It's incredible how versatile Geoff Johns is, I was just reading a giant Twitter thread in which he's blamed for mucking with the original visions of David Ayers & Zack Snyder on Justice League & Suicide Squad, and in the very next tab I get to read Rich Johnson complaining about how Johns's original vision for Rebirth has been mucked with. Say what you will about Johns, he's got an uncanny knack for simultaneously being both the hero and villain to different segments of DC fans.

I think Doomsday Clock's ability to be whatever big continuity changing event people thought it was going to be sailed a long time ago, and I'm not even sure that is what Johns wanted his story to be to begin with. In every interview I've read, he didn't seem all that interested in the continuity ramifications of Doomsday Clock, but rather telling a story good enough to be seen as a worthy sequel to Watchmen. In that respect, how well #12 is received will tell that tale.

If the original purpose of Rebirth & Doomsday Clock was to restore as much of the classic Pre-Flashpoint DCU as possible, then that goal has already been accomplished. There's clearly another big cosmic crisis afoot that will sort any remaining confusion, which will no doubt make some parts more confusing while trying to clean up the rest.

I would have loved if Doomsday Clock had come out in a more timely fashion and everything that Rebirth was supposed to do gone according to whatever plan Johns may or may not have even had. I've yet to hear from anyone who would actually know what that plan was exactly, but I'm sure it would have been cooler than watching The Batman Who Laughs running around the DCU turning creatively struggling characters into 90s emo versions of themselves.

But I can't really begrudge Didio for moving on with Scott Snyder, just as I can't begrudge Johns for recutting Justice League or Suicide Squad. WB wanted Suicide Squad to be more like Guardians of the Galaxy and Justice League to be more like Avengers, so that's exactly what Johns delivered, under extraordinarily difficult circumstances. Similarly, Didio couldn't just let the whole DCU line tread water until Johns finished Doomsday Clock. If I had to choose between Johns or Didio to be in charge of the DCU, I'd pick Johns without even thinking about it, but he's not. Plus, Johns is currently too busy being in charge of most of the live-action DCU to even do the job.