DC Comics Rebirth Universe & Doomsday Clock #2 Spoilers & Review: The Watchmen Invade DC! Batman Vs. Rorschach, Lex Luthor & Ozymandias, Doctor Manhattan DC Debut & More!

Spoilers, Top Story

DC Comics Rebirth Universe and Doomsday Clock #2 Spoilers and Review follows!

The Watchmen Invade DC Comics!

We open in what appears to be a flashback for Mime and Marionette. We get our first good look at them in black and white plus…

…in color.

They’re robbing a bank that Doctor Manhattan, who technically makes his DC Comics debut,…

…fancies? He spares them because he knows that Marionette is pregnant.

You’ll remember for Doomsday Clock #1 that Ozymandias promises to locate their kid if they align with him.

In modern day, Ozymandias, the new Rorschach with Mime and Marionette are tracking Doctor Manhattan. He has a unique signature they can follow into an alternate universe.

It looks like they died in the attempt or that is showing a nuke going off and killing bystanders or killing the Watchmen escapees.

The next panel either implies Doctor Manhattan saved them to allow them to find him in the DC Rebirth universe and possibly shows the destruction of the Watchmen’s alternate Earth. Lots of questions about these two pages. Intriguing not be able to get ahead of this story.

On the DC rebirth Earth, we don’t know what year it is. It appears to be modern day, but readers have been teased before the series that this takes place around events from 1992; not actually in that year per se, but during the Death of Superman arc and where that fits in DC Rebirth canon. So, not clear in the comic book if this is modern day DC Rebirth or the past.

The Watchmen are dazed after arriving on Earth Prime or Earth 0 the DC Rebirth Earth. Rorschach is dazed and confused and we learn Ozymandias has something on him or a loved one of his threatened to enlist his support.

Ozymandias also decides he doesn’t trust the instability of Mime and Marionette and handcuffs them to the refurbishing Owl ship, that Nite Owl called Archie, that they used to travel “here”. They also have that alien cat from the Watchmen who will be of use as a compass to find Doctor Manhattan it seems.

Ozymandias, dying of cancer, and Rorschach go to the library to learn the history of this world. Lots of super-heroes and villains. Ozymandias needs this world’s smartest person and his choice is Bruce Wayne or Lex Luthor.

He chooses Lex Luthor while Rorschach heads to Wayne Manor.

Someone shoots at Ozymandias and hits Lex Luthor instead.

Turns out is the Comedian, whose death was a big part of the first Watchmen series.

Rorschach also meets Batman in the Batcave after eating Bruce Wayne’s pancakes. So, that is the reason for the pancake imagery in this series.

So…

Multi-layered story-telling and a lot of it. There is a lot of story here and revelation about the various players. Geoff Johns writes an opus that masterfully rendered by Gary Frank. I also love that unlike many comic book stories nowadays, you can’t get ahead of all the various plotlines. There is a mystery and intrigue here. 9 out of 10.

John is a long-time pop culture fan, comics historian, and blogger. He is currently the Editor-in-Chief at Comics Nexus. Prior to being EIC he has produced several column series including DEMYTHIFY, NEAR MINT MEMORIES and the ONE FAN'S TRIALS at the Nexus plus a stint at Bleeding Cool producing the COMICS REALISM column. As BabosScribe, John is active on his twitter account, his facebook page, his instagram feed and welcomes any and all feedback. Bring it on!