What is DC Comics "Rebirth" All About?

At least in my case, the answer is "No!" It's never been about the quality of the books. Quality before the reboot and after the reboot both waxed and waned. And it wouldn't have been too different without the reboot. And it will continue to be about the same whether New 52 continuity continues after this, previous continuity is restored, or another reboot occurs.

It has always been about principle. With the onset of the New 52, numerous ongoing plotlines were abandoned to make way for this catastrophic nightmare. Even the titles that didn't have many ongoing plotlines would have continued to be great under a skilled writer. However DC discarding all their ongoing plotlines to usher in a new continuity has always been on poor principles.

The Flash Family book spinning out of Flash: Rebirth never materialized thanks to the New 52.

The Deathstroke book had been promised before the inception of the idea of the New 52. It was supposed to spin out of the Titans Villains for Hire series.

The story of Black Adam, Isis, and Osiris had been told through arcs in several series ever since 52 and continued to be ripe for plucking, but the New 52 happened.

JLI was supposed to spin out of JL: Generation Lost. The assembled team of Booster Gold, Fire, Ice, Captain Atom, Jaime Reyes, Rocket Red Gavril Ivonovich, Batman, Wonder Woman, and Power Girl were supposed to hunt down Maxwell Lord. This series would have been awesome. Instead we got subpar mediocrity because the setup had been discarded.

Think of all the series that were supposed to spin out of Brightest Day. Firestorm. Aquaman. Hawkman. Swamp Thing. Yes. All these characters still got series at the beginning of the New 52. But once again, the setup had been discarded. Without that Firestorm and Hawkman floundered. Aquaman and Swamp Thing were smashing successes. However, I'm gonna talk about Aquaman here and I think it's safe to assume Swamp Thing was not in a dissimilar boat. Geoff Johns had given at least one interview about what he was going to do with Aquaman. And what materialized out of the New 52 was a very different story. Yes, a good story. But does it not irk you that the original story will now most likely never be told? It sure does me.

Though the REBELS series had been cancelled a couple years earlier, that awesome series had set up a lot of great stuff that could happen in future series. And I'm sure that's not the only similar occurrence that was out there.

Even the series that did have fitting endings such as Action Comics and JSA were ripe for the picking.

And nothing ever came of the Red Robin and the Outsiders tease from Batman Incorporated.

Like I said, the arrival of the New 52 inevitably led to the abandonment of all previous plotlines, which was just awful in principle. Therefore I, and others like myself, hold out hope that one day pre-Flashpoint continuity will be restored so that these plotlines can be picked back up.

Was just reading the comments, then I saw this:

I agree, killing off McG left a bad taste in my mouth.

THIS, I think:

http://www.comicbookresources.com/article/snyder-reveals-reason-behind-bruce-waynes-batman-rebirth

BRUCE WAYNE REBIRTH, 2 DAYS before REBIRTH in DC.. either this or not, this rebirth will be somewhat smaller...Or add something old that had not yet added ..

DC gives more books Harley, put Titans Hunt (to merge the old titans), recovering the previous Superman, Dick Grayson gets into something more big during his life of spy ... Batman recovers memory ..

Unable to complete restart .. Besides, DC just transform Starfire and characters in Burnside .. Yes, they have changed their style with it too..

DC complet Restart and I get out of here... Again from 0 often disgust..

Or DC may decide to create a Earth, in argument of the films in the coming years..with bat-affleck of 45 years, the Superman, Lex Luthor Jr. and all that go out in the movies.. Bah, this idea is stupid, imposible .

I think I'll go burn my wallet now.

God I hope this means they are still keeping the comics separate from the movie/television universe.

If there going to reboot again then I wasted my money on those New 52 comics :(

This always seems like an odd statement to me, and it was one that people said a LOT when the New 52 was announced.

If you are spending money on comics, then presumably you're buying things that you enjoy reading. And if you enjoyed them when you read them, then I really don't see how it's a waste of money.

what I understand is that they now want their comics more attached to versions of Film and Tv Series

and that is bad move

@mercy_: Hmmm, well I guess your right what you just said kinda opened my eyes a little of bit, as cheesy as that sounds.

@jonny_anonymous: that idea is genius

Interestingly, will be a new universe or return to the pre-Flashpoint DCU?

It won't be a reboot it's a relaunch with minor retconning. Plus even though I grew up with post crisis that universe will not be returning along with those people saying 52 is bad you guys and girl's are idiots tell me what is so bad about 52 besides the timeline on some characters that don't make sense?

The only bad thing about 52 was Batman's timeline and Superman's supporting cast and some older villains not getting much time in the lime light (Not just the cast of the Daily Planet but the Metropolis PD and SCU). And the start of the Teen Titans but DC are already rectifying that with Titans Hunt which will more than likely still stand just with a few minor changes with the TT.

Four years = 52 issues. New 52 is over.

That would be the only thing that could bring me back to DC.

