WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Rorschach #1 by Tom King, Jorge Fornés, and Dave Stewart, on sale now.
DC's new Rorschach series, starring the infamous member of the Watchmen, opens in the present day with a mysterious man in a Rorschach mask being killed while trying to assassinate a Presidential candidate.
Since the series is named after a dead character, the big question going in is about who's behind the mask. By showing this man's execution in the very first scene, the mystery deepens as investigators try to determine the dead man's identity. However, that mystery may be easily solved as the answer might be hidden in plain sight.
The first person to use the name Rorschach was Walter Kovacs, a vagrant in New York renowned for his Objectivist philosophy, paranoid delusions, and use of extreme violence against criminals. Kovacs scrawled notes in his personal journal, offering commentary on the events of the world. In his civilian identity, Kovacs walked the streets of New York brandishing a sign that read "THE END IS NIGH." The identity of the new Rorschach is unconfirmed at this time, as the man's face was blown off and he carried nothing to identify him. The investigators can only speculate, though they believe he may have been the comic artist Wil Myerson because a tape found has Myerson's voice on it.
As the investigators discuss Myerson's identity, one of the detectives drives around Hollywood and happens to come across the Hollywood Walk of Fame, which has an interesting name on it. Adrian Veidt seems to have his own star on, and a billboard references the squid attack at the end of Watchmen with the words "Come Back To New York City," suggesting people has fled the city after the attack (as seen in the recent Watchmen TV show on HBO). This begs one to consider the identity of a homeless man, seen earlier. While his face is obscured, he has a sign that reads "They're Watching Us!" This appears to reference Walter Kovacs's "The End Is Nigh" sign in the original story. Could the homeless man be a new Rorschach? Is it possible he is connected to the events surrounding the assassination attempt? Could it be that the original Rorschach did not die, but was somehow teleported or altered by Doctor Manhattan and now lives on the streets of LA?
Most of the story is spent investigating if the dead man could be Myerson. The former comic artist was apparently a bitter recluse who lived alone, scrawling paranoid fantasies in a journal that hinted at both Objectivist and liberal political leanings. An old photograph of Myerson makes it clear that his character is inspired by the famous Marvel comics artist Steve Ditko, who was also a recluse (and whose Objectivist beliefs inspired Moore to create the original Rorschach). Recent stories have introduced other characters in Rorschach masks, like the new Rorschach in Doomsday Clock, while the HBO Watchmen series featured an entire right-wing terrorist group who wear Rorschach masks.
While Myerson will no doubt be central to the plot in some way, having him as the perp seems like too easy an answer. This is especially true comic ends with another mystery: the corpse's fingerprints match those belonging to Walter Kovacs, despite the fact he supposedly died years ago.