this is satirical for anyone unfamiliar. It's a page from the right wing newspaper that the character Rorschach reads devotedly. It's got everything. Excessive labels. :liberty-weeping:, the works

  • FlakesBongler [they/them]
    ·
    3 years ago

    Still love how Rorschach was a none too subtle dig against Steve Ditko's Mr. A as well

    Nearly the exact same outfit, nearly identical philosophy

    But where Mr. A is a principled newspaper reporter who moonlights as a vigilante, Rorschach is a greasy weirdo who only reads the greasy right-wing tabloids

    He's ugly, he doesn't bathe and moreover he's short and drives a psychologist to the brink with his depravity

    Nobody should like Rorschach and yet, for some reason, he's the most popular character

    • emizeko [they/them]
      ·
      edit-2
      3 years ago

      Mr. A was inspired by Objectivism, the belief system and moral absolutism of the philosopher-novelist Ayn Rand.

      :kombucha-disgust:

      this makes me appreciate the satire way more

      • FlakesBongler [they/them]
        ·
        3 years ago

        Those Mr. A comics basically read like Chick Tracts, but for objectivism

        Like they basically all have a scenario where Mr. A gets the drug dealer/pimp/gangster into a life or death situation and it always has them being like "You can't just let me die" and Mr. A without missing a beat always goes "Yes I can, because A is A" and let's them fall/get hit by a train/get crushed by a car crusher

        Okay, he never actually says "A is A" but it would have improved the comics somewhat

    • NotALeatherMuppet [none/use name]
      ·
      3 years ago

      everything you've said is correct but "I'M NOT TRAPPED IN HERE WITH YOU, YOU'RE TRAPPED IN HERE WITH ME" is a fantastic line

      • FlakesBongler [they/them]
        ·
        3 years ago

        Alan Moore is such a good writer that he managed to make a violent dumpster goblin likeable

        • Frank [he/him, he/him]
          ·
          3 years ago

          I wouldn't say he's likeable, but he does have virtues. Which, depending on how you feel about Machiavelli and Cesare Borgia, is a good thing or a bad thing.

        • GalaxyBrain [they/them]
          ·
          3 years ago

          Understandable maybe, but he didn't make the guy at all likeable. These people just decided they like bad traits.

      • HeckHound [he/him]
        ·
        3 years ago

        Also it doesn’t help that he gets the most badass ending out of all the characters in the comic. He refuses to help cover up the mass murder of innocents and chooses to be executed rather than compromise his morals. Meanwhile Night Owl and Silk Spectre just pathetically accept defeat and retire and Dr. Manhattan tells Ozimandias all his plans are ultimately futile before fucking off into space forever. When I first read Watchmen as a teen I thought Rorschach was the only actual hero in it, mostly because of this scene.

    • AcidSmiley [she/her]
      ·
      3 years ago

      both of these dress and think exactly like a 4chan libertarian ca. 2008. the difference is that with Rorschach, the smell, social ineptitude and general unhingedness of this archetype are portrayed in a realistic way.