Rorschach #12
The investigator gives his findings to the Turley campaign in Rorschach #12, by writer Tom King, artist Jorge Fornes, colorist Dave Stewart, and letterer Clayton Cowles. Simply put, this issue will be a contentious one, but that makes it no less great.
Summarizing this comic would defeat its purpose because it’s one of those comics that definitely needs to be read. There is a lot going on in this comic under the surface, and it’s that stuff that is the most interesting and deserves to be talked about.
King does something that is going to possibly make a lot of readers mad with this issue. Basically, anyone looking for answers or an ending that tied everything up in a nice little bow will be disappointed. In that way, it’s a lot like Mister Miracle, a book whose ending wasn’t what anyone expected. It’s also completely different from it because King has been playing with different toys throughout this comic. Rorschach is a mystery book where the mystery isn’t the one readers thought it was. The whys of Myerson, Laura, Turley, and Redford’s actions are actually unimportant to the story that King is trying to tell. This is a story about what people do with the information they have and how it affects them. The actions they take when they are exposed to the “truth”. One of the most important things this book had to do in its run was find a way to exist without being dependent on Watchmen for anything but set dressing. Every other spin-off of that vaunted property has leaned into the original so much, and that’s often been a mistake. That leads to comparison, and comparing just about anything to Watchmen is a recipe for disaster.
King didn’t do that. Instead, he told a story that really speaks to the situation the US finds itself in right now. The fact of the matter is that none of the facts actually matter. What matters is what people do with the facts. Did Redford’s campaign use conspiracy-minded folks like Myerson, Frank Miller, and Laura to try and assassinate Turley? It doesn’t matter. The actions of the people with the information matter. People take the information and use it for a variety of things. Readers know the squids aren’t real; Miller, Myerson, and Laura don’t. They have their evidence, and that’s all that matters. Does the investigator believe in what either side has said or done? It doesn’t matter because he uses what he knows to make a decision. The people in Rorshach seemingly don’t have the Internet, but information still flows, and people still make decisions based on what they believe. Is it right or wrong? It’s up to the world to decide that, much like King lets readers decide what the truth is. King makes every reader complicit in the book’s central conspiracy by letting them fill in the blanks.
Fornes and Stewart have been knocking the art out of the park on this book for the entire run, and this issue is no exception. This whole series hasn’t been some slam-bang action extravaganza, but Fornes and Stewart have nailed every single panel in the book; Fornes’s character acting is wonderful, and his linework is amazing. Stewart understands that as important as the pencils are, the colors tell as much of the story. The two have worked together brilliantly, and this issue is no exception. There’s no standout panel or moment because it’s all standout moments.
Rorschach #12 is probably not the ending that anyone expected, and it feels like it’s going to be very controversial with readers. Anyone wanting a tidy conclusion is in for a rude awakening- they already got it. They just have to decide how tidy they think it is. King is telling a story about America and how Americans process information. Who’s the bad guy isn’t a question that’s going to be answered in this one; it’s all degrees and what the reader is willing to believe. King makes everyone who picks this comic up a part of the conspiracy. Laying out all of the information, like the characters in the book, the reader has to decide what to believe and who the bad guy is. Fornes and Stewart do a fantastic job with the art, as they have for the book’s entire run. Rorschach’s team found a way to make the book special.
