Warning: SPOILERS for Doomsday Clock #9
Is Donald Trump the President of the United States in the DC Comics universe? The latest issue of Doomsday Clock suggests this might be the case. While the famous real estate mogul/reality TV show host turned politician is not seen in the issue, there is evidence that the unseen president depicted in Doomsday Clock #9 is meant to be Donald J. Trump.
DC Comics’ policy on portraying real world politicians in their comics has varied wildly over the years. Sometimes it was permitted, such as when Superman recruited President John F. Kennedy to masquerade as Clark Kent so as to help him protect his secret identity from Lois Lane. (Presumably Batman and Martian Manhunter were busy that afternoon?) On other occasions, such as when Lex Luthor was elected to the American Presidency in 2000, editorial mandate forbade the use of real world political leaders, so as to establish their own independent reality. Most of the time, however, the question seems to have been left to the discretion of the individual writers and editors.
The story of Doomsday Clock is largely political and draws parallels between the real-world nuclear arms race and the efforts of nations apart from the USA to develop their own superheroes in the wake of a “Superman theory” that the US Government has secretly been creating metahumans for years. Doomsday Clock #9 opens in the midst of an international incident, as Superman is facing international censure for trying to intervene in a battle between the Russian military and Firestorm after Ronnie Raymond seemingly turned a crowd of civilians into glass statutes by accident. It is here that we see the American President being advised to publicly disavow Superman’s intervention in Russia’s affairs.
While we do not see The President’s face and he is not identified by name, we do see that he is a Caucasian male. He also seems to be wearing one of Trump’s trademark navy blue suits. While that might be circumstantial evidence for a cameo, the choice of words and the cadence of the President’s dialogue seems to be a dead giveaway as to his identity. For instance, Trump is famous for liking the word “huge” and The President describes the action of abandoning his public support for Superman as “a huge thing… Huge.”
Later, as news reports reveal the further fallout of Superman’s actions, a news reporter describes a recent Tweet by the President of the United States. Again, no name is given, but Trump is famous for his use of Twitter. The reference becomes inescapable, however, when the unnamed President goes beyond denouncing Superman and goes on to boast that he has “…done more for the world anyway…”
While it seems unlikely that artist Gary Frank’s avoidance of an outright caricature of Trump will appease his supporters, it is worth noting that this satiric stab is relatively light compared to other depictions of American Presidents in classic DC Comics books. For instance, Ronald Reagan was depicted smiling and assuring Americans that everything was just fine even as he was frantically donning a radiation suit as nuclear missiles streaked towards the United States in Frank Miller’s seminal work The Dark Knight Returns. By contrast, the more recent scene depicting President Barack Obama opposing any Suicide Squad showed him to be in the right - yet as helpless as any other leader against a force like Amanda Waller.
While some may argue over the place of politics in comics, it seems clear that Doomsday Clock is continuing the fine American tradition of speaking truth to power through the printed panel that began with Thomas Nast.
Doomsday Clock #9 is now available from DC Comics.
