Comic Review: Doomsday Clock #12

Doomsday Clock #12

DC Comics

Writer: Geoff Johns

Artist: Gary Frank

Doomsday Clock is finally over. It had many delays, but Geoff Johns managed it. The story was overshadowed by Snyder and Bendis, and King. Still, it was good. We will see where DC goes next.

Many spoilers ahead.

Final spoiler warning.

Superman and Dr. Manhattan finally come face to face. This moment has been years (literally) in the making and we finally get the answer – does Superman destroy Dr. Manhattan? Or does Dr. Manhattan destroy everything?

And the answer is… none of those. What happens is Dr. Manhattan thinks Superman is going to kick him, but he’s actually defending him from a strike by Russia’s Pozhar. This, combined with Superman’s selflessness in battling the attackers, teaches Jon a valuable lesson – a lesson of action, love, and hope…

It’s actually pretty funny because more than a year ago, I ran into a fan-made mock-ending off the series. In it, the author proposes that the final confrontation is actually Superman telling Manhattan about love and hope, thus saving the Universe. It’s so interesting (and hilarious) how close to home it actually landed.

Anyway, after this takes place, Manhattan decides to finally become a being of action. At that moment, he decides to correct the change he had made to the universe – he moves the green lantern back in Alan Scott’s reach. This causes a chain reaction that affects the universe in a major way. One of those changes is that inspired by tales of the Justice Society, Clark took on the Superboy persona in his youth. He had his adventures with the Legion of Superheroes, and – more importantly – managed to save his parents from certain death.

After that, we get a look into the future of the now established Metaverse, with a slew of possible storylines in the coming years. From the first official mention of DC’s 5G relaunch to a proposed Secret Crisis event that pits Superman and a Green Behemoth against Thor, there’s a bunch of stuff to go through. And in all of those, there is an overarching theme that was always at the core of not just Superman, but DC and comics in general – Hope. Yeah, that might sound a bit clichéd, but I swear, it works really well. Oh, and there is some real-world commentary thrown into the mix, for good measure. It makes the hope theme work even better.

For the entirety of its run, the series has had a bit of a messy reception. The first six issues felt a bit bloated and unnecessary, with a lot of storylines feeling like they didn’t bring much to the table. And in retrospect, I still feel they don’t. The second part, however, feels and reads much better, moving the story forward in a meaningful way and utilising the characters – both mainline DC heroes and the Watchmen ones – way better. Geoff Johns has always been a huge comic book nerd and nowhere is it more obvious than here. The writing and the plotting pay homage to Moore’s work on Watchmen without feeling like biting on his style. His approach to all of the heroes shows how much love and respect he has for the medium. The meta-commentary on comic book continuity he offers is really smart and interesting. 

Honestly, Geoff is one of the best writers at DC and I’m sad he doesn’t have more time to write them. I mean, I’m glad he’s really successful in other areas, but it does feel like the man enjoys writing comics more than anything.

Now, Geoff might be a great writer and all, but he isn’t the only one responsible for this issue is as good as it is. Gary Frank contributed to it as much as Geoff did. He poured his heart and soul (maybe even a blood sacrifice, I don’t know) in this book and it looks fantastic. There are a couple of two-page spreads and splashes with a bunch of heroes (and villains) on them and they are sure to make you teary-eyed. Honestly, the only problem I have with Frank’s art are the smiles. The guy just can’t do ‘em. The characters always end up looking like toothless grannies giving out a smile. It’s unsettling, seeing a smiling granny face on the body of a child.

So yeah, Doomsday Clock is finished, ending on a really high note. I’m saddened that its overall impact on the DC lineup is way smaller than it was supposed to be. If at all. Thanks to the delays, it has been overshadowed by stuff like Heroes in Crisis. I’m interested to see if editorial and other writers will take into consideration all the open threads Geoff left with the ending.  But that’s a discussion for another time and maybe another article. This is about Doomsday Clock #12 and – I’m happy to say – it’s a darn good book.