On Friday, we asked why our readers were or were not going to be reading DC’s recently announced “Rorschach” title by Tom King and Jorge Fornes. The series, due to begin in October, is already one of the most controversial comics of the year for a variety of reasons, and so we wanted to get a sense for how our readers were feeling going in. We got a wider than usual set of responses to the question, showing, again, just how unique this book is, in terms of public opinion.
34.3% of our readers said that they would be reading the book because of King and/or Fornes. King has established himself as a very popular, though divisive, writer since he broke into the industry with “Grayson” six years ago. Fornes has been doing professional work for most of the previous decade, but has really made his name when he did a few issues of “Batman” with King. They are a popular team who have a proven track record together, so it makes sense that some readers would see that as enough of a reason to jump in.
The second most popular response, chosen by 16.7%, saw people say that they had too much respect for Alan Moore’s wishes to read the comic. The “Watchmen” rights situation is one of the many sticking points between Moore and DC, and Moore has been openly against any sequels or adaptations to his work. This directly goes against his wishes, and does so with a character that Moore has been openly disdainful of, in terms of how fan’s see the character versus how he was intended.
13.9% simply said it looked dumb and they didn’t want to read it. 11.1% said that the success of the HBO Watchmen series convinced them that good stories could be told in the “Watchmen” universe. 9.3% are legitimately interested in new stories set in the “Watchmen” world. There were other responses, too, including 3 people who remember the atrocities of “Before Watchmen: Rorschach” and chose “I like pain. Bitch to me be.”
It will be very, very interesting to see how the book is actually received when it debuts this autumn. Check back on Friday for our next Reader Poll!
