Geoff Johns Tours ‘The Great Lie’ Of The DC Universe And Watchmen In ‘Doomsday Clock’ #1
Geoff Johns gives us a tour of the next DC Rebirth chapter featuring the Watchmen with his maxi-series Doomsday Clock.
Johns has partnered up with Gary Frank, artist of Batman: Earth One, to create something special utilizing the critically acclaimed Watchmen character Dr. Manhattan.
Through DC All Access, Johns was able to give the readers a chance to view the first six pages of Doomsday Clock #1 more than a month before its release date. He also had a chance to explain his process when approaching the story. He starts with an unreliable narrator that will guide the audience through the chaotic world that Frank illustrates.
It’s the Watchmen’s world which is a fact that Johns and Frank never forget. They’re opening page of Doomsday Clock #1 is an homage to the first page of the original Watchmen series. They use the same grid style, only instead of continuing to use the “god’s eye” point of view, they switch angle of the camera to demonstrate that this is their take on the series.
Readers find out that the story picks up after Watchmen ends with Ozymandias on the run after it is uncovered that he was a part of the plan that killed millions of people including superhero The Comedian. He has left behind “The Great Lie” and is the most sought after man on the planet.
The ashcan, which can be viewed here, gives us a little more information as the captions and balloons are inserted over the art. Johns approaches the world of Watchmen similarly to how its creator Alan Moore did by using the medium as a vehicle for social and political criticism.
“That’s part of the fun of Watchmen. I want you to read this more than once. I want you to read this more than twice. Gary and I want you to get in there. There’s so many things through these whole first six pages alone that people should have a lot of fun digging into and getting more and more meanings,” said Johns.
Johns implores the readers that the series he crafted with Frank must be reread several times to gather as much of the clues and references they scattered throughout the book.
The Watchmen world is in chaos at the beginning of the comic with people begging for the return of their god, Doctor Manhattan.
The big reveal in the ashcan is that one of the titular heroes of Watchmen, Rorschach, who died in the original series, has returned.
It begins. #DoomsdayClock @1moreGaryFrank @bdanderson13 @bcunningham71 @thatamedeo #NYCC pic.twitter.com/TlmOg3AU7A
— Geoff Johns (@geoffjohns) October 5, 2017
So far, not many questions have been answered regarding the Watchmen’s presence in the DC Universe, but this series is aiming to give readers more insight into what is happening. The other big event surrounding the Watchmen mystery in the DC Universe has been written in their Batman and Flash titles with their “The Button” event.
Doomsday Clock #1 will be in stores on November 22.
[Featured Image by Kent Horner/Getty Images]
