Geoff Johns Writing "Doomsday Clock" Event Starring Superman

[Clementine - The Worst Poster Ever]

You'll also notice that Eddie Berganza is NOT the editor on this Superman story and Johns specifically requested another editor for Doomsday Clock.

I did not pick up on that until you pointed it out.

That is great news, and if it's a sign that someone else will be taking over as editor in the neat future, even better.

[Kuwagaton]

Speaking for myself ,Johns it's a case by case basis. I largely actually enjoy most of his Superman work, although I don't really care for his very heavy Donner-verse influences. Didn't care for SECRET ORIGIN as a story. Fantastic as a skeleton to build Supes continuity around, but not particularly a well told story IMO.

I think Johns reputation with Superman stems from the fact that he comes onto Supes with great fanfare, does some decent stories and some world building, then as things get really interesting and reaches a turning point, he seems to leave abruptly, doesn't see the story threads he starts through and then the creators that follow tend to run things to the ground in pretty quick order.

Every writer is case by case, it's a product of being imperfect. People were having a field day with Landis based on like 4 pages from a back up and some Twitter comments he made about his personal life before AA actually dropped. I read some random Superman stories from Johns back in the day, and they did nothing to indicate that his Legion story would be so much fun. So here we are with his past works and this upcoming story he's been planning out for maybe two years. Which doesn't compare to stories he didn't see through in the sense that this is a stand alone (in his own words) mini series he's personally announced as its sole writer. He'll absolutely see it through.

The creators who are less open to criticism are simply less prolific. When you look at the reaction to Superman writers who put themselves out there (and I'm not specifically talking about fan reaction), I don't think it's a mystery why Snyder and Morrison are way more into writing Batman, and the likes of Ellis and Ennis have light fingerprints.

You'll also notice that Eddie Berganza is NOT the editor on this Superman story and Johns specifically requested another editor for Doomsday Clock.

This about rounds out the checklist, since we already had a random complaint about the previous contributions of Jim Lee, who is currently unaffiliated with this production. Not that this observation isn't very astute, but Johns gave an understandable reason for this project having Brian Cunningham as the editor. Maybe he is publicly dissociating with Berganza, but they launch projects outside of his full editorial all the time without bothering to mention that.

[DragonPiece]

Hearing this is gonna be more than 6 issue lowers my hype a bit honestly. We are already going through Metal, so it's weird 2 big events are happening at the same time. Plus, I was hoping this would end at the same time as action 1000

[JBatmanFan05]

I am myself actually going to approach DOOMSDAY CLOCK as it's own thing but I admit, I do worry a bit when Johns talks about bringing Superman low and seeing how far he can fall, when one could say we've had like, 5-10 years of that already and we are just seeing Superman finally getting back to a good place at last as a character and franchise.

I am actually mostly excited and I hope we get some answers to the Oz mystery and how we ended up with a split Superman for the New 52,but a small part of me wonder as Ascended does now...if we will look back in a couple years after the announcement of another Superman Reboot/overhaul/Relaunch and say "Well...It was all downhill after Doomsday Clock."

Some good thoughts and I think I agree. I'm so mixed on Johns, especially his approach to Superman, that it's hard to be too excited. It's almost like he's the Superman "establishment" in comics, or the symbol of it, this writer whose approach and philosophy on the character may have been weighing the character down.

I'm excited about this reborn period, I want to be excited. But DC has to show they've learned some lessons. But have they?

[GreatKungLao]

Geoff Johns once saved the entire Green Lantern Corps and expanded Lantern lore to the thing that we know today. If he will approach Doomsday Clock like he did with Green Lanterns Rebirth, I think we might be on the way to something phenomenal regarding Superman.

[Truman Burbank]

Well, it certainly didn't take long for this to turn into another Comic Book Guy thread.

There are only three real pieces of information to go on (an interview, a press release, and a tweet) that have been out for barely 12 hours, and we've already got the "I don't trust this, I bet it's going to suck, blah blah blah." The first issue won't even be on the racks for six months!

Regardless of various feelings on Geoff Johns, this is not giving the story a chance to stand on its own. And since this isn't just a Superman story, but Geoff Johns capping off a grand tale about the entire DC Universe, maybe, just maybe, it's OK to actually read the story before deciding it sucks simply because of dislike of the writer.

[Nite-Wing]

I don't trust Johns with Watchmen characters
I don't trust Johns with Superman anymore(been a long time since Brainiac)
So DC will now have two events running side by side it seems like

[GregoryD]

Geoff Johns once saved the entire Green Lantern Corps and expanded Lantern lore to the thing that we know today. If he will approach Doomsday Clock like he did with Green Lanterns Rebirth, I think we might be on the way to something phenomenal regarding Superman.

What'd he do other than making the GL universe stagnant?

What's the last great GL threat that didn't happen to have a color associated with it?

Johns has a tendency to oversimplify things to a point that subsequent writers feel threatened to work outside of his little box.

[Coal Tiger]

What'd he do other than making the GL universe stagnant?

What's the last great GL threat that didn't happen to have a color associated with it?

