Spoilers
I read it and enjoyed it. However, I don't particularly care for the Watchmen connection. Whether or not the DCU becomes full of hope, joy, etc. is largely based upon DC's editorial, who ultimately is the reason things turned to shit in the first place. When Infinite Crisis was over, the DC Powers That Be assured readers that DC Comics were going to have a more hopeful tone; the same thing was said after Final Crisis; and ditto with Brightest Day. I have no reason to believe that this time they really super-duper mean it, but I hope they do. On Thu, May 26, 2016 at 8:48 AM, Luke Jaconetti <[email protected]> wrote: > This post contains SPOILERS for DC Rebirth #1! > * > * > * > * > * > * > * > * > * > * > * > * > * > * > * > * > * > * > 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? > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "The Unique Geek" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/theuniquegeek. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "The Unique Geek" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/theuniquegeek. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
