Late last night, DC Chief Creative Officer Geoff Johns announced in an interview that he will be returning to comics later this year with a project entitled Doomsday Clock, slated for release in November of 2017.

According to Johns, Doomsday Clock will be the next major step in the underlying mystery of Rebirth, following the conclusion of the Flash/Batman crossover event The Button in The Flash #22 this week.

Now, DC Comics has revealed some more details about the project, including the information that the story kicks off in The Flash #22 in the form of a four-page prologue story. The Doomsday Clock teaser and series will be illustrated by artists Gary Frank and Brad Anderson.

Additionally, a statement from Johns seems to confirm a longstanding fan theory about the person behind Rebirth; while it was known form his previous statement that Doctor Manhattan is indeed a major player in Doomsday Clock, he might actually be the entire event's puppet master. "Thematically, and metaphorically, there was no better choice than to use Dr. Manhattan," Johns said, seemingly confirming that the blue-skinned Watchman is, as hinted in the original DC Universe: Rebirth one-shot, the being responsible for the creation of the DC's 52 in the wake of Flashpoint. "If you’re going to have a conflict between optimism and pessimism, a battle between the very forces of hope and despair, you need to have someone who personifies the cynicism that has leaked into our hearts and also has the ability to affect the entire DCU. It’s all paying off this November with Doomsday Clock.”

Whether Doctor Manhattan is indeed the sole entity responsible for the New 52 or not, Johns warns fans they shouldn't expect to see the mystery resolved through your typical fists and kicks sort of superhero brawl. "We didn’t want to see Doctor Manhattan facing off against Superman in Action Comics, with all due respect," Johns said in his earlier interview. "That is not what this is about. It is about something different…It will have an impact on the entire DC Universe. It will affect everything moving forward and everything that has come before. It will touch the thematic and literal essence of DC."

Doomsday Clockis a story for fans who love the DC Universe and Watchmen and want to see what a master of this genre creates when he puts them together,” Frank said of his work on the project. “As for my artistic approach to the series, each panel is extremely detailed and I am constantly thinking through the position of every single element.”

This will be Geoff Johns’ first foray into comics since last year’s DC Universe Rebirth #1; he will be joined on the project by Gary Frank and Brad Anderson