Rorschach #10
The investigator learns some things that blow the whole investigation wide open in Rorschach #10, by writer Tom King, artist Jorge Fornes, colorist Dave Stewart, and letterer Clayton Cowles. King and company score another amazing chapter. It feels dry in a lot of ways, but it’s just so compelling and enthralling that it doesn’t matter.
The investigator meets with the Turley campaign rep to give him all of the new information he got from Frank Miller. Miller used his connections with the police to get in touch with people who worked security and found someone with ties to President Redford for Myerson and Laura to talk to about the assassination, but for the reasons of a comic story. However, what started as a what-if became more as the investigator discovers all of the details from a tape made by the security guy’s secretary, who ended up killing herself because of the amount of information she had. The Turley rep tells the investigator not to tell anyone and leaves, but there’s a clue that not everything is as it seems with him.
In many ways, this issue is an info dump, but King can make it work so very well. Rorschach can be a very dry book; there’s a lot of flashbacks and learning what the investigator discovered via long conversations. It’s not an action-packed book at all, but that’s okay because King makes it work. Every issue is compelling with some great reveals, and this one is no different as it reveals that someone with ties to the president helped Myerson and Laura plan and even get into the convention. The security guy who helped them out was a former soldier who helped take out bin Laden in 2001 and had heavy ties to Redford, working for him as a private contractor. He was also the body that the investigator found at the farm.
Those are some huge bombshells, but it’s not all, as the investigator makes a discovery that plays into the end of the book. It begs the question of what exactly went on behind the scenes in this issue, and it’s a beautiful twist. It’s such a shock because it’s barely telegraphed. Readers really have to be paying a lot of attention to put the clues together. The catalyst is super apparent but connecting the whole thing takes a bit of detective work. Another great thing about this issue is just the fact that King’s background in the CIA means that everything he’s talking about with the assassination planning feels so much more real. It works so well.
There’s really not much more that can be said about Fornes’s art because it’s fantastic as usual. One of the best parts about it, though, is after one finishes the book and thinks back on every reaction shot from the Turley campaign rep. There’s an exaggerated quality to every single one that plays into the end of the book. One doesn’t notice it at the time, but it hits hard when one really thinks about it.
Rorschach #10 is yet another outstanding issue. King knows how to keep the mystery compelling, revealing more and more layers to the whole thing. This chapter is entirely enthralling. That’s probably the best word to describe it. Fornes keeps killing it on pencils. Every month, Rorschach just keeps delivering.
