Doomsday Clock

Doomsday Clock 1-12

This money grabbing attempt to merge the DC and Watchmen universes was poorly conceived from the start.  (For an amazing sequel to Watchmen, check out the excellent HBO miniseries.)

Geoff Johns and Gary Frank actually do a decent job at the beginning of the series.  They have some neat ideas that could have stood on their own: Mime and Marionette, new Rorschach, the ultimate failure of Ozymandias’ plan.

Great villain.

She's like Harley Quinn, but not quite.

The best interaction between the two universes.

There are cool things happening on the DC side as well; The Superman theory and the rapid escalation of events with the Moscow glass people are riveting.  It’s rare to see Superman lose control of a situation, and the tension and hopelessness at the scene is really well executed.

It’s remarkably disappointing when it turns out that all of this is just to set up the next Crisis/Multiverse-type quantum shift in the DC universe.  This would have been way better as a self-contained story instead of a waypoint to the next DC era that I give zero fucks about.  

I do like this idea.

Aside from the conceptual failure, the last couple of issues also fail from a storytelling standpoint.  There’s something to the idea of Superman and all of his various origin stories serving as focal points for each iteration of the Multiverse.  But it’s so confusingly told, and I still have no idea what the deal is with Mime and Marionette’s kid.  Plus, that final fight serves no purpose either.  It all feels like a gigantic waste of time. 

Superman getting dusted is a nice visual, though.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Fine