“I look down at it and know without question: I love this world. But there’s something missing.” In the five years since DC Comics rebooted their universe through the Flashpoint event and New 52 line, the oldest major comics publisher in America has seen its fortunes fall. After being barraged with complaints about homogeneous artwork, constant […]
10 Comments on Roundtable Review: DC Universe REBIRTH #1, last added: 5/27/2016
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While readers tip-toe over spoilers from the DC Universe: Rebirth #1 special launching in T-minus eight(ish) hours in New York, author and DC Entertainment Chief Creative Officer Geoff Johns has offered to write checks to anyone who wasn’t satisfied with their reading experience. In an interview with ComicBook.com today, Johns urged readers who weren’t satisfied with […]
“Yes, I read it as a pissing contest between two executives.”
“I’m not the only one who read it that way. Earlier today, I was talking to someone”
Wow, since two people have the same tin-foil-hat-wearing opinion, that must mean it’s true. And people wonder why comic readers are relentlessly mocked.
I read I and thought it was terrible. There’s way too much exposition and the assumption the reader cares about any of these characters..It’s just a big mess with a terrible shock-for-shock’s sake twist at the end.,
DC has just given up on attracting new readers. This book could never be recommended to a new reader wanting to check out the DC universe. Only the most die hard DC fans could begin to grasp what is going on in this issue. I guess DC is just content with trying to get back the old readers who are aging quickly. Other publishers will have to pick up the slack in order to keep our industry vibrant and growing……
I have to say, it may not be new reader friendly, but with the mess that the New 52 had become, I don’t think short of a complete reboot that there was anyway to fix this without acknowledging how messed up this had become. The one thing I like about Geoff Johns’s writing is that he is one of us, a comic reader. He writes the types of stories that he would want to read. I’ve very rarely been disappointed with a book from him.
I thought Rebirth was an excellent step in the right direction. I’m not sure that there is much open warfare amongst Didio and Johns as this article let on. Didio and Jim Lee for that matter, can’t argue with the fact that they messed up. Sales are at or below Pre-New 52 levels. Clearly they had done something horrifically wrong. Johns stepped up to right the ship.
Rebirth itself was very much an honest self critique of the state of DC Comics. We had a Superman that has no joy. An Oliver Queen with no Dinah. No Wally West, one of the best legacy heroes of all time. I feel like Johns is bringing back a lot of what fans were complaining about and what does he get? More complaining. It’s clear that Johns is going to be taking a more active role in cinema, but he said he spent a lot of time going over the concepts of all of the Rebirth books. I don’t know about you, but I don’t think Bob Harras is going to be at DC much longer at this rate. The way Johns described what he was doing is what an EiC does. I couldn’t think of anyone better to do that job than Geoff Johns. Hopefully DC sticks the landing this time.
Watching all the People Who Talk Loudly About Comics On The Internet pissing and moaning about DC publishing a comic saying exactly the same things that they’ve been saying for the last 25 fucking years has been *hilarious*.
Geoff Johns writes comics for people who are heavily invested in DC’s comics. It’s impenetrable for anyone else. I’m a comic nerd as much as the next person and was totally lost during most of the comic. All I knew were the bits he stole from Alan Moore, which kinda proves everything Moore ever said about DC correct.
I think there’s too much analysis in the “WHATS IT ALL MEAN?” rather than an actual examination of writing and art. I thought the writing was solid and the art was STELLAR. More comics in this vein would be a pro.
I also feel like its difficult to understand if you are trying to understand all of the past continuity. If you read the words its pretty clearly laid out that an evil force has been infecting the dc universe. Its when you try to apply a larger narrative of dc publishiñ that things get wonky. (also should who edited the comic be weighed in light of the review?)
The idea that Rebirth is an extended dig at Dan Didio never even occurred to me. Considering how bad a reading of Watchmen it puts forth, I saw it more as a dig at Alan Moore. I mean, if the New 52 was the “new life” Dr. Manhattan went off to create, but all he really did was grab the DC characters and twist their lives around… Isn’t that just a meta-fictional version of the fanboy argument that all Moore does is warp other people’s characters?
That Didio argument’s pretty entertaining, though. So thanks for that.
Amen to that, R.D. It certainly is a funny time to be alive.