‘Rorschach’ Air Jordan IV

These Air Jordan ‘Rorschach’ IVs are my latest customs and the follow up pair to the ‘Dr Manhattan’ IVs from a few weeks ago. After the success of the Manhattans I received a commission from a private collector to do a pair based on the most iconic character in the novel. At first I was hesitant due to my love of Rorschach but I am all about taking risks at the moment so pushed on ahead. I will break down the composition of these shoes for you so you can see how I came up with the design.

First off and maybe most importantly for any Rorschach fan is the mask, it was important this was a strong feature of the shoe and because of that I was undecided for a long time in regards to the appropriate placement. I hate putting detailed work on the toe box so it came down to the top panel or the tongue. A strong contrasting tongue was important to this design because of all the brown and blacks so it was then only logical to have it on the upper panel.

From here I rolled the colours down the design as they appear on Rorschach himself, from the browns in his coat to the purple pinstriped pants. I think it’s often a bit cliché to put blood splatter on a custom however it is integral to the evolution of Rorschach. The night Walter Kovacs ceases to exist and Rorschach emerges is the first night he gets blood on his hands as vengeance for the murder of little Blair Roche. Blood is not only seen on Rorschach in this scene but who could forget the prison sequence where in his own cell he is sprayed with the blood of an incoming prisoner.

The police tape is seen in the window of Eddie Blakes apartment and represents the beginning of the masked killer investigation that Rorschach is dedicated to throughout the book and the famous “ The End is Nigh” text is placed on the medial of each shoe.

Finally is the sunset, Watchmen is iconic for a number of reasons, one of which being the use of its secondary colour palette, one of my favourite panels in the whole novel is in the first chapter when Walter is just beginning his journey and his silhouette is cast upon the skyline of the city which he over looks and writes in his journal “Beneath me, this awful city it screams like an abattoir full of retarded children. New York.”

So that’s how I came up with and designed these shoes, there is a little less “Sekure D’ in these than usual but no less effort or thought. I am pretty happy with how they came out and hopefully you guys like them as well!!
Until next time!