DC and Watchmen characters collide at last! The story that began in DC UNIVERSE: REBIRTH #1 comes to a thrilling and unexpected crescendo in the pages of this titanic twelve-issue series by the all-star team that brought you BATMAN: EARTH ONE and SHAZAM! In this second chapter: The Dark Knight discovers another relic from the Watchmen world. Lex Luthor pays a devil’s bargain. And killer clowns trek through Gotham seeking a madman.
Geoff Johns originally hails from Detroit, Michigan. He attended Michigan State University, where he earned a degree in Media Arts and Film. He moved to Los Angeles in the late 1990s in search of work within the film industry. Through perseverance, Geoff ended up as the assistant to Richard Donner, working on Conspiracy Theory and Lethal Weapon 4. During that time, he also began his comics career writing Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E. and JSA (co-written with David S. Goyer) for DC Comics. He worked with Richard Donner for four years, leaving the company to pursue writing full-time.
His first comics assignments led to a critically acclaimed five-year run on the The Flash. Since then, he has quickly become one of the most popular and prolific comics writers today, working on such titles including a highly successful re-imagining of Green Lantern, Action Comics (co-written with Richard Donner), Teen Titans, Justice Society of America, Infinite Crisis and the experimental breakout hit series 52 for DC with Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka and Mark Waid. Geoff received the Wizard Fan Award for Breakout Talent of 2002 and Writer of the Year for 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008 as well as the CBG Writer of the Year 2003 thru 2005, 2007 and CBG Best Comic Book Series for JSA 2001 thru 2005. Geoff also developed BLADE: THE SERIES with David S. Goyer, as well as penned the acclaimed “Legion” episode of SMALLVILLE. He also served as staff writer for the fourth season of ROBOT CHICKEN.
Geoff recently became a New York Times Bestselling author with the graphic novel Superman: Brainiac with art by Gary Frank.
This is the comic book issue #2 of the event “Doomsday Clock” that it will be a maxiseries of 12 issues.
Creative Team:
Writer: Geoff Johns
Illustrator: Gary Frank
OF MEN AND WATCHERS
The Earth of Watchmen keeps falling into a certain doom.
The only way to stop a real apocalypse there is to find Dr. Manhattan and bring him back.
However, it’s most likely that Dr. Manhattan doesn’t want to be found.
The only clue leads to the Earth of the “main” DC Universe where Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and many others live.
The next generation of a fallen hero joins forces with the most unlikely saviour along with the forced recruitment of a couple of criminals. One heck of dysfunctional team and they’re not the best hope,…
…BUT the only hope for the Earth of Watchmen.
Arriving to an Earth where things are way different than in theirs, they need to learn quickly how things are done there if they have a possibility to accomplish their impossible task of finding a god hidden between mortal men.
The Doomsday Clock is ticking and only Dr. Manhattan can stop the end of the world. But first Ozymandias must find him and needs help from two of the smartest men from the universe Manhattan escaped to: Bruce Wayne and Lex Luthor - the question is, will either of them want to?
Well that didn’t take long - we’re only on the second issue but already the wheels on Geoff Johns’ story are starting to fall off! Doomsday Clock #2 is such an unnecessarily confusing, messy comic. The opening scene shows the two new characters, Mime and Marionette, robbing a bank and then encountering Dr. Manhattan who stops them; it’s intercut with Mime and Marionette putting their gear on. The bank robbery is a flashback that Ozymandias and Rorschach are watching on video but at first it reads like it’s happening in real time, especially as Ozymandias is talking about Marionette meaning something to Manhattan and that’s why her presence will lure him out, so I thought that’s what we were seeing, but no.
I guess fair enough on Marionette meaning something to Manhattan - we’ll just have to wait and see what that’s all about - but why are Ozymandias and Rorschach watching this video in the first place? Why do we as readers have to see it? Was anybody wondering how Mime and Marionette were caught? Why not just tell us Marionette means something to Manhattan in a panel instead of devoting nearly half the issue to such a pointless scene? Gah!
Then we’re in Gotham where apparently the people have suddenly decided to start protesting Batman because “Russia”. Wow, what shitty, contrived writing! And just like that the Watchmen make their entrance into the DCU - an underwhelming introduction to say the least.
Ozymandias goes to see Lex, Rorschach goes to see Bruce (I have no idea how baby Bubastis, Ozymandias’ new cat, is in any way a “compass”). I thought it was amusing that Rorschach’s first move is to eat the breakfast Alfred prepared Bruce and I liked that Lex shits on Ozymandias’ plan from the first Watchmen book - I’m not one to venerate Alan Moore’s comic either!
The cliffhanger is a WTF moment as yet another dead Watchmen character is arbitrarily resurrected for seemingly no reason. At least in Rorschach’s case it made some sense but this one looks to be the original dude so who knows what the heck’s going on.
