Inkblot dodging shots in the Red Star Over New York arc.
Benjamin R. Kovacs was one of many clones in volume two of WatchmeX. In his first appearance a thug called him Inkblot and the name stuck. He was known for his unique speech bubbles and his sense of humor. His costume was similar to Rorschach's, but he wore a blue trench coat instead of Rorschach's tan. For a brief time, Ben Kovacs took up the name Rorschach when Rorschach had both of his legs broken. When Rorschach was on his own two feet again, Ben became Inkblot once again. To get around, Inkblot used his vehicle, the Inkmobile. Unfortunately for his fans, Ben was killed at the hands of Rorschach's Russian counter-part, Propaganda while investigating Russian Bear. Strangely, in one of the few scenes where we can see Ben Kovacs' face, he appears to be an African American.
Curiously, while Inkblot began the series embracing the same Randian Objectivist viewpoints espoused by Rorschach, by the time of his death he had shifted almost entirely to the opposite end of the spectrum. In his famous "Inkblot Monologe", he was heard to say "It's not that it's nothing. It's not that the blot is meaningless. You just find your own meaning in it. It's all things to all people, thought not all at once. The inkblot... the mask I wear... is ultimately... subjective."
Rough concept art for Inkblot by Dave Gibbons
Speculation Surrounding Ben's death[]
Ben was one of WatchmeX's more popular characters. As such some speculation surrounds whether or not he really did die at the hands of Propaganda. For one thing Ben states a few issues prior that his heart is on the right side of his chest and not his left. As a matter of fact he even states that he doesn't even have a lung on the left side of his chest (fans believe that his one lung is bio-genetically engineered to be more powerful than an ordinary human lung, allowing him to breath better) meaning that Propaganda's shot to the chest might have not hit any vital organs.
However many speculations surround whether we were observing the shot from the actual perspective or from the mirror in the room at the time. It could be Ben's death was carefully constructed that they could bring him back from the dead should the need arise. Some also speculate that Ben became Shade Master or he acquired amnesia.
In other media[]
Ben was originally set to appear in Watchmen 2 played by Johnny Depp, unfortunately the sequel was dropped due to Watchmen's poor performance at the box office.
Ben Kovacs death at the hands of Propaganda