When We Last Left Our Hero...

When We Last Left Our Hero... 

     The Almost Average Teenager was about to tell the audience that he may or may not have about the dangers of donning an outfit that is intended to be a replica of the costume worn by Rorschach: psychotic, murderous superhero and protagonist of Watchmen. 

        But wait! cry my hypothetical readers. 

     Why would you dress up as a psychopath to go to Comic Con? 

     Well, isn't it obvious, Dear Readers? Rorschach is a badass. Instead of superpowers, he uses the world around him as his weapon! He never compromises, even in the face of nuclear Armageddon! He doesn't question the moral dichotomy of good and evil! He- 

     No, I mean, why are you dressing up to go to a convention? 

     Oh. Wow, Dear Reader, you don't know squat about geek culture, do you? Okay, sit down, this is going to be another long one:

     People dress up like famous comic book characters at Comic Con. 

     Whew. That took a lot out of me. Anyway, people who go to Comic Con dress up as famous superheroes and supervillains. It's called "cosplay," which is a clever contraction of the words "costume" and "role-play." Basically, you dress as somebody and pretend to be them throughout the course of the convention. 

Like these guys. 

Or these... gentlemen? 

Contrary to popular belief, these aren't the same character. 

But most importantly: 

The man himself, Rorschach. 

     So, you might be thinking: 

     I don't see what's so hard about dressing up as that guy. All you need is a trenchcoat, fedora, gloves, and a white and black mask! 

     Au contraire, mes amis. The difficulty in creating this costume lies in the details. For instance, notice how this particular cosplayer (that is the correct term, don't worry) is wearing purple gloves and black pants? Well... 

     Yep, the colors of his gloves and pants are supposed to be reversed. But I can forgive the gentleman who created this costume, because, in all fairness, it's often hard to tell exactly what color the characters from Watchmen are wearing. In the comics, illustrator Dave Gibbons creates striking visuals that, to this day, remain among the best in the medium. However, his iconic artwork came at a price, as the lighting in the comics often made it tricky to discern tints and shades. It creates a nice effect when reading the book, but it causes a heap of trouble for people who intend to create an accurate costume. 

     Furthermore, like all good books from a while back, Watchmen was adapted into a film in 2008, directed by Zack Snider of 300 fame. (Coincidentally or not, 300 was also a graphic novel from the '80s.)  The Watchmen film is surprisingly accurate to the book, with the exception of the last five minutes. Also, the movie dropped a couple subplots, but when you're working from a book that, arguably, has nothing but subplots, I can forgive the omission of the existentially challenged prison psychiatrist and the retired author from the movie. 

     One major directorial mistake that I have trouble forgiving Zack Snyder for, though, is the way he uses color. I understand that he's going for contrast between the trademark Smiley Face Pin and the rest of the world, but why does the entire movie have to look like it was shot through a grey-ish plastic bag?  Just so you know what I'm talking about, here's a page of the comic compared to the shot from the movie: 

     So, you get the general idea, right? Bright colors. Reds, blues, and pinks, with a splash of yellow where the Smiley Face Pin is and in the city lights outside of the window. Now let's look at the movie's version of this exact scene: 

     Do you see the problem? You can't make out any colors! I mean,  you can tell the police tape is yellow, and so is the Smiley Face Pin, but Rorschach consists of nothing but fifty shades of grey, the city is a dank greyish-brown, and even the blood seems colorless. And the entire rest of the movie is like this, too. What is a fanboy to do, what with the colors and shapes of Rorschach's costume too dark and monotone to be deciphered?

     This question and more, Dear Readers, will be answered in tomorrow's edition of The Daily Adventures and Observations of an Almost Average Teenager. So, stay tuned!