Doomsday Clock #1-12

Doomsday Clock #1-12

Originally released in 2017

Written by Geoff Johns

Art by Gary Frank

My original plan for today was to re-read Watchmen - it was one of the first superhero comics that I read, which might not have been the best choice given how thoroughly it deconstructs superhero comics, and I wanted to come back to it now that I've read a wider variety of traditional superhero comics to see how it breaks the premise down.  However, it was only available in a more expensive subscription tier for DC's app (I have a physical version, but that doesn't work for the purposes of making this blog), so instead, I'll read Doomsday Clock, which I haven't read before. (This will inevitably spoil Watchmen, on the off chance that someone hasn't read this roughly 40 year old comic or seen one of the movie adaptations)

Doomsday Clock acts as both a sequel to Watchmen and a crossover with the broader DC universe, after such a crossover had been teased following the DC Rebirth event that retooled its continuity following the New 52 reboot. Seven years after the events of Watchmen, in the far-flung future of 1992, things have gotten worse. Word has gotten out about the plot to fake an alien invasion in order to end the Cold War, and tensions have boiled over, with Russia becoming more aggressive, Americans rioting in the streets, and the world spiralling towards the apocalypse.

As the world is on the brink of nuclear war, Rorschach breaks into a prison in order to free a woman who's instrumental in a plot to find Doctor Manhattan (who disappeared at the end of Watchmen to create life elsewhere) and save the world.  The woman, Marionette, refuses to leave without her husband, the Mime.  This Rorschach is different from the one in Watchmen, someone who was inspired by his views and actions rather than the one from the original comic.

The new Rorschach is working with a partner, Ozymandias, the smartest man in the world whose actions helped to bring the world to this point. Ironically, he's also discovered that he has inoperable brain cancer.

Together with Rorschach, Mime, and Marionette (Dr. Manhattan spared Marionette once, and Ozymandias hopes to use that to remind Manhattan of his humanity, or so he says), Ozymandias follows a trail left by the doctor, though it might be too late - nuclear missiles have already been launched, and one detonates in New York City as they're leaving.

The trail leads them to the DC universe, where things don't seem to be much better.  Russia is stoking paranoia and fear against superheroes with something called the "Supermen theory" and Batman has become the latest target.

The Supermen theory, as established in news articles at the end of the issues, tries to answer the question "why are a disproportionately large amount of superheroes and supervillains Americans?" with the theory being that the US government is creating them and making up cover stories, like what was done with Captain Atom. Due to the secrecy of many of the superhero community regarding their origins (with Superman being seen as the exception - you'd think that Wonder Woman would be seen as another exception, but she's not mentioned), their existence is seen as a superhuman arms race, with the battles between heroes and villains being faked to maintain the cover. It's almost entirely nonsense, but it's presumably incorporated here to bring DC's Earth a little closer to Watchmen's Earth.

Ozymandias and Rorschach investigate the two smartest men in the world to see if they can help with locating Doctor Manhattan, with Ozy going after Lex Luthor and Rorschach looking into Bruce Wayne.  Following a draft of air, Rorschach finds the Batcave, while Ozymandias's trip to LexCorp is interrupted by someone who's not only been dead for seven years but was last seen in another universe - the Comedian, a superhero turned government asset whose death kicked off Watchmen's plot.

Moments before he hit the ground, the Comedian was transported to the DC universe by Doctor Manhattan. (Though, despite seeing every point in his timeline at the same time, Manhattan views time as fixed, unchangeable, so presumably the Comedian is going to be sent back to the moment he left at some point) Now the Comedian is trying to kill Ozymandias for everything that Ozy's done.

The story's plotlines branch out further by issue 3. The Mime and the Marionette had been handcuffed in the ship that Ozymandias used to travel to the DC universe, but they broke free and found out about the Joker, so now they've decided to look into him.  Meanwhile, comedic relief of the Justice Society Johnny Thunder is in a retirement home - in the New 52 continuity, the Justice Society seemingly doesn't exist, leaving him with very little in his life beyond relatives who won't visit him.

