Deconstructing the Doomsday Clock #11: A Lifelong Mistake

It's the penultimate issue of what was anticipated to have been a huge event in the DC Universe -- the culmination, in fact, of what began in REBIRTH.

It still is the culmination of what began in REBIRTH. Except REBIRTH doesn't mean anything any longer. The years of teasing the presence of Saturn Girl in the present day, the absence of the Justice Society, the return of Wally West, THE BUTTON... all of that is for naught, because the Legion of Super-Heroes is being introduced in a different fashion, the Justice Society has already returned in JUSTICE LEAGUE, and Wally West has been ruined by Tom King in HEROES IN CRISIS.

DOOMSDAY CLOCK happens in a DC Universe separate from the ongoing titles. It may have begun in the mainstream DCU, but with all the events happening now -- the aftermath of METAL, the current events of EVENT: LEVIATHIN, the YEAR OF THE VILLAIN... and no mention anywhere of The Supermen Theory, the political upheaval, or the presence of Ozymandias, Comedian, and Rorschach II (not to mention the Mime and Marionette).

Add to this the fact that Ozymandias has become smug and smarmy in a way he never was before, and is thinking illogically. He knows Saturn Girl is from the future, and asks if Superman remembers her -- assuming Superman had already met Saturn Girl. He also tells Johnny Thunder that the past won't be erased, even though Dr. Manhattan has been doing nothing but erasing and rewriting the past.

DOOMSDAY CLOCK should have been something. But too many competing events, with no impact on the DC Universe in general, isn't so much a slam on the book as it is on DC Comics' editorial, who don't seem to be exercising any control. Julius Schwartz, Jenette Kahn, and Denny O'Neil knew how to manage multiple storylines and make them interact with each other without slamming into each other.

Oh, Black Adam arrives in Washington, Superman shows up and gets punched down the street so that he lands in front of Doctor Manhattan. The fight we've been waiting for is about to happen. And Doctor Manhattan's been dropping Polaroids throughout time, and Lex Luthor's been collecting them since he was a kid. There's your story in a nutshell. Great art, though.