The Rebirth special marked the start of a story that will continue in Doomsday Clock, a 12-issue series from Geoff Johns and Gary Frank set to release Nov. 22. Johns said at San Diego Comic-Con he didn’t want the presence of of Doctor Manhattan to overshadow the emotional Wally West-Barry Allen arc, but now it’s time. Check out the full size covers to Doomsday Clock #1 below.
“I wanted to end the issue with the promise of something we’ve never seen before, and if there is one being out there that could mess with time in such a radical way and challenge hope, I just felt like Doctor Manhattan was it,” Johns said at SDCC, after casually suggesting confirmation that Doctor Manhattan is responsible for disassembling the DC Universe, making way for New 52.
“There’s people out there that think Watchmen should not be touched, but I have a story to tell,” Johns continued. “Superman is the story.”
Superman is front and center in the variant cover, with part of his body dissolving into watch parts as Doctor Manhattan looms behind. If you know Geoff Johns, you know how much he loves the Man of Steel. Johns said the series is about exploring the deeper significance of the DC Universe, what the heroes mean to readers, and the challenges the world faces on a daily basis. Superman is the best character to explore these themes and ideals and Doctor Manhattan personifies the cynicism to go deep within the battle between hope and despair.
“Why I think these heroes speak to me and you…That’s what the book is about. It’s a celebration of all of it. It’s a comic book that encompassess everything form Action Comics #1 in 1938, all the way to today and it leads the DC Universe into tomorrow with issue 12.”
And when Johns says it leads into tomorrow, he means, “like literally tomorrow.”
“It takes place a year from now in the DC Universe so that when the last issue comes out, the DC Universe will catch up. Everything happening in Rebirth and Metal and everything else, this will take place after all that. And by the time issue 12 comes out, the rest of the DC Universe will catch up and be affected. You’ll see some changes with the characters in this that you’ll see unfold and events happen in the DC line that will then catch up to what we are doing.”
Everything he and Frank are doing in Doomsday Clock, Johns said, they are doing in a big way.
“It’s not a gimmick,” Johns said. “One scene in particular, one interaction I love, is seeing the smartest man from one world talking to the smartest man from another. And the smartest man from this world is Lex Luthor. It goes beyond Doctor Manhattan because this is a once in a lifetime thing and we are going for the best story we can tell and that’s what the story calls for.”
Many fans are already starting to speculate Rorschach, the fan-favorite anti-hero killed in the final issue of Watchmen, will have a role in the story. The lenticular cover where the logos of Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman are combined into a Rorschach blot certainly adds to the hype.
What other characters do you hope appear in Doomsday Clock? Let us know in the comments.
