Discussion on a Scene from Watchmen - Rorschach Succumbs to his Inner Demons

I know we are leaving the area of Alan Moore's Watchmen and digging into Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis but I did not want to leave out an analysis over a scene from the previous novel read. The problem with picking a scene from Watchmen was that there were many memorable scenes to be found! I know I had difficulty finding a scene to write about for the first graphic novel essay when I thought of doing a paper involving Rorschach, A.K.A. Walter Kovacs. To use a scene with Rorschach, I needed to demonstrate a comic technique. I chose closure and a scene of Rorschach going insane to illustrate the technique.
Rorschach infiltrates into a shop owned by Gerald Grice to find a kidnapped girl named Blaire Roche. The vigilante peeks through Grice's establishment, fingering through some kitchenware. That was when Rorschach noticed two dogs fighting over a bone outside. Just by watching the canines savagely battling over a bone, Rorschach's perception of justice becomes warped. The "facial expression" on his mask illustrates this perfectly. Now this may be overanalysis on my part, but I also noticed an interesting detail in the last panel with Rorschach in shock. The window pane beside him appears to be an inverted cross. As Rorschach is warped, does his faith in justice become warped? Moore as I said in "Meet Alan Moore" was not a Christian individual (He's too busy worshipping an ancient serpent entity named Glycon) but it was a detail that I overlooked initially.

Coming upon the horrible revelation that Grice fed Roche's dead body to the dogs, Rorschach comes out with a meat axe with the dogs looking up in anxiety. We see the axe raised and then the ink blot test that resembled a split dog's head earlier. Rorschach is clear on his madness: from the moment blood from the dogs shot up on him, the true Rorschach rose from Walter Kovacs' consciousness and takes over once Kovacs fled. We don't see the dog's get chopped up but the panels are arranged that we don't need to see Rorschach doing the deed. We share his horror with his confession, with the axe explaining why Rorschach saw the split dog's head earlier before the vigilante told his story to Dr. Malcolm Long. I observed the last panel after Rorschach kills the dogs, how it turns dark and red. Could it be illustrating Rorschach's soul tainted with darkness? Could it be depicting Rorschach's worldview becoming brutal and pessmistic? That's what I reaped from my analysis.

I chose the scene (and others that relate to the scene) of Rorschach going insane because Rorschach is my favorite character out of Watchmen despite being a psychotic vigilante. He's enigmatic, ruthless, cunning and horribly disillusioned about his role as a crimefighter and the world he's futilely trying to clean up. He's a murderer, freeloader, rogue, an Objectivist zealot and a tragic figure all in one.

Till then, I hope to find an interesting scene from Persepolis and hopefully do an analysis!

- Kristopher

Persepolis: All About the Title

So why is Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis named...Persepolis? Satrapi was referencing the title to the ruins of an ancient Persian city of the same name. From my interpretation, because the title was based on the ruins of a city, Satrapi used the title to illustrate the decay that was running rampant in Iran during her time. Iran was going to ruins with the Islamic revolution surging with backward policies and religious fundamentalism dominating the society.

Here are a few images from the city itself. Quite a sight, huh?


This link tells about the city Persepolis. Enjoy!

- Kristopher

Meet Marjane Satrapi

The creator of Persepolis is a survivor of a conflicted nation. Yet like most survivors recalling horrible moments she inserted a good sense of humor. Marjane Satrapi delivered her stories successfully by exploring her childhood and covering the emotions during the most critical points of her life. But who is Ms. Satrapi? And is she close to her graphic memoir counterpart? This post is both a character study and a biography of Ms. Satrapi so expect both interpretations and facts about Satrapi to collide.

When you were a kid, did you ever idolize anyone? Did you dream of becoming great, powerful and influential? That's what Satrapi did: she idolized communist rebels such as Che Guevera who fought to end imperialism (not heeding the fact he killed many people to do it). Satrapi desired to become a prophet, to be "...justice, law and the wrath of god all in one." Those dreams dissolved once the revolution was over; Satrapi appeared to lose her faith in god after her uncle Anoosh was executed for being a communist.