Johns has a tendency to oversimplify things to a point that subsequent writers feel threatened to work outside of his little box.

Other writers having a complex about following him says more about other writers than it does about Johns.

[JBatmanFan05]

Other writers having a complex about following him says more about other writers than it does about Johns.

Yea, no matter what, no one IMHO can say that Johns didn't really revitalize the Green Lantern mythos. I think had Morrison or some big writers succeeded Johns, we would have realized then how much Johns really did bring to the mythos, because he created so many creative opportunities with characters and world building.

[TheNomadicOne]

Im with Sacred on this.

If it wasnt Johns, I'd be jumping up and down with excitement. Superman being the focus of a big story? That hasn't happened since 2001-02 with Our Worlds At War. Superman interacting with Dr. Manhattan? That's a philosophical debate worth reading about. And Ive been loving Rebirth so far, both Tomasi's Superman and just DC in general.

Johns writing it? Just flushes all the potential down the drain. The last good thing he wrote with Superman was Superman and the Legion, and how long ago was that? He has a very narrow understanding of the character and he hasn't done Superman any favors, ever.

I've said that, as much as Ive been enjoying Rebirth, it seems to be DC's habit to make Superman great (or at least one of his titles) for somewhere between 1-2 years, and then they ruin it. I wonder if we've just turned the corner and will begin the downward spiral with this?

Meh, I'm gonna remain optimistic with this. A story like this is a big deal, and I just hope that Johns is completely aware of that and honestly I'm sure he is. He did establish rebirth after all. Besides if we just focus on the negatives, chances are the end product will be inevitably look shallow to you.

[Ascended]

With ragging on Johns, the only thing you're doing is setting yourself up to enjoy it less. The only one who loses in that event is the reader who wastes time buying or sniffing around a comic they think can't be written well. Last Son or Secret Origin weren't quite my favorite stories but I'm really not wringing my hands about that going into this one.

This is a ridiculous bit of hyperbole in particular.

Oh, Im not worrying about it. I'll keep up with the announcements and if those don't totally turn me off I'll give it an issue to prove my assumptions wrong. If it turns out to be good, I am pleasantly surprised and Johns will have written two Super-stories I think are worthwhile and I will give him credit for the success. If it turns out Im right, then I pass on the story and hope like hell Johns' poison doesn't spread to the main titles. If the line does go downhill, well, it won't be the first time I dropped the Super-books due to low quality.

But Johns hasn't written anything Super-related that I've enjoyed since Superman & The Legion. And Im not the only one. Disregard the opinion all you like, but me and Sacred aren't the only ones who dislike Johns' Superman writing. We might be a minority, because Johns' name sells regardless, but the opinion has plenty of ammo behind it. Really man, all I got are three words for you: Solar. Flare. Power. After that debacle I reserve the right to say whatever the hell I like about his Super-writing.

You drop Johns on a B-list character and I will be all over it. He'll almost certainly do amazing things (only exception I can really think of is Flash: Rebirth, but he still knocked out that first series with Wally like a boss). But the Trinity? Superman especially? I dont think he actually gets it (he did do okay with Diana in Darkseid War though). The best I can say of most of his stories are that they're vaguely passable. Which is a far cry from "good" so....yeah, not excited about this. But I'll give him a chance to prove me wrong nonetheless, because Im cool like that.

[TheNomadicOne]

Well, it certainly didn't take long for this to turn into another Comic Book Guy thread.

There are only three real pieces of information to go on (an interview, a press release, and a tweet) that have been out for barely 12 hours, and we've already got the "I don't trust this, I bet it's going to suck, blah blah blah." The first issue won't even be on the racks for six months!

Regardless of various feelings on Geoff Johns, this is not giving the story a chance to stand on its own. And since this isn't just a Superman story, but Geoff Johns capping off a grand tale about the entire DC Universe, maybe, just maybe, it's OK to actually read the story before deciding it sucks simply because of dislike of the writer.

I agree 100%. Let's wait for more info, it's too early to judge something that we have next to no info aside from an interview and a picture.

[JBatmanFan05]

Let's wait for more info, it's too early to judge something that we have next to no info aside from an interview and a picture.

It's not too early to have opinions on Johns's existing Superman comics though. And that is a relevant enough topical thing.

I'm definitely gonna check this out but I do think that Johns has done some subpar Superman and is representative of some of the lesser or regressive approaches to Superman.

I think people are understandably nervous with Superman comics right now, hoping that these new continuity fixes are just one part of a larger improvement to Superman comics and the approach to them. The editors, the writers, etc....fans want to see a page turned.

[TheNomadicOne]

Johns has done some subpar Superman and is representative of some of the lesser or regressive approaches to Superman.[/QUOTE]

I'm somewhat mixed when it comes to Johns work. I haven't read a lot of his works, but the works I have read are.....good. Not great, just good. The only one that really stood out for me was the Christopher kent storyline, but other than that, I prefer
For all seasons over secret origins (which I still think is good). I'm curious, what do you view as lesser or regressive to Superman when it comes to Johns.

EDIT: Welp failed with the quote