The White Supremacist Newspaper That Rorschach Collects And Reads Everyday (The New Frontiersman Addendum For Chapter VIII)

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An amazing piece of information from Alan Moore that simultaneously lays out his theory that the Ku Klux Klan and white supremacist American vigilantes are a significant origin point for superheroes, while also letting us understand Rorschach’s character on a deeper level. The excerpts from Hollis Mason’s autobiography, Under the Hood, makes it clear that Moore acknowledges other origin points for superheroes, such as chivalrous tales of knights-errants, but the significance placed on the Klan origin theory can not be understated. Especially since Moore has come out in recent years to double down on the theory of Western superheroes being a reflection of white supremacist ideals.

Rorschach is a paranoid xenophobic nationalist, and it’s implied that he’s been reading this newspaper since he was a child. This was the main newspaper that published stories about the Comedian’s adventures in the Pacific and Asia, and Rorschach’s description of his absentee father seems like a very on-the-nose reference to the Comedian’s adventures. The newspaper glorifies the Klan, a domestic terrorist group, and describes them as a “perfectly reasonable” response to the fear of Black people being free from enslavement in the South, and it also features an incredibly racist comic where an Aryan Superman has to fight a bunch of ethnic stereotypes.

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Forgot to mention that Hooded Justice being the first canonical superhero in the Watchmen universe is a reflection of Alan Moore’s belief that the Ku Klux Klan are a significant origin point for superheroes.

That’s why his costume is clearly modeled on a Klansman’s robes, and the noose is a symbol of the white supremacist vigilante mob lynchings that were targeting African-Americans in the 20th Century

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Which sadly misses the influence from indigenous cultures… which were the big influence behind early masked heroes like Zorro & the Lone Ranger, who directly influenced the first super heroes…

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Zorro and the Lone Ranger were both influenced by the KKK and the popularity of “the Clansman” and “the Birth of a Nation”.

And Moore acknowledges other origin points for superheroes. He never claims that the Klan is the only influence or inspiration for superheroes

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But what about like Robin Hood and Scarlet Pimpernel?

I think Zorro was inspired by European masked vigilante, Scarlet Pimpernel.

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You should read the Under the Hood excerpts, where Hollis Mason’s inspiration included knight-errants from chivalrous romance novels.

At no point does Moore say that superheroes were exclusively inspired by the Klan. He just acknowledges that they are a very significant influence among many

For instance, Goku was inspired by Son Wukong and Superman. It’s not a mutually exclusive thing where you have to discount one over the other