Posted in: Comics, DC Comics, Doomsday Clock | Tagged: Awesome Con, rorschach, Tom King, Watchmen

Tom King Confirms Rorschach Needs To Wear His Mask

Published Mon, 23 Aug 2021 08:08:11 -0500

Tom King is the writer of Rorschach, the twelve-issue unauthorised Watchmen sequel drawn by Jorge Fornes, currently being published by DC Comics. With one issue to go, he has also been attending Awesome Con in his home town of Washington DC. Although not everything went smoothly for this ex-CIA agent-turned-comic book writer. He tweeted out "Love seeing people at cons. But yesterday we had a Rorschach cosplayer who took his mask off at our table. You think I swear a lot in comics you should see me in person. After an impolite talking to, Rorschach was escorted from the con. Wear your mask. We're not f-cking around."

I wasn't entirely sure if you could cosplay as Rorschach without a mask, but this is part of the cosplay/mask requirement. The show states that "Masks – Everyone over the age of 2 who attends is required to wear a CDC approved face covering while at the show. Face coverings must cover both nose and mouth." Which means wearing a mask on top of your mask. Rival show ReedPOP shows state this explicitly, saying that "These policies apply to cosplay and costume pieces. Face coverings must be visible at all times. For this reason, headwear and cosplay pieces which cover the face in a manner which does not visibly fit the face covering requirements will not be permitted. We appreciate your understanding."

Comic creator Cully Hamner replied to Tom King "None of you seem to understand. I'm not locked in here with you. You're locked in here with *ME*!" #WearAMask" while Punisher co-creator Gerry Conway added, "Also, like, with Rorschach, THE MASK IS HIS WHOLE THING." But there was also concern from some that Tom King was just attacking some random fan. He made the situation clearer, tweeting out;

There seems to be some confusion about a mask thing at a con. Here's what happened. Mitch and I were signing at our booth at awesome con which has a strict mask mandate in compliance with Washington DC's indoor mask mandate. Thousands of people there. All wearing masks. We spotted a dude in a Rorschach jacket not wearing a mask a few feet from our booth coming our way. We noted this to the kind people helping us with our line at the con. They went over and politely asked the dude to put on a mask. He ignored them and walked up to the booth. Cutting the line, dude came up to us. We told him he had to mask before talking to us. He seemed confused by this, like kind of dazed or stunned. But finally he took out a thin Rorschach mask (nylon stocking with ink). But didn't seem to know how to put it on. It was tangled. We asked him to stand back from the booth while he figured out his mask. He didn't move. We asked him again. Didn't move. At this point, I sent some language his way, no regrets. He finally woke up a bit. Took a step back and put on his Rorschach nylon sock thing. He handed us two books. We signed them quickly, we didn't want him in our line with that mask. He walked away a few feet, removed his mask, and went back maskless into the con. We were later informed that the kind people helping us at the con, as they are obligated to do, reported this behavior to the con management and the dude was removed for violating the con and the District's policy.

The following image from Watchmen got a bit of play as well.

The final issue of Rorschach is published by DC Comics on the 14th of September.

RORSCHACH #12 (OF 12) CVR A JORGE FORNES (MR)
(W) Tom King (A/CA) Jorge Fornes
The end to the mystery is here! It's been a long road to get here, and there have been a lot of dead bodies along the way, but the detective is very near closing the case. All the disparate threads lead back to the crime itself, to the assassination attempt that claimed the lives of the would-be assassins. Find out how it all went wrong for the comic book artist who put on a mask and declared himself Rorschach. Retail: $4.99 In-Store Date: 9/14/2021

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