It’s all fun and games until the Comedian shows up.
Creative Staff:
Story: Geoff Johns
Art: Gary Frank
Colors: Brad Anderson
Letterer: Rob Leigh
What They Say:
The critically acclaimed super star team of writer Geoff Johns and artist Gary Frank continue this groundbreaking event as the Mime and the Marionette take center stage in DOOMSDAY CLOCK #6.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Suffice to say, the time between issues has really killed the enthusiasm for this book over the course of its run. And I hate saying that because I enjoy a lot of aspects of it and I imagine it’ll read well when collected. Geoff Johns has a specific intent here and while I do think that some aspects of it may be a bit more forced than he’s capable of making natural I do like how things are playing out. And there’s simply not way I can’t enjoy a book full of Gary Frank artwork, especially with Anderson coloring. It just looks right and comes together with such detail and design, wonderful framing and placement of where we’re viewing events from, that I want to just immerse myself in it even more.
Events in this installment continue to move us closer to where it’s all going to go big but it’s not quite at the cusp yet. What it does do is spend most of its time with Marionette and Mime in past and present. While I don’t particularly care for the characters themselves they do have some interesting things here, such as focusing on their childhood together with how they connected, the threats that existed as immigrants, and how they slowly but surely found their own way in the world. The bond they share is tight as it was forged in significant loss and it only grew over the years, particularly with more loss and a sense that only they really understand each other. It’s well done with some heartbreaking moments and strong visuals to it but the characters simply don’t resonate much for me at this stage even if they’re something of our view into what’s going on between the two worlds.
The present day storyline has its own form of darkness since it’s spending as much time as it is with the Joker. With his Batman in a wheelchair thing going on, he’s making his way to the big meeting of villains where we get the discussion about what to do as the nature of the world seems to be changing here.There are interesting moments in seeing how various villains frame it and what they want to do, as well as the simple dismissal of Batman there as just another one of Joker’s dupes. Naturally, there’s no cohesive plan going on here because even at the best of time villainous teams aren’t on the same page, but it is fun to watch as it turns to chaos with the Comedian showing up in his continuing quest and taking out various people while going after his targets. But that’s just the thing, it doesn’t feel like it really lands in a way where it has meaning, leaving it more of an interesting piece to follow but something that has no real long term impact.
In Summary:
Doomsday Clock, at best, continues to be a thing. I’m interested in the thing, it’s a well-written thing, and the thing has a lot of great artwork. But it remains just that, a thing. It’s hampered by the delays in a significant way for me (the next issue is also two months away) and while we’ve had some neat moments so far and interesting character subplots, we haven’t had a story that, well, feels worthwhile. We’re all reading because it feels like it’s supposed to be important but it hasn’t actually been important. Perhaps the more diehard readers will get more out of it than I since I still mostly deal with fringe DC titles, but the enthusiasm seemingly dwindles more with each issue and that makes me a bit sad.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 15+
Released By: DC Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: July 25th, 2018
MSRP: $4.99
