Doomsday Clock #4

Doomsday Clock

by Geoff Johns (Writer), Gary Frank (Illustrations), Olav Beemer (Translation)

The series you thought you’d never see reaches its fourth issue with a shocking revelation about the aftermath of Ozymandias’ actions and how they reach into even the darkest corners of the DC Universe. Don’t miss the latest chapter by the acclaimed team of writer Geoff Johns and artist Gary Frank!

Genres: Comics, Dc Comics, Graphic Novels, Comic Book, Superheroes, Science Fiction, Fiction

72 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2021

About the author

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.

Reviews

[Alejandro · Rating 5 out of 5]

The clock stops for nobody!


This is the comic book issue #4 of the event “Doomsday Clock” that it will be a maxiseries of 12 issues.


Creative Team:

Writer: Geoff Johns

Illustrator: Gary Frank


THE SECRET ORIGIN OF THE NEW RORSCHACH

Since the beginning of Doomsday Clock, one of the mysteries was…

…who is the new Rorschach?

And believe it or not (but I think that if you’re reading the maxiseries, you will believe me), once a key piece of information was shown…

…I deduced the only possible answer to that mystery and happily I was correct (don’t worry I won’t spoil it), but also I think that it was too easy and if you have read the original Watchmen graphic novel, that honestly it’s required reading to understand what’s cooking here.

The new Rorschach was tricked by The Batman (that honestly I think that it was odd, taking in account that Batman is supposed to be working in “The Button” case for months, so I think that it could be logical to be less cynical about the information that the new Rorschach revealed to him), and now while he’s waiting for the next move…

…the readers can enjoy to the revelation in flashbacks of who and how, this new Rorschach came to be…

…with a priceless guest star, proving that Geoff Johns is doing his homework and definitely is working hard to present a superb story to be worthy of being a sequel to Watchmen.

And while it seems that the new Rorschach’s companions from the Watchmen parallel dimension aren’t doing anything to help him out…

…a new player (who also knows who is, but it’s not that I am that clever, I just read the right event in another comic book title) is making contact with the new Rorschach, leading to new twists in this story.

[Sam Quixote · Rating 1 out of 5]

It’s that time of the bi-month again as Geoff Johns and Gary Frank return with another unexciting and unnecessarily ponderous instalment of their Watchmen sequel, Doomsday Clock! So is it good yet? Nah. In fact I think this is the weakest issue so far.

Doomsday Clock #4 is all about the new Rorschach, Reggie, with Johns showing us how he’s currently doing in Arkham Asylum, courtesy of Batman, and how he did in the Watchmen world in still another mental home (ol’ Reg had a breakdown after his parents died in Ozymandias’ alien monster scheme).

The origin of why Reg decided to don the mask and become Rorschach was tenuous at best. I could understand why he’d want to kill Ozymandias but dressed as Rorschach? Nope - just contrived nonsense. And the reason why he didn’t kill Ozymandias was even astoopid. It wasn’t as bad as the Martha moment in BvS but it was pretty damn close!

I think it’s to do with Reg’s relationship with his father, which never once seemed like a convincing motivation, but I didn’t understand what all the bug zapping and the fate of the Moth Man had to do with it. We can’t deny our true natures? Keep searching for the truth? Or is it a literal search for enlightenment with Doctor Manhattan as the stand-in for truth/enlightenment? Johns tries to be arty but only manages to pull off being farty.

Like the redundant literary references in this comic: Rorschach’s asylum buddy was called Byron, like the poet Lord Byron who was friends with Percy Bysshe Shelley who wrote the poem Ozymandias. Rorschach takes a ship called the Percy Bysshe to Ozymandias/Adrian Veidt who’s lamenting the outcome of his plan to save mankind, a kind of Frankensteinian creator/monster moment like in the novel Frankenstein written by Percy Bysshe Shelley’s wife, Mary Shelley.

It’s like in addition to trying to be like Alan Moore by writing a Watchmen comic, given all the bookish references, Johns is also trying to write a League of Extraordinary Gentlemen! And to what effect? It’s not like it makes the comic more entertaining. If anything it feels like he’s trying too hard to appear intellectual when all he’s got to offer is the veneer of sophistication.

I’d forgive it all if the comic were more fun, more compelling, but it’s not. It’s a bore. Doomsday Clock #4 is a contrived, dull, uninsightful and clumsily written comic - if this is what the rest of the series is going to be like, I can wait longer than two months to read the next issue!

