Superman in Doomsday Clock

[JAK]

The trunks are in continuity. They were part of his first and probably most iconic costume. That's all that matters to me. And even if they're not back now or in the near future, if there's anything we know about comic book characters, its that things always revert back to the classic, iconic status quo sooner or later. So, when there is eventually a change in the editorial guard at DC, I could see someone saying "let's bring the trunks back."

Agreed. There is no better suit than the classic, and at least they're in continuity. The current suit is good (strangely I almost like the Rebirth suit better in some ways?), but Superman having the classic again would be great and, imo, fitting. And make no mistake: every bit of that suit is iconic. Not that I couldn't live with what we have... but it'll never be #1.

As for the storyline (forgive me, I skipped some pages of this thread)... if it's Lex with cancer, what if we're looking at the wrong way. What if Lex has cancer and Superman is the only one who can operate before it gets worse... but it's in a tricky part of the brain. Lex recovers but there are things he can't remember, largely his time as a hero. He blames Superman, thinking he did it on purpose, and away we go.

[Sacred Knight]

I'm starting to think Lex goes bad again before Doomsday Clock, actually. Something happens after Oz Effect not only in regards to Oz's reveal that hurts Superman, but something from a more human standpoint. The November solicits basically say Superman has lost faith from a Kryptonian and human viewpoint. The Kryptonian side has do to with Oz, but what causes a loss of faith in humanity? I think there's a hint to that in this week's Action preview, when Superman tells Lex his changes have actually inspired him. If Superman feels that strongly about what Lex has done lately, if he throws it all away and becomes evil again, I could see that being extra icing on the cake of the Oz reveal to throw Superman into the type of depression the November solicits describe. So maybe Lex's encounter with Oz has him informing Lex that he has a brain tumor, and this causes Lex to lose it in anger. A year later in Doomsday Clock Lex is still receiving treatment for his illness somewhere, by this time well back in his old status quo as mad genius and Superman's arch-enemy.

[Miles To Go]

So my prior worries about Doomsday Clock was it was going to do something to Lois and Clark...however, it's starting to look like any problems with those two will occur in the year leading into Doomsday Clock, and will be resolved before it.

[GreatKungLao]

Gary Frank posted this on twitter



They cut a decent amount of his head for the actual cover.

[Sacred Knight]

What's interesting about the cover is wondering the way we're supposed to be looking at it. Is Superman being taken apart (deconstructed), or is he in the process of being put back together?

[GreatKungLao]

What's interesting about the cover is wondering the way we're supposed to be looking at it. Is Superman being taken apart (deconstructed), or is he in the process of being put back together?

Well, as Jonathan Osterman Doctor Manhattan was clock master and his dream job was to be fixing broken clocks and watches until his father read newspaper about humans discovering the nuclear power of atom and forced his son to go and become scientist. And in DC Universe Rebirth #1 Manhattan is also fixing Wally's watches. So I most certaintly sure that Superman is being fixed on the cover.

[Sacred Knight]

Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but if he's being constructed as his current Reborn self on that cover (as the costume would indicate), it made me wonder if it could suggest that Manhattan might have something to do with the timeline being "fixed". Also makes me wonder if we're in for a reveal that Manhattan crafting the New 52 stuff wasn't malicious, that maybe he actually was trying to fix the damage the Crisis did all along but something else got in the way. That it wasn't his aim to weaken Superman, that something else took advantage and did that. Like he was actually trying to set things right all along and the really dark force the likes that Mxy was talking about is something else.

Just a thought, don't even know how much I'm considering it at this point, but something that came up in my head.

[GreatKungLao]

Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but if he's being constructed as his current Reborn self on that cover (as the costume would indicate), it made me wonder if it could suggest that Manhattan might have something to do with the timeline being "fixed". Also makes me wonder if we're in for a reveal that Manhattan crafting the New 52 stuff wasn't malicious, that maybe he actually was trying to fix the damage the Crisis did all along but something else got in the way. That it wasn't his aim to weaken Superman, that something else took advantage and did that. Like he was actually trying to set things right all along and the really dark force the likes that Mxy was talking about is something else.

