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Wayne Markley
by Wayne Markley
I am back once again and this time I am devoting most of this blog to reviewing the first wave of DC’s new rebirth titles. As regular readers of this blog know, I was very critical of DCs new 52 launch and the direction it took as it went on. I thought it was too dark and alienated their core audience and tried too hard to cater to the video game audience. With Rebirth, DC seems to have a much clearer vision of who their audience is and what kind of stories they are looking for. DC universe rebirth was a great starting point and now we will see how the follow up goes. I also a take a few words to review the second and final volume of the Infinity watch which collects the second half of Warlock and the Infinity Watch. (Why is Warlock forgotten about in the title of the trade?)
As I spent a fair amount of time last time reviewing the DC universe rebirth one-shot, which I really enjoyed, this time I am going to review the rebirth titles and number ones that have come out since then. It should be noted from a business point of view the whole rebirth has been very successful with all of them selling out and going to second printings. Now, on to the show.
Action Comics #957
Action Comics #957 is the first issue of the rebirth series but it is returning to the original numbering so it can be a bit confusing. It is written by Dan Jurgens with art by Patrick Zircher. This book is a prime example of what I find wrong with the rebirth titles; confusion. As I stopped reading the new 52 Superman titles some time back (after that horrible H’EL on earth storyline), I was completely lost with this first issue. Lex Luthor is Superman? Or is in some sort of robot suit that looks like Superman? I have been told this book picks up from where the Lois and Clark comic left off (which I also did not read), so maybe that is my problem. I really wish the rebirth titles had a one page introduction explaining what had gone before for new readers. This would have been helpful in almost all of the titles so far. putting the complaints aside, I really like this story. It was a straight out Superman story that was filled with action and drama and ends with the return of a surprise villain. I look forward to see where this story is going.
Aquaman: rebirth #1
Aquaman: rebirth #1 is written by Dan Abnett with art by Scott Eaton, Oscar Jimenez and mark Morales. This was much better than I expected. It was a return of sorts to Aquaman’s roots, at least to the point of Aquaman and Mera being back together. Of course it had to immediately introduce the Black Manta as the main villain, but that is true is most of these issue as they establish the bad guy right away. I really liked the art and while the story was a bit on the bland side, it was much better than the last few years of the new 52 Aquaman. I will stick around for a while.
Batman: rebirth #1
Batman: rebirth #1 was written by Scott Snyder and Tom King and the art was by Mikel Janin. This book read to me far more like a Scott Snyder story than a Tom King story. It was largely recap and summary of what Batman was and what had sort of gone before. I did not find this to be a great introduction to the “Rebirth” of Batman. It did not do a lot for me but I was still looking to the ongoing Batman book.
Batman #1
Batman #1 by Tom King, David Finch and Mikel Janin is an interesting read. It is an extremely well told story but there are aspects of it that just completely threw me off. The actual story was good and the dialogue was excellent. I had issues with the concept of the story that involved Batman saving a jumbo jet airliner. The method he did this I found to beyond the pale and the proportions of Batman and the plane as drawn by Finch also just completely drew me out of the story as they were so out of line. The story ends with a surprise that leads into the next issue. I really wanted to like this issue so my expectations may have been too high as with King’s other work, Vision and Sheriff of Babylon. being so great. I am more than willing to stick with the book though to see where it is going.
Detective Comics #934
Detective Comics #934 is written by James Tynion IV and has art by Eddie Barrows and Eber Ferreira. as with most rebirth titles this one is mostly set up. It is basically Batman bringing together a group of heroes to work with him and defend Gotham. These are most of the cast you would expect with Batwoman and Nightwing playing prominent rolls. A good start with very nice art.
Flash: rebirth #1
Flash: rebirth #1 is by writer Josh Williamson with art by Carmine Di Giandomenico. This was good and a fun read and it was the rebirth book that followed up on what was established in DC universe rebirth #1 the closest. You have Barry Allen, Wally West, and the mysterious powers that be. kind of hard to tell where this title is going yet based on this issue, but worth checking out.
