Review: DC Comics Rebirth #1

WARNING: SPOILERS DEAD AHEAD!

(If you have not read Justice League #50, do so BEFORE you read this review…you won’t regret it!)

Superman is dying, Darkseid is a baby, Wonder Woman has a twin brother, there are THREE Jokers, Sector 2814 gets ANOTHER Green Lantern and Lex Luthor is the new Man of Steel! You may think DC is really pushing the envelope with Rebirth after hearing all of that, then you realize, you just read Justice League #50 and haven’t even started Rebirth yet! 

Geoff Johns has become the spokesperson for DC’s new Rebirth project, and whether you believe this isn’t a “reboot” or not, I have to say that he has truly convinced me that this story is well beyond the standard “reboot” fundamentals. From page one you are immersed in a tale that weaves in and out of current DC stories and, instead of denying that they ever existed, enhances them to a point that they form one grand story that surpasses them all. 

Our narrator, the original Wally West, pulls us along as he tries to reconnect with those who may remember him, since he has been trapped in the Speed Force since the Flashpoint storyline. He takes us through various points of the current DCU, “eavesdropping” upon heroes, and we see that the universe we know is already in flux, eliminating some characters while setting others on center stage. Johns gives us a huge story, eighty pages worth, that could have quickly become a convoluted mess of overlapping arcs that eventually lead to nowhere. Instead, he gives the readers just enough to pacify the curious and ensnare the enthralled, leaving both clamoring for what comes next. He bounces the tale from point to point, never losing sight of the eventual shocking payoff and never cheapening the way to get there. Johns, through Wally, asks questions that DC fans have asked since the “New 52″started and in a way, though veiled, we are given some answers that are not glazed over and eventually, promise to be fleshed out thoroughly. 

To give away all of Johns surprises, would only do a disservice to the book and the reader. It is so rich in both detail and surprise that it can only be enjoyed properly by reading it yourself. You will be so shocked and enamored by the dynamic tale Johns lays out before you that, you can’t help but resent the days until all the Rebirth books are released!

On the “Rebirth” promotional tour, Geoff Johns would always read this quote, “I love this world. But there’s something missing.” Well, Mr. Johns, DC may have been missing something, but I think you just found it again!