Doomsday Clock #12: Wait, What Just Happened? // Spoiler Article
After an ice age and a half, Doomsday Clock has finally ended. Was it worth the wait? Was it worth the potential curse dredged from the pits of hell by Alan Moore himself? Let's discuss and see what may be in store for the DC Universe now.
This article will contain spoilers for Doomsday Clock issue 12 and a discussion over most plot aspects of the book. You have been warned.
…gone? Cool. Take it away, Doctor Manhattan.
Easily the most fascinating thing about issue 12 is that DC has finally established the idea that their fictional universe not only centers itself around Superman but that it always has and always will. There is a Superman for each era, for each age of mankind. Each time Superman has been reinvented, a splinter universe is made to preserve that Superman's world when it ended.
Superman lifts a car in 1938, and his world is born. The Flash is struck by lightning in 1956, starting the Silver Age of comics, and Superman's Origin shifts forward. The 1938 Superman and his time is saved as Earth-2, while 1956 continues on as Earth-1. Come 1985, Earth-1 becomes Earth-1985, and survives the Crisis as another splinter universe. This means that everyone's favorite superhero eras all exist as their own Earths in the multiverse, even one for Earth-52. And then comes the teasing.
2020: Superman becomes bombarded with new energies.
2025: a new crisis erupts, featuring the Time Masters.
2026: Earth 5G is born as the Crisis is resolved.
2030: the Secret Crisis happens, featu-
...featuring Hulk and Thor from Marvel Comics. Wow.
As narrated by Doctor Manhattan himself, Geoff Johns basically explains his grand theory of Superman. Superman isn't just a hero, nor is he just a character. He's love. Superman is a concept that can span generations, giving the same lessons of love and peace that everyone can follow.
This is easily the most meta thing that has happened to DC since Grant Morrison came up with the concept of Hypertime, and it is genuinely thought-provoking. It remains to be seen if DC will continue with this plan into the future, but the meta-commentary provided here is one that cannot easily be overwritten. For right now, the DC Universe has metastasized into an artificially living being, and it's only intent is to tell stories about a man who loves everyone, no matter their race or creed.
However, the meta expansion of the DCU wasn't the only massive revelation. All of Doctor Manhattan's changes to the DCU have apparently been undone. Any changes from the Flashpoint/52 paradox onward have, to some degree, been reversed. Doctor Manhattan restored the Justice Society of America, which inspired a young Clark Kent to become Superboy. This had a domino effect of restoring Clark's parents to life, as he was super-powered enough to save them from a fatal car accident as a lad. Because Superboy exists, the Legion of Super-Heroes once more has a true inspiration source to draw from. It is genuinely fascinating to see the domino effect that once ripped these characters into the grimmer and darker 52 back into something closer to their previous incarnation.
Not everything has been reverted, though. The Bendis incarnation shows up instead of any of the classic incarnations. This may actually be the cause of some of the delays the final issue had, as Bendis' Legion has only just been launched, and designs might not have been finalized until now.
The biggest thing is that Wally West is still fragmented in time and space, though that might be due to him having a miniseries now. Seeing how Doctor Manhattan seems to be looking at the DCU like we readers do, he might have just looked at Wally's mini and went "ah, we're good."
However, it looks like things will turn around for Wally once more, as a splash page reveals that the Flash family will feature Wally and his kids at some point, with the depowered Jai becoming a super-speedy armor-wearing hero(?). We can assume he'll be taking a turtle based name, which was apparently an idea for Jai to become a villain before the last reboot.
I also appreciate the irony of Superman revealing his identity to the world because he has so few things to worry about going wrong… just in time for his parents to be restored to continuity. While Bendis seems to be actively doing his own thing, it will be interesting to see how this goes.
Finally, while Alan Moore is famously vocal about his distaste for the things DC and other major comic companies have done to his works, it's hard not to think he would smile a little at the idea of Superman reaching out to Doctor Manhattan. The few scenes the two shared wound up influencing the man who gave up to cold predestination by giving him hope.
And in return, Doctor Manhattan has attempted to bring a little of Superman's optimism back to the remains of the world he came from. It's a lovely ending shot, and one filled with hope. It flies in the face of a lot of what Watchmen was about, but it feels like it comes from a place of respect, unlike the Before Watchmen comics.
It remains to be seen how much of an impact Doomsday Clock is going to have. Slipping scheduling killed a lot of the book's internal momentum, and Bendis seems to have his own plans for Superman at the moment. As it is, Doomsday Clock finally puts a cap on DC's Rebirth story and ends it with almost an apology for the attempted reboot with 52.
It's hard for fans to ask for more.
