There is a war between optimism and pessimism, a childlike joy triggered by how wonderful things can be and then there is an awe and fascination in how terrible things can be, a desire to see the old ways shattered and hell let loose. But does that describe Doomsday Clock #12, or does it describe what has happened in DC Comics since Rebirth? Or does it describe both, with the two situations delivering up opposite outcomes? And which will lay the ground for 2020 and beyond?
Ordinarily, I would respond to an issue of this series by going into the small details and see where they are going. As the previous eleven issues, as well as DC Rebirth #1 and "The Button" and various crossovers like the Mr. Oz subplot beforehand ticked by at a remarkably leisurely pace, those small clues pointed us towards the end, an end which in many broad strokes – the JSA and the Kents returning; Superman turning Dr. Manhattan "good" – was visible from the outset. Other details led my prognostications, anyway, onto wrong paths and dead ends; perhaps there were some red herrings in some places, but then again, maybe some plans were changed. In many ways, we don't know, at the conclusion of issue #12, how things end because we ought to be wondering, is Doomsday Clock a turning point in DC's plans or is it a now-out-of-continuity story from a writer who has lost favor during the slow roll of this long, long running miniseries? I will post again on DC #12, looking into the small details, in the days to come. But as I reach the end of this issue, I find myself thinking most about the big picture, and that's what I discuss here.
Without unpacking them, I'll chronicle a list of plot points that I found relatively surprising: That the Superman-Manhattan meeting began as backdrop to a continuing attack on Superman from various villains. That Johnny Thunder had no significant role in saving the day. That the LSH and Superman's career as Superboy were affirmed while Bendis' LSH series seems to have taken a different path. That Veidt's plan prevailed and was not interrupted by Batman or anyone. That Johns provided an expansion of the Multiverse, placing old familiar timelines into the "Earth-" + number scheme. That Johns would flash-forward through the future of DC's reboots "predicting" many future years' worth of stories and hint at this continuing for over 900 more years. That Dr. Manhattan will get to live a non-superpowered life as a married man, a bit like the ending that Alan Moore gave Superman in Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?
In many respects, there were no major surprises at all. Superman's goodness prevailed and as far back as DC #5, I posited, "Veidt will likely… orchestrate a meeting between Superman, the DCU's symbol of hope, and Dr. Manhattan. But to what end, and to what intended end? Veidt sees the DCU in stark terms, and his only goal is to get Dr. Manhattan to return to his own universe and save it." That was a bit over one and a half years ago – the ending of Doomsday Clock was visible from farther out than any of DC's previous events have even lasted in their entirety!
But as the story ends, I find myself noting the possible dissonance between Johns' prognostication and what I see in much of the rest of DC's output, and I don't mean on mere small plot points (are the Kents alive again?).
Watchmen delivered up a worldview in which superheroes couldn't possibly be the sunshiny and beneficial saviors of a world, at least not one interestingly like ours. Johns, we could see from early on, was going to show the darkness of Moore's vision being illuminated and vanquished by the unstoppable optimism of Superman. On the page, in his own story, and his own miniseries, Johns had the power to make that happen. But what about the rest of DC's superhero comics? What about, as it was dubbed two weeks ago, the Depressoverse? DC has called 2019 "The Year of the Villain." Their flagship character in the making is Harley Quinn. The demonic force behind the scenes of several titles' stories is The Batman Who Laughs. While Johns' story tells us that Superman prevails in the long run, are DC's other stories – are the sales figures – telling us that characters with morality closer to that of the Comedian and Rorschach prevailing in their future output? Was the year of the villain a harbinger of many more years of the villain to come, or is it ending now to deliver up something closer to Johns' vision than to Snyder's? I reach the last page of Doomsday Clock more curious than ever to see how the story will end. We'll start to find out in 2020.
