‘Doomsday Clock’ Review Round-Up: What The Critics Are Saying

The first spoiler-free reviews of DC Comics' 'Doomsday Clock' and reactions to the first issue of the comic book series are positive.

Doomsday Clock

The first spoiler-free reviews for DC Comics’ limited series Doomsday Clock have hit the web.

The first issue of DC Comics’ Doomsday Clock limited series will be released tomorrow shortly before midnight and the first spoiler-free reviews for the much-anticipated event have surfaced online. Fans may be relieved to know that the general consensus on Doomsday Clock is that title is well worth the wait so far.

IGN‘s Jesse Schedeen:

“Issue #1 is very much the Force Awakens of this ambitious continuation. The goal is less to tell a shocking, groundbreaking story right out of the gate than to reassure fans that the franchise is in good hands. Johns and Frank focus a lot of attention in these pages on setting the scene and recapturing the distinctive look, tone and voice of the original Watchmen. They do a pretty bang-up job of it. I don’t know that anyone will mistake Johns’ prose for Alan Moore’s, but his script feels very true to the source material in a way that the various Before Watchmen comics didn’t always manage.”

Polygon‘s Susana Polo:

“Thirty years ago, Watchmen held up a dark mirror to the idea of the superhero. In response, the genre has thrown itself into a multi-decade love affair with the gritty anti-hero. With Doomsday Clock, Johns appears to be using the DC Universe to hold up a mirror right back at Watchmen and, in doing so, maybe even defend the genre’s aspirational, optimistic core.”

Newsarama‘s David Pepose:

“Where Johns exceeds Moore is in how much of a page-turner this issue is. Watchmen rewards slow and close readers of each panel, but never reaches a point where readers find themselves quickly devouring its issues. Doomsday Clock #1 is filled with dialogue and narration, but Johns’ skill in crafting a spectacle is second to none in the modern age of comics. This isn’t a mystery story and it isn’t perfect, but as the third act of an epic that began with Rebirth and continued in The Button, it’s hard not to get chills at the onset of this blockbuster comic.”

Den of Geek‘s Mike Cecchini:

“One key that makes Doomsday Clock feel like a completely organic extension of the original series is Gary Frank’s art and Brad Anderson’s colors. Frank, long regarded for the remarkable realism he brings to superheroes without sacrificing their dynamic elements (if you haven’t read his collaborations with Geoff Johns on Superman, I can’t recommend them highly enough) turns in what might be the best work of his career. Even with the frequent use of Watchmen’s trademark nine-panel grid, the sense is never that he’s actively imitating Dave Gibbons, but the art and color makes even a crowd scene as evocative of this world as Rorschach’s mask.”

ComicBook‘s Russ Burlingame:

“It also accomplishes arguably the most important thing: it manages to follow up “The Citizen Kane of comics” without embarrassing itself, its creators, or DC; and without diminishing what came before. As faint as that praise might sound, it is not: Doomsday Clock roars to life in arguably the most captivating single-issue superhero comic since DC Universe: Rebirth #1.”

Bad Manta‘s Josh West:

“I will simply say that the story presented here by this exceptional creative team is good, but it’s bound to spark controversy among fans. But that’s a good thing. After reading this issue several times over, I can say confidently that Doomsday Clock #1 sets this series on a trajectory to be a critical story for modern day readers. This isn’t just a mash-up Watchmen/DC event. This is a story that should bring each reader to an honest, uncomfortable introspection, but the simple/unfortunate truth is some people just don’t want that.”

Comicosity‘s Matt Santori:

“Certainly the parallels between Watchmen and the state of America remain apt — it’s part of the genius behind Moore and Gibbons’ original work that it bleeds existential struggle to such a degree that it continues to resonate no matter what the specifics of our political morass. But in the attempt to modernize its narrative, Johns is losing a bit of the complexity that made Ozymandias’s original campaign so treacherous and horrific and heroic — and relatable.”

Batman News‘ Jay Yaws:

“Johns’ work is admirable here, if for no other reason than the fact that he’s effectively writing a sequel to a book that didn’t need one.  There are a few times when he tries maybe a bit too hard to channel Moore and it comes across as clumsy, but by and large the book is well written.  It is rather slow, though, as it has quite a bit of ground to cover to draw us back into this world: things have progressed somewhat believably from the conclusion of Watchmen, though the narrative jumps back and forth between scenes a bit too much at the beginning.”

Gamespot‘s Mat Elfring:

Doomsday Clock is an interesting book to say the least. Many hold Watchmen to be a sacred story, one that should be its own separate entity and left untouched. It is a phenomenal book, but Doomsday Clock only adds to that mythos. While it probably won’t be as groundbreaking as the original story it follows, the first issue is compelling, and the creative team behind the mini-series is a trustworthy team, one that you should feel comfortable with telling this story.”

Written by Geoff Johns with art by penciller Gary Frank and colorist Brad Anderson, Doomsday Clock will feature Superman confronting Dr. Manhattan about his decision to manipulating the DC timeline and was partially inspired the 2017 United States Presidential election.

Will you be purchasing the Doomsday Clock limited series? How do you feel about the Watchmen characters being introduced to the DC Universe? Share your thoughts in the comments section below!

Doomsday Clock #1 will be released at 11:57 pm on November 21.

Sebastian Peris

Sebastian Peris

Canadian film buff, political junkie, comic book geek, and board game enthusiast.