WARNING: This article contains spoilers for Doomsday Clock #5 by Geoff Johns and Gary Frank, in stores now.


Over its first four issues, Doomsday Clock has been patching together the worlds of Watchmen and the main-line DC superhero universe, with a little real-world commentary layered in. If these annotations do nothing else, they can demonstrate the depth and breadth of influences upon which writer Geoff Johns and artist Gary Frank appear to have drawn. We've covered a lot so far, from Hollywood history to physics and medicine; but today we plunge into the deep end of DC Comics' post-Crisis On Infinite Earths output. In other words, we hope you love the 1980s, because you're going to get a concentrated dose of it before we're done.

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We will warn you -- and we don't think this is necessarily a spoiler -- that there are a capital-L-lot of superheroes name-checked in this issue. Things might get a little dry towards the end, but we think we know the hidden meaning behind the various lists; and we'll try to entertain you along the way.

Doomsday Clock issue #5 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.

I'm Not Dead And I Want My Cat (Pages 1-4)

Not a caracal
Silk Spectre meets Bubastis in Watchmen #4

The cover and Page 1 bring us the same image of Ozymandias' brain tumor that we saw first in issue #1. There it led into the Watchmen world's end-times emergency alert system-slash-state-run news network. Here it transitions into the doctor's flashlight, but without more context it seems a little random. The Metropolis hospital doesn't have Veidt's medical records, and the scene is told from Veidt's perspective; so perhaps it's Veidt flashing back to his diagnosis from February 10, 1992 (on the Watchmen world calendar) as he starts waking up.

"Hyperconsciousness" may be a DC-Earth condition related to near-death experiences (NDEs), but as far as our Earth is concerned, there could be multiple explanations for the light into which you're not supposed to go. People can also be "hyperconscious" or "hyperaware" if they are extremely tuned into their surroundings and cognizant of every little detail around them.

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The "federal problem" mentioned on Pages 1 and 2 shows an escalation in law enforcement's dealings with super-people. Naturally, we are used to seeing local authorities (Commissioner James Gordon, Captain Maggie Sawyer, etc.) enforcing the laws against the villains who live in their cities. This can produce a patchwork of different approaches to policework, each ostensibly tailored to be most effective for the particular population. The involvement of federal agencies like the DEO and/or the FBI concentrates those efforts and makes them more centralized, since the federal government's authority supersedes that of a local police department. Put simply, as we saw in "Arrow" Season 6, if the FBI comes into Gotham City and decides to arrest Batman, there's not much Gordon can do about it.

On Page 4, the Metropolis Animal Control officer thinks Bubastis is a caracal, a type of cat native to Africa, Asia and India. It does have tufted ears and a history with the Egyptians. However, in Watchmen issue #4 Veidt explains (on page 21) that Bubastis is a genetically-altered lynx. We can forgive the confusion, since the caracal is sometimes called the desert lynx.

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Roll Call #1: Teen Titans, Doom Patrollers and Heroes of the Soviet Union (Pages 4-5, 7, 14)

Commies!
Hawk in a Nicaraguan prison, from the Doom Patrol/Suicide Squad Special

Hawk and Dove (Page 4) were created by Steve Ditko and Steve Skeates for June 1968's Showcase issue #75. Originally they were teenaged brothers Hank and Don Hall, each devoted to the other but diametrically opposed politically. Hank was a hot-tempered conservative, while Don was a pacifistic liberal. Almost always appearing together, they had a very brief ongoing series (6 issues from August-September 1968 to June-July 1969) before joining the original Teen Titans. After Don died in March 1986's Crisis On Infinite Earths #12, Hawk went out on his own for a couple of years. The second (and current) Dove is Dawn Granger, created by Barbara Kesel, Karl Kesel and Rob Liefeld for October 1988's Hawk & Dove vol. 2 #1. Regardless of identity, Hawk and Dove's powers come from the Lords of Chaos and Order, the same group of omnipotent beings which empower other fantasy/magic folk like Amethyst and Doctor Fate.

Hawk's adventures in Nicaragua (Page 4) may refer to March 1988's Doom Patrol and Suicide Squad Special, which features a number of characters seen elsewhere in this issue. Essentially, Hawk has become a covert operative for the United States government (although still in his brightly-colored white-and-red costume) and is shot down while on a mission to deliver guns to the U.S.-backed Contras. The Reagan Administration sends in the Suicide Squad; but a couple of intelligence officials, jealous of the Squad's attention, decides to contact the new-ish Doom Patrol (including Celsius and Negative Woman) to get Hawk back. Meanwhile, the Soviets dispatch their Rocket Red Brigade to escort Hawk to Moscow for a propaganda victory.

