Doomsday Clock #1 Review
The comic book Watchmen changed the world forever. From its complex characters and subversion of common story tropes, it had a lasting effect on the comic book industry. After the original comic series debuted, the series wasn’t seen again until the 2012 series Before Watchmen. However, we have finally been given a true sequel to Watchmen, and that is Doomsday Clock.
Story (MAJOR SPOILERS)
It’s 1992, the world is at war, countries are being invaded, and government figures are being killed. This is all due to Ozymandias’s plan to destroy part of New York. However, Ozymandias is nowhere to be found, with large crowds of protesters storming his building. Over his wall of TV screens we see the news that Russia has invaded Poland, and the United States will nuke Russia if they don’t pull out within four hours. This has resulted in a mandatory evacuation of the United States, and we cut to a prison with all the guards evacuating. We then see one get knocked out, and a gloved hand grabbing the keys. The hand belongs to Rorschach, seemingly back from the dead. He travels down to cell block 31, and he meets up with Erika Manson, The Marionette. This is a villain from the costumed hero age, one who had fought against Rorschach before. We learn that this isn’t Walter Kovacs, and is someone impersonating Rorschach. This new Rorschach shows a The Marionette a picture of her son, who she desperately wants to find, and wants to bring her husband along with her. Rorschach and his unknown partner only want her as they want to find “god”, but The Marionette insists on bringing her husband, The Mime. Once they all reunite, they go to get The Mime’s weapons, which are either invisible or imaginary. The crew then travels through the sewers into Nite Owl’s garage, where The Marionette and The Mime meet Rorschach’s partner, Ozymandias. We find that Ozymandias has cancer, but that he still wants to save the world. He knows that only one man can save the world now, that being Dr. Manhattan, but he hasn’t been since 1985. We then see Metropolis, and find Superman having a nightmare about how his adopted parents died, and scared because he’s never had a nightmare before.
Presentation
Doomsday Clock’s art style is a very gritty and realistic style, very similar to the Rorschach Before Watchmen art style. The characters all have realistic body proportions, as well as having a realistic way of moving. We also see just how terrible the world has gotten, with everything being gray and brown, making the few instances of other colors both pop out while also seeming out of place.
Final Thoughts
This is a great return to the Watchmen Universe. Not only has the world changed due to Ozymandias’s attack, but the world leaders and events have filled the mold created by modern day events, just as Watchmen did before it. The first issue of Doomsday Clock also eases readers into the world of Watchmen, and doesn’t focus on the DC crossover aspect, in fact it hardly touches on it until the very end. Either way, the world has been shown to us, and the stakes have been set, now we just have to wait until December to see how the next chapter unfolds.
