Doomsday Clock #8 Review

Choosing Sides

Written By: Geoff Johns

Art By: Gary Frank

Cover Price: $4.99

Release Date: December 5, 2018

Heroes In Crisis?  Bah, this is where the story of the year and next is really at and it's only been getting better as it's been going along.  Yeah, you'll have the detractors, who will complain that DC is doing a Watchmen sequel and that nobody wanted that or that this story is too dark in a already dark Universe that DC Comics seems to love right now and while they'd be right about both those things...... It's always the darkest before the dawn and as we progress here, you can see that this is building to something big and exciting.  In our previous issue we saw Dr. Manhattan make his appearance and while it was awesome to see him interact with the various characters from his own Universe, the thing that struck me the most was Batman's recognition of the character, which I can't wait to see explored further.  Let's jump into this issue and check it out.

While you won't get a lot of Watchmen characters showing up in this issue to further their story, what you do get is a whole whopping helping of Superman showing up to help tell a really personal story dealing with Firestorm and how he's reacting to this whole "Supermen Theory" conspiracy.  While I know that everyone is chomping at the bit to get to the meat and potatoes of Doomsday Clock and finding out what everything means and discovering how Dr. Manhattan ties into the New 52 and beyond, this moment of reflection is crucial in setting up the tensions in the world in a way that the newspaper backups that we've been getting couldn't because here we're actually seeing how the world that we love to visit each and every New Comic Book Day is on the brink of war and destruction.  

So yeah, this is some excellent world building right here, while also spotlighting one of my favorite underrated characters, Firestorm.  It's also impressive in the emotion that it gives us from not only Firestorm, but Superman as well, not to mention we're slowly seeing some "The Man in the High Castle" style World War II news reels that are featuring the JSA and throwing the idea out there that our characters might not be remembering the world as it should be.  It was really just a pleasure to read this comic and actually get some more of the DC characters in this story since it's been just focusing heavily on the Watchmen side of things.

All in all, we have a beautiful looking comic that moves our story forward to an explosive cliffhanger, while thoroughly exploring the world as it is now and getting me hyped for what's to come all the way through.  Yeah, it's pretty damn dark in the things that it presents, but that's the world that we have currently and this is the reason that it needs fixing......... possibly by Dr. Manhattan.  Whether that's the case or not, I can't wait to get the next issue because for this second leg of this twelve issue series, Geoff Johns and Gary Frank are firing on all cylinders and giving me something of substance that the rest of the current comics have been severely lacking....... Essentially, something that matters.

Bits and Pieces:

I love the depictions of all the characters in this issue, from the way they act, talk and look and the dark personal story of Firestorm in this issue was made even better by acting as a way to show the world building that Geoff Johns is doing an incredible job in creating.  Each issue feels like it keeps getting bigger and this issue is no exception.  If you haven't been picking this series up so far, this is the time to get on the trolley so you're not out of the loop by the time it concludes because it is certainly something special.

9.5/10

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