Doomsday Clock #2 by Geoff Johns - Book Review

From the publisher: DC and Watchmen characters collide at last! The story that began in DC UNIVERSE: REBIRTH #1 comes to a thrilling and unexpected crescendo in the pages of this titanic twelve-issue series by the all-star team that brought you BATMAN: EARTH ONE and SHAZAM!

In this second chapter: The Dark Knight discovers another relic from the Watchmen world. Lex Luthor pays a devil’s bargain. And killer clowns trek through Gotham seeking a madman.

Doomsday Clock #2, by Geoff Johns, continues the story of Adrian Veidt's search for Dr. Manhattan. With the assistance of the new Rorschach, Marionette, and Mime, Veidt takes a retooled Owl Ship to try and trace Dr. Manhattan's whereabouts before their world is turned into a nuclear war. Meanwhile, Bruce Wayne is trying to fend off a hostile takeover of Wayne Enterprises by Luthor Corp., run by Lex Luthor. Worlds are crossed (as well as dimensions) to bring our characters into contact with each other. And Veidt's plan to trust Mime and Marionette looks like it could go very wrong.

I liked this issue of Doomsday Clock. Johns does another fine job of letting the story unfold at it's own pace, dropping little nuggets of information here and there. I found myself looking for clues or trying to connect dots that may or may not exist, in the hopes of getting some idea of where the story is headed. However, at this point all I know is that the Watchmen characters will be interacting with mainstream DC heroes and villains, and I have no idea just what role Dr. Manhattan will be playing. Some of the clues left in previous issues of DC Comics point readers to certain characters (or a character) being responsible for all that's been going on in the DC Universe (i.e.: The New 52, Rebirth, etc.). However, with Doomsday Clock #2, Johns lays the groundwork for something involving Dr. Manhattan that I wasn't really expecting. I'm also not really sure who the "bad guy" is, if there even is one.

I have a feeling that the individual issues of Doomsday Clock are going to be hard to review without spoilers, and hard to evaluate because they are just pieces of a story that will need to be seen as a whole to be really understood. And I'm okay with that. I'm enjoying the story Johns is telling, and I like reading the twists and turns. Really, I'm looking forward to finding out just who is responsible for everything, and how and why it was done. I'm also curious as to just how much of current DC events spin out of Doomsday Clock; for instance, is Dark Nights: Metal a result of whomever's meddling in DC history? I guess it remains to be seen.

Overall, Doomsday Clock #2 by Geoff Johns is another solid entry in this possibly "world-changing" mini-series. I recommend it to anyone interested in the DC Comics universe. I also recommend it because of Geoff Johns's writing, and his efforts to echo the style of the Watchmen series.

I received a preview copy of this book from DC Comics in exchange for an honest review.