Satrapi, though fairly precocious and good hearted as a kid, had her dark side during her childhood love affair with communism. She whipped up a mob of kids to follow her in a pursuit of a boy whose father executed communists armed with nails. I was thinking "What a brat! She reminds me too much of girls who would do that, manipulating people for all the wrong reasons!" Yet she is harshly lectured by her mother with the question of how she would like it if her ears were nailed to the walls. "Wow," said young Satrapi. "It would hurt a lot." So I was "All right, Satrapi was a kid even though she repeats what she hears!" Satrapi appeared aware (and embarassed) of this fact, writing the dialogue and story with the perspective of a child in mind. Satrapi was just your average Iranian girl living on the eve of the revolution while indulging in punk metal, Kim Wilde and the idyllic childhood dreams we used to have.

The violence depicted in the book is cartoonish like the book itself, which was appropriate suiting her experiences growing up. People are depicted whipping themselves, being cut and shot in darkly humorous was which are not darkly funny at all. There was one scene at the end of Persepolis masking the horror of violence intentionally because Satrapi saw it with her own eyes. At a house where a Jewish family lived, Satrapi saw a bracelet, most likely attached to an arm. But Satrapi never confirmed what was attached to the bracelet, leaving the idea to the reader:

"I saw a turqouise bracelet. It was Neda's. her aunt had given it to her for her fourteenth birthday. The bracelet was still attached to...I don't know what...No scream in the world could have relieved my suffering and my anger."

No cartoony bloody limbs showed, no teenage Satrapi going crazy in the image. The effect of the author as a teenager holding a hand to her mouth and bowing down in horror was enough to tell us. Satrapi probably did not want to recount the whole experience herself. Not all of us will ever figure out what it was like to live in a country undergoing a revolution and into a theocracy but we can imagine the horror behind a person's eyes.

Let's focus on the biographical standpoint. Satrapi was born in Tehran, Iran with parents who were part of communist and socialist circles (which explains her tastes for Guevera as a kid). Much like her comic book self, Satrapi witnessed person freedomes becoming squelched by the Islamic revolution in Iran. When Satrapi was 14, she was sent to Vienna, Austria so she did not have to live through more turbulent conflict that followed. She completed her high school years in Vienna and went to college in Iran. Satrapi studied Visual Communications, eventually obtaining a Master's Degree from the School of Fine Arts in Tehran Islamic Azad University. She moved to Strasbourg, France. Satrapi borrowed the art style she used in Persepolis from David B., a French comic book artist. Satrapi currently resides in Paris where she is an illustrator and author of children's books.

On an interesting note, Satrapi is a great-granddaughter of Nasser al-Din Shah, though Satrapi comments that "...the kings of the Qajar dynasty...had hundreds of wives. They made thousands of kids. If you multiply these kids by generation you have, I don't know, ten to fifteen thousand princes and princesses. There's nothing extremely special about that."

On a personal note, any girl who listens to Iron Maiden and punk/metal overall would have been my pick as a teenage boy. Today, I would find Ms. Satrapi rather attractive for having listened to Iron Maiden, Iggy Pop and putting together a highly acclaimed graphic memoir!

- Kristopher

Persepolis Trailer

Since we will be covering Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis very soon, I decided to post up a trailer of the film adaptation we will be viewing in class. I'm for one am looking forward to seeing it!

- Kristopher

Meet Alan Moore

The writer of Watchmen, V for Vendetta, From Hell and The League of Extroadinary Gentlemen possesses a large beard to make any wizard envious. He is also a practicing magician and worships a snake entity named Glycon. Alan Moore is one of the United Kingdom's (and the world's) most iconic comic writers alongside Neil Gaiman. Moore is an interesting (and controversial) figure whose ideologies of anarchy have made its way into his work.

Moore started his career with Embryo, a magazine he started with some friends. The magazine was a link to the Northhampton Art Lab. In 1979, Moore was a cartoonist for the music magazine Sounds. His cartoon was Roscoe Moscow, working under the pseudonym Curt Vile.

After deciding cartooning was not his forte, Moore focused on writing. His early efforts were submitted to Doctor Who Weekly and 2000 A.D. These efforts were The Ballad of Halo Jones, Skizz and D.R. and Quinch. Moore later worked for the anthology magazine Warrior, where he penned V for Vendetta. Moore's story of a one-man battle against a fascist dystopian British government earned him the British Eagle Awards and the Best Writer of 1982 award.

