Doomsday Clock
Year: 2017-2019
Authors: Brad Anderson, Gary Frank & Geoff Johns
Publsher: DC Comics
Pages: 456
Published: 03/02/21
Authors: Brad Anderson, Gary Frank & Geoff Johns
Publsher: DC Comics
Pages: 456
Published: 03/02/21
There are many reasons why the crucially acclaimed 1986 graphic novel Watchmen was left alone for so long, the two chief reasons among them are 1) How do you write a sequel to that kind of story. And 2) Attaching any other material to that story will likely tarnish its legacy as one of the most important literary works of the twentieth century. But once the late 2000’s rolled around and DC Comics were twiddling their thumbs with what to do we got a string of prequel comics based around characters in the graphic novel, as well as a film adaptation, all of which were received less than favourably. So, the property sat dormant for close to a decade before DC decided to roll it back out for another attempt at turning it into a hot commodity for two very different sequels. One a TV Series headed by Damon Lindleoff (the man who, for better or worse, gave us Lost), and a twelve-issue run of a new comic series titled Doomsday Clock. So unsure what to tackle first I flipped a coin, let fate decide, and I present to you my review of Doomsday Clock.
Doomsday Clock is a twelve-issue comic series that ran between November 2017 and December 2019 written by Geoff Johns.
The story opens in 1992, seven years after the events of Watchmen. A once peaceful world is once again on the brink of total annihilation as Rorschach’s Journal has been published and Adrian Veidt/Ozymandias is revealed to be the man behind the New York Squid attack that occurred in the final issue of Watchmen. An attack that killed millions and psychologically damaged thousands more. A new Rorschach tracks down Veidt and the two escape their reality just as the bombs fall so that they may search for Dr. Manhattan and ask for him to help save the world.
Meanwhile in the present day the U.S government is being investigated for creating superpowered people in place of nuclear weapons, a conspiracy dubbed the Supermen Theory. Investigating these claims are Clark Kent and Lois Lane of the Daily Planet. The government and the Justice League firmly deny that they are manufacturing ‘metahumans’, however tensions between the U.S and Russia begin to come to a head.
At the same time Dr. Manhattan, fascinated by Superman, interferes with his life and in turn creates the multiverse. However, in his future he sees him and Superman engaging in battle, but he cannot see any further into the future. He begins to wonder whether this battle between the two invincible men will bring about the destruction of time and space itself.
Doomsday Clock is a twelve-issue comic series that ran between November 2017 and December 2019 written by Geoff Johns.
The story opens in 1992, seven years after the events of Watchmen. A once peaceful world is once again on the brink of total annihilation as Rorschach’s Journal has been published and Adrian Veidt/Ozymandias is revealed to be the man behind the New York Squid attack that occurred in the final issue of Watchmen. An attack that killed millions and psychologically damaged thousands more. A new Rorschach tracks down Veidt and the two escape their reality just as the bombs fall so that they may search for Dr. Manhattan and ask for him to help save the world.
Meanwhile in the present day the U.S government is being investigated for creating superpowered people in place of nuclear weapons, a conspiracy dubbed the Supermen Theory. Investigating these claims are Clark Kent and Lois Lane of the Daily Planet. The government and the Justice League firmly deny that they are manufacturing ‘metahumans’, however tensions between the U.S and Russia begin to come to a head.
At the same time Dr. Manhattan, fascinated by Superman, interferes with his life and in turn creates the multiverse. However, in his future he sees him and Superman engaging in battle, but he cannot see any further into the future. He begins to wonder whether this battle between the two invincible men will bring about the destruction of time and space itself.
To say Doomsday Clock is ambitious is to put it lightly. Not only does it want to act as a sequel to Watchmen, but it also seeks to close out the DC Rebirth, and controversial New 52 series. I guess it’s also imperative for me to disclose that I was unaware of that when I read Doomsday Clock, and as someone who’s not exactly up on comic books outside of standalone publications like Watchmen, I had almost no idea what the hell was happening throughout most of Doomsday Clock. As such my opinion in this review may need to be taken with a pinch of salt as I will be looking at Doomsday Clock solely as a sequel to Watchmen, which is what I understood it to be, simply because I do not possess the knowledge of the wider DC Universe necessary in order to comment on its effectiveness at closing out several years’ worth of storylines across multiple different DC heroes.
The story is not the easiest to get your head around, but once the pieces begin to fall into place in the later issues much of what you’ve read early on will become much clearer. For the most part it also retains the same structure as the original Watchmen did with its panel layout and story structure. The first major thing that struck me as a little odd was that it was not addressed who this new Rorschach is until several issues in. Obviously for fans of Watchmen we know that the original Rorschach, Walter Kovacs, was killed by Dr. Manhattan at the end of Watchmen in order to prevent him from disrupting the new world peace that has been achieved by Adrian’s plan. The reality of who the new Rorschach is does make sense and it explained well once it does happen, but so much time passes until we get that information that it seems a little odd as to why Johns did so.
