SPOILER WARNING: The following article contains major spoilers for Doomsday Clock #7 by Geoff Johns and Gary Frank, on sale now.


After six issues' worth of grim foreboding, crossover service and sometimes fuzzy plotting, Doomsday Clock issue #7 snaps the miniseries back on track in a big way. It makes the stakes clear and then raises them. Mysteries are explained, payoffs start arriving, and the issue offers a glimpse at a marquee showdown.

As always, though, we're here to dig into the details. Therefore, grab your copy of issue #7, beware of SPOILERS – and get ready, because those details demand some deep thoughts. Although this issue answers some key questions, it also raises some others.

Doomsday Clock issue #7 was written by Geoff Johns, drawn by Gary Frank, colored by Brad Anderson and lettered by Rob Leigh. Amie Brockaway-Metcalf designed the text pages, Brian Cunningham was the Editor, and Amedeo Turturro was the Associate Editor.

Making The Rounds (Pages 1-2, 14-18, 22-23, 27)

The Comedian lectures Doctor Manhattan
The Comedian lectures Dr. Manhattan from Watchmen #2

Perhaps the biggest spoiler – which isn't really that much of one, since it had to happen sooner or later – is that Doctor Manhattan finally enters the narrative. After a couple of flashbacks, and plenty of discussion about him, he's now off the bench and ready to play.

It starts on Page 1, Panel 1, with Dr. M explaining how he got rid of Alan Scott, the original Green Lantern. It's chilling in its emotional remove, because basically Doctor Manhattan let him die. We know from Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' Watchmen that Dr. M has killed people outright, from gangsters to Vietcong; and we know he hasn't intervened as others were murdered (for example, the Vietnamese mother of Eddie Blake's unborn child). Perhaps most notably, we saw Rorschach beg Dr. M for death. In light of those actions and omissions, Dr. M might simply have treated Alan Scott's fate like just another quantum-level event – a coin flip with each result representing an equally valid future.

Dr. M also alludes to Alan's being part of the Justice Society of America, a group which formed shortly before Winter 1940's All Star Comics issue #3. (We'll discuss Alan and the JSA more in Part 2.) Mentioning the Justice Society along with GL/Alan suggests that Doctor Manhattan personally pruned the Golden Agers out of DC-Earth's history. However, in the "Button" crossover, original Flash Jay Garrick blames a mysterious group, not just an individual: "They took everything from me," Jay tells Barry Allen in Early July 2017's Flash #22. Complicating matters further is the presence of some key JSA members in the post-Flashpoint timeline. The JSA's founding members (i.e., as of All Star issue #3) were the Flash (Jay), Green Lantern (Alan), Hawkman (Carter Hall), Sandman (Wesley Dodds), the Spectre (Jim Corrigan), Doctor Fate (Kent Nelson), Hourman (Rex Tyler), and the Atom (Al Pratt). Joining later were Johnny Thunder and Thunderbolt, Doctor Mid-Nite (Charles McNider), Starman (Ted Knight), Mister Terrific (Terry Sloane), Wildcat (Ted Grant) and Black Canary (Dinah Drake). Wonder Woman was also a JSA member, both on the original Earth-Two and on DC-Earth in the form of Hippolyta; but that's a discussion for a whole other day.

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The point is that Doctor Manhattan didn't get rid of everybody. According to D-Clock, Green Lantern is dead, and probably Hourman too; but "The Button" has the original Flash trapped in another dimension (probably the Speed Force). Sandman, Doctor Mid-Nite and Wildcat are lost to history, as are the original Atom and Starman. However, the latter two have modern counterparts (Ray Palmer, Ryan Choi and Courtney "Stargirl" Whitmore); as do Mister Terrific and Black Canary. In fact, the Metal miniseries just got done explaining how Hawkman has been active in one form or another for generations, albeit without the Justice Society. What's more, the Spectre and Doctor Fate have both appeared in the post-Flashpoint era, and they're each potentially more powerful than the original Green Lantern.