Moore would become an icon with Watchmen, which was released in 1986 alongside Frank Miller's Batman: The Dark Knight Returns. Watchmen's complex characters, plot and setting in which superheroes existed in an alternate history of our world not only sealed Moore's place in the comics hall of fame but was also the only graphic novel to earn the Hugo Award.

Today Moore has his own publishing outfit America's Best Comics. Under ABC's line is The League of Extroadinary Gentlemen, Tom Strong, Promethea, and others. He currently lives in Northhampton, England.


I was looking into Moore's political views to find he is an anarchist, someone who sees government as a problem than the solution. For those who read V for Vendetta, making sense of the extremes of facism and anarchy is a key to understanding the plot. For Watchmen, the main characters struggle to stop a plot to destroy the world. Ironically, the plot for destruction saved the world than destroyed it. Moore may be addressing that the stress to keep order (much like what Rorshach and the Comedian tried to do) should not be emphasized. Chaos and destruction is inevitable and this resulted in Russia and the United States no longer interested in nuking each other.

This interview reveals Moore's views on anarchism:

"Fascism is a complete abdication of personal responsibility. You are surrendering all responsibility for your own actions to the state on the belief that in unity there is strength, which was the definition of fascism represented by the original roman symbol of the bundle of bound twigs. Yes, it is a very persuasive argument: “In unity there is strength.” But inevitably people tend to come to a conclusion that the bundle of bound twigs will be much stronger if all the twigs are of a uniform size and shape, that there aren’t any oddly shaped or bent twigs that are disturbing the bundle. So it goes from “in unity there is strength” to “in uniformity there is strength” and from there it proceeds to the excesses of fascism as we’ve seen them exercised throughout the 20th century and into the 21st.

"Now anarchy, on the other hand, is almost starting from the principle that “in diversity, there is strength,” which makes much more sense from the point of view of looking at the natural world. Nature, and the forces of evolution—if you happen to be living in a country where they still believe in the forces of evolution, of course —did not really see fit to follow that “in unity and in uniformity there is strength” idea. If you want to talk about successful species, then you’re talking about bats and beetles; there are thousands of different varieties of different bat and beetle. Certain sorts of tree and bush have diversified so splendidly that there are now thousands of different examples of this basic species. Now you contrast that to something like horses or humans, where there’s one basic type of human, and two maybe three basic types of horses. In terms of the evolutionary tree, we are very bare, denuded branches. The whole program of evolution seems to be to diversify, because in diversity there is strength."

Below is a video of Moore talking about Watchmen for Comics Britannia. He even narrates as Rorschach from his story so sit back and enjoy.



- Kristopher

Meet Scott McCloud

Because I had not yet commented on Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics, I will begin by introducing you to Scott McCloud himself and his works. Understanding Comics is a fun read, no doubt! It explains everything about comics-from sequential art to different mediums, and careers-in the "comic" medium it uses to explain comics!

McCloud graduated with a degree in graphic design from the University of Sycamore in 1982. He worked for DC Comics a short while before turning to Eclipse Comics for his proposal of Zot!, a character driven comic about a superhero who transports a thirteen year old girl into his crime-free world. McCloud also created Destroy!!, a superhero parody about two highly muscled superheroes beating up each other and Mahattan. McCloud also pioneered the "24 hour Comic," which is creating twenty four pages of comics in twenty four hours. The Creator's Bill of Rights, Story Machine, Five Card Nancy and Big Triangle are inventions credited to McCloud.

So what's the reason for McCloud's inventive nature? I was reading this interview from The Comics Journal and found out McCloud's father was an inventor who designed the guidance system for the Patriot missle among other inventions. As the old saying goes, the apple did not fall far from the tree!

McCloud is aware of his acclaim as a comics artist, inventor and comics scholar. Doonesbury creator Garry Truedeau deeming him the "...Baedaker of the toons:"

"Depending on who you ask, I'm either comics' leading theorist or a deranged lunatic, but life continues to be very interesting for me and the ideas that I've raised continue to provoke reactions throughout the comics community and -- increasingly -- beyond it."

I'm sure we all would like to thank him very much for it!

