Ricky Church reviews Doomsday Clock #6…
We’re now at the halfway mark in Geoff Johns and Gary Frank’s Doomsday Clock and though the series continues its slow burn, it still paints some very interesting examinations of its characters along with very fun and exciting interactions with DC’s stable of heroes and villains. In Doomsday Clock #6, we not only learn the backstory for Marionette and Mime, but get to see them tag along with none other than The Joker to a super-villain meeting. It’s a good story that lets us see what shapes Marionette and Mime into the villains they are while moving a couple of the big mysteries of the series in some intriguing directions.
Throughout the series so far, Marionette’s been one of the most interesting and entertaining characters. Her personality is so out there, but as easy as the comparison could be Johns thankfully hasn’t made her just a carbon copy of Harley Quinn. Her relationship with Mime also fleshes her out and differentiates her from Harley where it is displayed as an actual loving and respectful relationship. Doomsday Clock #6 fleshes their relationship out even further by diving into their tragic backstory, revealing they’ve been together since their childhood. The flashbacks back to this point in their lives fit with the tone and atmosphere of the original Watchmen series and did a good job showing how Marionette’s experiences as a child shaped her into the woman she is now and how she and Mime share such a strong connection through their shared tragedies.
Of course, a lot of the excitement in the issue laid in the events of the present timeline as the pair found themselves with The Joker. Johns has only rarely written The Joker, but here he captures Joker’s zany and hurmourous side with little hints of his sadism. Johns’ take on Joker is good in this issue as he writes a Joker that is more amused by the events around him than plotting everyone’s death. It’s clear that Marionette and Mime think he’s not that big of a deal and, as Marionette states, is “too on the nose” to be considered a true threat. Their chemistry is enough to leave you wanting more and it’s great that the issue ends with Joker teamed up with them for some more issues.
With the focus on Marionette, Mime and Joker, it’s easy to forget Johns included a myriad of villains throughout the story. There’s a nice ‘whose who’ of villains as several of them meet to discuss the events going on in the DC universe, mainly the prevailing Supermen Theory and whether they should take Black Adam’s offer and go to Kahndaq for refuge. That the meeting is led by The Riddler as he tries to make a bigger name for himself among this group (and Johns makes full use of Riddler’s massive ego) is a nice touch, but we get a ton of other brief glances at some of the villains. This is also where we get a little more info regarding the main story of Doomsday Clock and the conspiracy theory everyone’s going crazy over. Between this and some of the back-up material, we get some intriguing answers that open up just more questions in this mystery. There’s some nice bit of action too as the meeting is crashed by another villain with a certain dark sense of humour and Johns does a good job with some of the players that decide to get in on the action.
The only downside to this issue is how the heroes are nowhere to be found. Batman is relegated to a guest appearance with only a couple drug-induced lines and Superman is not seen once again. Given that this series has been billed around Superman and Dr. Manhattan, it’s surprising to see how little Superman has played a physical part in the story now that we’ve reached the halfway mark. Given that he took more steps to look into the Supermen Theory himself in the previous issue, hopefully we’ll become a more central figure in the latter half of Doomsday Clock. It’s a small negative of this particular issue, but Johns at least makes up for it with a nice spotlight on Marionette and Mime.
Gary Frank’s art is once again outstanding as he brings a lot of emotional range to both Marionette and Mime, particularly when they’re children. The facial features on Marionette, or Erika as she was known then, is well done as is her body language and movements when she engages in fights, whether its against some bullying kids or full grown cops. Mime, or Marco, however, is perhaps the best aspect of the issue as Frank conveys everything the child is feeling just through expressions and his stances. The reveal that Mime isn’t just so in character that he doesn’t speak, but cannot literally speak isn’t all that surprising, but Frank utilizes it to show all the subtleties of Marco’s feelings, both as a child and adult, through the artwork. Combined with Brad Anderson’s colours, this is arguably the best looking issue of the series so far.
Doomsday Clock #6 has a strong focus on the new characters, reveal hidden layers to them and their backstory that make them more than just copies of other well-known DC villains. Though Johns continues his slow burn, things do heat up a bit through the action and the few answers we do get to the big mystery the heroes are trying to solve. Frank and Anderson’s artwork is alone worth the story thanks to their great artwork. Hopefully we’ll see a bigger role for characters like Superman in the latter half of the series, but Doomsday Clock is still well worth the read.
Rating: 9/10
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