The following contains spoilers for The New Golden Age #1, on sale now from DC Comics.
The New Golden Age not only launches new titles for the Justice Society of America and Stargirl, but teases the return of DC's new Doctor Manhattan from Doomsday Clock, the Watchman.
Written by Geoff Johns and illustrated by various artists, for a moment, the one-shot visits the Watchmen universe as well as the home of Doomsday Clock's Mime and Marionette. The two villains are seen raising their newborn baby, the crib mobile's letters above her almost spelling out the word "Watchman." After a glimpse of Nostalgia and Bubastis outside Ozymandias' Karnak base in Antarctica, a panel shows the forehead of Clark Dreiberg as he talks with his adopted sister, Sally, saying that people are after them and that "It's our generation's turn now."
During an exclusive interview with CBR discussing the finale of Flashpoint Beyond, Johns revealed that the superhero name given to Clark is "The Watchman." At the end of Flashpoint Beyond #6, Nostalgia aka Cleopatra Pak and Bubastis are shown to be looking for Clark in Karnak, though Pak's motivations for doing so are not revealed. Nostalgia is not the only one after Clark, being that Rip Hunter stresses to his fellow Time Masters in The New Golden Age that they need to find Clark before Pak or anyone else, bringing up Mime, Marionette and Reggie Long, the second Rorschach.
Clark Dreiberg is a character created by Johns and artist Gary Frank, first appearing in 2018's Doomsday Clock #1. He is the biological, firstborn son of Mime and Marionette, but was taken from the couple and raised by Doctor Manhattan, who named the child "Clark" after Superman Clark Kent. At the end of Doomsday Clock #12, Doctor Manhattan transferred the last of his power to Clark and faded out of existence, and the boy was left on the doorstep of the Dreibergs to be adopted by Sally's superhero parents, Daniel (Nite Owl) and Laurie (Silk Spectre).
DC Restores 13 Golden Age Characters to Its Timeline
Where Clark appears in the DC Universe next remains to be seen. The New Golden Age launches not one, but two new series for DC, both of which are written by Johns. One is the ongoing Justice Society of America series illustrated by Mikel Janín, while the other is the six-issue miniseries Stargirl: The Lost Children, drawn by Todd Nauck. The two titles will explore the return of 13 Golden Age characters to the DC timeline, who are outlined in the final pages of The New Golden Age, save for the "Legionnaire," whose appearance is left silhouetted and his information redacted.
Along with Johns, The New Golden Age #1 features interior artwork by Diego Olortegui, JP Mayer, Scott Hanna, Jerry Ordway, Steve Lieber, Nauck, Scott Kolins, Viktor Bogdanovic, Brandon Peterson and Gary Frank, colors by Nick Filardi, John Kalisz, Matt Herms, Jordan Boyd and Brad Anderson, and letters by Rob Leigh. Main cover art for the issue is by Janín, with variant cover artwork contributed to by Jay Hero, Nauck, Herms, Michael Allred, Lauren Allred, David Talaski and Dan Hipp. The issue is now on sale from DC Comics.
Source: DC Comics