- Kristopher

Doomsday Smiley Face - Looking Beyond the Smear

Ah, the blood covered smiley face. For anyone who's read Watchmen, the icon is instantly recognizable. More than just a logo, the smiley face represents the Doomsday Clock, originally conceived in 1947. The Doomsday Clock measures time for the human race facing the threat of nuclear arms being unleashed. When the "minute" hand reaches "midnight," catastrophic annihalation is represented. For those curious enough or dreadful of a nuclear apocolypse starting anytime soon, the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists state the clock is at five minutes to midnight. In Watchmen's case, the clock also starts at five minutes to midnight. The blood smear represents a "hand" moving over to midnight. There is a "clock" throughout the comic that gets closer and closer to midnight as the conspiracy behind the Comedian's death unravels.

Given the violent nature of the notorious Comedian, there is a dark sense of humor involved when the smiley face takes place of the Doomsday Clock. The human race's time limit of five minutes to midnight, do people think about nuclear arms detonating everywhere in sight? No. We watch TV, play video games, go to the movie theatre, etc. to get away from life's darker nature. I believe Alan Moore penned Watchmen as a wakeup call to nuclear apocolypse. Nuclear arms still exist and present a serious hazard to Earth's future. Try thinking about that when watching American Idol.

- Kristopher

Watchmen Parody

I never thought Alan Moore's Watchmen would be referenced in a mainstream animated sitcom like The Simpsons. Watchmen is critically acclaimed enough to be the first graphic novel to win the Hugo Award, I'll give it that. But I always thought the comic had an "underground" quality to it, since unlike other comics it has never been heavily commercialized (Which to me was a good thing.).

That perception changed when I was browsing for images and came across this image taken by an episode of a Simpsons rerun. Then again, creator Matt Groening is a comics geek so it's no surprise!

- Kristopher

Which Watchmen Character are You?

Ever wondered what protagonist of Watchmen you would be? That question intrigued me...so I decided to scour the Internet and look for a quiz found here. I found I was the shy but well meaning second Nite Owl.

- Kristopher

Rorschach - A Good Mask Gone Bad

"Never despair, never surrender." - Rorschach

Sure, he reeks, he's psychotic and highly right winged but who does not love it when Rorschach breaks a few fingers and much worse on the bad guys? To me, this masked vigilante is one of the most intriguing "super heroes" featured in Watchmen for his twisted dedication and logic to solving the Comedian's murder.

Watchmen writer Alan Moore based Rorschach on existing characters of the now defunct Charlton Comics line. He is loosely based off of The Question and Mr. A, both created by Steve Ditko. Rorschach is not the only masked adventurer who is based on existing characters from other comics as the two Nite Owls, the two Silk Spectres, the Comedian, Ozymandias and Doc Manhattan are based on existing characters.

Rorschach is a grim protagonist, whose methods of absolute justice are not only shunned by the underworld but also by the law and ex-vigilantes he used to work with. He keeps a journal which reveals his motivations, thoughts and personality. Rorschach makes his mission and philosophies clear from the beginning:

"The streets are extended gutters and the gutters are full of blood and when the drains finally scab over, all the vermin will drown. The accumulated filth and all their sex and murder will foam up about their waists and all the whores and politicians will look up and shout 'Save us!'...and I'll look down and whisper 'No.' Now the whole world stands on the brink, staring down into bloody hell, all those liberals and intellectuals and smooth-talkers...and all of the sudden, nobody can think of a thing to say."

Being the only vigilante among his kin who was too stubborn for hanging up his blot mask and calling it a day, Rorschach continued working right up to the Comedian's murder. Aside from excellent tactical abilities, cold-edged cunning and ruthlessness, Rorschach is proficient with makeshift weapons (also known as MacGyverisms) and excels in the areas of hand to hand combat, unconventional combat (using a broken toilet as a weapon...just read on and see!) and dramatic usage of torture (see Moloch the Mystic for that department!).

The most defining feature of Rorschach is his mask, or as he refers to it, his "face." The shapes on his mask almost always change from panel to panel, reflecting his thoughts and feelings akin to the Rorschach inkblot test that complement his monotone voice. Rorschach possesses a "black and white" worldview, that "good" must prevail and "evil" much be punshed by any means necessary. The black shapes on his white mask never blend; hence, Moore literally and metaphorically established Rorschach's "black-white" attitude. The shapes on the mask not only resemble Rorschach's thoughts, they represent the chaos in an ever changing world. The chaos represented on his face reflects the horror his alter ego witnessed, causing him to flee and Rorschach to surface.

