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As Wally and Barry's conversation continues, the scene shifts to Batman in the Batcave, glancing at the letter from his father that Barry gave to him at the end of "Flashpoint" (in "Flashpoint," Thomas Wayne became Batman, with Bruce dying in Crime Alley). Batman's attention is then drawn to something shiny in the walls of the Batcave, and he chips away to find -- insert dramatic pause --





the Comedian's blood-stained badge, the most iconic image from "Watchmen" and something that doesn't seem to make any sense at this point to be hanging out in the Batcave. Wally's dialogue on that page puts a finer point on it: "We're being watched."

And that's not it: A four-page epilogue also by Johns and Gary Frank shifts the narrative from Earth to Mars, where Wally West's missing watch -- seen on the first page of the issue -- is telekinetically disassembled and reassembled by an unseen presence; depicted in a nine-panel grid reminiscent of Gibbons' "Watchmen" storytelling. The narration is dialogue direct from the end of "Watchmen," with Ozymandias asking Doctor Manhattan, "I did the right thing, didn't I? It all worked out in the end." Doctor Manhattan answers, "In the end? Nothing ends, Adrian. Nothing ever ends."

So, yes: Somehow, Doctor Manhattan -- the only superpowered character in "Watchmen," who possesses seemingly limitless godlike abilities -- is responsible for the creation of the New 52, and for changing DC Universe history as fans knew it. The two pages following the epilogue are issue credits in the distinct black-and-yellow palette of "Watchmen," along with a watch face -- indicating 15 minutes to midnight -- adorned with the iconic blood splatter from Comedian's badge, accompanied by the text, "the clock is ticking across the DC Universe."

Like much of "Rebirth," the use of Doctor Manhattan feels like meta-commentary on the direction of DC Comics. A commentary by Devin Faraci on Birth Movies Death argues that the use of Doctor Manhattan is drawing a straight, metaphorical line between "Watchmen" and some of the drearier comics of the New 52, as the more realistic and adult tone of Moore and Gibbons' deconstructionist work has led to conventional superheroes being affected in a negative way by similar approaches. Doctor Manhattan literally made a fictional superhero universe a darker place, much like "Watchmen" did to real-life comic book series.