First of all, before the DC major event "Doomsday Clock" appeared, "Watchmen" and the DC multiverse were not the same universe.
The copyright of "Watchmen" belongs to DC Comics, but this comic is a comic with an independent world view, so it is meaningless to compare who is better between Dr. Manhattan and Superman.
But both DC and Marvel have drawn "old heroes" for decades, and they often need to restart the universe.
The so-called reboot of the universe means that all the previous settings and stories are cleared, leaving only the characters of Batman, Superman, and The Flash, and then based on the development of the plot, supporting characters and villains from the previous stories are added.
For example, if you ask the protagonist Zha Kang in "Constantine" who is his official partner, you will probably say Zatanna, the beauty in black stockings. But in the 1980s and 1990s, his girlfriend was Ai
Ma, Zed, Maggie, Kit and the other daughters.
Zatanna only came to prominence after the reboot, while Zedgit did not appear before.
So, how to restart the universe in a reasonable way?
You can't just say, "I want to restart the universe" from the editor, and the comic will be redrawn.
You must give a reason for when to convince the reader.
As a result, major events such as "Flashpoint" and "Infinite Crisis" appeared.
For example, the Flash and the Flash surpassed the speed of light, traveled through time, went back to the past, and changed the ending of his mother's death. As a result, the butterfly effect was triggered and the entire universe was changed. As a result, the DC multiverse completed a restart-this is actually quite logical.
At least for readers, this reason is enough.
In fact, there are not many characters who can restart the universe. After all, restarting the universe sounds lofty and requires special powers that transcend the ordinary.
Well, the key lies in the special power, which has to do with the time universe.
Like Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and even Superman, they are all too "plain" and find it difficult to shoulder the burden of restarting the universe.
Therefore, in the previous reboots, The Flash and the Anti-Monitor took the blame.
This is the origin of The Flash's motto "Whenever there is a major event, he must sacrifice to heaven. If he doesn't sacrifice to heaven, it's not a major event."
But there are too many blames, and if they are asked to shoulder the responsibility every time, readers will also lose the freshness.
One day, a director named Zack Snyder made "Watchmen". Watchmen became a hit, and Dr. Manhattan, nicknamed "The Big Blue Eagle" by netizens, became a hit. He was even dubbed "the strongest person in DC" by netizens and readers.
——Actually, this is nonsense. Lan DaDiao was not a character in the DC universe before (the opinion of the original author of Watchmen).
The editor of DC Comics was delighted, "Since Lan Diao is so popular and his abilities are considered so strong, let him take the blame... Ahem, it's not about taking the blame, it's about restarting the universe."
So, with Alan Moore (the author of the "Watchmen" comics) scolding him, a sequel to "Watchmen" was released.
"Doomsday Clock" has only one main content. Lan DaDiao integrates the "Watchmen" universe and the DC multiverse to complete a restart of the DC universe.
So everyone understands?
In my novel, Harley travels through a universe that has just been rebooted by Doctor Manhattan.
To put it bluntly, the timeline is after the major event "Doomsday Clock".
"Doomsday Clock" was released in 2017, so will major events before 2017 happen in this novel?
meeting.
Because in "Doomsday Clock", the DC universe that Dr. Manhattan merges with is the DC universe of the golden age.
I believe you have often heard the terms "Superman of the Golden Age", "Superman of the Silver Age" and "Superman of the Iron Age".
The "Superman" comic was released before the end of World War II. The Superman in it was born around 1920, and he was the Superman of the Golden Age.
With the passage of time, from Gotham in the gaslight era to the old man using his love-crazy mobile phone, it is obvious that the characters and eras in comics have changed with reality.
After 2000, especially after 2010, Superman is becoming more and more "younger", from the old and antique "post-20s" to the "post-50s", "post-80s", and the promising future of "post-00s" and "new post-20s"
...He passed from the golden age, through the silver age, to the black iron age.
Now everyone understands what the Golden Age Superman is? He is the most ancient Superman.
Going back to the previous topic, the DC universe that Doctor Manhattan merges with is the universe of Superman in the Golden Age.
In other words, Dr. Manhattan, a "rising star who takes the blame", suddenly took the blame in front of The Flash and the Anti-Monitor.
To give an inappropriate example, the Anti-Monitor took the blame once in 1986 (restarting the DC multiverse), then around 2000, took the blame for the second time; by 2011, The Flash took the blame for the first time; by 2017
In 1940, Dr. Manhattan took the blame for the first time. He took the blame for 1940.
Well, Dr. Manhattan took the blame later, but he became the "first scapegoat" in the timeline, followed by The Flash and the Anti-Monitor.
Uh, it seems like it's getting more complicated the more I talk about it... Never mind, it doesn't matter if you don't understand.
Let me talk about the timeline of this book directly, "Watchmen" - "Doomsday Clock" - (certain ancient major events, such as Uncle Da's invasion of the earth, Infinite Crisis, Blackest Night, Whitest Day
Night, the arrival of the Rotten Kingdom) - The Battle of the Three-Body Problem - The Eternity of Evil - The Darkseid War - DC Rebirth and Some Less Important Events - Metal - Justice is No More -
The above is just a general plot. In fact, the protagonist Harley may not participate much in big events, but plays more in "small events". I just want to make it easier for readers who have read the comics to understand.