As I was reading Watchmen, I could not help but make comparisons to another of Moore's creations, V, from V for Vendetta. Rorschach's face represents chaos and how a viewer might interpret it (or how Rorschach might interpret it). V's face is a Guy Fawkes' mask, representing 400 year old anarchy against European rule. Both are strange figures but with two completely different ideologies.

Rorschach bends on the right winged level with strong, nationalist and reactionary feelings to the world around him, absorbing the darkness and hatred he hunts down. V on the other hand is left winged, dabbling in absolute anarchy and chaos he creates to improve conditions in the world. Both their alter egoes disintegrated enduring the horrors of reality with one pessimistic and the other full of hope. The differences and similarities bounce off one another. For a more in-depth analysis, check out the link titled "Two Vigilantes Walk into a Bar..."

Between the two, V would be more fun to hang out with it despite his terrorist motives of blowing up Norsefire's inhabited buildings and willingness to torture people to madness and/or death. His hideout is more stylish that Rorschach's!...but I better carry on with Ol' Blotface, huh?

Rorschach can be denounced as a fascist prick but ironically, many people like myself agree he's one of the greatest characters in Watchmen and one of the best comic book creations ever! For Zack Snyder's 2009 production of Watchmen, the first character photo released was Rorschach. Online casting debates revolved around-who else?-Rorschach. And what character has been in more fan art, more fan videos and more analytical discussions of Watchmen than any other character?

I'll let you take a guess...3...2...1...Rorschach!

To prove his relevance further, Empire Online picked Rorschach as #16 of "The 50 Greatest Comic Book Characters."

So yeah...love him, hate him, Rorschach will be stalking the alleyways of graphic novel lovers' imaginations for years to come.

- Kristopher

Inspiration For The Dark Knight Film

Batman: The Killing Joke is one of the comics the influenced The Dark Knight that hit theaters this summer. Trust me, it was a blockbuster! I worked at a theater when it hit on the 18th of July and it was a mad house!

But anywho, The Killing Joke is mostly about the Joker, which helped them decide how actor Heath Ledger should act in the movie. Batman: The Long Halloween is another of the comics that made The Dark Knight as wonderful as it was and features more of our favorite Batman villains.

I haven't read either of the comics, but my very good friend Fitz has and raves about them. As soon as I am able to get back to Omaha, I plan to borrow them and read up.

-Ashley

To Kill or Not to Kill

Was it morally good or bad for Batman to kill the Joker? Of course it was good, everyone thought Joker was a murderous psychopath right? The Joker killed thousands of innocent people, so how could anyone disagree? And don’t forget we are talking about Batman here, he always fought for the good of all man kind.

Why did Batman wait so long to kill the Joker? Batman asks himself this question in our comics. Even the Joker laughs at Batman’s delayed refusal to kill him. What was Batman thinking? Thinking philosophically about Batman and some other superheroes may help us better deal with some of the issues that are going on today. For instance, if we say that Batman should kill the Joker, doesn’t that imply that we should torture terror suspects because they might tell us something?

To help us out here are three major schools of ethics:

• Utilitarianism: based on the work of Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill; would probably endorse killing the Joker, based on comparing the many lives saved compared to the one life lost.

• Deontology: stemming largely from the writings of Immanuel Kant; would focus on the act of murder itself, rather than the consequences. Kant’s position would be more ambiguous than the utilitarian’s: while it may be preferable for the Joker to be dead, it may not be morally right for any person (such as the Batman) to kill him. If the Joker is to be punished, it should be through official procedures, not vigilante justice. More generally, while the Joker is evil, he is still a human being and is thus deserving of a least a minimal level of respect and humanity.

• Virtue ethics: dating back to the ancient Greeks; would highlight the character of the person who kills the Joker. Does Batman want to be the kind of person that takes his enemies’ lives? If he killed the Joker, would he be able to stop there or would every two-bit thug get the same treatment?

According to these, there are good reasons for and against killing the Joker. Of course, Batman would have to think about his image. What would people think if he murdered people?

