOperation the assassination plot was purposefully hijacked in a way that — through the independent detective's investigation — would be pinned on Redford, destroy his reputation while benefitting Turley's]].]]