Doctor Manhattan Erases a Founding JSA Member in Doomsday Clock #7

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

The original Justice Society of America has been absent from DC Comics' publishing slate for decades. It's even worse for the team in the context of modern DC continuity, though, where they've been retconned from existence entirely. JSA fans were given hope that the company's first ever superhero team might return when the Rebirth storyline kicked off roughly two years ago, though.

That hasn't happened yet, but the last character readers expected to see introduced into mainstream DC continuity instead was Watchmen's Doctor Manhattan. The surprising inclusion of Manhattan seemingly had nothing to do with the JSA's absence, but now, in Geoff Johns and Gary Frank's Doomsday Clock #7, it has been revealed that this isn't necessarily the case anymore. In fact, there seems to be a deliberate connection. In establishing that connection, a particularly disquieting theory emerges.

Doc Manhattan hates the JSA.

But why?

The Non-Existent Days of the Justice Society

The notion that Manhattan bears any kind of ill will towards a group from another world that he never met sounds extreme. One need look no further than the third panel of this issue, though, to learn otherwise. Manhattan's narration reveals that he willingly and deliberately interfered with a key moment in JSA history, with fateful -- and fatal -- results. Manhattan's intervention in the accident that led to Alan Scott becoming the original Green Lantern now simply results in Scott's death. Alan Scott, of course, was one of the Justice Society of America's founding members.

Fellow JSA founder Jay Garrick, the original Flash, was also absent from Rebirth continuity, at least until the Batman/Flash crossover event "The Button." During that storyline, Garrick made his first appearance in Rebirth after having been trapped in the Speed Force. The original Flash helped rescue his modern-day counterpart, as well as Batman, before being drawn back.

Did Doc Manhattan Go After Jay Garrick, Too?

Jay Garrick's appearance indicated one obvious but important revelation: The Golden Age Flash wasn't completely erased from existence in Rebirth continuity. In conjunction with the new Alan Scott revelation, there's another important distinction. Unlike his JSA colleague, Jay Garrick was at least given the opportunity to fulfill his superhero role and become The Flash. At some point, though, his character was taken off the table, rather than eliminated.

That's not to say that Doctor Manhattan didn't try, though. And such interference on Manhattan's part may very well be what resulted in Garrick ending up caught in the Speed Force. The Flash is different from Green Lantern and other heroes in the sense that his connection to the Speed Force also connects him to the fabric of the DC Multiverse. While Manhattan could effortlessly cause the death of a powerless Alan Scott, killing Jay Garrick would be a far more challenging task. An individual whose power taps into the multiverse itself would be a far harder person to kill -- even for a being repeatedly referred to as a god.

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As Goes Green Lantern, So Goes the JSA?

The original Green Lantern and Flash could arguably be considered the "Big Two" of the Justice Society. The removal of these two big-name heroes from reality could have altered the course of history, resulting in the JSA never coming into existence. This could be Doctor Manhattan's intent -- to prevent the world's founding superhero team from ever coming to be.

If that is, in fact, Manhattan's goal, then he's certainly capable of ensuring the team absence's by more direct methods. The fates of other JSA members in Rebirth continuity, such as The Atom and Hourman, remain unknown. Manhattan could very well have directly intervened in these characters' destinies, as well as those of the JSA's other members. Manhattan's interference could certainly explain the absence of these heroes in the Rebirth era.

The Justice Society of America is the world's very first superhero team, though. They fought tremendous evil at a time when the world needed them most. They inspired countless other superheroes in the modern age. Why would Doctor Manhattan want such a team erased from history?

As it turns out, those traits might be the very reason Manhattan would want them gone.

Someone Has to Save the World

To address this, it's important to remember the state of the world Doctor Manhattan comes from. In the world of Watchmen, its so-called heroes were morally ambiguous, if not outright immoral. The Comedian was a psychopath, Rorschach was feared and Adrian Veidt masterminded the death of millions. The superheroes of this reality didn't stand in opposition to the moral decay of their world -- they instead partook in it and simply called themselves the good guys.

By contrast, Veidt himself in Doomsday Clock #5 labels the heroes of the DC Universe as ones who "cling to simplistic morality based on pulp heroes." Veidt goes on to speculate that their morality may have been what attracted Manhattan to leave his world and venture to this one. Veidt believes Manhattan was leaving his world, self-destructing in the wake of Veidt's failed megalomaniacal attempt at unity, in favor of one he perceived as simpler and brighter.

Simpler and brighter -- not unlike the JSA themselves, products of a Golden Age often perceived as such. Doctor Manhattan found exactly what Veidt believes he was looking for on the world of Earth-0.

So, why would Manhattan try to wipe them from existence?

The More Things Change…

That's likely because Manhattan also sees what this world's modern superheroes have become. In response to the so-called Superman Theory, where the majority of the world's superheroes come from America, other countries of the world have rushed their own superheroes into service. Nationalism and distrust breeds conflict, and a superhero arms race only fans the flames. Clear-cut and moral heroes like the JSA have inspired and given way to darker and less ethical ones in the modern era.

Manhattan has seen this before on his own world. The beloved and altruistic Minutemen also ultimately paved the way for darker heroes and a darker world. A world that, as far as everyone knows, is now engaged in full-scale war, if not destroyed outright by now.

So, Doctor Manhattan has likely determined that superheroes, even the seemingly brightest and most heroic, ultimately lead to a world of darkness, global conflict and war.

Therefore, the JSA must die, or at least never be born. Doctor Manhattan has the power to make it happen -- or not happen. Thus, he cruelly modifies the destiny of Alan Scott and possibly Jay Garrick, as well as potentially any and all heroes from that era. If this perfect generation of heroes that inspired the rest never come to be, then perhaps subsequent imperfect generations can also be erased.

Doctor Manhattan hates the JSA because he believes that, in his final analysis, for all their good deeds and saving the world, they ultimately are responsible for the creation of those who will destroy it.