NYCC 2017: Read the first 6 pages of Doomsday Clock #1
By Nick Tylwalk
Geoff Johns and DC Comics brought the heat to New York Comic Con by releasing the first six pages of Doomsday Clock #1, and you can read them right here.
The first thing that comes to mind when taking in the opening of Doomsday Clock #1 is that it might not be what you expect — and we mean that in a good way.
DC Comics has kept details about the upcoming 12-part series by Geoff Johns and Gary Frank under pretty close wraps. That ended Friday at New York Comic Con, when the panel for the series featured Johns talking openly about both the inspiration behind the story and its opening beats.
In fact, attendees received a special ashcan (basically a smaller sized version of a comic book, often in black and white, which is the case here) version of Doomsday Clock #1 featuring the first six pages of the issue.
It’s an interesting way to drum up interest in the complete book, especially since Johns explained that Frank was nervous about releasing them to the public. Yet that’s exactly what they’ve decided to do, and you can read them in full just by continuing to scroll down this page.
Even in just six pages, some aspects of the story immediately jump out at you. This is clearly the world of the Watchmen, albeit several years after the iconic original series. Ozymandias has gone from hero to villain once the truth of his scheme was made public, and the world is on the brink of doomsday — again.
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And that page six reveal is dynamite. Rorschach was pretty clearly killed off in Watchmen in one of the more memorable deaths in superhero comic book history. Yet here he is.
The art style invokes the work of Dave Gibbons, with the same nine-panel foundation guiding Frank’s layouts. Even without color, the visuals are powerful.
What we don’t see is just as intriguing. It’s widely known that Doctor Manhattan has been pulling the strings of the DC Universe in Rebirth. Yet he’s seemingly abandoned his own universe to do so, and while the few details revealed prior to today suggested that Doomsday Clock would focus on a confrontation between Manhattan and Superman, neither character makes an appearance here.
It’s certainly a bold storytelling choice to jump back into the Watchmen world after so much time away and see it immediately on the brink again. Adrian Veidt has seemingly turned into the cliche he never intended to be — and might also be suffering from a brain tumor — and the one man who could bring him down has not only done so, but appears to still be among the living.
These pages are sure to be heavily dissected leading up to the release of Doomsday Clock #1, which arrives in comic shops and other outlets on Nov. 22.