Doomsday Clock #3, Annotated Part 1

We're inclined to describe Doomsday Clock issue #3 as having "the devil in the details." Although a few sequences showcase various characters almost exclusively, its dips into references and Easter eggs are still fairly extensive. Lots of names are dropped, and lots of clues are laid out for us alert readers to examine. There's even a private-detective story for inspiration.

Previous annotations for Geoff Johns and Gary Frank's series can be found here:

To this point we have tried hard not to spoil anything major, but beware of spoilers going forward!

Doomsday Clock issue #3 was written by Geoff Johns, drawn by Gary Frank, colored by Brad Anderson and lettered by Rob Leigh. Brian Cunningham was the Editor, with Amedeo Turturro as Associate Editor.

A Fall So Nice They Took It Twice (Cover and Pages 1-9)

The Dude abides in Metropolis — Steve Rude's Metropolis, from 1990's World's Finest #2

Victory Gin (cover and Page 1) is a reference to the beverage of the same name from George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-four. (Check out when the Veidt distillery was founded.) The post-fight scene in Watchmen issue #1 shows bottles on the floor of Blake's apartment, but they're too small to identify. As far as other brands go, the Vietnam bar in Watchmen issue #2 also includes a sign for "Gordon's Gin"; while the Watchmen movie used "Winston's Gin" (another reference to Orwell's novel).

Pages 1 and 2 present slightly different perspectives (literally) on Watchmen's Veidt/Blake fistfight. In Watchmen issue #1 Dave Gibbons told the entire fight using seven panels, plus three panels of Blake falling to his death. To this account he added an additional panel in issue #11, of Veidt holding Blake over his head. In this issue of D-Clock, Gary Frank recreates only that panel (Panel 6 of page 1) as well as one panel of Blake falling (Panel 4 of Page 2). The rest view the fight from other angles.

Speaking of perspective, Pages 2 and 3 use vertical black bars to show what it looks like when Doctor Manhattan teleports him or her. This was seen previously in the first two pages of Watchmen issue #9. Doctor M himself makes his DC-Earth debut (or at least his leg does) on Page 4. There we also see the blood-spattered smiley-face button next to Blake, which further complicates the question of how it got into the Batcave in the DC Rebirth one-shot.

Doctor M has teleported the Comedian to DC-Earth so that he lands in Metropolis Harbor. At this point we don't know how much Doctor M knows about DC-Earth's super-people, so we don't know how coincidental it was that Blake landed here. On some level Doctor M probably appreciated the unintentional reference to his masked predecessor Captain Metropolis. At any rate, Metropolis has been the home of Superman and most of his supporting cast since September 1939's Action Comics issue #16. Originally, Superman's creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster had Supes share their hometown of Cleveland, Ohio (see, e.g., Action issue #2). Like Gotham City, Metropolis is most often modeled on New York City. 1978's Superman movie just straight-up called NYC "Metropolis," without bothering to disguise landmarks like the Statue of Liberty and the World Trade Center's Twin Towers. In the early 2000s Metropolis got a high-tech makeover thanks to Brainiac, but it didn't last long.

Pages 5-7 continue the present-day Comedian-Ozymandias fight from the end of D-Clock issue #2. Honestly, these pages don't offer much in the way of annotations, except to observe subjectively that all the collateral property damage is reminiscent of the Veidt/Blake fight in 2009's Watchmen film (directed by Zack Snyder). Such a singular focus on the fight -- three straight pages! -- makes it feel fairly long in the context of Watchmen; but Rorschach spends about four pages eluding the police in Watchmen issue #5 and it takes Ozymandias (in between flashback panels) about four pages to hold off Rorschach and Nite Owl in issue #11. Therefore, it's probably more accurate to note that the fight on pages 5-7 and Ozymandias' acrobatic escape on pages 8-9 are distinctive because of their focus. In other words, we don't associate Watchmen with this sort of straightforward storytelling, which lacks the usual juxtaposition or other structural or formatting devices. Even the sequence in issue #5 where Veidt foils the assassin came at the very center of the famous symmetrical issue.

As for Ozy's descent down LexCorp Tower, we consider it a callback to his gymnastic prowess, depicted (in contrast to Dan and Laurie's lovemaking, of course) in Watchmen issue #7.

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Rorschach the Houseguest (Pages 10, 12, 15-16)

Among all of Doomsday Clock's "newsworthy" developments, one of the biggest may be the apparent debut of the latest Batsuit. Although Batman is wearing his Rebirth-era costume in D-Clock promotional materials, this costume has a smaller chest symbol made of a rigid material like the Batman Incorporated or the second Batman: Earth One versions.

The return of the Bat-symbol's yellow oval (also part of the Inc. and Earth One versions) would be more surprising if DC hadn't just announced the return of Superman's red trunks in the upcoming Action Comics #1000. By our math Detective Comics #1000 won't be out for over a year, and the 800th issue of Batman (i.e., the 2016 series' issue #35) has come and gone. However, Detective #977, marking 950 issues since Batman's first appearance and 650 since the yellow oval's debut, is only a few months away. Sadly, Batman's blue/black trunks are still missing in action.

Earth One's Batman and Gordon — The "Earth One" Batman and Jim Gordon

We see Rorschach's real face on page 15, under much better circumstances than his predecessor's unmasking in Watchmen issue #5. Alfred Pennyworth, discussed at length in last issue's annotations, makes his on-panel D-Clock debut on page 15 as well. Yule marble comes exclusively from Colorado's Yule Creek Valley; while Clive Christian is a British furniture designer known for his kitchens and perfume.

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Mime & Marionette's Bar Associations (Pages 11, 18-22)

Like the earlier Ozymandias sequences, Mime and Marionette's five pages in Jumping Jack's are fairly straightforward. However, we did find some things to discuss.

Marionette's reference to "Jersey" on Page 11 allude to Gotham City being located frequently in New Jersey. Presumably this allows it to coexist in DC-Earth's northeastern United States along with Metropolis and New York City. This geographical specificity goes back at least to the March 1977 issue of DC's in-house fan magazine Amazing World Of DC Comics. 2016's Suicide Squad film also appeared to place Gotham's latest movie incarnation in New Jersey.

McSurley's Bar, from Detective Comics #570

As CBR has pointed out, it looks like the amusement park where the Owlship landed is the same one featured in Moore and Brian Bolland's 1988 graphic novel Batman: The Killing Joke.

The bar that Mime & Marionette enter on Page 18 is called "Jumping Jack's." We think it's new as of this miniseries, because we don't quite remember the Joker ever owning a bar. (Personally, we always liked seeing McSurley's.) By itself "Jumping Jack's" is appropriate for a demented clown-faced criminal, but the "Jack" part (however generic) may refer to Jack Napier, the name given to the future Joker in 1989's Batman film. Tim Burton directed it, Sam Hamm and Warren Skaaren wrote the screenplay and Jack Nicholson played the Joker. Of course, Bob Kane, Bill Finger and Jerry Robinson created the Harlequin of Hate for Spring 1940's Batman issue #1.

Pages 19-20 establish Mime's gimmick: He uses cloaked weaponry to make it look like he's "miming." We've seen already that Marionette's gear is a bit less subtle.

We didn't find any real-world reference to "Lindbergh Whiskey" (Page 22), so we'll just note that its distiller was established in 1932, the year that Charles Lindbergh's infant son was kidnapped. At the time it was dubbed the Crime of the Century, a title applied to any number of subsequent fictional capers.

We'll be back with Part 2 tomorrow. In the meantime, what did you spot in Doomsday Clock issue #3? Let us know in the comments!