Rorschach gives Batman the journal of Walter Kovacs, the original Rorschach, with a dream sequence revealing that he was a normal man until the faked alien invasion happened.  Once he's finished reading it over, Batman believes he's tracked down Doctor Manhattan, and leads Rorschach to Arkham Asylum.

He proceeds to lock Rorschach in a cell and leave him there, presumably taking Rorschach's insane-sounding ramblings and Kovac's journal as enough evidence that he belongs in Arkham.  While he's in Arkham, we get flashbacks revealing the new Rorschach's backstory - he's Reggie Long, the son of Rorschach's prison psychiatrist Malcolm Long.  The supposed alien attack that killed his parents traumatized him, to say the least.

After the attack, Reggie was haunted by visions of the dead and institutionalized as a result.  Making it to the roof during an escape attempt, he found the former hero Byron Lewis, a.k.a. Mothman, who became something of a mentor to the young man, trying to help him see what he wants to see (fond memories of his parents) rather than the disturbing visions.  Byron also brought Reggie some of his dad's things, including the first pages of his interviews with Rorschach; the rest are missing, so Reggie's view of Rorschach is likely more positive than it would be if he had the full picture.

Reggie breaks out with the help of a mind-reader who's only known as "Jane Doe". As it turns out, the woman is Saturn Girl, who (if the ring with an L on it is any indication) is a member of the Legion of Super Heroes. That team has (by my understanding) had a troubled relationship with DC's continuity ever since Superman's adventures as Superboy were removed from continuity after Crisis on Infinite Earths (since they were inspired by Superboy's adventures to start a super hero club of their own a millennium into the future), and it also reminds me that I should read a story about that group some time.

Ozymandias breaks out of the hospital that he was placed in after escaping the Comedian, and Firestorm becomes the center of controversy after his Russian counterpart claims that Firestorm was one of the superhumans created by the US government.  Firestorm's response doesn't help his case or public perception of his sanity.

Lois Lane believes that Lex Luthor is behind the Supermen theory for obvious reasons, while Batman believes that Ozymandias is behind it after reading Rorschach's journal, thinking that Ozymandias wants to set himself up as a hero by starting a conflict in this new world so he can swoop in and solve it.  Both claim innocence, with Ozymandias expressing annoyance that the costumed crime-fighters of this world haven't accomplished anything significant. (Though if they had done the sort of things that Ozymandias had in mind, then there'd likely be a situation similar to yesterday's Squadron Supreme story)

As for Johnny Thunder, he left the retirement home that he was in and made it to Philadelphia, where he sees a report about a factory being destroyed by a green flame and thinks he'll find his friends there.  He's attacked in a way that parallels the attack on the first Nite Owl in Watchmen, though he's saved by Rorschach and Saturn Girl.

Throughout this political instability, Black Adam has opened Kahndaq's borders to any superhuman who is seeking refuge, with many of Earth's villains thinking about taking him up on that offer. The meeting is interrupted by the Comedian, who's hunting down Mime and Marionette to find out where Ozymandias is and killing anyone who's in his way.

Despite (or because of) the series being about finding him, Doctor Manhattan is almost completely absent in the first half of Doomsday Clock, though issue 7 opens up with a monologue by him. He talks about how he made a slight change to the DC universe that resulted in the Justice Society never existed.  That seems at odds with his characterization in Watchmen, where he is fatalistic and views himself as a puppet who can see the strings, able to see what happened but unable to change the events that happen.  However, time and history are much more flexible in the DC universe compared to reality or the world of Watchmen (reality hasn't been rewritten multiple times... that we know of), so maybe the constant rewrites of reality give Manhattan the opportunity to alter the past in DC when he couldn't do that normally.

It feels like part of the purpose of this story is to introduce the Justice Society and the Legion Of Super-Heroes back into continuity after the New 52 seemingly wiped out their history for the sake of simplifying things for new readers.  There are other reasons, such as contrasting the pessimism and cynicism of Dr. Manhattan (and arguably Watchmen as a whole) with the hope and optimism of Superman as those characters come into conflict, but it feels like Johns wants to bring these characters back or regrets writing them out in the first place. (He was one of the main architects of the New 52)

By finding people or artifacts that Dr. Manhattan has directly interacted with, Ozymandias is able to use his cloned cat as a magnet to draw Dr. Manhattan out of hiding.  Looking back on what I typed, that sentence sounds so much weirder out of context.

