DC’s Doomsday Clock Info Finally Revealed, Along With Interior Art

DC has been exceptionally tight-lipped about its upcoming
November story Doomsday Clock, which introduces the iconic
characters of Watchmen into the main DC Universe for the
first time. During a panel for the comic at New York Comic-Con,
writer Geoff Johns lifted the veil and explained why the publisher
has been secretive about the 12-issue miniseries.

Johns spoke with Lev Grossman–an expert on all things
Watchmen and the author of The Magicians
series–as to just why readers are being kept in the dark
about the upcoming book. “We want you to experience it by reading
it,” explained Johns.

That comment is not without its merit. Many times, comic book
publishers will unveil too much information about their upcoming
series, even spoiling major moments–like deaths and rebirths–and
full pages on the day of or even before the book’s release. Many
big events completely lose their allure and mystique through
spoilers and story details released to the public, and interest in
the series–as well as sales–suffer.

However, DC readers needed something to wet their whistle with
Doomsday Clock, as the company has been teasing it for
months now, with numerous promo images but not much else.

Johns revealed the first six-pages for the premiere issue of the
comic and walked through it panel by panel, and you can see the
lettered version of those pages below.

When the final page of this preview was revealed, the hall
erupted in cheers and applause as Watchmen character
Rorschach appeared on the screens on the sides of the stage. Johns
insisted that Doomsday Clock is something anyone will be
able to read, as long as they’ve read Watchmen, which many
comic book fans consider to be required reading.

The seeds for this story reach back to the DC Rebirth
one-shot comic from June 2016, where Dr. Manhattan was revealed on
the final page–which marked the first time that character appeared
in the main DC Universe. Since then, vague promo images and an event at this past year’s San Diego
Comic-Con continued to tease the book without any solid
information.

While Johns discussed the creation of the comic and why he
wanted to write it, he kept story details incredibly vague.
However, he explained his passion for this project and that he
wanted to put the heartbeat back into the DC Universe: “I wanted to
get back to the essence of these characters,” said Johns.

The writer also expressed his admiration for the original
Watchmen series and that he and artist Gary Frank were following a
rule book for this series. Frank was following a nine-panel grid,
much like the original graphic novel, and Johns said that Frank has
“a slight echo” to Watchman‘s artist Dave Gibbons. “He’s
the only artist to do the project,” said Johns. “If Gary doesn’t
draw it, I can’t write it.”

During the final minutes of the panel, Johns explained this is a
standalone story, not an event. There will be no crossovers or
tie-ins into other series. Readers interested in Doomsday
Clock will have to buy the 12-issue miniseries and nothing
else.

Finally, according to Johns, Dr. Manhattan will be naked in this
series. That, along with the swearing in the preview of the book,
means that DC is keeping in tone with the original series, which is
adult in nature. You can see the full comic and Mahattan’s blue
penis in Doomsday Clock, which hits stores on Wednesday,
November 22.