We have a special post today from our resident DC comics fan, Kylie Bechberger!
DC’s Rebirth #1
Spoilers ahead
Going into the Rebirth first issue I wasn’t sure what to expect. Having only read a handful of the DC New 52 runs I can’t speak for all of the characters but I know that they did some really cool things – like the first Wonder Woman run. But, I’ve heard some iffy things about some of the other titles. Having only read this 80 page issue, I can happily say I’m already so much more excited for where they are potentially taking the characters here. Overall, I loved it and DC can continue to take all my money.
Now for a brief back-story on how Rebirth came to be for those of you who are maybe more of a Marvel fan. Dan Didio and Jim Lee decided to do a big reboot of the DC universe and so New 52 was designed to reset the characters and their universe to the beginning. This allowed them to create new storylines and histories for all of the characters, without having to deal with past history. An example of this would be the Green Arrow New 52 comics, and how Black Canary didn’t exist within them, erasing all of the history between the two characters (no, I’m not bitter about that at all *end sarcasm*). After a while, though, Dan and Jim to have decided they wanted to end the New 52 run and start all over again so they brought it to Geoff Johns to have him take over the creation of what they wanted to call Rebirth.
Instead of doing a reboot, Geoff created this comic as a way to put DC back into a place where all the past history of the characters could still be a part of the storytelling. Geoff has said many times that he wants to reintroduce optimism and hope back into the DC universe through Rebirth, but that it is not a full reboot. In this first issue you can already feel that in the tone he has set for the future Rebirth runs.
The main theme throughout the comic is that every second is a gift and not only can you feel it with the writing but at one point it’s actually mentioned by the main character. The plot of the book is Wally West’s journey to return to the people he cares about as he is currently trapped in the speed force. It quickly becomes clear that no one remembers who he is. Using Wally as the main character, in my opinion, is such a smart move by Geoff because the Wally we know and love did not exist in the New 52 comics which would explain why no one knows who he his. The fact that he has been stuck in the speed force also helps to explain why he was absent from the New 52 story.
Throughout the comic Wally tries to reach out to his friends in order to come back from the speed force. This is such a solid way for Geoff to go through and quickly set up the other characters and where they currently are in the timeline. What I loved most about the comic is that this gives you an idea of where each character’s solo run is going to take them (and helps me decide which ones I will continue to follow.)
Since there are way too many characters to touch on I’ll just give you my favorite moments (in no particular order):
- The first character we get to see Wally try to contact is Batman. We get a quick look at what Batman is currently dealing with, which at the moment is 3 different Jokers terrorizing Gotham at once. This moment in the comic has definitely caught my interest, and I’d like to see where the 3 Jokers storyline takes Batman. The way in which Wally reaches out to Batman in Rebirth reminded me a lot of the similar scene in Batman v Superman where the Flash warns Batman.
- In this comic we are briefly introduced to character, but only though quick glimpses. I’m thinking it’s Supergirl! Well at least, I’m really hoping it’s her and that this is the way they are going with her character. We never get to see her face, but what we do know is that she’s blonde, knows Superman, has a Legion Flight ring, and has seen the future. Recently in Season One of the Supergirl TV show, we got a quick glimpse of a Legion Flight ring so this would allow for some comic crossover if this character is indeed her.
- Wonder Woman! Who doesn’t love a good Wonder Woman story? Like the rest of the characters, we only get a brief glimpse into what her run will be but it’s got a lot of promise. What we find out is that Wonder Woman has a twin brother named Jason, who has similar powers to Darksied. This information is revealed to Darkseid, and we don’t actually get to see Wonder Woman, but this sets up what will hopefully be an amazing run. Seeing as Greg Rucka is writing for her again I can only imagine it will be amazing.
- Also, as previously mentioned, I was a bit bitter about the whole Black Canary/Green Arrow love story disappearing from the universe in the New 52 – so I’m happy to say they are BACK! We’ve been given a page that shows the two of them will be back together in the Green Arrow Rebirth run, even if they’ve just met each other – you just know it will be good. I have been looking forward to more of the two of them since I finished the Green Arrow 2001 run.
- One of the best and most emotional moments came from a scene where Wally has given up and decides to reach out one last time before accepting that he is going to die in the speed force. Wally visits Barry Allen in a fantastic scene where he thanks a confused Barry for everything he has done for him. I won’t give away the scene because the rest is better to be read in the actual comic.
- ENDING SPOILER – Finally the big reveal of Doctor Manhattan being the character behind taking ten years of all the characters lives. So people online are not happy about DC using this character but, personally, I’m excited to see where this goes. Right now he’s acting almost like a puppet master controlling everything and I’m curious to see how they fully explain his thought process.
So basically I loved it.
Kylie
