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  1. #1
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    Default Doomsday Clock: The Adjournment

    The delays before Doomsday Clock #10 have (for good or for bad) given us all more time to think about the story, and I, for one, have regarded the story-within-a-story, The Adjournment, as a real challenge to comprehend. It's got to mean something about the main story, but what? Here's my answer to that, one that took me through a lot more thinking than I tried to record in the post itself. I hope people can use this as a starting point towards their own answers for what the story means - it could well be that more than one interpretation is valid and more than one is intended. I'd love to know what other people think the old detective movie means. You may want to consider your proposed solution before you read mine.

    http://rikdad.blogspot.com/2019/05/d...journment.html

  2. #2
    Obsessed & Compelled Bored at 3:00AM's Avatar
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    My current thinking is that the story within the story is not only a metatexual statement upon Dr. Manhattan's actions having unintended consequences, but Geoff Johns's own actions during the New 52 reboot having unintended consequences upon the DCU.

    Despite being a DC exec constantly having to watch what he says so as not to cause a PR disaster, Johns hasn't exactly hidden his own dissatisfaction and disappointment with what the New 52 did to parts of the DCU he loves dearly.

    For better or worse, Geoff Johns was the guy who pulled the trigger that has wreaked so much unintentional damage upon characters and concepts he was trying to help, often leading to their deaths or erasure from continuity

  3. #3
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    more significantly what does the title of the story stand for? is it having some symbolic significance like is Geoff John's trying to suggest that the story is literally a break from the proceedings of Doomsday clock or does it mean to indicate that the Doomsday Clock is the end of the "meeting" of the watchmen's universe and the DCU or does the term have some actual significance for the theme of the storyline within Doomsday Clock like is it in some way a descriptive of the role Nathaniel dusk is playing in the story where he is going to postpone the investigation or is the story going to end on that particular note in the movie with the solution of mystery(the culprit brought in by dusk being guilty or innocent) being left to our interpretation?
    Last edited by theoneandonly; 05-22-2019 at 03:12 AM.

  4. #4
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    Bored, the commentary on the New 52 specifically is certainly delivered in a metatextual way, starting in Rebirth. Do you expect, then, that whoever the killer is will parallel in some way some actual creators at DC?

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    Great question, theoneandonly, about the name itself. It's an odd title for a movie. In chess, it's an unusual variant in which the two players both write down their next moves without making them on the board, and then resolving them afterwards when both have been revealed. Maybe Law and/or Colman will make their moves after they have committed to them in writing.

    The most salient adjournment in the general sense that coms to my mind is the end of the Watchmen meeting wherein Veidt proposes that the superheroes can save everybody and The Comedian sets the map on fire. Perhaps an adjournment of that kind is yet to come.

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by Rikdad View Post
    Great question, theoneandonly, about the name itself. It's an odd title for a movie. In chess, it's an unusual variant in which the two players both write down their next moves without making them on the board, and then resolving them afterwards when both have been revealed. Maybe Law and/or Colman will make their moves after they have committed to them in writing.

    The most salient adjournment in the general sense that coms to my mind is the end of the Watchmen meeting wherein Veidt proposes that the superheroes can save everybody and The Comedian sets the map on fire. Perhaps an adjournment of that kind is yet to come.
    thanks for clarifying that. it's been a long time since I last played chess. It certainly looks like the chess board is going to feature prominently in the storyline since the title is based upon the mechanism used in the game.
    Last edited by theoneandonly; 05-22-2019 at 05:03 AM.

  7. #7
    Obsessed & Compelled Bored at 3:00AM's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Rikdad View Post
    Bored, the commentary on the New 52 specifically is certainly delivered in a metatextual way, starting in Rebirth. Do you expect, then, that whoever the killer is will parallel in some way some actual creators at DC?
    I don't know how specific Johns will get, but I think we'll certainly see a lot of himself, Didio, and Diane Nelson reflected in Doomsday Clock and its story within a story. According to what I've heard (mostly through Rich Johnson's little birds), Nelson and Johns had a very close relationship. Reportedly, Nelson was very much behind Didio's push for a line-wide reboot in order to make DC's properties easier to adapt into other media, which had the unfortunate side effect of stripping the DCU of much of its texture, depth, and legacy.

    Manhattan, Veidt, & Johnny Thunder each seem to be people who tried to do something good, but their actions ended up making things much, much worse. I think it's inevitable that The Ajournment will play upon the same idea.



    Now, I don't think that necessarily means that the femme fatale on this cover is going to be an exact one-to-one representation of Diane Nelson, but it wouldn't surprise me if they have something in common

    I think there's certainly going to be a lot of young Geoff Johns in that kid reading JSA.

  8. #8
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    Very interesting, Bored, and it surfaces a thought that should have been with us all along – how much is this a reply to Watchmen and how much is it a reply to the New 52? A few years from now, anything that conflates those two is going to seem weird, as one is "timeless" and the other is very specific and already, in some ways, out of date.

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by Rikdad View Post
    Great question, theoneandonly, about the name itself. It's an odd title for a movie. In chess, it's an unusual variant in which the two players both write down their next moves without making them on the board, and then resolving them afterwards when both have been revealed. Maybe Law and/or Colman will make their moves after they have committed to them in writing.