[Jedi JC Daquis · Rating 4 out of 5]

With Doomsday Clock being twelve issues long, it clearly shows that Geoff Johns really takes his time to carefully craft a story with as much detail and (slightly less) bravado as the original Moore Watchmen. This issue tells the much-needed origin story of Rorschach, confirming the dominant fan theory about the character.

Gary Frank, as usual delivers some of the most detailed comic illustrations I have ever seen. The whole Doomsday Clock series is worth seeing because of art alone. Johns, Frank and of course colorist Brad Anderson is one of the best comics trio around.

What can I say, this new Rorschach is weak, untrained, uncertain and lacked a darker backstory - basically the things that made Kovacs a beloved fan-favorite. This young Rorie still sees the world in shades of gray. But, I have faith in Geoff Johns. Whatever I feel about this character, he knows it more than ten times. I am almost certain that the next issues will give enough room for character development and interesting interactions with the main DC characters (say, The Joker).

Issue #4 does not advance the Doomsday Clock plot. The delays and the deliberately postponed plot development may have hurt how this issue is received by its readers, but I am still fully invested with this series.

[Siona Adams · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really liked seeing the background of Rorschach II, and the Satern Girl cameo (can't wait for a Legion of Superheroes title to be announced). Not a lot else happened in this issue besides another hint at Dr Manhattan, but it was still a really good read.

[James DeSantis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This issue's main focus was on Rorschach, Reggie, not Walter. We learn why he takes the mask of the dead superhero and what his mission was. He was all part of the attack on New York so it makes a bit more sense now why he's gone fucking insane. Then on top of that we get why he's working with Oz, which is actually pretty reasonable when think of it. Overall this issue is solid, interesting look, at a broken man. A step up from the last issue, a 3.5 out of 5.

[RG · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a background story linking Rorschach to the original one, and how he meets Oz to be where they are now. It was good but I hope it picks up soon.

[David Dalton · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is Watchmen all over again. A combination of Watchmen and the regular DC universe. Yet, it works somehow. Very off-beat.

[Anthony · Rating 3 out of 5]

This issue mainly focuses on Rorschach and gives us his background, linking him to the original Rorschach in a pretty cool way. But that's pretty much all the issue does. And it teases a few things, because it's Doomsday Clock.

[Malum · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series is still going strong.

[Monsour · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kid Rorschach Origin Story.

Its better than the last issue, I bet you that. But my worries in this series is that their going to force the entire story in only 12 issues and cramp everything in somewhere 11-12. I hope they decide to add more in the future.

[Ray · Rating 5 out of 5]

As usual, I loved this issue.

I admit, I would've loved to see more of Batman, Superman and The Comedian, but I really enjoyed having a little trip in Rorschach 2.0's brain.
Holy crap is it messy in there!

I really like his back story, it actually makes more sense that he's chosen to become Rorschach now. I mean, the kid really went through some really tough shit!

I really can't wait to read the next issue and see more encounters between my favorite psychos- uh I mean Superheros!

[Matthew Manchester · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finally got some answers about the present and the past. It all history, but still great. It feels like true Watchmen.

[Rogerio Lopes · Rating 4 out of 5]

E finalmente entendemos quem é o estranho personagem que voltou dos mortos. É uma HQ bastante coerente, ainda que pareça conter uma pequena imprecisão cronológica, ou talvez seja a questão do traço que deixe a idade de um personagem um tanto indefinida, Seja como for é uma história de origem interessante, coerente e com alguma licença poética dada a relação do pai do personagem com o manto que ele toma para si. A epígrafe final é no mínimo interessante.
"O milagre não é andar sobre a água. O milagre é andar sobre a Terra" Linji Yixuan

[Cristhian]

Al fin el origen de nuestro nuevo Rorschach el cual es tan trágico como cualquier otro y que ha tenido la venganza a su alcance y no la ha conseguido.

El final parece llevarnos a lo que será un siguiente número lleno de avances significativos en la historia.

[Donovan · Rating 4 out of 5]

With Reggie Long—the kid who read comics in Watchmen—taking center stage, it’s beginning to win me over. With retcon stories, you can’t just retell the same plot with the same characters. Much like an ekphrastic, retcon / rehash stories have to simultaneously represent and yet transcend the source material into something original. Four issues later, with what’s admittedly still a rehash of Rorschach—a psychopathic antihero borne of trauma—there’s finally some heart to this thing.

