Tag: Watchmen

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Rorschach #1

Writer: Tom King
Artist: Jorge Fornes
Colorist: Dave Stewart

Rorschach is dead — has been for 35 years. So what does it mean when a man dressed in the oh-so-familiar fedora and mask makes an attempt on a presidential candidate’s life? Therein lies a tale rife with conspiracy theories, high-stakes political intrigue and moral quandaries that are anything but black and white.

Tom King wisely chooses to move the world of Watchmen forward rather than back, showing us what it looks like in the present day. He makes no attempt to ape the structure and style of Alan Moore’s masterpiece. Instead, King borrows the world and builds on it, taking Moore’s ideas to their logical conclusions in an updated context.

Likewise, Jorge Fornes’ style is completely his own. He nails the pulp noir style with heavy shadows and elegant line work, setting the scene for what is sure to be a mystery full of twists and turns. Yes, Rorschach is dead. But in the hands of this talented and passionate team of creators, the world that produced him is alive and quite unwell. Just as it should be.

Review by Harrison Stewart

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Doomsday Clock #1

Writer: Geoff Johns
Artist: Gary Frank
Colorist: Brad Anderson
Letterer: Rob Leigh
Publisher: DC Comics

It’s finally here. Ever since the mouth-dropping twist at the end of the Rebirth one-shot, DC fans
have been waiting to see how exactly Watchmen would merge with the main DC universe. The
answer will be explored throughout Doomsday Clock, which is a 12-issue series written by Geoff
Johns and drawn by Gary Frank.

The last major revelation was that Dr. Manhattan had tampered with the space-time continuum
and created the New 52 timeline. Doomsday Clock starts off in the Watchmen universe, taking
place about eight years after the events of the iconic Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons story. I’ll go
ahead and say that if you haven’t read Watchmen in a while, you may want to refresh yourself
before going into this book.

That said, this first issue offers a lot of potential for the series as a whole. Beyond being a love-
letter to the source material, it provides an interesting look at this world as it inches closer and
closer to annihilation. We see a character from the original story posing as Rorschach,
Ozymandias apparently seeking to redeem himself and Dr. Manhattan is still missing.
Meanwhile, all hell has broken loose across the globe.

The only tie to the main DC universe comes at the end of the issue, but we still have 11 more
issues to get the answers we’ve yearned for for the last year and a half. After the fairly
underwhelming crossover The Button earlier this year, this book is a worthy follow up to both
Rebirth and Watchmen. Geoff Johns returns to comics writing with a bang, and with art by the
amazing Gary Frank this is one of the biggest collector’s items of the year.