Doomsday Clock Gives a Minor DC Comics Villain a Major Retcon

SPOILER WARNING: The following article contains major spoilers for Doomsday Clock #6, by Geoff Johns, Gary Frank, Brad Anderson and Rob Leigh, on sale now.

To say that Geoff Johns and Gary Frank’s pseudo-Watchmen sequel Doomsday Clock has already shaken the DC Universe to its very core would be an understatement. Things we never thought we’d see, such as The Comedian shooting Lex Luthor or Batman locking up Rorschach in Arkham Asylum, are just some of the game-changers Johns and Frank have packed into the miniseries thus far.

However, in Doomsday Clock #6, we learn that the major surprises aren’t just limited to DC's major characters.

In Issue #5, the validity of the Supermen Theory – which posits that most of the world’s metahumans, who just so happen to be Americans, were actually created by the US government as super soldiers – came into question when Firestorm declared it was one big conspiracy. Killer Frost, on the other hand, claimed she had it on good authority that the Department of Metahuman Affairs was very much responsible for imbuing individuals with superpowers. In addition to herself and Firestorm, she also pointed to Captain Atom, Firehawk, Moonbow and Typhoon as fellow government-created living weapons.

As Johns himself revealed last month, Killer Frost’s comments were merely her attempt at stirring the pot. In Doomsday Clock #6, though, we learn that her words managed to ring true with The Riddler’s newly assembled League of Villainy, who begin to question the aforementioned Moonbow and Typhoon’s allegiances – as well as the circumstances behind their abilities.

“I have some questions, Typhoon…” Riddler says. “How exactly did you acquire these powers of yours?”

“I got blown up in a nuclear bathysphere!” the obscure Firestorm villain exclaims. “I’m not some government puppet!”

“Nor I, God knows,” Moonbow adds.

The group’s deliberation is soon interrupted, though; first by The Joker, and then by The Comedian, the latter of whom puts a bullet in Typhoon’s head just as the water-wielding villain was nearing his boiling point.

While his death is a shocking moment in the story, it's in the issue’s back matter where we learn the truth about the former David Drake and, in turn, perhaps the real truth about the Supermen Theory.

According to the dossier from the Department of Metahuman Affairs, David Drake – alias: Typhoon – was, in fact, a government agent. Upon joining the Navy, it was determined that Drake was meta-positive, and while he possessed no special abilities at the time, the DMA began keeping a very close eye on him.

Eventually, the director of the DMA, whose name is redacted, was able to convince Drake to join the organization. However, after he was exposed to the nuclear core of the bathysphere he developed, Drake was transformed into a full-blown metahuman. In actuality, though, Drake’s file reveals this was a “controlled accident” orchestrated by the DMA for the sole purpose of triggering Drake’s dormant metagene.

From there, he was assigned the alias of “Typhoon” and tasked by the DMA to pose as a super-villain. He remained an active agent right up until his death at the hands of The Comedian, at which time he was infiltrating Black Adam’s inner circle for the DMA.

On the surface, the revelation that an extremely minor Firestorm villain was actually a double-agent might not seem like much. However, while the fact that it’s Typhoon as opposed to any other villain is of little significance, the information contained in this dossier does officially confirm that the Supermen Theory is no mere conspiracy.

Now, we’re left with the lingering question of who Director [REDACTED] is, which Johns and Frank will surely address in the latter half of Doomsday Clock.

CBR

Doomsday Clock: A Minor Villain's Retcon Shines New Light on the Supermen Theory