Grading DC Rebirth So Far…
I’d never say I was really anti-DC Comics, but they pretty much lost me with the new 52. As I mentioned to Marcus in our last podcast, when they changed the Tim Drake/Red Robin and Superboy, I didn’t want to read their stuff any more; those were 2 of my favorite characters.
Once I heard about Rebirth, I figured I’d give it a shot. I looked at the checklist of books and picked the following titles:
Rebirth One-Shot
Batman
Flash
Titans
Teen Titans
Detective Comics
Nightwing
Harley Quinn
Suicide Squad
I had various reasons for this list. I’ve always liked Batman and picked up runs of it from time to time. I’ve liked the Flash TV show, so I wanted to give the comic a shot. I’ve had a soft spot for the Teen Titans for a while and I picked up Nightwing pre-New 52. I was also excited to see Red Robin brought back to the Bat family in Detective. I got Harley for a while, so I figured I’d jump on again with the SS movie coming out soon.
Since Teen Titans, Nightwing, Harley, and SS aren’t out yet, I’m holding off on judgment.
Rebirth One-Shot 1 was a solid introduction. I didn’t realize the old Wally West wasn’t around with the New 52; it’s a shame since kids that follow the Young Justice cartoon (like my kids) know him as their Kid Flash. People of my generation know him as our Flash. The panels with Barry Allen were very emotional. My one gripe was dragging the Watchmen in, as I want DC to leave that as is; I didn’t want the Before Watchmen books and never picked them up.
I’m a fan of the Batman book, both the one-shot and the new book. The stuff with Duke was a little confusing, since I stopped reading We Are Robin; I didn’t know he was that important to the Bat titles. It would probably be more confusing for someone that didn’t know who Duke was.
Detective has been the best book of the bunch; we’ll take all of these cast off, side-kick characters, use Batwoman as the focal point, and introduce an established villain as guy who wants to reform. Might sound a little generic, but they’ve pulled it off in the first 2 issues. I feel like we have the old Tim Drake back, only with a little more distance from Batman than pre-52 days. Clayface has been a surprisingly strong character so far too; they gave him a little more depth than I’d seen previously.
The Titans one-shot took the emotion from the Rebirth One-Shot and ran with it; Wally gets his old crew to remember who he his and you see a few flashbacks to their “youth”. Dan Abnett knocked it out of the park. This a good jumping on point for the old Teen Titan fans.
I’m mixed on Flash. When I read it, I enjoyed it; since then though, I don’t remember much that stuck out. I don’t mind reading strong stories without staying power, but it could be one of the first books cut in a money crunch.
One big thing for all of these titles is the price-point; all of the issues are $2.99. When you consider most Marvel books are $3.99, we might see a shift to DC books among cost-conscience readers.
Now, why did I pass on some of the others? I really don’t care about those characters or creative teams. Aquaman and Green Lanterns bore me. Wonder Woman has never really been able to pull me in. Superman has had his moments with me, but I really haven’t read him since I’ve become an adult. I’d read some of the other Bat books, but I don’t have the money to get every single title.
