“Heroes In Crisis” Finally Puts The DC Universe On The Path Of The Events Of “The Doomsday Clock”

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD- The following article contains spoilers for Heroes In Crisis #8 by Tom King, Clay Mann, Tomeu Morey and Clayton Cowles, in stores now.

At the outset of DC Rebirth in 2016, comic book fans were left shocked when the relaunch’s one-shot special ended with the arrival of the Watchmen characters. In that first year many comics included hints about how the Watchmen might factor in, as well as the event series it was all building towards: Doomsday Clock. But there were some delays and coincidences on the way.

The Doomsday Clock Delay And Heroes In Crisis Coincidences

When the Geoff Johns and Gary Frank comic debuted, it was said to be set one year in the DC Universe’s future. With a planned 12 issues, the maxiseries was projected to last a full year, at the end of which the rest of the DC books would catch up to the events of Doomsday Clock #1. However, unfortunate delays have led to a scheduling change for the Watchmen crossover series. While the series was meant to conclude in November 2018, it still has a couple of issues to go yet. But the end is, as they say, nigh, and there are signs proving it.

Due to these delays, the rest of the DC books also slowed their buildup to the start of the event. However, the release of Doomsday Clock #10 has finally come. So, with the end in sight for the series, it appears that the rest of DC’s books may be catching up chronologically. After all, on the same day of Doomsday Clock #10 release, Heroes In Crisis #9 has also been fully released. This issue might be the conclusion to Tom King and Clay Mann’s event, but it also brings a subtle reference to the events of Doomsday Clock.

The Doomsday Clock And Heroes In Crisis Connection

At the very center of Doomsday Clock is a conspiracy which is fueling worldwide unrest: the Supermen theory. This theory examines the high number of metahumans based in the US and posits that, while they claim to have received their powers by accident, most of them were secretly created by the US government to build meta human army. While it was mostly a conspiracy but Doomsday Clock revealed that there was some truth to it as well. That issue told us that The Outsiders and Justice League member Rex Mason, Metamorpho, did not actually get his powers from a mystical artifact but rather thanks to the scientific efforts of Simon Stagg. While the retcon was a shock to fans but it did ultimately made sense.

Now, in Heroes In Crisis #9, which takes place before the events of Doomsday Clock #1, we see Metamorpho partly acknowledge that his presumed origin story is false. In Metamorpho’s panel in Issue #9, the Element Man says:

“There’s something about my…Something about where I’m from. How I got this way. I know it ain’t right.”

This is subtle, but it’s obvious that Rex is talking about becoming a metahuman. So this panel becomes a precursor to Doomsday Clock. But even more than that, Rex knows that it isn’t right, that his lie is misleading and potentially dangerous.

The First Of Metamorpho In The Doomsday Clock

Right now it’s unclear if Metamorpho will return to play a role in Doomsday Clock’s final two issues. However, the reference in Heroes In Crisis is no accident. The Metamorpho revelation is one of the first that will be used to give the Supermen Theory it’s first sliver of credibility, which means that the rest of the DC Universe is finally close to lining up with the events of Doomsday Clock.

(Source: cbr.com and io9.gizmodo.com)