Aside from a couple enjoyable moments, as well as Gary Frank’s high quality art, Doomsday Clock #2 is a crapfest. Geoff Johns’ writing is just too sloppy and muddled and both the structure and the storytelling could be far clearer and more effective than it is. Fingers crossed it gets better - after all there’s still ten more issues to go - but I’ve a feeling this is gonna be another frustrating series from a writer who does fine with the broad strokes of a story but really struggles in making the details click.
We are now moving into the territory where Doomsday Clock's novelty and curious premise of a Watchmen-DC Comics crossover aren't the main selling points anymore. Issue two now heavily relies on writing talent and sheer faith to both worlds, something that is a tall order even for a veteran like Geoff Johns.
But Doomsday Clock #2 doesn't disappoint. It is a fine mashup of worlds with carefully structured panels and smart dialogue. At the very least you know that this is a carefully crafted literature by Geoff Johns and artist Gary Frank.
Doomsday Clock feels like a DC Story drawn and written under the familiar themes of Watchmen. You have the 3x3 panels, meaningful perspectives and even scenes that give homage to the original material. Readers who have appreciated Watchmen before will definitely be at home with Doomsday Clock.
The story on the other hand no doubt follows the beats of a DC Universe story. It doesn't really touch on social-political issues as much as Watchmen did and instead confines itself within the bounds of an expected "comicbook" story. I am totally okay with it. After all, Doomsday Clock is meant to usher DC into a fully-realized Rebirth era and not as a definitive sequel to Watchmen.
Whereas the pilot issue is more of a slow burn, issue two surprisingly got everybody on board for the really relevant and exciting things. I am actually surprised with the direction the series is heading.
Doomsday Clock is comicbook history in the making. This is something that happens only once in a few decades so I am grateful that the series and the whole fate of DC is in a great pair of hands.
So in this one we have Ozzy and Rorschach take a little trip into Earth prime on their mission to find Jon. In doing so they take the two criminals from issue 1 with them. You finally find out the use of them and a little interesting backstory that connects to Jon. Once in Gotham the duo splits up and one goes for Lex, the other Bruce. By the end we have a couple of meetings and one major reveal.
Good: Really love the art. It's very very well done. I also love everything with Rorschach. This is a very interesting version and maybe a bit more interesting due to the offbeatness of him. I also enjoyed the ending and the set up for the next one. The reveal with Jon and the criminals was nice.
Bad: The one major reveal kind of feels like "What..." unless they explain more. I also thought the pacing was a little off, very very slow and then BOOM fast. It felt jarring where's I enjoyed the slower build from issue 1.
Overall it's still a super fun event. While it has it's pacing issues I can't wait to read the next one. A 3.5 out of 5!
And the story moves on. The Watchmen characters have crossed over into the DC Superman/Batman universe. Looking for Dr. Manhattan. I like the dark mood of the story. Fits the old Watchmen style.
Good, but a bit slow for my liking. It picks up a bit in this issue compared to the first but not too much happens. I am interested to see where the story goes. Otherwise art by Gary Frank is superb!
1) I am falling in love with Mime and Marionette they are clearly the analogs for Joker and Harley which I'm sure they'll meet. 2) Killing Joke amusement part was a nice touch. 3) Interesting take on Batman from Rorschach. 4) I don't agree that Batman is the 2nd smartest man in the world, he's smart but I don't think he's top 5 in DC 5) Love the slow meticulous character moment driven plot.
Let me preface this by saying that I've never been a huge Watchmen fan, the movie, sure, but I remember liking the graphic novel, but not that much. I get why it's important and all that, but it wasn't really my thing.
And with that, I thought this was another slow-burn, promising issue. It had pretty much everything I wanted, the story moved a little faster than the first issue, and it was less of a setup. Important things actually happened. Characters showed up unexpectedly. And the art... My god, the art is just beautiful, no matter whether or not I'll end up liking the story, it may end up worth reading just because of the art.
The only gripe that I had was that there were a few things that happened near the end that I feel like it needs to be explained well in later issues, but won't. I just don't see how Johns will be able to do that.
All in all, another solid issue, I'm still gonna reread it again, because it was denser than your average DC comic. Still not sure if Johns will pull it off in the end, but it's looking good so far.
Really great issue. I liked how the Watchmen characters entered the DC universe. The ending kinda came out of nowhere but I guess that'll be explained next issue.
Great stuff! I think Johns is succeeding on multiple levels in creating a worthy sequel. It's still early & I haven't checked, but i bet there's probably a good number of people that aren't liking it & are probably even mad a sequel is being attempted. Anyway, so far, I'm lovin' it!