Snyder is going to leave Batman in Summer? Thank god. I can maybe pick it up again.

DC is like a liberal arts major that can't settle on what useless degree they want the most

^ that thar is what we call a joke.

"Reboot you must"

The reason I gave up DC and Marvel for the most part aside from a few comcis. To many relaunches reboots and such..

You must be out of your mind if you think this is a reboot.

Azzarello/Chiang Wonder Woman is pretty much the only version of the character I like. Its too bad I'm not a fan of Finch/Finch on the book. They kinda took apart everything the old book had going for it.

I wouldn't be surprised if this is mostly a renumbering for most of the titles (the handful of OG New 52 titles left are going to hit issue 52 pretty soon after all) with some creative team changes.

EDIT: Then again, an event book from Geoff Johns and Ethan VanSciver implies something bigger.

DC I don't care what you do, just for Cthulhu's sake would you just get it back on bloody track!!

Ok Ok, I know you have been through the ringer as of late. The pre-New 52 stories were getting really stale, the New 52 it's self got worse and worse as time went on and for whatever reason DC You failed pretty badly. But you have learned valuable lessons through all this right? By now you should know what your fans like and don't like, what was successful and wasn't successful what has worked for other publishers. Lessons you should take away from this:

Stop Trying To Fix Things With Crossovers

Crossovers killed the dark corner of the DC Universe, it almost killed the Batman corner and it's currently killing the Superman corner. If some books aren't selling very well throwing them in to a family wide crossover every other arc will not fix that, all it will do is pull other books down with them.

Stop Letting All The New Talent Run Off

Soule, Lemire, King, Snyder, Seeley, Higgins, Orlando ect all have done fantastic stuff at DC since the New 52 started but beacuse your editorial are a bunch of vultures half of them have run off to other publishers. Stop it. Get those fools on a leash and let the creators create.

Suck It Up And Get Those Big Names Back

There are big name writers out there who would love nothing more than to write DC characters but beacuse of the pre-mentioned editorial they have stayed away. Ever since Jonathan Hickman became a writer all he's wanted to do is write a Legion of Superheroes book so GIVE IT TO HIM. He has a big enough fanbase to support that book until it attracts its own readership. I'm not much of a fan of him and I'm sure @lvenger will agree with me here when I say there isn't a comic writer in the business that knows Superman as well as Mark Waid so bury the hatchet and get him back. And bloody give Azzarello any book he wants!! Suicide Squad is coming out so give him that.

Keep Your Comics Feeling Modern

None of this faux-90's bullshit that the New 52 tried. Nobody want's it, nobody is nostalgic for it. Sorry but nobody wants to see more of Lobdell, Liefeld or JRJR.

And For God's Sake Advertise Your Comics

Midnighter and Omega Men are some of the best comics DC have put out in years but nobody knows they exist beacuse you. don't. advertise. them.

This was circulating last week on FB. Apparently the suits are pushing a full reboot at issue #1 to coincide with the movie universe.

If this is the case I'm going to put my money behind creator owned books. All of these seasonal reboots are becoming a bit tiresome.

Agreed

I'm convinced they are scrapping everything and will begin publishing creator-owned properties.

I can dream, can't I?

@outside_85:

Ok, if I am not mistaken, every major name DC has is currently still alive... minus Darkseid, who I believe Johns is brining back at the end of his story to return everything to roughly how they were... and not that I imagine he'd leave Lex in charge.And DC has proven hit or miss with their re-numberings some work and some don't and the DCYou wasn't announced like this. Not to mention I dont think Dan Geoff or Jim think the DCU is in such a bad shape they need to reboot it all.

So I suspect this rebirth is somekind of comeback from one of DC's imprints, most likely Wildstorm (because of Lee) or the long awaited Milestone.

Hmm... @iconrocket123 and I would be very pleased with this...

Now I certainly like that idea. It is both very good, and very practical.

Anyone entertained the thought that it refers to an event which sees the 'rebirth' of Earth 2? Because they're on some weird post-apocalyptic Earth as of Convergence, and it goes against the whole vibe of Earth 2 being more positive than Earth 1.

@jonny_anonymous: I tried to quote your post, but couldn't figure out how to quote different parts of it separately, so I'll just tell you. Your point about crossovers makes perfect sense! I had never fully realized that about the crossovers, for some reason, but what you said about them is the truth.

Also, I realize this is nitpicking, but I would like to point out that Charles Soule was not at DC when the New 52 started. (He got Red Lanterns after Fialkov left before writing any issues. Fialkov was initially hired to write GL Corps and Red Lanterns starting with issues #21 of both respective series. Soule ended up taking over RL after that whole debacle and went from there to write a couple other books such as Superman / Wonder Woman.) Also Tom King and Steve Orlando have both only started working at DC really recently. Like super really recently.

