User blog:SforHope/Rebirth: The Good, The Bad and the Ugly

Early this morning the usual suspects (DiDio, Lee and Johns) discussed what Rebirth is all about. As it turns out, it isn't what many people feared it would be. Everyone was so apprehensive about Rebirth being another reboot. However, they made very clear that this is not the case. The information prior to today's announcement was about the new comic books being published later this year, the return to the original numbering of Action Comics and Detective Comics, the lowering of comic prices to half and the publishing of titles twice in a month. And that remains the basic principle for what Rebirth is, but after today's announcements, they revealed the general direction they pretend to go and I can't help but think it is all a bit contradictory.

When Dan DiDio started talking about how they lost their way with the The New 52, I couldn't agree more. Specially considering the lack of quality on the Wonder Woman and Batman titles. Then, Jim Lee mentioned how comic books are the source material for the many movies and TV shows out there and how they try to keep the comics as a separate entity, but in all honesty, half of the Rebirth comics are exaclty the opposite. Half of the new books that are programmed, are strictly aligned to match the TV series and upcoming movies.

In order to get a better idea of what I'm saying, I have divided the Rebirth announcements into what I liked, what I didn't like and what I don't have an opinion about, due to my lack of knowledge. It is also important to mention that everything is going to start with an 80-Page Rebirth Special that nobody discussed much about.

The Good
When they announced the return to the original numbering on Detective, I was excited, but having James Tynion IV as the writer wasn't very promising to me. I mean, he's done a good job over Batman & Robin Eternal, but I couldn't see him working alone. However, after today's announcement, I changed my mind. Tynion explained that he's going to take Batman and put him together with some of the great and much loved characters. Tim Drake as Robin, Stephanie Brown as Spoiler, Cassandra Cain in a new role and Batwoman, working alongside Batman once more. I liked this very much. This is what Detective Comics is all about. Sure, Batman took over the title in 1939, but he always shared the spotlight with other characters. In recent years, that was lost and now they're returning to this 90's/early 2000's concept, which worked perfectly. I'm really looking forward for more Detective Comics.
 * Detective Comics

Julie and Shawna Benson are the girls in charge of reviving this beloved series. I don't know much about their background, but I always liked the BoP. For this title, they are bringing back Helena Bertinelli as the Huntress, which is something I really like. Geoff Johns created a very special new character design for Huntress (which I absolutely love) and also for Black Canary. The basic premise of the book is that "Oracle" is working out there again, but Barbara, who is Batgirl and no longer Oracle, calls her trusted friends and together, they try to discover who is behind this "Oracle". - This might be good.
 * Birds of Prey

No, really, the tagline for Nightwing is "Better than Batman" according to Tim Seeley, the second half of the writers behind Grayson. Nightwing is coming back and we are going to forget Agent 37 even existed. Dick returns to his classic black and blue suit and he's getting the best of Batman's supporting cast to tag along. I think this is the perfect chance to tell so many good stories and I hope they deliver.
 * Nightwing aka "Better Than Batman"

Yes. Bats, Sups and Diana all together once more. This concept is quite classic, but truly unexplored. Having the three of them together, brings up a lot of possibilities for good storytelling. Now more than ever, it fells necessary to have this book; despite the fact that it is kind of a publicity stunt for the upcoming Justice League movies. I can only hope that DC really tries to set this book apart from the films.
 * Trinity

The very first version of Superwoman on the mainstream/canon DC Universe. What else do I need to say? Perhaps, mention the fact that Phil Jimenez is taking over art duties, and I couldn't be more satisfied.
 * Superwoman

The current Wonder Woman version by Finch-Finch is doing much damage to the Amazon Princess. Fortunately, they are being thrown away and instead, one of my all time favourite writers is taking over: Greg Rucka!!! The WW title is part of the "twice a month" deal and it will feature two different stories with each release. The odd numbered issues will portray WW on a modern setting and doing her thing as an experienced hero, while the even numbered issues will portray, what Rucka has called "Wonder Woman: Year One". This is all nice, but, it also feels like a publicity stunt to get people interested for the upcoming Wonder Woman movie. However, if they can get it right, I'm down with it.
 * Wonder Woman

Tony S. Daniel is the artist who will take over JL. Daniel is very good when it comes to action packed stories and we all know that JL is all about the action.
 * Justice League

I've never been a fan of the GL before, but after listening to this new idea, I'm quite interested in this book. Basically, the main characters are two GL: Jessica Cruz and Simon Bas, and I've never really paid any attention to them before, but I like the idea of two low profile GL becoming the main attraction. Oh, and they're gonna be fighting the Red Lantern Corps, so it should be good.
 * Green Lanterns

The new writer, John Semper seems to have a nice idea of a dichotomy taking place in Cyborg, as Victor Stone becomes aware of his human and robotic nature to the point where he has an inner conflic to overcome in order to become a whole. I think it sounds interesting.
 * Cyborg

Yes, Yes. F--- YES! This is what everyone has been waiting for: the return of the Titans. Basically, this book is a follow-up of Titans Hunt and it seems very promising as we have Nightwing, Donna, Arsenal, Aqualad and a green dude/lady? IDK, but I like it very much.
 * Titans