I almost gave this one the perfect score but I think I'm looking for that extra nudge which I feel I'm getting on the next issue. I remember reading Watchmen and I exactly feel the same. The series is just getting some steam on the first couple of issues and then it will make the payoff much more grand later.
I'm really excited for the next one particularly on the last few panels (there's a return and a surreal interaction in that cliffhanger). This is very good and you don't want to miss this.
Rorschach and Ozymandias go to Batman's Earth in search of him. The interactions between certain characters (I'm not going to spoil it for you.) are every geek's dream. I LOVED it. Also, the art style and transitions between panels were great. It's getting much more interesting and tense.
O único problema da HQ que na verdade não é um problema é que se vc for como eu um leitor não acostumando a linguagem usual da DC em algumas passagens vc pode ficar um pouco perdido, as mudanças são muito sutis. É preciso também considerar aqui a suspensão da descrença um acontecimento na HQ pode soar impossível, mas deve-se presumir que foram dadas condições para que ele fosse possível. Dito isso o encontro de Ozymandias com Lex Luthor rende o melhor momento da HQ e o plot final é sensacional.
Nowhere as impressive as his first issue, but it’s still interesting and I look forward these ramifications in-universe. Loved the small Lois Lane article at the end.
Reading books (especially comics) makes me feel like I am in on this huge secret that no one else knows unless they themselves read the same thing. I love that feeling. It can really make the world feel bigger to have these cool stories in your head.
That's what I felt when I read this. Like, most of my DNA, most of my better judgement is telling me I shouldn't be enjoying this series. It is sacrilege, heresy, convoluted.
An yet... when I see Rorschach infiltrate Wayne Manner or Ozymandias break into LexCorp... there is this really weak (but powerful) side of myself that can't help but find that cool. (More than cool, really. That's super cool. High quality fan fiction).
There are no guilty pleasures. Only pleasure.
Near the start I thought this might be going downhill, but when that Mime couple encounter Dr. Manhattan, I couldn't help but be really impressed with the choices done. It feels like the writers and the artists are taking the reader very seriously and assume they are of a well read intelligence. Nothing is directly spelled out- but most people can probably grasp what is happening. That's a lot harder than it sounds.
I truly have no hope that this series can stick the landing... but for now, the ride has been very kind to me.
Geoff Johns is really loving confusing people (i.e. me) on timelines. I don't think I'm an absolute idiot, but I know I'm no genius, either. But it genuinely took me longer than I'd like to admit figuring out the first ELEVEN PAGES of this issue.
Were they robbing the bank to draw out Manhattan? Was this how they got captured? The spliced together time frame within the panels did a number on me and I feel far more stupid than I normally do. Anyway...
Still a gorgeous book. We're in Gotham City now, with Veidt and Rorschach splitting up to find Lex Luthor and Bruce Wayne, respectively. A lot more action, a lot more confusion on why Johns is changing on Moore's work and then Batman and Rorschach finally meet.
I'm in. Let's see where this journey takes us.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
This is the second book in this series and it carried the baton well after the first. We see the Watchman characters Adrian Veidt aka Ozymandias and the imposter Rorschach enter the main DC universe. They meet with their DC counterparts Adrian with Luther, the imposter Rorschach, Batman. The tension throughout builds as you can feel the story is going somewhere big.
My only wish is that the true Rorschach would have met Batman. They somehow brought back another character why not him?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
¿Qué tiene que ver Marioneta y Mimo en esta búsqueda de Dr Manhattan? Al principio de este número, empezamos a ver porque son una parte de este puzzle, además, vemos el viaje dimensional que llevará a Veidt, Rorschach y la pareja a un mundo que ya conocemos, el universo principal de DC, donde ambos héroes acudirán a los dos hombres más inteligentes de este mundo por ayuda, con una aparición sorpresa que seguro dejo a todos consternados
Veidt refitted the Owlship for extradimensional travel and to follow Dr. Manhattan's quantum signature. He sent Rorschach to find Bruce Wayne while he talked to Lex Luthor, those he identified as the two smartest men on this particular earth.
Biggest question this issue- how is the Comedian still alive?!?
This is so good on so many levels. Love it so far, and the end of this issue just left me even more interested in this series. Now I'm sad we'll see just 12 issues of this great thing called Doomsday Clock.
This was a fairly decent issue. Things are without a doubt building up, however, DC might be doing some things with the characters of Watchmen that have me a bit hesitant...I guess I'll just have to wait and see how this goes...
A confusing, jumbled sequel to an excellent first issue. Halfway through things grew cleaner and more interesting. I am really enjoying Rorschach’s character. The breakfast quip is hilarious. I hope the author fixes up the narration style later on though, in terms of using flashbacks.