DC Comics co-publishers Dan DiDio and Jim Lee have confirmed that the upcoming Doomsday Clock event is a sequel to Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' iconic 1986 limited comic book series (and later graphic novel), Watchmen. The latter has helped to shape the modern comic book medium over the years and continues to be dissected to this day. Although the series was technically published by DC Comics, it remained separate from the core DC Universe and away from comic book icons such as Batman and Superman. However, that's all going to change soon.

Last year, DC launched Rebirth, their first major reset, though not necessarily a reboot, since The New 52 reboot in 2011. In addition to bringing back long-lost characters, such as the original Wally West, Rebirth also revealed that the Watchmen would finally be joining the core DC Universe, and that's something that comic book fans have been waiting to see ever since that first issue released last spring. Although there have been several teases and nods, as well as the occasional small event such as the Batman/Flash four-part crossover, The Button, nothing compares to Doomsday Clock.

Related: Doomsday Clock Teases The Return Of Rorschach

During DC's Meet The Publishers panel at New York Comic Con 2017, DC Comics co-publishers Dan DiDio and Jim Lee confirmed that Doomsday Clock - written by DC's chief creative officer Geoff Johns and illustrated by penciller Gary Frank and colorist Brad Anderson - will continue the story that left off with Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' Watchmen. Over the past year, people have known that certain Watchmen characters, particularly Doctor Manhattan, would join the fold at some point, but it wasn't confirmed when Rebirth (and Doomsday Clock) takes place in relation to the original Watchmen series.

“Doomsday Clock is a sequel to Watchmen, those characters meet DCU.”

What's more, in order to maintain harmony with the original series, DiDio and Lee confirm that the upcoming event will be told through 12, self-contained issues. Rather than cross-over the series with other titles, the publisher has opted to incorporate the major DCU players - namely Superman, with Batman and The Flash, along with potentially other Justice League members presumably joining Big Blue - into the new limited comic book series. Our own Rob Keyes spoke with Geoff Johns at a private Doomsday Clock event for more details that'll be revealed tomorrow evening (along with the first six pages of issue #1). Johns reiterated this his story is finite, and when it's over. It's over.

Doomsday Clock comes over one year after Doctor Manhattan and the Watchmen were first teased - and considering that this might be one of DC Comics' biggest comics ever, hopefully, comic book readers finally get some long-awaited answers as to what happened in the missing years. In either case, it will certainly be interesting to read the Watchmen sequel, which will arrive 31 years after the original comic debuted.

NEXT: Why the Watchmen TV Show Should Be Set in the Present

Doomsday Clock begins November 23rd.

Source: DC Comics