Just a thought, don't even know how much I'm considering it at this point, but something that came up in my head.

Well there is METAL event that is happening right now where an entire dark multiverse will be discovered. So who knows, maybe Manhattan has an evil counterpart.

[stephens2177]

Holy ****,now that would be a huge mind blower right there.

Hey Manhattan bring back kon-el

[Ascended]

Just a thought, don't even know how much I'm considering it at this point, but something that came up in my head.

I've been assuming for a while that the Watchmen (or at least Manhattan) aren't the actual villain/s here. They're far too morally gray for something so obvious.

I think all these horrible, creepy things they've been doing are just part of a much larger conflict. Their methods are terrible, but we are talking about Ozymandias and Manhattan, after all.

The Empty Hand from Multiversity would make a lot of sense for a big bad capable of taking on Watchmen and multiple DC universes, but no one ever plays with Morrison toys but Morrison (and sometimes Tomasi). Might be Darkseid or Anti-Monitor, I doubt Johns said everything he wanted to in Darkseid War. Could be someone new. I dunno who the big bad is going to be but I'm pretty sure its not Manhattan or Ozymandias.

[Sacred Knight]

The more I think about it, it just really makes sense for the character to be looking down on the cosmos, seeing Earth-0 as the ridiculous jumbled mess it was and think, as if it were a clock, "I can fix this". That seems to be more who Dr. Manhattan is, or at least was in his human guise. In other words his particular motivation with the DCU doesn't come from the final pages of Watchmen about him showing an interest in creating life, like has been so widely theorized, the motivation just comes from the innate desire he has to fix broke timepieces, only this timepiece is a universe. Then something bad comes along and takes advantage of his work-in-progress. This threat from that point kept him from doing what he really sought out to do, and the end result was the New 52, that same work in process with some malicious touches by another force. But somehow, this guy called Superman ends up impossibly breaking whatever block the hypothetical hidden threat had on not only himself, but the whole world (events of Superman Reborn), and Manhattan was free again to go back to work, which we tangibly see a piece of when the Supermen merge and the new Superman is revealed, heralding the post-Reborn Rebirth Earth (gee that's a lot of titles). But the threat is still there, if not having the same stranglehold it had before. The work is still at risk. If I can be allowed one more clock reference, the face isn't closed yet. The proper work is still at risk, and Manhattan finally feels the needs to meet the man who did the impossible in the first place. Enter Doomsday Clock.

[JAK]

The more I think about it, it just really makes sense for the character to be looking down on the cosmos, seeing Earth-0 and as the ridiculous jumbled mess it was and think, as if it were a clock, "I can fix this". That seems to be more who Dr. Manhattan is, or at least was in his human guise. In other words his particular motivation with the DCU doesn't come from final pages of Watchmen about him showing an interest in creating life, like has been so widely theorized, the motivation just comes from the innate desire he has to fix broke timepieces, only this timepiece is a universe. Then something bad comes all along and takes advantage of his work-in-progress. This threat from that point kept him from doing what he really sought out to do, and the end result was the New 52, that same work in process with some malicious touches by another force. But somehow, this guy called Superman ends up impossibly breaking whatever block the hypothetical hidden threat had not only himself, but the whole world (events of Superman Reborn), and Manhattan was free again to go back to work, which we tangibly see a piece of when the Supermen merge and the new Superman is revealed, heralding the post-Reborn Rebirth Earth (gee that's a lot of titles). But the threat is still there, if not having the same stranglehold it had before. The work is still at risk. If I can be allowed one more clock reference, the face isn't closed yet. The proper work is still at risk, and Manhattan finally feels he needs to meet the man who did the impossible in the first place. Enter Doomsday Clock.

Brilliant. That is an amazing idea.

[GreatKungLao]

Oh my, seems like we will get Rorsach in Doomsday Clock afterall.

[Miles To Go]

So are they going to retcon it that Manhattan never killed him?

Maybe he's an Oz prisoner?

[GreatKungLao]

So are they going to retcon it that Manhattan never killed him?

Maybe he's an Oz prisoner?

Or just a flashback or only for the cover.