Rorschach #3

Rorschach #3

DC Comics Black Label 2020

Written by Tom King

Illustrated by Jorge Rornés

Coloured by Dave Stewart

Lettered by Clayton Cowles

In an instant, 15 million people are dead! What happens when the human psyche is forced to accept such a devastating truth? Follow the story of “the Kid,” a radicalized, gun-toting performer and the right-hand woman of the new Rorschach. See how this masked woman grows from an innocent child to the would-be cold-blooded assassin of a presidential candidate. This detective thriller will unravel the mysteries behind the assassination attempt and reveal how the struggles of these killers connect to larger turmoils of the world.

This story keeps weaving through the past and the present in such ways that it really just keeps the readers mind and imagination glued to the pages. I mean to see the life story of the Kid play out in these pages while the detective is reading the file, book or whatever that is, is both infinitely fascinating and inherently terrifying considering what it contains. This is why Tom King is one of today’s best and brightest in the world of storytelling. With The Omega Men, Mister Miracle, Strange Adventures and now Rorschach he brings these characters who are basically obscure and gives them new life, meaning and purpose for a new generation of readers. While simultaneously thrilling older fans of the characters by bringing them back to us in such new and innovative ways. My request now is the original Freedom Fighters, Red Bee, Red Torpedo, Invisible Hood, Magno Master of Magnetism, Neon the Unknown and Miss America.

The way that this is being told really is utterly brilliant. The story & plot development that we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is impeccably laid down. I am absolutely thrilled with how we see the sequence of events unfolding because this is one of those things where you never know if an ending is really an ending and that is delicious by its very nature. The character development that we see is amazing. How the characters act and react to the situations and circumstances they encounter is such a wonderful way to flesh them more and more. The pacing we see is amazing and how it takes us through the pages revealing the story and the wrists & turns along the way is remarkably well done.

The interiors here are gorgeous. Just the fact that I see multiple styles here is mind blowing to say the least. The linework we see island how the varying weights are being utilised to bring us this level of detail work is astonishingly good. That we see backgrounds the way we do incorporated throughout is sensational and I like that it brings us depth perception, a sense of scale and this overall sense of size and scope to the story. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a masterfully talented eye for storytelling. The colour work that we see throughout is sublime. There are these pages and panels that area ll black and red and they are so visually striking and immediately garner attention in all the right ways. The way we see the various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work is exceptionally well rendered.

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This is one of those series that continues to break new grounds in the way that this is being told. How we see this book being structured and the layers within it as well as how everything works together to create the story’s ebb & flow shows such remarkable talent, skill and chutzpah. This my friends is the epitome of what storytelling can be all about.