Graven Imagination

Cultural Apologetics Among Mortals

I am trying to profile Rorschah, the infamous character in Alan Moore’s and Dave Gibbons’ Watchmen. He is a costumed vigilante, a crimefighter, but of what is he? In the #6 of the miniseries he — or rather Walter Joseph Kovacs, the man behind the rorschah-mask — drops a load of anthropological pessimism and moral cynicism on a criminal psychologist: there is no God, evil is what men do, period. Rorschah is, as it were, a living vendetta against humanity trapped in a moral vacuum. But this is a critically inadequate position to fight crime: if there are no Wrongs to right, no Violations to retaliate, why hunt down killers or rapists? If Rorschah was “born free to scrawl” his values on a blank slate of ethics, where does he get his inspiration from? This is a valid metaethical question.

I am trying to profile Rorschah, the infamous character in Alan Moore’s and Dave Gibbons’ Watchmen. He is a costumed vigilante, a crimefighter, but of what is he? In the #6 of the miniseries he — or rather Walter Joseph Kovacs, the man behind the rorschah-mask — drops a load of anthropological pessimism and moral cynicism on a criminal psychologist: there is no God, evil is what men do, period. Rorschah is, as it were, a living vendetta against humanity trapped in a moral vacuum. But this is a critically inadequate position to fight crime: if there are no Wrongs to right, no Violations to retaliate, why hunt down killers or rapists? If Rorschah was “born free to scrawl” his values on a blank slate of ethics, where does he get his inspiration from? This is a valid metaethical question.

Reading Alan Moore’s From Hell, finding it OK though Eddie Campbell’s art is a bit challenging at times. As a “student” of religious symbolism I thoroughly enjoyed following Dr Gill’s coach-ride around the streets of London, which he identified as a cosmological altar of masculine hegemony (or something).

Moore is certainly interested in Christian mysticism, as the theme pops up often in his writing. Dr Gull seems to believe that all religious symbolism, from the pagan to the Christian, point to one and same God. Wonder if Moore agrees?

I am thinking about writing a piece on Alan Moore’s and David Lloyd’s V for Vendetta published in the 1980s by DC. There is this conference I am taking part in and a few ideas I could try on the series. As of today I have not seen the film, but the comic will be the primary source for my undertaking. What I have in mind is locating a foundation for V’s “terrorist” activity. It has to do with vengeance, of course, but much more becomes discernible as the narrative draws nearer to its conclusion. What began as a personal vendetta turns into a defense of freedom of conscience and a convincing case for anarchism. It will be interesting to see the 2006 film: how it handles the subversive political potential of the original V for Vendetta. Terrorism has never been the same since 9/11.

I am thinking about writing a piece on Alan Moore’s and David Lloyd’s V for Vendetta published in the 1980s by DC. There is this conference I am taking part in and a few ideas I could try on the series. As of today I have not seen the film, but the comic will be the primary source for my undertaking.

What I have in mind is locating a foundation for V’s “terrorist” activity. It has to do with vengeance, of course, but much more becomes discernible as the narrative draws nearer to its conclusion. What began as a personal vendetta turns into a defense of freedom of conscience and a convincing case for anarchism.

It will be interesting to see the 2006 film: how it handles the subversive political potential of the original V for Vendetta. Terrorism has never been the same since 9/11.