Doomsday Clock…

[Rod G]

Doomsday Clock was pointless.


Period.

[Menacer]

Is it worth it?

I just finished rereading The Button and oh, boy what a fun read that was.

I know this leads into Doomsday Clock, which took FOREVER because of reasons. But was it a good story? Should I read it?

Like, I don’t even know what effect it had on the main universe. I just remember a panel of Vic Sage being on a justice league jet in space or some such and thinking that that was a horrible mistake because I firmly believe that not all heroes should be part of the justice league.

If it’s not a good story, wanna just give me the spark notes?

*Gasp* Wait… hold up… is The Button how Thomas got thrown into the main books? Is that what happened here?

I have questions and needs answers.

Also I’m assuming this thread fits in this forum.

Edit: The consensus seems to be that Doomsday Clock is pretty whatever. However valuable intel suggests that it can be enjoyed if viewed from another angle of continuity.

Thank you for your assistance, small sample of people. It has been much appreciated.

If your interested in an entertaining story with amazing art absolutely. I love thay story and definently have it on my reread list.

If your interested in fixing continuity or reintroducing the jsa or being some monumental artisitc achievement... well then you may wanna skip it.

For me its a fun read but not the kind of gamechanger people hoped for

[married guy]

As a stand alone story, it was... OK.
It became something very different to what it started out as and I think it showed.
It became something that as a reader you could simply ignore.
Which is a great shame as it COULD have been the start of a DC renewal.
Frank's artwork was great though.

[Hol]

If your interested in an entertaining story with amazing art absolutely. I love thay story and definently have it on my reread list.

If your interested in fixing continuity or reintroducing the jsa or being some monumental artisitc achievement... well then you may wanna skip it.

For me its a fun read but not the kind of gamechanger people hoped for

This right here sums it up for me. Book has beautiful art. And some fun moments and an overall cool concept. I am a fan of Doomsday Clock. Will re-read it at some point soon. I am not a huge Watchmen fan so for me the book really heats up in the second half. And those last two issues were great.

[Chubistian]

I'm not a Watchmen purist, and I have given opportunities to different uses of the license, such as Before Watchmen, the HBO series and Rorschach, by King and Fornés (my favorite so far), but I couldn't enjoy the Watchmen's moments of Doomsday Clock. When it focused in the characters of the main DC continuity, I got more enjoyment out of the story

[phonogram12]

Like others have already stated, it was...fine. Definitely serviceable at least. Frank's art was the true standout here, though.

[Rufio]

Wow, thanks everyone. Appreciate the feedback.

I shall check into this elseworlds in main continuity clothing, if just to enjoy the art. lol

So, it was a failed attempt at fixing the mess. Poor thing.

[phonogram12]

Wow, thanks everyone. Appreciate the feedback.

I shall check into this elseworlds in main continuity clothing, if just to enjoy the art. lol

So, it was a failed attempt at fixing the mess. Poor thing.

As far as universe-wide impact, I'm tempted to say it wasn't really Johns' fault. If I'm getting the timeline right, right at the beginning or middle of the series is when Didio got the ousting. I'd say that's at least a third of why anything from this maxi wasn't ever mentioned anywhere else again.

But yeah, Johns is totally responsible for the averageness of this story. That said, I find most of his work just average more or less. I just wish Frank would work with writers I'd prefer more.

[superduperman]

The only good thing it did was give us Earth 1985 and Earth 52. Which are the pre-Crisis universe and New 52 universe, respectively. Whether or not anything in it is considered canon is up for debate. This was the Didio era so how much got kept after he left is anyone's guess. This Death Metal was also supposed to sort out the continuity mess too so who knows anymore.

[Restingvoice]

The only good thing it did was give us Earth 1985 and Earth 52. Which are the pre-Crisis universe and New 52 universe, respectively. Whether or not anything in it is considered canon is up for debate. This was the Didio era so how much got kept after he left is anyone's guess. This Death Metal was also supposed to sort out the continuity mess too so who knows anymore.

Those Earths are archived stories, while the main Earth, multiverse, and inhabitants evolve to the stories published in current mainline ongoing, and until someone decide they want to write stories in those archived Earths, they're simply representation of trade paperbacks or digital comics of those Earths that are still sold today, and that's it.

[kingaliencracker]

As far as universe-wide impact, I'm tempted to say it wasn't really Johns' fault. If I'm getting the timeline right, right at the beginning or middle of the series is when Didio got the ousting. I'd say that's at least a third of why anything from this maxi wasn't ever mentioned anywhere else again.

But yeah, Johns is totally responsible for the averageness of this story. That said, I find most of his work just average more or less. I just wish Frank would work with writers I'd prefer more.

Your timeline is off. Didio was fired a couple of months after Doomsday Clock's last issue.

There were a lot of things that derailed DDC, and from many reports Johns is at least partially responsible for its delays. But there was also a major directional shift at DC in the middle of the story. It was just badly executed and supported all around.

[phonogram12]

But there was also a major directional shift at DC in the middle of the story. It was just badly executed and supported all around.

I knew it was something like that. A lot of things seemed to be happening all around the same time (give or take a few months) when this came out.

[Timber Wolf-By-Night]

I knew it was something like that. A lot of things seemed to be happening all around the same time (give or take a few months) when this came out.

The biggest thing being Didio somehow taking back the reins from Johns and almost immediately mandating a "course correction" back towards some version of his personal editorial vision of DC, only now he had to deal with certain concepts and characters he'd previously mandated be removed because he didn't like them unless they were massively "reimagined" into fitting his vision.

[Jekyll]

Skip it and read Geiger instead. Same creative team and better story.

[ducklord]

Doomsday Clock... oy. Spoilers below.

spoilers:

On the Plus Side - Damn pretty - A solid effort to use the style of Watchmen, and break from it when appropriate. - Some of the bits with Manhattan and his actor friend were actually rather moving. - Watching the entire gathered might of the DCU get casually swatted by Manhattan was amusing. - Constantine's absolutely horrible Dick Van Dyke-in-Mary Poppins accent was also funny (although likely unintentional). - I enjoyed the interplay between Luthor and Ozymandias. - I liked the fact that, in the end, the DCU infected the Watchmen reality (via M&M's kid), and M&M were left to infect the DCU. - The re-envisioning of the larger space of the DCU as a metaverse that occasionally re-invents itself, storing its old versions away for safekeeping, appealed to me. - Casting Dr. Manhattan as the scapegoat for the New 52? Sure. Beats inventing a new Parallax. - The Joker was consistently fun throughout. - The best thing I can say: I one feels that one absolutely must drag the Watchmen-verse into contact with the DCU, you could do a lot worse. Not-So-Good Things - Martin Stein as recast as bad guy secretly responsible for scores of metahumans who already had perfectly good origin stories? Pass. - Rorschach II had an interesting origin, but then just kind of wandered around until the story was over. - The delays killed the forward momentum of the story, particularly as it got run over by the (spectacular) Watchmen TV show and DC's Metal crossovers. - The return of the JSA was a triumphant moment that was severely hindered by the fact that we haven't seen much of them since. - The return the the Legion was a triumphant moment that was severely hindered by the fact that it was the wtf Bendis Legion. - As cool as the big fight on Mars was, it made the collective DC heroes look like big ol' morons ("let's send everyone to Mars! Wheeee!") - I think Johns kind of wrote himself into a hole with Dr. M's inability to see anything past his confrontation with Superman. The resolution of that confrontation didn't really "work." - On a meta level, John's laying all the darkness of the DCU at the feet of Alan Moore is some omega-level buck-passing.

end of spoilers

In the end, I enjoyed the series, even though is was something of a muddled mess.