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


The DC Universe has become a dark place in Doomsday Clock. Feeding off the cynicism of Alan Moore and David Gibbons' Watchmen, Geoff Johns and Gary Frank have created a world that is scared, violent and dark. In a lot of ways it reflects the world we live in today; one filled with secrets and paranoia, often seemingly devoid of any basic sense of optimism or decency. In the future that Doomsday Clock portrays, however, the DCU has become as vile and unrepentant as the world of Watchmen.

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It's one thing for the denizens of this world to act this way, but what happens to a person who is dropped here and forced to adapt to their surroundings? In Doomsday Clock #5, we see how Saturn Girl is changing. She comforts a terrified Johnny Thunder with the belief that it's ok for Rorschach to brutally murder someone because the future told her it was ok. She seems to be going as dark as the world around her. They are on mission to find Doctor Manhattan and save the world, but can she truly make a difference when her beliefs and ideals are shifting? That's a question Doomsday Clock will have to figure out an answer to as things move forward.

How Quickly Things Change

When Saturn Girl first came to this time period, she was exactly who you imagined she should be. As a being from a future utopia, she was bright, friendly and most of all, optimistic. As she told readers in DC Universe: Rebirth back in 2016, "Everything is going to be alright."

However, she also seemed to be a bit naive. Having knowledge of the future, Saturn Girl knew the death of Superman was only temporary, but she somehow didn't realize that food wasn't free in this time period, or that telling the police she was from the future would get her locked away in Arkham Asylum.

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This is the kind of place she comes from, and the world she represents -- a future devoid of monetary restrictions, where everyone is entitled to food, shelter and being cared for. It is the idealistic vision for the future that is slowly being infected and chipped away at by Doomsday Clock's hostility and oppression. In "The Button" crossover she watches a hockey player get beaten to death on TV, but in some ways, it's her own sense of self that gets destroyed. How can someone hold onto their ideals in a place like Arkham Asylum, the worst place on Earth? Doomsday Clock #5 shows us that you can't.

While Saturn Girl certainly holds onto her heroic intentions after escaping with Rorschach, the innocence she brought with her is gone. This is how she is able to reason that bad men who are already fated to die can be brutally murdered without so much as batting an eye. Instead of having the attitude that good will triumph over evil, like she displayed at the beginning of Rebirth, she now believes that "Everything evens out." It's as if she now has a fatalistic view of the world, where there is no bad or good, just an unwavering cosmic order that eventually balances out in the end. That's no viewpoint to take back to her idealistic society in the future.

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Of course, this all leads back to the Legion of Super-Heroes. Geoff Johns and Gary Frank are clearly setting up for the eventual return of many DC Comics properties that were unfavorably changed or forgotten during the publisher's New 52 reboot. That means the Justice Society of America, and that means the Legion are both on their way back. Just as Johnny Thunder's story is meant to lead into the eventual return of his team, Saturn Girl's journey is obviously meant to revive the Legion. However, the question we must ask is, what kind of Legion of Super-Heroes can we expect to come out of a world like this?

No matter the creative team, no matter the continuity, there has always been something optimistic about the Legion. No matter how dark the future gets, it's reassuring that that grand tradition of superheroes lives on in some way. From the colorful costumes to the cheesy names, the team's members understand what their efforts mean to an uncertain future. Even when Johns and Frank previously turned the 31st Century into a dystopic future, the Legion held onto their ideals.

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Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes

By bringing Saturn Girl to the present day and systematically breaking down all the hope and optimism she brought with her, it's hard to say what she will have left to bring back to her time period. When Saturn Girl finally meets with Superman like she initially wanted, and it becomes time to reintroduce the Legion of Super-Heroes back into continuity, what kind of future can we expect to see? Unlike Johnny Thunder's unwavering dedication to bring back the Justice Society, it's easy to see how she might eventually lose sense of what she is even fighting for.

Rorschach and Saturn Girl have recovered the light they need to battle the darkness in the form of an important Justice Society artifact. This item represents the return of hope that fans have wanted for years, but it's never as easy as we all wish it was. Before the heroes save the day, there are questions that need to be answered, because Saturn Girl has been damaged during her trip to the past.

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Can she be fixed? Is the awful world on the brink of war in Doomsday Clock something that will come to pass, or is there still hope for the future? Can events be changed and minds be cleansed of darkness? Will the Legion return to inject a little hope into all our futures, or has the damage already been done? As of Doomsday Clock #5, it's hard to say.