There’s been much speculation about Geoff Johns and Gary Frank’s long awaited Watchmen-adjacent book, Doomsday Clock. From the first moment we saw Batman pick up the Comedian’s iconic smiley face button in the last page of DC Rebirth #1, we knew some seriously strange stuff was going to happen in the DCU. The publisher stayed tight-lipped until last night when we found out ourselves in a top secret venue sequestered away behind Owlman’s iconic flood doors in deepest darkest Manhattan, where we were treated to a sneak peak at the highly anticipated and controversial Doomsday Clock #1.

DC described the culture clash comic as “a story for our time that brings the greatest heroes and villains from the DC Universe together with the mysterious forces from the Watchmen Universe.” Geoff Johns stated that it’s “the best work I’ve ever done,” and from the sneak peak of we saw of the first issue we have to say that we’re so excited to see what comes next! Even though we can’t share all of Doomsday Clock’s secrets, we’re thrilled to show you the first six pages of the book that DC released in a special black and white zine just for NYCC!

For those of you yet to read Alan Moore, Dave Gibbons, and John Higgins seminal story, Watchmen revolves around a group of outlawed superheroes in an alternate timeline where caped crusaders are a recognized part of the cultural landscape. The book is widely regarded as one of the best comic books of all time, and many fans were shocked when DC announced they’d bring these characters into the main DCU, mixing this cult classic with their modern roster.

For Geoff Johns, this was an exciting opportunity to work with characters who’d defined his comic book fandom. He’s openly and wildly passionate about the chance to work with these seminal creations. “Thematically, and metaphorically, there was no better choice than to use Dr. Manhattan. If you’re going to have a conflict between optimism and pessimism, a battle between the very forces of hope and despair, you need to have someone who personifies the cynicism that’s leaked into our hearts and also has the ability to affect the entire DCU,” Johns enthused. The ashcan sets up the world of Doomsday Clock, establishing a distinct time and place. It’s November 1992, seven years after the events of the original book. The world is in disarray, the actions of Watchmen’s big bad Ozymandias–aka Adrian Veight–still being felt around the globe. Old Ozy isn’t the only character that we meet in this dystopian teaser. We also see the return of the face (or mask) of Rorschach. Moore and Gibbons’ iconic anti-hero was thought to be dead… so what can this last page reveal really mean? Well, you’ll have to wait until the first issue is released on November 22nd to find out! But to keep you going until then, you can enjoy the FULL NYCC EXCLUSIVE ashcan in our gallery below.

How do you feel now that we’ve gotten our first glimpse at the world of Doomsday Clock? Still frustrated that DC is messing with these critical characters? Happy that someone is breaking down the mythology of Watchmen for modern audiences? Just super happy to see Batman actually doing some detecting? Let us know in the comments!

Images: DC Entertainment

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