Doomsday Clock

Hard to tell just how good a story may be based on on-going issues of a comic book.

That’s one of the reasons why trade paperback collections have become so popular in the comic book/graphic novel world. A reader can read a story arc in its entirety instead of the issue-by-issue drip of monthly installments.

Readers will know immediately if they are interested in a monthly title but it can be six months to a year before they know if the full story works.

So, it is with the ongoing “Doomsday Clock,” a “Watchmen” sequel that mixes the worlds of the comic masterpiece with the regular DC Universe. 

Yes, there is the potential Dr. Manhattan and Superman will collide. Batman and Rorschach’s heir have already met.

“Doomsday Clock” is kind of a daring project.

DC revisited “Watchmen” a few years ago with a series of new adventures for the characters. That was daring because “Watchmen” is no ordinary story.

After all, it isn’t just any comic book that is included in lists such as Time magazine’s look at the greatest literature of the 20th century; yes, a comic book made the cut along with Hemingway, Joyce and Fitzgerald. But Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ 1980s “Watchmen” entered such heights. 

“Watchmen” is a masterpiece and a classic. So, any fiddling with that, especially without Moore’s involvement, has been tantamount to comics sacrilege to some readers. 

“Doomsday Clock” looks at the “Watchmen” world several years down the road from the original story. A time when “Watchmen” world collides with the regular DC Universe.

“Doomsday Clock” is interesting; the premise intriguing. But is it a new masterpiece? Doubtful. Doesn’t mean it isn’t good, possibly really good, but “Watchmen” inspired so many great comics which have in turn inspired more great comics that it’s hard to tell. 

To younger readers, “Watchmen” may seem stilted compared to more contemporary comics, sort of how some people feel about “Citizen Kane” compared to some more recently released movies. It’s a classic but is it really the greatest of all time?

Plus, “Doomsday Clock” is only about two-thirds of the way through its scheduled year-long run. So, who knows?

But there’s one important thing to remember.

The original “Watchmen” has been available as a collection for 30 years. For three decades, readers can sit down and read “Watchmen,” in its entirety, in one sitting. 

But in the 1980s, before the collections, before the Time lists, etc., “Watchmen” was a monthly title, a mini-series that came out issue after issue during a year-long run.

And it was worth every second of the wait.