Rorschach #2
The detective finds out more about William Myerson in Rorschach #2 by writer Tom King, artist Jorge Fornes, colorist Dave Stewart, and letterer Clayton Cowles. This issue is a slow burn look at Myerson’s life and is extremely effective in painting a picture of the man.
The detective goes to Myerson’s apartment. He searches the apartment and finds a name written on paper- Alma Adler. He finds Alma Thompson, who reveals her maiden name was Adler. She and Myerson went out on one date, but she didn’t find him interesting. She would eventually marry and told her husband the story about the date, and he would bully Myerson in the halls of the building, a husband who died of a heart attack. He talks to the building’s security guard, who reveals that the last time he saw Myerson, he was all beat up. He reads the comic Myerson was working on, one starring a superhero called the Citizen. He talks to another tenet who saw Myerson, enraged and talking to himself near the elevator. He goes back to Alma, and she reveals the truth of what happened to her husband- that he was the one who beat up Myerson and Myerson, dressed as Rorschach with the young Miss Cummings, confronted them in their apartment. The husband keeled over from a heart attack, and Cummings threatened the woman not to tell anyone what happened. The detective leaves, on his way to Wisconsin to find out more about Cummings.
King provides a slow-burn character study of Myerson. Readers get a glimpse of the kind of man he is- a meek man who wants his stories to speak for him, one who feels like he can use his talents for more than he’s using them for right now. There’s a hint of obsession to him- he’s definitely obsessed with Alma, having kept the name tag that was on her mailbox before she was married. He’s constantly bullied by her husband, and that pain and resentment fuel him, as evidence by his Citizen comic- which is very much reminiscent of the Question, Steve Ditko’s Charleston Comics creation. The Question is the inspiration for Rorschach, just as Myerson is based on the character’s creator- the two reclusive artists mirroring each other and creating their characters for similar reasons.
King lays out the clues for what happened between Myerson and the Thompson in a manner that at first makes a reader question how it all relates together but once it’s all put together, makes perfect sense. Myerson’s reclusiveness was broken by too much slander and an actual beating. He wanted to change the world, and instead of using his comics to do it, he was going to do it himself, with Cummings by his side. That’s all King reveals in this one, but it’s definitely enough to get a look at Myerson as a man.
Jorge Fornes does a great job putting the pictures to the words, but hats go off, especially to Dave Stewart’s coloring. He gives the flashback scenes an orange tint while everything is tinted in blues and greys, visual clues to the different time periods. Fornes does a great job with the character acting on every page, capturing Myerson’s shyness and rage, showing the range of the man throughout and the change that came over him.
Rorschach #2 shows readers one-half of the would-be presidential assassins, presenting him as more than a crazy old man, but just as a man beaten down by the small cruelties of the world. King does this in extremely effective manners, showing the sequences and how they change the man. Jorge Fornes and Dave Stewart do the heavy lifting, putting everything on the page perfectly. Rorschach is definitely going to be a slow book, but that’s okay; if the rest of the chapters are like this, it will be a great ride.
Grade: A
