Check that out below, andpre-orderDoomsday Clock#1 here.
Johns thinks people will accept it if theres a good story, and he seems confident in his story.
I must say, Im intrigued byDoomsday Clockso far.
Credit: DC Comics
Darren, you and I represent two different generations of DC/comic fans.
I think we should start off by maybe discussing our personal history withWatchmen.
How did you first read it?
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Do you still appreciateWatchmenor does it now seem blase to you?
Are you interested or horrified by this whole crossover idea?
I would read a complete book-lengthUnder the Hoodif Alan Moore wrote it.
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(You know Im not joking, Christian,I read all ofJerusalem!)
I was a big reader of comics from 1991-1998, a very weird time for DC.
But I experiencedWatchmenin reverse, late in my era of comic addiction.
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It was great when I was barely a teenager and thought I knew everything.
Its even better now that Im old enough to admit I dont know anything.
But, funny you mentionBefore Watchmen.
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How did you first experienceWatchmen, Christian?
How did it fit in with your experience of DC comics in general?
And can you set the stage a bit for how Johns has been building up to this new saga?
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CHRISTIAN:I definitely readWatchmentoo young.
In fact, I think I was still in junior high.
That was about the time I first readSandman, too.
Luckily,Watchmenis conducive to multiple readings and actually does get better every time you read it.
This is, of course, the lowest common denominator thing that happens with every zeitgeist-changing piece of art.
Should they acknowledge real-world death and violence, or pretend everything can be good?
(c’mon forgive my oversimplification here.)
This debate, more than anything, is what the DC comics themselves have been hinting at regardingDoomsday Clock.
The initiative was called The New 52.
The first six pages ofDoomsday Clockcertainly give us a photo-negative of optimism.
Rorschach is there too, despite being atomized by Dr. Manhattan at the end ofWatchmen.
I mentioned thatWatchmens legacy may have been somewhat twisted by its many emulators.
Funny enough, Rorschach might be the most misunderstood in that regard.
Darren, what do you make of Rorschach, then and now?
What do you make of his return, and these first six pages in general?
Certainly they seem to at least demonstrate artist Gary Franks chops, right?
Young uns, read the hell out ofWatchmen!
Youre right to point out thatWatchmenkickstarted a conversation, Are comic books literature?
which ran alongside the ensuing Are video games art?
But again, not going all the way into the movie, lets save that for another day!
(SUPERBOY JUST PUNCHES OFF PANTHAS HEAD.)
Maybe the POINT was to ramp up the violent hyperbole to 11.
Something else I like that specific date at the start of the issue, Nov.22, 1992.
That said: Something in the recreation ofWatchmens style feels strange to me here.
And that X-Ray of what looks like brain cancer: Interesting!
And then theres Rorschach.
So I guess what I make of Rorschach here is, to be mealy-mouthed, equally ambiguous.
Resurrecting a character who was so famously dead can only make that character seem less human than iconic.
(Maybe someone familiar?
An emotionally bruised Dan?
A dying Ozymandias?SEYMOUR???)
Its an immediate shock.
Is it weird to you that the utopia at the end ofWatchmenseems to have barely lasted five years?
And whats your hope for whereDoomsday Clockgoes from here?
CHRISTIAN:Thats a fascinating point about Frank Miller!
LikeSandman#6, it burned into my brain at a young age, and left a permanent impact.
Im interested, at least, to see where Johns and Frank are going.
LikeDoomsday Clock,Secret Empirewas a remix of an earlier story published decades ago.
In the end, it was all just sound and fury and spectacle, signifying nothing.
Or will it just be more meaningless spectacle?
We get our first look this week withDoomsday Clock#1.
Thanks for chatting, Darren!
