This post contains SPOILERS for DC Rebirth #1!
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Alright, so if you are still here, I am assuming you either read DC Rebirth
or don't care about spoilers! I remember a time in hallowed antiquity when
Spoiler Space was a common courtesy, but the internet as a whole now seems
to simply not care.
Anyway. So the basic thesis of the DCU (and by extension DC Comics) being
"infected" by a "darkness" represented by Dr. Manhattan (and thus Watchmen)
is one which I have championed for a long time. Essentially, my
counterpoint to the argument that "DC got dark and gritty after Identity
Crisis" or Infinite Crisis or New 52 et al, is that DC Comics has been
actively trying to distance itself from its Pre-Crisis identity literally
from the first moment of the Post-Crisis universe. A universe which was
informed primarily by the success of the "mature readers" books Watchmen
and Dark Knight Returns. Read those early Post-Crisis books (and some guys
on here like Mike Bailey I consider to be an expert in that subject) and
you can plainly see the across the board attempt to write "grown up" comics
which were more "mature" and "real" than the "silly" Pre-Crisis stuff. Man
Of Steel is a great example of this method which *gets it right *for the
most part (Byrne's desire to over-explain things not withstanding).
In one sense this is a cyclic sort of approach. We've cycled back around to
wanting old fashioned, more upbeat sort of comics stories, and tired of the
darkness, while back in the 80s and 90s, that "gritty" "realistic" approach
was what readers wanted. I guess one could make an argument for the median
age of the readers and their tastes changing as we've grown up with these
comics, but I am not going to make that argument without better supporting
evidence.
The odd thing for is that the main DC character I have followed since the
1990s is the Flash, first Wally, then Bart, then Wally again, then Barry.
And despite the general tone and demeanor of DC Comics getting darker, the
Flashes still tend to be upbeat and more "bright" in their adventures, so I
do not think I have seen the full brunt of this approach. No matter how bad
things get, ultimately the Flash is still a dude in a red suit outsmarting
Rogues in colorful costumes, you dig?
The other thought I had is that, as Johns has said, he considers optimism
to the DNA of DC Comics. Alright... so with that in mind, isn't Rebirth
the same sort of thing (only more pronounced) that Brightest Day was? After
the inherent darkness of Identity Crisis, Infinite Crisis, Final Crisis,
and Blackest Night, Brightest Day was about reestablishing the
relationships and characters which had been taken away... Aquaman and Mera,
Hawkman and Hawkgirl, Hawk and Dove, Swamp Thing, Ronnie Raymond as part of
Firestorm, etc? I always thought that had the New 52 not happened, that
Brightest Day would have changed the tone of DC Comics much the way that
Johns is doing now.
As for the issue itself, I really enjoyed it. Using Wally as the narrator
was a good choice, as Johns always wrote Wally as the guy who at the end of
the day knew he was blessed with a great life. So him fighting to get it
back is perfect. The use of Linda as the "lightning rod" is a 90s and 00s
concept which is one of those perfect Flash elements, to the point that
they literally just used it on a recent episode of the TV series (with
Barry and Iris). I liked seeing Pandora go down while laying the bad mouth
on (presumably) Dr. Manhattan, because while it never came to fruition I
did like the concept of Pandora. The pre-52 Aqualad making an appearance
was a big surprise, I liked him quite a bit in Brightest Day. The teasers
for the Justice Society and the Legion were well done, and the reunion
between Barry and Wally was excellent, even if Johns writes Barry as older
than he is over in his own book.
(As an aside, the Mew 52 Flash has consistently been a fun read, even if it
is not a "world beater" by any stretch since the original team left, but
under Venditti and Jensen (Jensen handling the last arc solo) the book is
always fast paced and action packed.)
Complaints, well, I have some nitpicky ones. I don't like the New 52 Wally
being in the classic Kid Flash costume when Brett Booth created a very
sharp silver costume for him already. No sign of the Hawks, although I
assume they will be involved with the rebirth of the JSA in some capacity.
I don't know what to make of Wonder Woman having a brother; honestly, I
really wish they would stop screwing around with her birth because the old
school one is the best AFAIC from both a story and symbolic standpoint
("born not of man" and all that).
Overall though, this was a mic drop from Geoff Johns and DC Comics. Much
like Countdown to Infinite Crisis was a "wake up and smell the coffee"
moment, this is a manifesto in comic book format from the man who it seems
will have creative oversight of the entire DC lineup including media. Can
the ongoings hold onto to this attitude? We'll have to wait and see but I
have to admit, I am much more interested in the Rebirth now than I was even
24 hours ago.
So, what did you folks think?
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