DC COMICS – @DCComics
[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]
STORY: Geoff Johns
ART: Gary Frank
COLORS: Brad Anderson
LETTERS: Rob Leigh
COVER: Gary Frank with Brad Anderson
VARIANT COVERS: Gary Frank with Brad Anderson
32pp, Color, $4.99 U.S. (February 2018)
Rated “T+” for Teen Plus
Watchmen created by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons
“Places We Have Never Known”
Watchmen was a comic book written by Alan Moore and drawn by Dave Gibbons and published by DC Comics in 1986 and 1987 as a 12-issue maxiseries (a term DC still uses). Doomsday Clock is a new 12-issue miniseries (or “maxiseries”) from DC Comics. It is written by Geoff Johns; drawn by Gary Frank; colored by Brad Anderson; and lettered by Rob Leigh. Doomsday Clock will introduce characters from Moore and Gibbons' Watchmen into the main DC Comics Universe.
Doomsday Clock #2 (“Places We Have Never Known”) opens on the world in which Watchmen is set, a world that is about to die. Ozymandias, the man who betrayed the world because he schemed to bring about peace among nations and mankind, has a new scheme – to save the world... again! But he needs to find Dr. Manhattan, whom he has tracked to another Earth, one similar to his own. So Ozymandias, Rorschach, and the homicidal duo, the Marionette and the Mime, take a trip to that Earth.
Meanwhile, in Gotham City, Bruce Wayne is locked in a mortal struggle to keep Lex Luthor from taking over Wayne Enterprises. Wayne and Luthor are the two smartest men in the world, so what will they think of of Ozymandias and Rorschach's wild tales from another world?
After thirty years of watching DC Comics fuck the Watchmen chicken real hard, I was skeptical about Doomsday Clock. But I gots to keep it real. I really like this, and I like Doomsday Clock #2, more than I liked the first issue, which I really enjoyed.
Between the Batman: Earth One series and this, Geoff Johns is writing some excellent comics featuring Batman, and this one is so delicious. Rorschach vs. Batman; Ozymandias vs. Lex Luthor; the conniving and murderous Marionette and Mime; and a surprise pop-up hero/villain. It is Geoff John's Christmas present to DC Comics fans.
As I wrote in my review of the first issue, Gary Frank is no Dave Gibbons, but Frank is quite good and his drawing style is similar to Gibbons.' For all that he is stylish and skillful, Frank is a superb storyteller. Practically every panel is a visually striking image, and every panel drives the story forward. Wow, Frank's art could create a fanboy riot.
Now, I am not so sure that Geoff Johns and Gary Frank can not produce in Doomsday Clock something nearly as good as Watchmen. Doomsday Clock may never be as memorable as Watchmen, but it could come close to being as good...
9 out of 10
Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"
The text is copyright © 2018 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for reprint and syndication rights and fees.
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