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rorschach 2.0 gets an origin story, and it's pretty awesome. We finally get to see how Reggie came to don the mask, while witnessing his current incarceration in Arkham at the hands of Batman. This is totally Reggie's issue, with other events (other than Batman's bewilderment) completely left by the wayside. However, there's still 8 issues to go so plot progression shouldn't be a problem - yet.
Again, Johns gives us nice nods to the 'Watch-verse' of old, with Gary Frank continuing to stay close to Gibbon's art.

So far, we're 4 for 4 and I'm quite happy with that.

[Patrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, that was a well-constructed tale, right there. I can appreciate the subtlety with which writer and artist have opted to use for some of the more intriguing moments.

Also, read the letters at the end. They matter.

[Mert · Rating 5 out of 5]

5/5 Stars (%88/100)

I am surprised that this issue is disliked by many people. I get that there is no "action" per se but it is still extremely important. This issue focuses on Reggie Long aka Rorschach. His life in Arkham Asylum, as well as his relationship with Mothman (Byron Lewis), can be observed here. I really really liked this issue because Rorshach has always been my favourite character in Watchmen. We also learn more about Batman's plans for Reggie.

[Letande D'Argon · Rating 1 out of 5]

*Sigh* Where should I start? After all those awful prequels, I did expect sequel to be bad. But man... I didn't expect it to be that bad. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's start from the beginning. Watchmen. Every single person, who has at least a little interest in comics, knows about Watchmen. It was a masterpiece. Deep, symbolic, perfectly written, extremely charming, perfectly designed... It was hard to believe that a big part of it started with Charlton Comics. It was legend as soon as it was born. But like any true masterpiece, it was one of the kind. It was a complete piece and the best thing you can do about it is to look at it from different angles and think about what you saw. That's what Watchmen was.

But, of course, there's a funny thing called "money". And, obviously, DC decided to sacrifice one of their most iconic names. Exchange it for more money. Like the awful movie adaptation wasn't enough... But hey! It's not so bad, right? Yes, prequels were awful, they did ruin a lot of the original lore, a lot of the original symbolism, a lot of the original meaning... But who cares? Those are prequels! Nobody cares about prequels. Let's pretend they never happened, OK? OK. But here... it... comes. A "proper" sequel to Watchmen. You may expect them to treat the original work with love. To actually think a lot about what they're doing. To carefully draw every panel... Right? *Sigh* Of course, no. Not even close.

The first issue wasn't that bad. It creates some suspense, makes you want to keep reading... And, well, it does its best to imitate the original Watchmen. Like Chinese guys do their best to make their knockoff toys to look as closer as possible to products from popular brands. It's all goes down to drain after the second issue, where it becomes clear that nobody even tried to make a presentable knockoff here. So, what did DC do?

The thing is, they sacrificed Watchmen for their funny little thing called DC Universe: Rebirth. You see, New 52 failed. Hard. Most of the people didn't like it. A lot of people hated it. DC wanted to bury it and pretend it never happened ASAP. But they were unable to. Even Crisis on Infinite Earths didn't happen that long ago, while Flashpoint, figuratively speaking, happened only yesterday. They can't resurrect Monitors, they can't use Barry again... Who else can mess up universe without making it look way too forced? Easy answer - Dr. Manhattan. Watchmen was thing-in-itself? Who cares! Let's just butcher it! Just because we screwed up way too much. That's the idea. DC wanted Dr. Manhattan. DC needed Dr. Manhattan. And, well, DC just took him and used him. As a tool. Everything else didn't really matter.

And that's pretty much what we have here. A tool. A tool that made DC Universe: Rebirth possible. The story, characters, canon, art... nothing of it really matters here. DC wanted Dr. Manhattan to travel between worlds and be their new Barry Allen. And that's it. This issue and the previous one, for example. They're so perfectly pathetic that I literally want to cry just by looking at their covers. Even if you get past the copy/pasted storytelling, forced development (the whole thing feels like a freakin' zombie) and awful design (let's make Joker and Harley Quinn from Watchmen world go see Joker from Batman, ya-a-ay!), there's always one word to ruin the whole thing to you. One... single... word... FLASHPOINT .

Right after you think about Flashpoint, the whole mask falls apart and shows you the ugly rotten face of this forced nonsense. They were so desperate that they've decided to sacrifice Watchmen for another wannabe Flashpoint. And that's the truth. And, obviously, unlike Flashpoint, this one isn't really exciting. Just because it stinks. it's impossible to stop thinking about the original Watchmen and look for some meaning here. For some artistic symbolism. For something that makes you think about it again and again... And... there's nothing of it here, really. Only uninspiring imitation. In comparison with Watchmen, this comic is like a $2 frozen pizza in front of its Italian restaurant equivalent. Sure, you may call both of them "pizza". But the only reason to even care about the first one is starvation. There's nothing to cherish. To appreciate. Just a cold sad imitation of something real. Dixi.