Green Arrow: rebirth #1
Green Arrow: rebirth #1 was written by Benjamin Percy and has art by Otto Schmidt. This was my least favorite of all of the rebirth titles so far. It is a solid book and a decent read and it finally puts things sort of right with Ollie and Diana, but it lacked something. again this is just an introduction so I do not want to be too harsh on it, but I do hope there is something in the coming issues to make me want to come back for more because this issue did not.
Green Lanterns: rebirth #1
Green Lanterns: rebirth #1 was written by Geoff Johns and Sam Humphries with art by Ethan Van Sciver and Ed Benes. as with most of these rebirth issues, this sets up the story to come. Hal Jordan brings together Simon Baz and Jessica Cruz so that they can be the green Lanterns of earth while Hal is away. It is a solid story with most things you look for in a green lantern story, but still leaves me with a lot of basic questions about the concept here. Why are there two green Lanterns? Where are all of the other green Lanterns? Why does Simon Baz carry a gun as green Lantern? I will keep reading for a while to see if this all gets sorted. overall a vast improvement on what was going on in green Lantern.
Superman: rebirth #1
Superman: rebirth #1 is by Peter Tomasi and Patrick Gleason with art by Doug Mahnke and Jaime Mendoza. This was my favorite of the rebirth titles so far. It was a strong story about the mourning of the death of a Superman and the Superman who is still there. here again a “here is what happened before” would have helped. Still it left me wanting more and I really enjoyed this book overall.
Wonder Woman: rebirth #1
Wonder Woman: rebirth #1 was written by Greg Rucka and drawn by Mathew Clark, Liam Sharp and Sean Parsons. This was an interesting book as it is broken into two parts that will alternate in future issues as well as with in this issue. half the story is wonder Woman’s origin, which has been told a 100 times, but this time with a twist and the second part is setting up the modern day WW and her recent crowning as the God of War. A very good read and the art by Clark and Sharp was different enough (although very good) to make it clear which story was being told.
Infinity watch Vol. 2
Some time ago I reviewed volume one of the Infinity watch which collects Warlock and the Infinity Watch. volume 2 just came out and it reprints issues #26-42 and Warlock Chronicles #6. The series picks up where volume one left off with Jim Starlin writing and Tom Grindberg drawing. What is odd about this book is volume one left off with issue #22 and this volume skips issues #23 through #25. There is a brief recap of those issues here and they were reprinted in full in the Thor: Blood and Thunder trade paperback. I guess this is a way to get people to buy a third trade to get the complete Warlock and the Infinity Watch, or it could just be marvel being nice as the Thor story is self-contained in the Blood and Thunder collection and they do summarize what happens there and how it affects the Infinity Watch. There are more questions about Maxam with his origin and true purpose eventually being revealed. The Avengers and the great Man-Beast are back. Adam Warlock falls in love. The Mole man has more real estate problems, and oh yeah, Thanos returns. What stuck out to me was mid storyline Jim Starlin leaves the book. There is a fill in issue then John Arcudi takes over the scripting and writing. It is not bad, but it does seem to be a change in direction that was made without much thought or pre-planning. Also, Tom Grindberg left with issue #28 and is replaced by Patrick Olliffe, whose art I enjoyed a lot more. As the book went on you can feel that marvel was giving up on it. It is still a good read and more of a soap opera than a cosmic book, but it is well worth reading along with volume one. now if only marvel would collect all of the Silver Surfer from the same time period by Ron Marz and Ron Lim.
That is all for this time. So far I have really enjoyed the DC Comics Rebirth, far more than I did the new 52. The stories are fresh and have a nice mix of the old and new. I am more than willing to give this new universe a try for a while and see where it is going. So far, I have been very pleased. Which of the rebirth titles have you read? Which ones did you enjoy? I would love to hear from you, as I can be reached at MFBWAY@AOL.COM or on Facebook at Wayne Markley. everything I have written here is my opinion and in no way reflects the thoughts or opinions of Westfield Comics or their employees. Is there something you have really enjoyed and I am missing? Please let me know. As always,
Thank you.