- Nicole

Who's Watching the Watchmen Film?

It's Kris again. I also felt compelled to make a post dedicated to the trailer of the Watchmen movie coming out in 2009. Zack Snyder, the man who helmed 2007's adapation of Frank Miller's 300, will be responsible for directing the graphic novel epic.

Below is the teaser poster. All I can say is that the Watchmen movie looks great through the trailer but will the final result be awesome or a Joel Schumacheresque disappointment? We'll have to see, won't we?

Below is the trailer. Enjoy!

- Kristopher

Who's Watching the Watchmen? - Fan Videos

Hello everyone. It's Kris delivering a couple of new posts.

Since we will be digging into the gritty comic known as Watchmen, I decided to post up some videos to show some fans' dedication to the classic graphic novel.




This video above is based on the pages where Rorschach investigates the death of Edward Blake, A.K.A. The Comedian. For those who saw the movie Sin City, can you spot similarities between Frank Miller's adaptation and this video?




This video adapts the scene where Dan Dreiberg, A.K.A. the Nite Owl and Rorschach have a small reunion in their discussion on the Comedian's death.

Enjoy!

- Kristopher

Robin, The Girl Wonder

It has been a spell since my first post and I apologize for that. I am adjusting being so far from home and recently found out some very sad news that hasn't left me in the greatest of spirits. But I have been reading The Dark Knight Returns as often as I am able in between my various life demands. I am a bit slow, but I find myself going back a lot to take in the art of the book and scenes that my eye has skipped over in favor of something more exciting on the next page. Plus, like I said, I have the attention span of a gold fish.

Anywho, so far in TDKR, my favorite part has to be the scenes with Robin. I think in many ways, the return of a sidekick gave an aging Batman more reason to live and to love again and perhaps even closure over Jason Todd's death which he feels very heavily for. This imagery in comics is reflected with the great Captain America and his sidekick, Bucky Barnes, who meets a tragic end as well. Or so we think. But I'm getting away from myself.

When Batman is losing in the garbage dump to the leader of the Mutants, he thinks about Dick Grayson coming to save him every time the chips were down. Lucky for him, his luck hadn't run out and the girl, a former Girl Scout, saves his bum. She rescues him and becomes the next Robin, however temporary.

I also like the fact that Robin is a girl. Miller seems to have an affinity for strong women. You can see this reflected in his Sin City comics. Most of the women may be hookers in that comics, but they're self efficient hookers that don't need to rely on a big strong man for saving. This new Robin is no exception. In fact, like I said, she saves Batman. One of my favorite drawings in the book is of Bruce Wayne holding here in the Bat Cave. Perhaps it's the fact that I myself had been looking for a father figure most of my childhood that makes me like this picture.

There are many great plot points and pictures in the comic, but the above mentioned is my favorite and I just had to blog about it. I do plan to Blog more as it is not in my habit to slack, but in light of recent bad news, my next blog might not be for a few days. Wish me luck!

-Ashley

A Fan-Made Trailer for Batman: The Dark Knight Returns

Kris again, presenting the first ever videos for The Graphic Maelstrom!



This trailer was animated by Jared Kowis. If you read the graphic novel, you'll definately recognize some scenes!

His trailer is not the only trailer that pays homage to Batman: The Dark Knight Returns. Look around YouTube and other sites to see how many people have made their own fan-made trailers for a nonscheduled Dark Knight Returns movie. Below is an example of one of these trailers. And yes, I could not suppress a chuckle because it was so cheesy...but it was also a fun watch of seeing people creatively manipulating film clips.





- Kristopher

Discussion on a Scene from Batman: The Dark Knight Returns - Dr. Wolper's Accusations Against a "Social Disease"

Dr. Bartholemew Wolper is a popular psychologist and a social scientist in Batman: The Dark Knight Returns. He thinks Batman is responsible for the crimes in Gotham City. He even goes so far to blame Batman for the appearance of the super-villains like the Joker and Two-Face.

I was looking on the Internet for some additional information. I found the conversation in our book where Dr. Wolper is having a conversation with Ted Koppler and Lana Lang. Dr. Wolper thinks Batman is a “social disease” and that he is a neurotic.

I think there is something psychotic with this psychologist!

- Nicole