The Bad
Bad enough as it is today, the Batman title needs a radical change. However, this is not what they plan to give us. The current writer, Scott Snyder (who in my opinion overstayed his welcome) leaves the book along with artist Greg Capullo and instead we get writer Tom King, the man responsible for Grayson, and if you've been reading that title, you know what to expect in Batman. And guess who's the artist: David Finch. Yep, the guy who is getting kicked out of Wonder Woman for ruining the character, is placed in Batman... it can only end badly. Anyway, during his speech, King said that he would showcase Batman as this dark figure, who dwells in darkness and how he manages to cope with it; coming up victorious every time. Sound familiar? IT SHOULD! - This is the same basic premise that writers have been using to write Batman over the past years!!! Seriously. This concept sound exactly like the Batman from the very first year (1939), the exact same concept from Frank Miller's Batman: The Dark Knight Returns and Batman: Year One, the same idea used by Dennis O'Neil to re-adapt Batman in the 70's. It has been done... what the Batman title needs is someone who can create a Batman that doesn't rely on historical precedents! A Batman who can create history by changing the status-quo. -- But why would they do it? People are still buying the books to read the same story a thousand times, only written and drawn by several different people. The formula is working. The character is defined by the money he can make. They won't risk losing their top selling book... and it saddens me.
 * Batman a.k.a. "The Money Cow"
 * Side note: you think Snyder is gone for good? Nope. He's getting a new Batman book called "All-Star Batman" and he also got an exclusive contract with DC. Just a little reminder, this is the guy who made Batman look like a fool in front of a bunch of "owls"; the guy who in five years used the Joker in three out of five storylines, the guy who used the old comic book trope of "killing" the hero just to have him back (pointless), the guy who made a ridiculous Batman out of Commissioner Gordon, created a giant flower monster that could only be defeated by a Bat-Megazord. Snyder made me feel like I was in the Silver Age of Comics all over again... And he's here to stay.

The title by itself it not my concern, but the fact that it resembles too much to the Supergirl TV Show. See how they contradic themselves?
 * Supergirl

Yet another example of a TV driven comic. Sure, there was never a big difference to begin with, but it seems obvious right now. According to the announcement, they're going to introduce a new villain called "Godspeed" and also, there are going to be tons of Flashes or "speedsters" in the comic and Flash has to train them. This seems rather odd to me, since I feel like The Flash is losing what makes him unique by giving everyone that power.... and it will most likely be reverted in a few months...pointless.
 * Flash

DC is struggling so hard to make Aquaman cool. The current Aquaman is "just a hero" and they are planning to change him by making him the Emperor of Atlantis, but also being just a regular man?? I don't get it. They want him to be actively participating on the inclusion of Atlantis to the human's world and to me, that sounds like a buch of politics. Yet, he's going to have some enemies like... like... like Black Manta! And.... and thats's it. Same old, same old.
 * Aquaman

This book, is the perfect example that DC is contradicting themselves by saying they want the comics to be their own thing. If you take a look at the current direction the book has taken, you can see from miles away, that they are changing Harley to become more like the one in the upcoming Suicide Squad film. She looks exactly like that! Not only that, I also dislike the fact that they have turned a once hilarious, spontaneous and lovable character into a parody of herself with political correctness and real life concerns. These are fictional characters! They don't represent the real world FFS! I can't have entertainment anymore wihout being lectured...
 * Harley Quinn

And speaking of Suicide Squad... the same as before. They are pushing the upcoming film by creating a team based on said movie and forcing it into the comics! Unlike Batman, they are trying new things here... things that might not hit the right spot and end up crashing and burning.
 * Suicide Squad

The Others
The Batgirl title seems to be going on a "discovery" adventure as Babs travels across the world to learn who she is and what she's doing. IMO, it resembles the state of mind of the people behind the book.
 * Batgirl

Considering that these are the titles of the first superhero and DC's ultimate character, they don't really get me excited as they should. The return of Action to the original number is quite interesting, but what the people in charge of the book had to say wasn't slightly interesting to me. I don't know. It might be good... or not.
 * Superman and Action Comics
 * Side Note: There's also an upcoming Chinese Superman, which I don't know how to feel about.

I've never been too much of a GL fan, and this seems nothing different from what the're doing now. But maybe that's because I don't know sh-- about GL...
 * Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps


 * The ones that weren't discussed
 * Green Arrow: Ollie back with his goatee... (I'm impressed)
 * Red Hood
 * Hellblazer
 * Deathstroke (same thing, nothing changes)
 * Batman Beyond (Terry returns)
 * Blue Beetle (Ted returns)
 * Teen Titans: Robin (Damian) wants leadership of the group and the others disagree... ...
 * Super Sons: A modern take on the Imaginary Story from (more silver-age stuff)
 * JLA: Super-Top-Secret.

Final Thoughts

 * And here I am, thinking that the Silver Age is making a subtle comeback.


 * I'm most likely going to read some of the comics in the "good" section, but not that much. Considering that IMO there are more good than bad ones, I'd call this a "success".

Rebirth is just a change of direction, but it seems like an effort to fix some mistakes by making other kind of mistakes. DC is bringing back some of the old stuff like Tim Drake as Robin, the Titans, Detective Comics as a detective magazine instead of a Batman one; and all this seems to be nice. However, the movies and TV shows have such an impact on the media, that DC is obviously going to change their style to match the shows and films. I can't begin to tell you how awful that sounds, but I guess there has never been a time when DC got everything right... oh wait...