[Evelyn Blackwater · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun fact, I made pancakes after I read this. Is the pancake industry hurting so much they need to advertise their deliciousness in my comics?! Well congratufrickenlations! It worked. And now my tummy is full of deliciousness.

But anyway, I really liked this issue of Doomsday Clock. Like, a lot a lot. I think on the surface it could be painted as the most "boring" so far. But I found it profound and entertaining enough that I am going to give it a hall pass in regards to its pretentious nature.

I think we can sometimes (myself especially) presume that superhero fiction is unable to elicit anything particularly nuanced and meaningful on the merits that it lacks subtlety.

But when I saw the bug flap towards the zapper and then get... well, zapped. Something clicked inside. I was in.

Without the mask of a costume, I think I would have been even more engrossed in this story had it not been a super hero tale- and because of that, I had to really ask myself if I was not also a piece of the problem in terms of stigmatization held against the medium of not only superhero fiction, but comics in general. (For better or worse, the medium is dominated by them).

This is a moving piece of fiction, superhero or otherwise. And with the added context of this new Rorschach, Reggie; it is made even stronger.

I was listening to Five Variants of Fives and Lazarus when I read this. Made it all the stronger.

I myself am often looking for meaning and answers in my day to day. Seeing a moth do the same to a bug zapper is... it's an image that has left me with a lot of thoughts. It's the kind of image that makes you sit back and really process your priorities.

Maybe we don't need all the answers...
And maybe Doomsday Clock doesn't need to be better than Watchment to still be a moving piece of fiction.

I am left with no other choice but to declare Doomsday Clock a worth piece of art and a find successor to the comic that changed everything.
This book isn't gonna change anything. It won't lead any revolutions.

It will just be really great and that's good enough.

[Stacy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was good. It had several moments of WOW in the storytelling. But what made this shy away from GREAT was the pacing/flash-backs. I know there's something charming in Johns playing fast and loose with two universes and a character reliving different prisons, but I spent a lot of time stopping and having to really look hard at the elements of the plot to figure out setting and chronology. That's annoying.

Yes, it's a cool experiment and wholly in the Watchmen territory to force you to analyse all the clues during the reading experience. I can respect that. I also found the reveal at the end that explained WHY we were all over the place to be pretty awesome.

But I'm holding back that final star out of sheer spite for reading, stopping because something ceased making sense, and then having to get analytical so I could get the most out of this. Also, I found Ozzy's regret to be fake, while the scene played as sincere for all the players there.

This was good. I don't regret reading it. Maybe someday I'll be able to more coherently explain why else it wasn't great.

(35/50)

[Benja Calderon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Leyendo simultáneamente Watchmen y Doomsday veo como Johns hizo un esfuerzo enorme por copiar la estetica y la narrativa de la primera
Si en el número 4 de Watchmen vemos la historia de Manhattan, en Doomsday Clock #4 vemos la historia de Reggie, el nuevo Rorschach.
Lo vemos como superviviente del ataque "interdimensional" que afectó al universo de los Watchmen, su estadía en un instituto de salud mental y su relación con Mothman, quien fuera parte de los Minutemen

Es una buena copia, pero copia al fin y al cabo

[Etienne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Probably not the best one so far. Yeah it's cool to finally see who is the new Rorschach and where he came from, but I was hoping for something more and to do an entire issue on that and just for that seem like maybe not the best choice. But still good and still want to go on with it, just not as awesome as I would have like!

[Kevin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This feels like the closest this series has come to the tone and pacing of the original, offering a character-centric arc over the course of a single issue that fleshes them out while also building up a narrative theme that gets a nice cap-off at the end.

[Derrick McCall · Rating 4 out of 5]

WALK ON WATER

Rorschach backstory. Literally have no idea how this story will go, nor where this story will go, and were a third of the way through it. But I'm intrigued enough to keep going...

[Prof. Cue · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars. So far the best one out of the series. Hope we stay on this path of a series that gets better.

[Migsasua Cínico · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ya entiendo por qué esta shit es tan shit, está siguiendo la linea de la película de Zack Snyder. Comprendo todo.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Walk On Water

[Zach · Rating 4 out of 5]

New Rorschach's back story.

[Noe · Rating 4 out of 5]

So, who IS the new Rorschach? Read this issue to find out!