As you might have heard on the last
episode of the Needless Things Podcast, I was not super pumped up for
DC Comics’ Rebirth event.
All of my life Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman have
been the world’s greatest superheroes. Spider-Man was up there, too, but DC’s
Trinity were, to me, the definition of “superhero”. They were what I thought of
when someone would use that term. That’s not to say that I have spent my whole
life reading all of their comics. I know them from TV, movies, and cartoons
more than anything else. I’ve read Batman comics on and off my entire life and
I’ve certainly read plenty of comic books featuring Superman and Wonder Woman,
but I am by no means a DC expert.
I bought pretty much any Batman book that came out in the
90s. I read Death of Superman and
followed the resulting comics pretty much until he came back. I think Bloodlines was the first line-wide event
that sucked me in. Then Zero Hour got
me. I can’t tell you if I truly enjoyed it or just got caught up in the sweeping
epic-ness of the event, but I bought most, if not all, of those tie-ins and
waited every week for the newest issues.
Around 2004 and 2005 I was getting back into reading
comics and I remember trying both Identity
Crisis and Infinite Crisis. They
were both confusing and deeply mired in the past continuities of DC. As someone
with only partial knowledge of the secondary and tertiary charatcers, I was
lost. I realize now that I was mistaking these events as an entry point for the
DCU. I think I reasoned that a massive, line-wide event was a great time to
bring in new readers.
By the time 52
came around I had gleaned enough from my prior attempts and from just being a
comic book nerd on the internet to grok what was happening. There were still
events that lost me a bit, but the narrative structure kept the momentum going,
hopping around from scenario to scenario. None of the segments lasted long
enough to truly lose me. And some of them got me invested in heroes I’d never
read before, like Adam Strange.
At this point I’ve read Final Crisis, Blackest Night,
and all of the other big events that happened up through the launch of the New
52. Some were better than others. Most lost their momentum at some point. Most
were spread too thin across many books and sometimes I dropped titles I was enjoying
due to their being mired in or sidelined by some big event.
I think if I have a point here – and I can’t guarantee
that I do – it’s that DC Comics hasn’t been too concerned about being
reader-friendly over the past couple of decades. And they certainly haven’t
been worried about new readers. They’ve claimed
that they have, but even the most “fresh start” New 52 titles had gobs of
continuity hanging around.
But I’m not here today to criticize the New 52. I’ve done
plenty of that as DC has disappointed me again and again over the past five
years. Today I’m here to celebrate DC’s newest fresh start and the promise it
represents for the future.
I have read DC
Universe Rebirth #1 twice now and before I get any further I want to tell
you to take your $2.99 plus tax to your Local Comic Book Shop
and buy this 80-page comic book. It made me very happy and gave me the hope
that Geoff Johns claims to want to bring back to the DCU. Every word of the
story is an acknowledgement of everything DC has been doing wrong for not just
the past five years, but perhaps the past thirty. I cannot help but be excited
about what’s coming.
I am not going to spoil any of the major events or story
beats of the book because I strongly believe that any comic book fan should
experience Rebirth as I did – with no
hints of what is to come and the ability to let the narrative sweep over them.
However, there’s no way to talk about the book without at
least touching on certain things, so from here on out there could be very minor
spoilers in that a few elements will be discussed. If you want to go into the
book completely fresh, stop here.
If you need just a bit more convincing before you give DC
another chance, read on.
***SPOILERS***SPOILERS***SPOILERS***
This book was crafted with both new and old readers in
mind. The story that unfolds is very easy to follow, both from a writing and
artwork standpoint. I never got lost. I never had trouble navigating panels.
The whole thing has a very clean, easy to understand layout. There aren’t any
interminable strings of story-light splash pages or overwrought arrangements of
bizarrely-shaped panels that take an hour to figure out.
I’d love it if this was DC’s new standard going forward
and if those shitty, confusing art wank pages were a thing of the past.
While Rebirth
relies heavily on continuity, it does so in a way that explains not only the story,
but the context of how it fits into what’s going on. All of the exposition is
laid out very clearly and the central and most relevant part is covered all at
once. It isn’t spread out across the comic, making the reader jump around and
struggle to keep track of the references. Each story and sub-plot is clearly
laid out and explained. That’s not to say that there aren’t mysteries remaining
at the end, but they’re compelling and intriguing rather than frustrating.
This story is meta in a way that I found ingenious. It
left me hungry to find out where it will go. No more about that lest we get
into big spoilers.
The comic opens with a mystery narrator. As I mentioned
above I am no DC historian, but I knew before I got through the page exactly
who was talking. It’s a pleasing and mild surprise. We follow this character
through to a conclusion, which is both emotionally impactful and satisfying. I
got very caught up even though I don’t have a huge attachment to the character.
The storytelling did its job and got me invested.
Over the course of this story, the narrator interacts
with several characters, some of whom I don’t think we’ve seen in quite some
time. They will all fill you with joy because of the implications.
Naturally, our narrator visits Batman first. And
naturally Batman already suspects that there is a problem with the DC Universe.
No – that’s not a spoiler – we all know that there’s a problem with the DC Universe.
Also, while I mostly like Batman’s new costume, I hate
his new belt.
The characters that the narrator interacts with directly
are very rewarding, but we also see many others over the course of the issue,
presented for various reasons that I won’t get into here. The storytelling device
makes it all work and the central point is that strange things are happening
and changes are coming. You will see faces that will fill you with joy and they
will be doing things that fill you with hope.
I think I can safely show you these panels, as the
general nature of Rebirth is known at
this point and, to me, these sum up the book:
If that doesn’t convince you to at least give this book a
chance, nothing will. And the idea of who that hand belongs to is so big and so
intimidating that I can’t believe it. They managed to introduce a brand new,
terrifyingly powerful enemy to the DC Universe that created an immediate “OH
SHIT” reaction. I stand in awe of what happened here and can’t wait to see fan
response.
There are three genuinely amazing, history-making moments
in Rebirth. Panels that will stay
with me the rest of my life. It’s possible that DC will totally cock everything
up and ruin their significance, but the emotions I felt will stick with me. The
first had me welling up, the second dropped my jaw to the floor, and the final…
The final sent nerd chills through me that dwarfed the ones created by hearing
John William’s Star Wars theme. My
whole body was a-tingle with the implications.
I read DC Universe
Rebirth #1 without cynicism and I loved it. I opened myself up to the
possibility that DC can still get it right, and eighty pages of story made me a
believer. If you can shut off that jaded fanboy or fangirl and lock them in the
back of your brain for half an hour, I think you might be able to feel the same
hope that I do for the future of DC.
Side Note: I’m going to look like an idiot
if I don’t acknowledge that DC could drop the ball on the promise of this comic
book. So I’ll say I’m cautiously optimistic.
But I’m really not. I’m excited and
jubilant and hopeful.
Don’t let me down, DC.
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