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Speaking of the Rocket Red Brigade (Page 4), Steve Englehart and Joe Staton created them for January 1987's Green Lantern Corps #208. Green Lantern Kilowog helped refine the Rocket Red battle armor, and expand it to a whole squad of soldiers, during his brief time living in the USSR. A couple of Rocket Reds joined Justice League International, but the first doesn't count (long story). The second, Dimitri Pushkin, joined in January 1988's Justice League International issue #9 and got an Apokoliptian upgrade to his armor in issue #21. Dimitri was created by Keith Giffen, J.M. DeMatteis and Kevin Maguire; and Ty Templeton drew issue #21.

Mentioned first on Page 4 and seen in full on Page 7, Red Star, a/k/a Leonid Kovar, f/k/a Starfire, was created by Len Wein, Marv Wolfman and Bill Draut for November-December 1968's Teen Titans issue #18. He gained super-powers after investigating a crashed spaceship, and as a teenager pledged his services to the Soviet government under the codename Starfire. He encountered the original Titans while they were on a mission to guard the Swedish crown jewels. Kovar didn't appear again until April 1982's New Teen Titans issue #18, where the presence of the Tamaranian Starfire prompted the name-change to Red Star. Kovar joined the group in June 1991's New Titans issue #76, and stayed until about issue #102 (October 1993).

Before we get into Pozhar (Page 5), we have to mention that this issue draws heavily from writer John Ostrander and penciller Joe Brozowski's mid-1980s stint on Firestorm. Gerry Conway and Al Milgrom created Firestorm the Nuclear Man -- the union of teenager Ronnie Raymond and physicist Martin Stein -- for March 1978's eponymous first issue. As Stormy explains on Page 14, he and Stein became Firestorm as the result of an accident at a nuclear reactor. When they transformed into Firestorm (a separate entity), Stein's consciousness became a disembodied "backseat driver" as Ronnie controlled Firestorm's body. This is the classic Firestorm status quo, and it stayed that way for several years, throughout Conway's run as writer.

Ostrander became the book's regular writer with January 1987's Fury Of Firestorm issue #55, which as it happens was the start of a storyline which also featured Hawk, a federal crackdown on superheroes, and Martin having a brain tumor. Ronnie and Martin's efforts to deal with the tumor led eventually to Firestorm running from the authorities, including Justice League International and the Suicide Squad. Meanwhile, since Firestorm threatened to destroy all the world's nuclear weapons, the Soviets sought to stop him using their own nuclear-powered hero Pozhar (a Chernobyl survivor who first appeared in issue #62 in his civilian identity of Mikhail Arkadin).

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In 1987's Firestorm Annual issue #5, Firestorm faced off against Pozhar. After the battle ended in stalemate, Martin lay dying while Ronnie and Mikhail sought to "re-ignite" Firestorm. The resulting combination lasted pretty much through August 1990's issue #100, when it was revealed that Martin Stein was supposed to be Firestorm all by himself. After gaining total control of Firestorm, Stein left Earth behind (along with the powerless Ronnie and Mikhail). After a few years, Ronnie regained his Firestorm powers, separate and apart from Martin, in May 1995's Extreme Justice issue #4. The Firestorm on Page 14 looks and sounds like the classic Ronnie/Martin version, albeit a little more profane.

Pozhar's appearance here is identical to Firestorm's fire-elemental form, designed apparently by Tom Mandrake. It incorporated aspects of the Russian Firestorm clone Svarozhich ("god of fire") and first appeared in May 1989's issue #85, pencilled by Tom Grindberg.

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Around the same time that Ostrander began his Firestorm run, Mike W. Barr and Jim Aparo created the People's Heroes (Page 7) for August 1986's Outsiders issue #10. Their original membership included Bolshoi, Hammer, Sickle, Molotov, and Pravda. These folks at the press event are Vostok-X, Lady Flash, Red Star, Pozhar, Negative Woman, and what looks to be the new character Black Eagle. Furthermore, the text pages list an expanded People's Heroes roster. It incorporates members of Soyuz, a family-based superteam created by Ostrander and Brozowski and first appearing in April 1998's Firestorm issue #70. Soyuz was organized by Serafina "Firebird" Arkadin, Mikhail Arkadin's niece. The other members were Morozko, Perun, Ruskala and Vikhor.

