Warning: This Article contains Doomsday Clock #2Â Spoilers.
At the time when DC Comics had announced Doomsday Clock, a lot of fans were keen to find out how Watchmen characters such as Rorschach and Doctor Manhattan would handle iconic superheroes, Superman and Batman. However, nobody could have predicted that the series will be the debut of two new characters, who in their short run so far, have become the best recent additions to DC Universe and they are Mime and Marionette.
Similar to the older Watchmen characters, Mime and Marionette were based on the old Charlton characters, i.e., the villains Punch and Jewelee created by Steve Ditko. Writer Geoff Johns and artist Gary Frank have created characters similar yet new in Doomsday Clock. They are vital to the opening part of the series, as we now follow the revamped Rorschach on his mission to help them escape from prison. The introductory chapter gives a good idea of the colorful and brutal nature of Mime and Marionette, but, their savagery is further highlighted in Doomsday Clock #2 which came out this week.
The popular DC Universe characters are displayed only for a limited time as we go on following Rorschach, Ozymandias, Mime and Marionette in their bid to escape from their dying world. The issues enhances everything related to Mime and Marionette and has an opening scene which is taking place in past as well as the present. The two criminals once again put on their costumes in the present, and at the same time, we discover why they were such a frightening team in the past.
The two criminals might have been shown robbing a bank, but, it also adds substance to their character development. Mime can’t speak, but, his presence is loud. It is no mean feat to create a silent character who is not only strong, but, also frightening, but, Johns and Frank have done it superbly. On the other hand, Marionette is a motor mouth, who can be as nasty as her words. Her seductive nature can instantly transform into evil, and that’s what makes her even more noticeable.
While the demarcation between good and evil blurs out, we hear things which are neither black nor white anymore, and that’s pretty much the scenario with Mime and Marionette. We know that they are both destructive and sadistic, yet they have great depth. They are both damaged, but, committed to each other, and they are motivated by their desire to find their child. These attributes give a great human angle to the two characters, who might not have got so much depth in less creative hands.
All that was needed is just a couple of issues to prove that Mime and Marionette are among the most impactful new members of the DC Comics world in last few years. A market which is not very welcoming to newbies, they have come out as a duo, we want to see more of. They might wear black and white, but, that’s not their color. Gray is the new flavor of DCU, and that’s how it has always been in Watchmen. Now, we feel that this duo is all set to unleash mayhem in Gotham City, which only indicates a great deal of insanity to follow.