I also take issue with the fact that The Comedian is brought back. Just for a refresher, The Comedian dies in the opening pages of Watchmen and his death is the inciting incident of the entire story. The idea that Dr. Manhattan saved him when he was thrown out of his apartment window doesn’t really make any sense because firstly: why would Manhattan do that? He doesn’t interfere with fate, and he certainly was not a big fan of The Comedian so what drives him to save him? Then secondly, if Eddie Blake doesn’t die and Rorschach doesn’t see his body being peeled off the sidewalk then Watchmen never happens. So, by having The Comedian survive therefore means Watchmen couldn’t have happened, and therefore Doomsday Clock can’t happen.
A time travelling and dimension hopping story is always going to have its plot holes so forgive me for being nit-picky about The Comedian, but if you’re writing a sequel to Watchmen you can’t have The Comedian in it because then the events of Watchmen never happen.
The story is not the easiest to get your head around, but once the pieces begin to fall into place in the later issues much of what you’ve read early on will become much clearer. For the most part it also retains the same structure as the original Watchmen did with its panel layout and story structure. The first major thing that struck me as a little odd was that it was not addressed who this new Rorschach is until several issues in. Obviously for fans of Watchmen we know that the original Rorschach, Walter Kovacs, was killed by Dr. Manhattan at the end of Watchmen in order to prevent him from disrupting the new world peace that has been achieved by Adrian’s plan. The reality of who the new Rorschach is does make sense and it explained well once it does happen, but so much time passes until we get that information that it seems a little odd as to why Johns did so.
I also take issue with the fact that The Comedian is brought back. Just for a refresher, The Comedian dies in the opening pages of Watchmen and his death is the inciting incident of the entire story. The idea that Dr. Manhattan saved him when he was thrown out of his apartment window doesn’t really make any sense because firstly: why would Manhattan do that? He doesn’t interfere with fate, and he certainly was not a big fan of The Comedian so what drives him to save him? Then secondly, if Eddie Blake doesn’t die and Rorschach doesn’t see his body being peeled off the sidewalk then Watchmen never happens. So, by having The Comedian survive therefore means Watchmen couldn’t have happened, and therefore Doomsday Clock can’t happen.
A time travelling and dimension hopping story is always going to have its plot holes so forgive me for being nit-picky about The Comedian, but if you’re writing a sequel to Watchmen you can’t have The Comedian in it because then the events of Watchmen never happen.
My favourite characters in Doomsday Clock are Marionette and The Mime. These two characters are new to the DC Universe and are arguably the most fleshed out characters in the whole comic. You get to see their backstory, as well as spend a lot of time with them and The Joker who they form a rivalry against, despite being villains themselves.
But I do take issue with just how nostalgic the whole thing is about Superman and how he is come the end of the comic series set up as quite literally the centre of the multiverse and everything hinges on him. It’s very bold to make that kind of move, and the introduction of a younger Superman to the Watchmen universe come the end of the comic is unsettling to say the least. The Watchmen universe was so great because aside from Dr. Manhattan it lacked actual superheroes, it made it feel real and things never spiralled too far away from plausibility.
Overall, I found Doomsday Clock to be an extremely disappointing Watchmen sequel, though I know people who are fans of the wider DC Universe that found the comic very fulfilling because of how it closed off the New 52 and Rebirth timelines. So, would I recommend Doomsday Clock? Depends how big you are on DC and how much you like Geoff Johns kissing Superman’s ass. If like me you exist on the peripheries of comics and only read particular things then give it a miss, but if you’re a DC die hard then I’m sure you’ll love it (and have already read it).
But I do take issue with just how nostalgic the whole thing is about Superman and how he is come the end of the comic series set up as quite literally the centre of the multiverse and everything hinges on him. It’s very bold to make that kind of move, and the introduction of a younger Superman to the Watchmen universe come the end of the comic is unsettling to say the least. The Watchmen universe was so great because aside from Dr. Manhattan it lacked actual superheroes, it made it feel real and things never spiralled too far away from plausibility.
Overall, I found Doomsday Clock to be an extremely disappointing Watchmen sequel, though I know people who are fans of the wider DC Universe that found the comic very fulfilling because of how it closed off the New 52 and Rebirth timelines. So, would I recommend Doomsday Clock? Depends how big you are on DC and how much you like Geoff Johns kissing Superman’s ass. If like me you exist on the peripheries of comics and only read particular things then give it a miss, but if you’re a DC die hard then I’m sure you’ll love it (and have already read it).