Ostrander and Brozowski also created Steel Wolf (text pages), a/k/a Stalnoivolk, for January 1988's Firestorm issue #67. A fierce admirer of Stalin, Steel Wolf was a prototype Soviet super-soldier from World War II who went into exile after the war and was reactivated as a possible weapon against Firestorm. Stalnoivolk and Pozhar later worked together in the Red Shadows (created by Ostrander and Kim Yale for May 1990's Suicide Squad issue #41) alongside original People's Heroes Bolshoi and Molotov.

The People's Hero on the far left of Page 6, Panel 1 (with the yellow helmet) is Vostok-X, created by Geoff Johns and Ivan Reis as a member of Aquaman's pre-Justice League group "The Others." Vostok-X was first seen in a photograph in May 2012's Aquaman issue #7, in flashback in June 2012's issue #8, and in the main story in September 2012's issue #11. (Later he starred in the short-lived Aquaman and the Others spinoff series.) His isolation training was supposed to make him the ultimate cosmonaut, and his Atlantean helmet lets him go without oxygen, food or sleep. He also has a jetpack.

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Next to Vostok is Lady Flash. In December 1987's Flash issue #7, Mike Baron and Jackson Guice created the Soviet speedster trio Blue Trinity, which included Ivana Christina Borodin Molotova, a/k/a Christina Alexandrova. They came to the United States on the trail of Soviet scientist Pytor Orloff, who Wally West had brought into the country to save his friend, the failed speedster Jerry McGee. (Alert Doomsday Clock readers will remember the mention of McGee's company Genetech back in issue #2's text pages.) The malevolent Vandal Savage later recruited Christina to help him kill Wally West, dubbing her "Lady Flash" in May 1991's Flash issue #50. William Messner-Loebs wrote that issue, and Greg LaRocque pencilled it. Messner-Loebs and Ed Benes also created the cold-generating ex-KGB agent Snow Owl (text pages) for August 1998's Artemis: Requiem issue #3.

Red Star and Pozhar flank the spokesperson, and Negative Woman is to Pozhar's left (our right). Paul Kupperberg and Joe Staton created Valentina Vostok, successor to the original Doom Patrol's Negative Man, for August 1977's Showcase issue #94. For a while she was part of the Checkmate agency in both its American and United Nations-sponsored forms. In the latter she was White Queen, succeeding Amanda Waller and serving alongside White King Mr. Terrific. Later, Kupperberg and Dan Rodriguez created Tundra (a Russian member of the Global Guardians, mentioned in the text pages) for December 1994's Justice League Quarterly issue #17.

We are guessing that the woman next to Negative Woman is the new Black Eagle. To this point DC's only "Black Eagle" was Cassius Bannister, a Tuskegee Airman from World War II. Bob Kanigher and Dick Ayers created Cassius Bannister, who appeared in All-Out War issues #1-6 (September-October 1979 to July-August 1980).

The "Prince Markov" on Page 7 is Brion "Geo-Force" Markov, part of the royal family of Markovia. Created by Mike W. Barr and Jim Aparo and debuting in July 1983's Brave and the Bold issue #200, Geo-Force was a founding member of Batman's first Outsiders team and later joined the Justice League around January 2007's Justice League of America issue #4.

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Lanes And Luthors (Pages 5, 16)

Lena vs. Lex
Bad Lena vs. good Lex, from Superwoman #2

The Daily Planet, a great metropolitan newspaper, first appeared in April 1940's Action Comics issue #23. Before that, Clark Kent and Lois Lane worked for the Daily Star. Of course, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster created Lois (and Clark) for June 1938's Action issue #1. Perry White came along later, appearing first on a February 7, 1940 episode of radio's "Adventures of Superman." Perry's first comics appearance was in November 1940's Superman issue #7.

On Page 5 Lois and Clark mention their son Jonathan Samuel Kent, created by Dan Jurgens and first appearing in July 2015's Convergence: Superman issue #2. Jon became the latest Superboy in November 2016's Superman issue #6. Jon is named after Clark's adoptive father and Lois' dad. For a flashback to Lois Lane's childhood, Robert Bernstein and Kurt Schaffenberger created Sam Lane (Page 16) and his wife Ella for November 1959's Superman's Girl Friend Lois Lane issue #13. Back then the Lanes were horse farmers. Sam's modern incarnation first appeared in January 1987's Adventures of Superman issue #424 (written by Marv Wolfman and pencilled by Jerry Ordway). There, he was a career officer who became Secretary of Defense under President Lex Luthor. During the New 52, Luthor was never President, but (in February 2014's Superman issue #26) Sam became a Senator. As of Rebirth, he's back to being a military man.

