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"Rorschach's Journal" by Steve Payne
 Author
says: what happens after the cliffhanger ending to the 1987 comic The
Watchmen? Please note that the opinions expressed in this post do not
necessarily reflect the views of the author(s).
In 1985, December 2nd:
following the publication of Rorschach's Journal in the New
Frontiersman, Senator John David Keene demanded the formation of a committee
of the United States House of Representatives to investigate the allegations
against Veidt Enterprises.
Click
to watch The Keene Act & YOU (1977) on Youtube
"Initially the government and the public, or portions
of it, would turn more against "superheroes" than they already were (basicially
somewhat reminiscent of what Marvel did with it's "Civil War" story a few
years ago), but ultimately Keene would be disgraced and the "superheroes"
will be prominent again..." Readers CommentFirst elected as a
Republican Senator in 1972, four years later Keene allied himself with the
New York Police Officer's Union on protesting at the liberties taken by the
masked adventurers. The following year after the Police Strike, he tabled
the infamous Keene Act, which banned costumed crime-fighters save those
sanctioned by the government. Though The Crimebusters were forced to stop
their crime-fighting ways, some (namely Rorschach) chose not to stop,
wreaking havoc and evading the police instead.
And so despite this emergency Registration Act, it now appeared that the
so-called Watchmen had continued their activities illegally over the past
nine years. Most disturbingly perhaps, the spirit of a bogus uniting threat
from Doctor Manhattan had been manufactured by the megalomaniac Adrian Veidt.
Already, Keene was being hailed as a leading candidate for the 1988 race
when five-term President Richard Nixon was finally planning to retire from
the White House. However the relevations in Rorschach's Journal were
threatening to destroy his legacy, raising fresh questions about the
addition of his image as a fifth face on Mount Rushmore.
Author
says original content has been repurposed to celebrate the author's
genius © American Flagg, Howard Chaykin, 1983. To view guest historian's
comments on this post please visit the
Today in Alternate History web site. Spoiler from Watchmen the movie ~ I
must be one the few hardcore old-school fans who doesn't care a bit about
the squid and might actually prefer it be left out, provided the spirit of a
uniting threat (which is the really important part, as far as the theme and
plot go) is left in. But was there really, truly any indication that the New
Frontiersman possibly publishing Rorschach's journal, thereby undoing
everything that Veidt has worked so hard to accomplish is getting left out,
too? This last thing is a major deal breaker for me. The cliffhanger ending
is, IMO, one of the greatest endings to any story/piece of literature. It
was really powerful for me to be left eternally hanging, not knowing what
might happen. I could have sworn that there was earlier confirmation that
this was in. Also, why include the journal at all (I've seen it in shots
from the movie} if you're not going to do this? Does anyone have any idea
what the deal is with this?
Steve Payne, Editor of
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