Then there's the current Multiverse's Earth-2, which boasts modern-day versions of the original Flash, GL, Sandman, Atom, Mister Terrific and Wildcat. Did Doctor Manhattan create Earth-2 out of remorse for letting Alan (and presumably some others) die? Is it just an exercise in cosmic probabilities and alternate histories? We're guessing Doomsday Clock won't answer those questions, let alone travel to yet another Earth; but by implication does that mean Doctor Manhattan doesn't know the details of the Multiverse? How might that affect his perspective?

It's all part of our larger concern about the extent of Doctor Manhattan's powers. Nothing in Watchmen suggested that he could time-travel. Instead, he experienced all of his life all at once (muddied by some tachyon interference around November 1, 1985, of course). Now, as per Page 2, apparently he's come to DC-Earth from Watchmen's November 1985. Upon arriving – we're thinking sometime between the end of Crisis On Infinite Earths in 1985 and Flashpoint in 2011 – he saw a planet full of superhumans, and decided to change its history. This doesn't contradict our longstanding theory about the intersection of Watchmen and DC-Earth's respective timelines, although it doesn't confirm any of our suppositions either.

Dr. Manhattan explains his viewpoint
Dr. Manhattan explains his perception of time from Watchmen #9

Speaking of confirmations, Dr. M's discussion of Carver Colman on Page 23 leaves plenty of room for our theory that he posed as Colman until the actor's death in 1954. At the very least, we now know that he watched The Adjournment being filmed in April 1954, and beheld Colman's corpse in June of that year. Either way, it seems likely that he knew Jonathan Law, who otherwise would have been the Golden Age superhero Tarantula.

Doctor Manhattan returns in person on Page 14, in the middle of a black-and-white tiled floor not unlike that of The Adjournment's chessboard. (Page 27 connects the two explicitly.) On Page 15 he prepares to teleport away all the Watchmen natives, virtually ignoring DC-Earth natives Batman and Joker. It's a bit reminiscent of the Batman/Joker scenes in May 1985's Crisis On Infinite Earths issue #2, when the time-traveling Flash pops into the middle of the Darknight Detective apprehending the Clown Prince of Crime, and promptly disappears. The result in both cases appears to be a very confused Batman and Joker.

Once again Pages 16 and 21 utilize the "teleportation perspective," which on page 21 appears to be from Ozymandias' viewpoint.

On Page 17 we see that Dr. M and company must be literally on the other side of the world, since it was dark in Gotham City and daylight where they are. Likewise, the group's trip to Los Angeles for a midnight showing of The Adjournment (Page 23) suggests that it was between 3:00 and 4:00 in the morning on the East Coast. Dr. M's "in the middle of something" declaration (Page 17) implies that he's waiting for the results of whatever experiment he's running. We don't read that to mean he's still messing around significantly in the DC timeline, although certainly he could have been meddling in the very recent past.

Doctor Manhattan's Page 18 mention of the security cameras at the Rockefeller base may be helpful in dating the Mime & Marionette robbery depicted in issue #2. Watchmen issue #4 establishes that when he and Laurie moved into Rockefeller in 1981, Laurie was concerned about their privacy. Granted, there's 11 years between 1981 and Rorschach freeing M&M in 1992, but it does mean that M&M's robbery can't have occurred any earlier than 1981.

The more important takeaway may be Dr. M's "choosing" to save Marionette's unborn child. Although Dr. M can't see more than a month into his own future, this may suggest that Watchmen's world can still be saved. Either that or Marionette's child grows up to be an important person on DC-Earth. (We'll take "ancestor of R.J. Brande" in the office pool.)

Page 22's trip to Washington, D.C. is a clear callback to the 1977 police strike riots on Watchmen's Earth which led to its Congress banning all masked crimefighters.

We couldn't find a "Revival Theater" (Page 23) in Hollywood on this Earth, but Revival Hub LA is a central source for classic movies in Los Angeles.

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Exposition Lass (Pages 4-5, 10, 26)

Clark, Legion; Legion, Clark
The Legion meets Clark Kent, from Superman: Secret Origin #2

While we're still a little leery of Saturn Girl – if that is her real codename – we must admit that she acts pretty benign in this issue. Although Ozymandias calls her a "bubbly blonde" (Page 4), honestly it's nice to have someone who's optimistic about how the story ends. That makes her look of horror on Page 26 even more effective, and it also helps sell the occasional bit of backstory.

