Doomsday Clock 2

This book took me by surprise. I really enjoyed how the peices fitted together, not just in this story but in DC in general. I admit to not liking the first story as it seemed to be more from the Watchman point of view which I did not know enough about. This book if definitely the DC part, the heroes I am much more familiar with.The story is huge with very good art work,not so action packed, but the story makes up for this. It is quite political but I did like it. I am not the biggest Superman fan as he is so powerful it make him a boring character,but I really like his he was used in this book. It is more about what he stands for and his compassion that he being all powerful. Batman is Batman, he is just cool in any universe. Not much of Wonder Woman in this book.A very good and ambitious story, that I think succeeded. I really enjoy fitting puzzle peices together and continuity so this book gets plus points in that department from me. The book also has a cover gallery of full page art work of all the regular issues, not the variants.

First of all I should say that I was dead against this book existing. I am a huge Watchmen fan and consider it to be the perfect graphic novel, a stone cold stand alone masterpiece that should never be messed with, especially by people that are not Alan Moore. However when Doomsday Clock first came out I read a few very positive reviews - and saw a bit of the impressive artwork - and became curious. Then came the TV serious (I was, of course, also dead against) which I watched reluctantly at first but ended up absolutely loving and even rewatching. So with my resistance against non-Moore Watchmen sequels significantly softened, and bouyed by the ever increasing tide of great reviews, I decided to give Doomsday Clock a try and waited with some excitement for both trades to be out.Based on the reviews and my revitalised interest in Watchmen I was expecting to like it.I wanted to like it.And I really tried to like it.I hated it so much.Many people who know a hell of a lot more about comics and stories than me are calling this a worthy follow up to the original story but my opinion is quite the opposite.Im a lifelong comics fan but never really been that into DC (nor Marvel before we get into that one!) and this is very much a story for big DC fans. If you are mainly a fan of Watchmen, and more mature themed comics in general, you are going to be appalled.It is problematic to use the word “ludicrous” when criticising a story featuring people that can fly and teleport and what not but I’m going to do it any way - Doomsday Clock is ludicrous.One of the main plot devices is literally just characters sneaking up behind people unnoticed - it happens time and time again regardless of where in the city (or universe) somebody is, if they’re looking for somebody they just need to skip forward a few pages and they will miraculously find them.So many utterly silly things happen which I won’t list for spoiler reasons but I have to mention the bit where all the superheroes on earth gather in groups and fly off to Mars in various different spaceships. Takes them like a couple of pages to get there. If you’re happy to accept that then fine but please not in a sequel to Alan Moore’s Watchmen.As for the of treatment of Moore’s characters themselves it’s pretty depressing. Ozymandias is the moustache twiddling villain with a super cute baby Bubastis (yes - really), there’s a couple of new ones who are actually pretty great until they hook up with all the DC villains and it gets silly, a new Rorschach that Batman incarcerates in Arkham Asylum by saying “follow me to Arkham Asylum”, and and The Comedian is brought back to life FFS! Edward Blake - one of the most terrifying yet compelling of Moore’a creations - is here treated as a one dimensional, cigar chomping bozo who just appears from time to time trying to shoot up stuff. This made me angry.It is unfair to compare any writer of comics to Alan Moore but when you attempt to write a sequel to Moore’s most revered work then you are inviting that comparison and for me Geoff Johns did not do anything like near a worthy job here.It looks beautiful though. The artwork is staggering and consistently so. Gary Frank has done an incredible job here and it Is amongst the best I have ever seen.Hense the three stars for this abomination of a story.

I just finished my second reading of Doomsday Clock and I think it is massively underappreciated. The way Johns integrates the watchmen and the DC universes and the "philosophical" implications of this clash are amazing. He shows deep respect and knowledge about both universes and, for the most part, is true to the roots of the characters. The book is even more impressive when you imagine the thousands of ways that this project could have ended up being bad or simply a cash grab. It has meaning, it adds something to the table and ends up being a love letter to both Watchmen and (especially) Superman.If you are one of these Watchmen fans that don't want to see any update on Moore's classic, please open your mind and try to see the possibilities. If you don't like it, that's ok... Watchmen is still there, in all its glory :-)p.s.: the art is amazing!

Enjoyed this Doomsday Clock series, it managed to crossover the Watchmen universe and DC hero universe well, although, and I'm not a writer at all, even I could see knowing Dr Manhatten's abilities from Watchmen he is ideal character to make a crossover into any alternate franchise/universe completely plausibl, but the writers brilliantly introduce two new great characters to/from the Watchmen universe also that make Doomsday Clock very good and a worthy addition to the Watchmen and DC universes.

THIS COVERS VOLUMES 1 & 2..At 63 years of age,I have been reading and buying comics/graphic novels for a long time..and found this to be a waste of time and money..The idea of young boys/girls buying comics that they will read time and again,as stand alone stories,seems to have disappeared.The unecessary over complexity of this would leave most kids wondering what the heck was going on.An exercise in ego massaging by the writers..and poor at best artwork..The sleek images we are used too,and pay for in graphic novels have been thrown out of the window..to make way for some mock WATCHMEN style blocky artwork.A desperate attempt to make a mini series,then hardback/soft back money making omnibus collection..I can not (although I am trying) express how saddened I was when I received these books.and started to read them..As I read on I thought,something original will happen soon..As it didn't in Vol 1 I presumed that Superman vs Dr Manhattan would be a cracking bout in Vol 2....Wrong about that as well..Purchase at your peril..