In an interview with Blastr, DC Comics Chief Creative Office Geoff Johns revealed the conclusion to a controversial narrative thread that has weaved throughout the publisher’s stories for the last year. Doomsday Clock, a new event book written by Johns, drawn by Gary Frank, and colored by Brad Anderson, will see the greatest DC Universe heroes collide with Alan Moore’s and Dave Gibbons’ Watchmen universe.

Doomsday Clock is designed to resolve a narrative thread introduced in DC Universe: Rebirth #1, a one-shot penned by Johns that featured a shocking moment where Batman discovered a bloody smiley face button, which has come to stand in as a visual symbol for Watchmen, in the Batcave. A four part miniseries that has woven throughout Batman and The Flash and concludes with this week’s The Flash #22, features the two eponymous heroes attempting to discover the mysterious origins of The Button.

As hinted at in the teaser image for the series, Doomsday Clock will focus on Superman’s relationship to the Watchmen mystery. According to Johns, “There will be DC characters throughout this, but this focuses in on only a handful. There is a lot of focus on Superman, and Doctor Manhattan. Doctor Manhattan is a huge focus, and his reasons for being here, and doing what he does, ultimately have to do with Superman.”

Like the recently announced Tom King and Mitch Gerads Mister MiracleDoomsday Clock came into being following America’s tumultuous 2016 election cycle. However, Johns says that Doomsday Clock “is about much more than the American president or the reactions to him. That is low hanging fruit to me. It goes bigger, deeper. It is about the world, and the attitude of people. I feel like there are extremes now everywhere, extremes on all sides. There is no more olive branch. It doesn’t exist. I feel like people, more and more, are separated. They are choosing sides, instead of figuring out how to make life better together. There is a real sense of anger, and frustration, and there is not a lot of compassion, or willingness to understand in the world. Telling a story of two extremes, and exploring what our collective zeitgeist states through these characters is what we are doing.”

In a nod to readers feeling event fatigue, Johns says that Doomsday Clock will stand on its own. “There are no crossovers. No watered down one-shots or mini-series on top of this one. This is a standalone story. There is only Doomsday Clock. We had no interest in doing a crossover with this. We didn’t want to see Doctor Manhattan facing off against Superman in Action Comics, with all due respect. That is not what this is about. It is about something different … It will have an impact on the entire DC Universe. It will affect everything moving forward and everything that has come before. It will touch the thematic and literal essence of DC.”

Doomsday Clock begins in November 2017.

6 COMMENTS

  1. Cool! This is the stuff I read comics for – big ideas and big characters. I’m curious to see what direction they take this, but it’s encouraging to hear that it probably isn’t just a slug fest between Superman and Dr. Manhattan. The last thing i wanted DC Rebirth to become was just a Justice League vs Watchmen event. I hope to see a battle of philosophies between the two. And I want to see Superman’s hope and optimism win in the end.

  2. ““The thematic and literal essence of DC” = ripping off Alan Moore. Got it.”

    Yeah! Alan Moore is the only one allow to rip off other people’s creations.

    Mike

  3. Why are people still whining about Alan Moore? He doesn’t own these characters and doesn’t give a damn about superheroes anyway. Plus the Watchmen are just pastiches of Charlton characters, which DC ALSO OWNS.

    Moore is just an old irrelevant wizard who writes comics about fish raping women.

Comments are closed.