Doomsday Clock #12 Review

Written by: Geoff Johns

Pencils & Inks by: Gary Frank

Colored by: Brad Anderson

Published by: DC

After two years, the conclusion of Doomsday Clock finally arrives in comic shops and the question that is probably on everyone’s mind is: was the wait worth it? In my opinion? Yes, yes it was. 

Tackling a series like Doomsday Clock that is rooted in the storytelling and character work of a master such as Alan Moore was always going to be a tough sell to a portion of the comic buying community, but what Johns and Frank have been able to craft has been a nice homage to the source material, as well as a potential jumping off point for the rest of the DC Universe going forward. 

As we left off issue #11, we knew that a confrontation was about to happen between Superman and Dr. Manhattan, as well as the various pawns set up by Ozymandias throughout the series. What comes next is something that some of us may have expected, and some denouement that I’m sure will come as a surprise to a lot of us, myself included. 

The actual “fight”, if you want to call it that, is a nice exploration into the mythos of Superman and his place in the DC Universe, and also serves, through Dr. Manhattan’s narrative, to set Superman as the focal point of every generation found within this wacky comic book universe that has sliding time everywhere (and making it canon is amazing). 

For me, the best part, and what truly brought a tear to my eye, was the return of two certain super groups that have been absent from the comic landscape for a while now. Without spoiling too much, you can see that the plan was for Doomsday Clock to finish much earlier then it did - as one of said super groups has already received an ongoing recently - but it was still nice to see them reappear and within the context of the narrative, showcase their importance to Superman. The other group is a longtime favorite of mine and to see the members as I remembered them, that’s what really pushed me over the top and almost start the waterworks. 

As for the denouement, it was an interesting look into the thought process of Dr. Manhattan as he goes and pretty much explains almost everything that has happened in this series while also giving some hints to things to come. 

Gary Frank with Brad Anderson were the icing on the cake of this series. I know Frank has been a long time partner to Johns in various other comic ventures, so he was decidedly the best choice to bring Johns’ vision to light. There’s not much you can say of Franks art that hasn’t been said before, so I’ll leave it at this: his art brings a certain realism to the page that only enhances the subject matter and I’m glad I could be part of the ride.