DC Announces Watchmen Spinoff Rorschach

On Wednesday, DC Comics announced Rorschach, a new 12-issue maxiseries written by Tom King (Mister Miracle) and featuring art by Jorge Fornés (Batman). The series, debuting in October, spotlights one of the most-discussed characters from Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' seminal graphic novel, Watchmen. According to the synopsis, the series is set 35 years after the events of the original Watchmen series, where Dr. Manhattan unmade Rorshach, but only after Rorshach sent his journal to the press. "Like the HBO Watchmen show and very much like the original '86 Watchmen, this is a very political work", King says in a press release. "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."

The press release suggests that Rorshach will reemerge as an assassin out to kill the first opponent to President Robert Redford in decades. The detective on the case will walk "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."

Rorschach #1, by Tom King, Jorge Fornés, Dave Stewart, and Clayton Cowles, will go on sale on October 13th from DC's Black Label imprint and is rated as being appropriate for readers ages 17+. The cover price is $4.99 with card stock cover artwork by Fornés and a variant cover by Jae Lee.

Where Watchmen was once a singular touchstone in DC Comics and superhero comics history, DC Comics has in recent years been launching one spinoff after another. The move has irritated many who remember how the publisher treated Moore, who had his name removed from any new project related to the original series. The new titles continue to sell well.

This publishing move began in 2012, with a series of prequels released under the Before Watchmen banner. While that project kept Watchmen separate from the rest of DC's publishing line, the DC Rebirth banner began to integrate the two universes. This led to the recently-concluded Doomsday Clock event, a crossover between the worlds. The ramifications of that story will carry over into the upcoming Flash Forward series.

At the same time, Warner Bros. and HBO created a television series that serves a sequel to the original Watchmen graphic novel. The series, which looks to be a single-season event, was lauded by critics upon its release in late 2019.

What do you think of DC's next Watchmen project? Let us know in the comments.