Saturday, October 26, 2019

Dial 'K' for 'Ditko'

Rorschach


HBO's WATCHMEN series (which should really be called AFTER WATCHMEN) gives us a White Supremacist Group calling itself The Seventh Kavalry. That's a reference to Custer's doomed Cavalry. The change from 'C' to 'K' in 'Cavalry' is a reference to the Ku Klux Klan.

The Seventh Kavalry wears masks based on deceased original WATCHMEN hero Rorschach.

WATCHMEN creators Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons based Rorschach on a character created by Steve Ditko (himself creator of Spider-man, Dr. Strange, and many others). That character was The Question.

Rorschach's real name was Walter Joseph Kovacs. That 'K' was a nod to Ditko's love of K's.

A fairly astonishing number of Ditko creations had either a 'K' or the K sound created by a hard 'C' in their names. 

These characters include but are not limited to the following characters: Vic Sage (The Question, whom Rorschach parodies), Ted Kord (Silver Age Blue Beetle, whom Nite Owl parodies), Peter ParKer, Rac Shade, Mocker, Doctor Strange, Doctor Octopus, Mac Gargan (Scorpion), Electro, Doctor Spectro, Jack Ryder (Creeper), Chameleon, Clea, Clown, Curt Connors (Lizard), Hank Hall (Hawk), Tinkerer, Karcilius... OK, you get the idea. You'll note that the 'K' sound even lurks in The Question and Rorschach.

So the Seventh Kavalry is also a nod to the Ditko 'K.'

Hey, there's a 'K' in Ditko!

Imagine that!