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Frank Miller, Otto Binder and Randy Cox in Rorschach #1 (Spoilers)

Published Tue, 13 Oct 2020 10:14:37 -0500

Rorschach #1 time… Frank Miller is the creator of Sin City, 300, co-creator of Martha Washington, Cursed and Big Guy And The Boy Robot, and writer/artist of Dark Knight Returns, Daredevil: Born Again and writer of Batman: Year One in the eighties. He also rewrote the last two chapters of Dark Knight Returns after reading Watchmen. And he is a character in DC Comics' unauthorised sequel to Watchmen, Rorschach, which has its first issue by Tom King and Jorge Fornes published by DC Comics today.

He is also joined by veteran comic book creator, Otto Oscar Binder who died in 1974, and is best known as the co-creator of Supergirl and for writing Captain Marvel comics, but wrote over 4000 comic books in his life. And there is Randy Cox, notable comic book curator and vintage art collector, author of A Baby Boomer's Guide to Collecting Comic Books and Baseball Cards.

Frank Miller, Otto Binder and Randy Cox in Rorschach #1 (Spoilers) — Art from Rorschach #1.

The tape played in Rorschach appears to be that of a seance, and here's the thing, those tapes exist. In Otto Binder: The Life and Work of a Comic Book and Science Fiction Visionary by Bill Schelly, who died last year, it talks of the teenage Frank Miller driving with Randy Cox to visit Otto Binder in 1973, and the words on the tape are those that appear in Rorschach #1 – the only difference is that in Rorschach, they are joined by one Will Myerson, the fictitious comic book creator of Pontius Pirate, in 2020 being turned into a movie in the Watchmen world.

And since Rorschach #1 doesn't give you the reams of text that Watchmen did, maybe I can help, with these pages from the Otto Binder book. You can buy the original to read the rest. I have just ordered a copy myself.

And the parallels with both Steve Ditko and Alan Moore are drawn on the page.

It may also be notable that these scenes are the only ones that appear in straight panel grids in Rorschach #1, everything else tesselates like paving slabs. or hopscotch games.

How much will this all back up our suspicions about what is really going on?

RORSCHACH #1
DC COMICS
AUG202652
It's been 35 years since Ozymandias dropped a giant interdimensional squid on New York City, killing thousands and destroying the public's trust in heroes once and for all. And since that time, one figure in a fedora, mask, and trenchcoat has become a divisive culture icon.
So what does it mean when Rorschach reappears as an assassin trying to kill a candidate running against President Robert Redford? Who is the man behind the mask, and why is he acting this way? It's up to one detective to uncover the true identity of this would-be killer-and it will take him into a web of conspiracies involving alien invasions, disgraced do-gooders, mystic visions, and yes, comic books.
Writer Tom King joins forces with artist Jorge Fornés for a new miniseries that explores the mythic qualities of one of the most compelling characters from the bestselling graphic novel of all time, Watchmen.In Shops: Oct 13, 2020 SRP: $4.99

Rorschach #1 is published today from DC Comics. I bought mine from Piranha Comics in Kingston-Upon-Thames. Piranha Comics is a small south London comic store chain with a small south-east store in Kingston-Upon Thames's market centre, which runs Magic The Gathering nights on Fridays, and a larger south-west store in Bromley, which also runs Magic nights and has an extensive back issue collection and online store. If you are in the neighbourhood, check them out.