Anyway, though I don't think I'd ever read anything by Kyle Higgins nor Steve Orlando, I'd also like to say in my opinion, names such as Charles Soule, Scott Snyder, and Tom King do not belong on the list of the writers of the best runs, arcs, or other such things. Though I certainly agree about Lemire. His Green Arrow and Justice League Dark were superb. Though like Snyder's Batman and Pak's Action and Supes / Bats, Lemire's Animal Man was not nearly all it was hyped up to be.

Names I would include on this list that you haven't include, of course, Geoff Johns, as well as James Tynion IV, Jeff Parker, J.M. DeMatteis, Keith Giffen, Robert Venditti, and Van Jensen. And I'm sure there are many others whom I am currently forgetting.

Also, I'm not sure what keeping Lobdell away has to do with keeping comics modern. I admit, I'm still not sure who this Rob Liefeld character is. But the way I understand it, Scott Lobdell agreed to write Teen Titans and only then was he told that their entire history has to have been thrown out the window. His run was very good given what he was working with. Now a lot of what people say they don't like about his run, other than the ruination of classic characters, which came from above his head, I find very similar to what Hickman did on Avengers. Yet Hickman is called a genius for his Avengers and Lobdell gets the full hate of the internet thrown at him. At least Lobdell's TT was exciting! I found Hickman's Avengers for the most part, yawn-worthy.

And you certainly can't have a list of universally hated New 52 writers without mentioning Ann Nocenti! That is like the one point on which I agree with the masses. Haters hate runs by Meredith Finch, Robert Venditti and Van Jensen, and Andrew Kreisberg and Ben Sokolowski for reasons I feel they should realize are unjustified.

Also I wanted to ask if you, @jonny_anonymous or anyone else contest my earlier point about principle.

Can't remember where but I heard somewhere that they were going to shift focus to their movie and TV related properties. All I know is that if I lose Constantine: The Hellblazer I'm gonna be very upset. That's one of the best books DC's got right now.

Another DC reboot? Seems too soon . . getting tired of these "events" and another wave of #1s. Why can't the damn writers work with what they've got and try and do something creative. Ugh

I logged in after years of inactivity to comment on this, but here is my theory.

This is a rebirth of a character. Specifically: TED KORD

Dan Didio, Jim Lee, and Geoff Johns were all involved in the issue in which Ted was killed, it seems only fitting that they bring him back.

So, where does Ethan Van Sciver fit into all this? Well, all I had to do was visit his page on this website, and what do I see? "Comic book artist whose credits include Flash: Rebirth and Green Lantern: Rebirth (both written by Geoff Johns) just to name a few."

Well gee, two books that are about the rebirth of a character!

Blue curtain? Blue Beetle. Wake up people.

@jonny_anonymous: Well I have a few writers who I prefer over Waid but yes I do agree with you that few know and understand Superman as comprehensively and passionately as Mark Waid does. Sadly, I hear the hatchet between the DC bigwig executives and Waid buries very deeply :( Advertising is a crucially underrated factor on your post too, the most well written and critically acclaimed DC books like Omega Men are not nearly advertised as much as they should be.

@heraldofganthet: I would very much so be pleased with this.....

@iconrocket123:

I would very much so be pleased with this.....

I rather thought you might!;)

I would welcome just about anything at this point to spike my interest in DC titles. This is the lowest point as far as I have personally been with DC (reading just one title now...) in all my years of collecting...

@dandidio is the problem. Fire Him. Ban him from the Industry. Jim Lee needs to draw or go home too.

Dig up Jim Shooter and make him editor to fix the entire thing or just sell the properties to Disney already. DC was the dominant force in comics for most of comics history and has become a complete shambles under didio. Sad.

Although it is popular, online, to hate every thing dc says, and does ... i love dc comics, and will be there for all of the fun to come from re birth.

If wildstorm makes any sort of return, i will be a very happy man. I miss the WSU!

The new 52 was good about right up until Forever Evil ended. The future seemed ripe with possibility. I think that they should have a story line to rewind the clock. Forget everything else. Except for any of Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo's Batman. THAT BOOK STAYED AMAZING!

@dark_stranger: let it go bro

@jonny_anonymous: doc comics is worth 60 billion dollars....how are they loosing anything. Stop trolling.marvel is doing better sales wise, it happens when you aim books at kids. It's like john cena, we adults hate him, but he brings in a ton of cash to kids.

this

According to Newsarama's new interview with Dan Jurgens, the pre-flashpoint Lois and Clark play a role in Rebirth.

The New 52 universe is going to be over. The New 52 ongoings reach their 52 issues in May. Then is where Rebirth is going to start. Is the return of the DC Original Universe.

If this is another Reboot Im giving up on DC. You did the new 52 which was great but you never even explained the end of Flashpoint how Pandora played a role in it and who shattered the reality of heroes. I feel they have touched on it in Multiversity but if thats all we get then Im out and heaven forbid its them making their movie verse and comic book verse look the same.