Manhattan refuses Ozymandias's request for help, making it clear that he's disappointed in the smartest man of his Earth. Rorschach claims that Ozymandias isn't like he was - ever since he discovered the cancer in his system, he's been a changed man.

Reggie doesn't take this discovery well - Ozymandias had been manipulating him from the moment they met, making him see what he wanted to see - that the person who killed (among millions of others) Reggie's father was overcome with remorse and wanted to change. Likewise, Ozymandias doesn't take Doctor Manhattan's refusal well, claiming that he has a plan to not just save his own world, but the DC world as well. Given what his last plan involved, this doesn't bode well.

Goaded into attacking Russia's superheroes, Firestorm's powers malfunction somehow, causing a crowd of civilians who were trying to beat him to death to turn into glass statues.  Given that Firestorm is also known as "the Nuclear Man" and Pozhar is his evil counterpart, the Cold War parallels are clear.  Superman tracks Firestorm down to try and talk some sense into him, and encourages him to dig as deep as he can to return a child back to normal, which works.

Superman tries to give Firestorm a chance to restore the rest of the crowd, but the Russian army starts firing as soon as Firestorm shows up, shattering some of the people.  Chaos erupts, Superman starts attacking the Russians to give Firestorm a chance to act, and then a massive blue explosion goes off that leaves Superman missing in the aftermath.

Meanwhile, on Mars, Doctor Manhattan can see that, a month from now, Superman will charge at him, face filled with rage.  After that, there's nothing, whether it's a month from then, a year from then, or even a millennium from then.  Manhattan believes that at that moment, either Superman kills him or Manhattan destroys the universe, though his perception of the future has been blocked before so it seems weird that he doesn't consider that it could happen again on a more permanent basis.

In the aftermath of the explosion, the heroes determine that the source of it wasn't Firestorm, but supposedly a type of energy that was traced to Mars.  Basically every hero on Earth aside from Batman, Superman (both of whom were recovering), and Wonder Woman (who is addressing the United Nations) heads to Mars to focus on this new threat, while Batman realizes that they're being manipulated and misdirected.  To say that Doctor Manhattan is outnumbered is an understatement.

Still, with Doctor Manhattan being virtually indestructible and quickly learning how to use concepts that are new to him, such as magic, he manages to defeat the small army of superheroes who have been sent after him.  I'm sure that those who are more familiar with DC than I am would complain about this, but it's nice to see a look of joy on Doctor Manhattan's face as, for the first time since he's transformed, he's encountered something that is completely new to him.

In the middle of the fight, Doctor Manhattan sends Ronnie Raymond (one half of Firestorm) back in time seven years.  There, he shows Firestorm the truth behind his origin - Martin Stein (the other half of Firestorm) intentionally caused the so-called "accident" that fused the two of them together, describing the result in what might be the creepiest way possible.

Back on Earth, Black Adam takes advantage of the absence of most of the world's heroes to attack Wonder Woman's speech.  Wonder Woman hasn't really been involved in this story so far, so I hope she has more of a role than just someone for Black Adam to fight.  This is the end of issue 9; I feel like this recap has gotten quite long as is (I have thirty pictures in here already), which probably says a lot about how much is going on in this story, but I don't want to stop here when there are only three issues left.

Throughout this story, a series of black and white detective noir movies have been playing in the background which star Carver Colman, who was killed under mysterious circumstances.  Doctor Manhattan arrives in the DC universe on April 18th, 1938 - in what is definitely not a coincidence, that's also the date that Action Comics #1 was released - and meets Carver, serving as a guardian angel of sorts and telling him what his life will be like when they meet every year at the same diner, giving him confidence in his failing career as he rises to become an Oscar-winning actor.