    The most salient adjournment in the general sense that coms to my mind is the end of the Watchmen meeting wherein Veidt proposes that the superheroes can save everybody and The Comedian sets the map on fire. Perhaps an adjournment of that kind is yet to come.
    The chess theme is also prevalent in DC #7...when Dr. Manhattan first appears in the story as we recognize him (page 17), it is atop a black & white tiled floor which appears much like a chess board. Dr. M, New Rorshach, Mime, Marionette, Adrian, Batman, Joker, and the Comedian are all present on this "board" (floor), as well as the Lantern and Bubastis II. Dr. M then immediately teleports the Watchmen universe characters away, as well as a portion of the floor, leaving Batman & Joker behind.

    Are Batman & Joker the white & black Kings "swept from the board" that Dusk analyzes? I'm not smart enough to say, but I thought it might be interesting.
    "Darkseid...always hated music..."

    Every post I make, it should be assumed by the reader that the following statement is attached: "It's all subjective. What works for me doesn't necessarily work for you, and vice versa, and that's ok. You may have a different opinion on it, but this is mine. That's the wonderful thing about being a comics fan, it's all subjective."

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by Rikdad View Post
    Very interesting, Bored, and it surfaces a thought that should have been with us all along – how much is this a reply to Watchmen and how much is it a reply to the New 52? A few years from now, anything that conflates those two is going to seem weird, as one is "timeless" and the other is very specific and already, in some ways, out of date.
    The odd thing about the New 52's 90s aesthetic was that it already painfully felt out of date even at the time it was coming out. I understand a bit of the thinking behind it, Didio & Lee likely had to sell their plans to corporate executives like Nelson who viewed the 90s as the last time when comics sold millions of copies. However, despite all the flack they get (some of it very justified), I don't think either Didio or Lee were so dumb they didn't also know that the 90s boom was built upon a particular set of demographics and speculators artificially inflating sales.

    Not sure how this will come into play in either Doomsday Clock or The Adjournment, but, if I am right about how meta Johns is going to get, I think we'll see parallels with how the characters felt forced into making choices they already knew were wrong because outside factors and past mistakes made them feel like they had no other options.

    In Manhattan's case, his final vision of Superman seems to indicate either his own death or the end of all existence, which could be viewed as a parallel to how Dan Didio viewed his own precarious situation within DC and the survival of the entire comics industry itself. The killer in The Adjournment will likely also feel trapped into making the decision to commit murder. In Veidt's case, his own good intentions caused him to commit unspeakable horrors in order to create a better world, only to see it unravel thanks to forces larger than himself, so he sets out to manipulate those more powerful beings in order to achieve his goals. This is a pretty good parallel to the situation Geoff Johns has found himself in for much of his career as a writer and executive, forever manipulating stories and characters at the whims of those more powerful than him, only to see all his work make things worse, despite all his best efforts.

  11. #11
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    CK, the chessboards are all over the place. I think the standing knight indicates that the chess pieces were manipulated, at least, but if there was a chess game, what does that represent? It gnaws at me. It doesn't seem like there are many symmetrical contests taking place. Maybe Batman is about to rise up and beat Veidt at his own game, but then, it's not clear to me that Veidt's goals need to be opposed, though his tactics are certainly merciless.

  12. #12
    Mighty Member ducklord's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Bored at 3:00AM View Post
    The odd thing about the New 52's 90s aesthetic was that it already painfully felt out of date even at the time it was coming out. I understand a bit of the thinking behind it, Didio & Lee likely had to sell their plans to corporate executives like Nelson who viewed the 90s as the last time when comics sold millions of copies. However, despite all the flack they get (some of it very justified), I don't think either Didio or Lee were so dumb they didn't also know that the 90s boom was built upon a particular set of demographics and speculators artificially inflating sales.

    Not sure how this will come into play in either Doomsday Clock or The Adjournment, but, if I am right about how meta Johns is going to get, I think we'll see parallels with how the characters felt forced into making choices they already knew were wrong because outside factors and past mistakes made them feel like they had no other options.

    In Manhattan's case, his final vision of Superman seems to indicate either his own death or the end of all existence, which could be viewed as a parallel to how Dan Didio viewed his own precarious situation within DC and the survival of the entire comics industry itself. The killer in The Adjournment will likely also feel trapped into making the decision to commit murder. In Veidt's case, his own good intentions caused him to commit unspeakable horrors in order to create a better world, only to see it unravel thanks to forces larger than himself, so he sets out to manipulate those more powerful beings in order to achieve his goals. This is a pretty good parallel to the situation Geoff Johns has found himself in for much of his career as a writer and executive, forever manipulating stories and characters at the whims of those more powerful than him, only to see all his work make things worse, despite all his best efforts.
    If Johns is intentionally getting that metatextual, then Morrison must be bending his ear/slipping him some of his stash behind the scenes. 'Cause I'm not entirely sure he has those arrows in his quiver.

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    Quote Originally Posted by ducklord View Post
    If Johns is intentionally getting that metatextual, then Morrison must be bending his ear/slipping him some of his stash behind the scenes. 'Cause I'm not entirely sure he has those arrows in his quiver.
    lol that would mean that all of the runs of the current high profile writers like Snyder, bendis and Johns are inspired by Morrison's concepts.

  14. #14
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    Seriously, you don't need to think too much about this story. It's not Watchmen, it's Doomsday clock: A cool story with popular characters of Watchmen and DC, with a simple but uplifting message of hope, who also serve to reintroduce the JSA and with a lot of fan-service. It's fun, the writing is better than "Before Watchmen" and the art is top-notch, but it's not that deep. Geoff Johns is not Morrison or Moore, and it's ok.
    Last edited by lordozone; 05-23-2019 at 02:36 PM.
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    how can you say that? it's the gem of the current lot with more valuable nuggets to be mined with each subsequent reading.

    p.s.

    (I am not serious)

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