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The Superman armband mentioned on Page 16 recalls the black armbands which were bundled with commemorative copies of January 1993's Superman issue #75 (the "Death of Superman" conclusion). Similarly, the shock troops of Batman v. Superman's alternate future wore S-shield insignias on their shoulder pads.

On Page 16, Luthor mentions his father and sister. In the Silver Age, Lex's family stayed largely in the background, having disowned him (and changed their name to Thorul) once Lex became a supervillain. When the "Smallville" TV series (2001-2010) made Lex's father Lionel a major character, the comics incorporated him into Lex's backstory, first through Mark Waid and Leinil Yu's 12-issue Superman: Birthright (September 2003-September 2004) and then in Geoff Johns and Gary Frank's 6-issue Superman: Secret Origin (November 2009-October 2010).

Jerry Siegel and Kurt Schaffenberger created Lena Luthor for February 1961's Lois Lane issue #23. In the Silver Age, Lena was orphaned at an early age, thanks to a car accident shortly after the family disowned Lex. The New 52 relaunch made Lena paralyzed, with Lex trying constantly to cure her (December 2014's Justice League issue #35). In the Rebirth Superwoman series, Lena merged with one of Lex's battlesuits to fight the super-powered Lana Lang as the villainous Ultrawoman.

Although we saw him asleep in issue #1 and in Clark garb on Page 6, Page 16 gives us Doomsday Clock's first appearance of Superman in costume.

Luthor's Page 16 accusation that "at some point" the metahuman-creating scientist was "in the Justice League" doesn't narrow the range of possibilities. There have been dozens of Justice Leaguers over the years, many with scientific (or quasi-scientific) backgrounds. The latter include Steel (John Henry Irons), Martin Stein, Frankenstein's Monster, Barry "Flash" Allen, Ray "Atom" Palmer, and Luthor himself.

Go To The Light (Pages 6-9, 17, 21-24)

Tales Of Fraud And Malfeasance In Railroads
The origin of Green Lantern, by Bill Finger and Martin Nodell

Among the vintage toys in Page 6's Arkham Asylum storeroom are a kids' skill game based on the terrifying, implacably ravenous shark from Jaws; and Maskatron (eee!), an action-figure adversary for the bionic Steve Austin. Although he wasn't part of the "Six Million Dollar Man" TV series, Maskatron's people-duplicating abilities were similar to robots used by a recurring villain.

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Page 6 suggests that Saturn Girl lost her 31st Century clothes as a result of her travels through time. Since she and her Legion of Super-Heroes colleagues don't normally time-travel Terminator-style, but use "time bubble" vehicles instead, we're guessing they got destroyed somehow. In any event, she still wears her traditional colors of red and white.

One of the orderlies on Page 7 observes that "Johnny Thunder is 102 years old." According to Johnny's origin in January 1940's Flash Comics issue #1, Johnny was born at 7:00 a.m. on July 7, 1917. As per the mystic lore of the land of Badhnisia (also introduced in Flash Comics #1), this falls within the "seventh circle of the moon Lahseen," which is pretty good if you want to have world-changing superpowers. Page 7's final panel features a newspaper referencing the All-American Steel fire from issue #2; a book apparently called The Mythical Land Of Badhinisa; and a 1940 Little Color Classics edition of Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp. Of course, the Aladdin story includes elements of both Johnny's relationship to the Thunderbolt (an all-powerful being he can control) and Alan Scott's Green Lantern power battery (a vessel from which Alan can draw the mystical Green Flame). On Page 9 Johnny tries to explain that if he finds the "magic lamp," he finds the "genie." As we'll see, the lamp is the Green Lantern power battery, while the "genie" could refer either to the power within the battery or the Thunderbolt itself.

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Page 9 tells us the All-American Steel plant is in Pittsburgh. We know it doesn't have to track the Golden Age Green Lantern story exactly, but Alan Scott was based traditionally in Gotham City. Anyway, according to Google Maps, it would take Johnny about 9 hours by bus to get from New York City to Pittsburgh.

From what we can tell from Page 8, Nathaniel Dusk and Murray Abraham are still trying to solve Alastair Tempus' murder, so it looks like The Adjournment (the Dusk movie from issue #3) really is on perpetually at the nursing home.

One of the drifters on Page 17 drops an unintentional Doctor Manhattan reference with "There is no future. There is no past." Likewise, the lead punk on Page 18 has a man-bun (or knot-top) -- shades of Watchmen's own no-good punks -- which you can see better on Page 22.

What else could you possibly have spotted in Doomsday Clock issue #5? Let us know in the comments - and then check back soon for the second half of the issue!