Doctor Manhattan has an even weirder relationship with time in the DC universe than he does in his own universe - he is fully aware of every change in continuity that has happened, seeing Superman arrive on Earth in 1938, only for history to be rewritten again and again whenever a major Crisis event or shift in DC's timeline happens.

Manhattan comes to realize that Superman is the center, the linchpin, of the universe, so he takes this opportunity to experiment and see what he can do here.  Clark grows colder and becomes more distant from humanity, with Dr. Manhattan claiming that he can relate to Superman more in what comes across as an aggressive insult towards either the New 52 Superman or Zack Snyder's interpretation of Superman from movies like Man of Steel or Batman v Superman.

As Ozymandias explains how he used the rising tensions to his advantage to destroy humanity's faith in Superman, the Man of Steel comes face to face with Doctor Manhattan, setting the stage for the final issue.  With this story being based around comparing and contrasting the two, I'm surprised it took basically the entire series for them to meet.

The Amazons took Wonder Woman away from the United Nations, leaving Black Adam and the force of Kahndaq to converge on the White House along with Superman, Doctor Manhattan, and various Russian heroes.  The situation quickly escalates as both of the armies battle each other and Superman while Doctor Manhattan watches.

It seems like Superman is going to attack Doctor Manhattan after the doctor explains how he's been meddling in Superman's life and specifically how he got Superman's adoptive parents killed, but after hearing Manhattan's explanation, Superman convinces him that maybe there's an interpretation of Manhattan's visions that he's not thinking of.

Manhattan moves Alan Scott's lantern back into his reach, and some of the changes that he made begin to be undone.  The Justice Society exists again, which leads to Superboy existing, which leads to the formation of the Legion of Super Heroes.

The ripple effect spreads, creating new universes and essentially making each continuity "canon" - post-Crisis exists as Earth-1985, the New 52 Earth becomes Earth-52, and there's basically an endless amount of universes, seemingly opening up the possibilities for creators to make stories in whatever continuity they want.  Doctor Manhattan continues to see further and further into the future, teasing different events that may or may not come to pass. (you've got six more years until that Marvel crossover, DC!)

Ozymandias claims that this was all a part of his master plan - that Superman would be able to convince Manhattan to save the Watchmen world - before the Comedian shoots Ozymandias and Lex Luthor uses a device to send the Comedian back to the moment that Doctor Manhattan took him from the Watchmen universe. (where he was in the middle of plummeting to his death)

With a more hopeful outlook on life and countless futures stretching out before him, Doctor Manhattan becomes less passive and more likely to take action, starting by going back to the diner before Carver Colman's death and encouraging him to speak out.  Originally, Carver was killed by his mother, who had been blackmailing him because Carver was homosexual, but on Manhattan's advice, Carver publicly came out, which cost him his career for a few years, but he found work again in the 60s and beyond, and it ultimately saved his life.

While Superman changed his outlook, he can't truly be the Superman figure for his world.  However, Manhattan spared Marionette because her son would be important later on - he serves as the "Pa Kent" to the boy before using his power to heal his world and empower the child, who will hopefully lead the world of Watchmen to a better future.

While this didn't have the thematic depth of Watchmen, I enjoyed reading it.  I was worried that the Watchmen characters would be crudely forced into the DC universe without much thought beyond "wouldn't it be cool if this happened?", but I felt like it expanded on that world in a way that made sense while contrasting it with the main DC universe.  Some of Doctor Manhattan's powers didn't get much of an explanation; I suppose it can be chalked up to differences between the two universes, but a big part of his backstory and outlook on life was that he couldn't change the past. The Comedian felt a little pointless; he added a ticking clock to help speed the plot along, sort of, and he served as an enforcer to try and keep Ozymandias from meeting Doctor Manhattan (who presumably knew that the Comedian was doomed to failure), but he could have likely been cut from most of the story without much being lost.  Aside from those minor nitpicks, I thought it was a nice tribute to all eras of DC's history, showing that despite the countless rewrites and reimaginings, every interpretation of these characters is valid and is worth continuing in some form. (I feel like giving the Watchmen universe a happy ending might go against the spirit of the original series, but it was heartwarming to see)