We do have a quibble with her introduction to Ozymandias on Page 4. For decades DC (and Marvel) superhero comics have always taken place in "the present," creating an elastic timeline where events aren't usually pegged to particular dates. Nevertheless, traditionally the Legion of Super-Heroes' adventures take place 1,000 years in the future. Therefore, when Saturn Girl says that she's from the 30th Century, depending on her age it could be the 31st Century.

Saturn Girl's explanation that "Superman's why [she] serve[s]" (Page 5) goes to the Legion's underlying rationale. As explained in April 1958's Adventure Comics issue #247, the Legion was founded after the example of Superboy, the 20th Century teenager who (at that time) grew up to be Superman, the universe's greatest hero. The 4-issue 1984-85 miniseries Superman: The Secret Years (written by Bob Rozakis, pencilled by Curt Swan and inked by Kurt Schaffenberger) depicted the transition's specific events. Regardless, John Byrne's 1986 Man of Steel miniseries eliminated the Superboy career, establishing that Clark Kent adopted his Superman identity as a 25-year-old. Likewise, the Legion's history was revised a few times, but still tended to take Superman as its inspiration. In recent years, stories like Geoff Johns and Gary Frank's Superman: Secret Origin issue #2 (December 2009) have introduced the notion of the Legion visiting teenaged Clark Kent and bringing him forward in time to have Superboy-costumed adventures with them.

As one might have expected, Saturn Girl's mission is to "cleanse the time stream of an unknown anomaly that threatens [Superman]." This is nothing new. As recently as the New 52, the three founding Legionnaires came back in time to save Superman in Action Comics issues #6 (April 2012) and #17-18 (April-May 2013).

Saturn Girl's Page 10 remark that Johnny's reunion with the Thunderbolt is "history" is as good a time as any to mention that three different Legions of Super-Heroes, with three different Saturn Girls, have interacted with DC-Earth's present-day super-people. Based on this one's demeanor and her Superman comments, this Saturn Girl belongs to the Legion from this Earth's future. The other two, representing the reboots of 1994 and 2004, are from the futures of Earth-247 (a world destroyed in Infinite Crisis) and Earth-Prime (a world with no present-day superheroes).

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Joker's Lair (Pages 7-8, 10)

Joker balloon from Batman (1989)
A deadly Joker parade balloon, from Tim Burton's 1989 "Batman" movie

First off, we're a bit disappointed that the Joker didn't list "Ha-Hacienda" as one of his hideout's monikers. Anyway, the woman with the blue hair, choker necklace and heart tattoo on Page 7, Panel 4 is probably Harley Quinn, but we don't remember Harley having that tattoo.

Continuing the unexpected trend of vintage 1970s toy cameos, in the background of the Joker's hideout is a full-sized (and probably much more lethal) version of Mego's 1975 Jokermobile toy, sized for a pair of 8-inch cloth-costumed action figures. Complete with squirting flower-cannon, rear-mounted boxing glove and lips-decorated hood, and first seen on Page 7, Panel 4, the Jokermobile is a converted Volkswagen Microbus.

Since the good guys were not to be outdone, Mego also produced a Mobile Batlab using the same chassis. We cannot overstate the importance of stereotypical counterculture transportation to 1970s toy marketing.

Skipping ahead some 14 years on the nostalgia timeline, the giant curvy clown-thing behind it looks to us like a parade balloon from 1989's Batman movie. There it carried deadly Smylex gas, courtesy of Jack Nicholson's Joker.

On Page 10 it looks like the Joker's holed up in the old Gotham Mirror Company building. Indeed, we see a few funhouse mirrors in front of the parade balloon on Page 7.

Just as Batman has a giant Joker playing card in the Batcave, so the Joker has a giant Ace of Spades in his lair (Page 8). As Motörhead reminded us so vividly, the Ace of Spades signifies death. Apparently this comes from the way American soldiers used it for psychological operations in the Vietnam War. For what it's worth, we thought it went back at least as far as the Old West.

Come back tomorrow for much more in Part 2, including the Justice Society, old Aquaman adversaries, butterflies and ... Doctor Cat-hattan?

What else did you spot in Doomsday Clock issue #7? Let us know in the comments!