By Cameron Kerkau, Managing Editor.
In 2011, DC rebooted their continuity. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move. After bringing all of its previously existing series to an end, they began a new line of 52 comics all starting at issue one. The idea was to wipe away the convoluted history of the characters and make the universe more grounded.
I have long stuck by the idea that words like “grounded” and “realistic” do not belong in a discussion about superhero comic books. This is because for the most part, comic book creators don’t know the difference between being realistic and being unnecessarily pessimistic. I don’t think this has ever been truer than it was for the New 52 (as the relaunch was called), which pumped out book after book of messy, cynical garbage. There were some bright spots, (like Geoff John’s runs on both “Aquaman” and “Superman”, or all of Scott Snyder’s “Batman” run), but for the most part these new books either misunderstood or totally forgot what these characters are about.
This wasn’t exactly a new problem in comics. Grim and edgy storytelling has increasingly been the trend in the industry ever since Alan Moore’s “Watchmen” was first published in 1986. Moore’s biggest motive with “Watchmen” was to tell a superhero story in the most gritty and depressing version of reality as possible. It was widely popular, and is considered by most to be the greatest comic book story of all time. Naturally, this lead to the men and women in the industry to try and imitate what they thought made “Watchmen” a good book, but instead of paying attention to the craftsmanship of it, they all just decided that ultra-dark was the way to go. The New 52 was just the boiling point of DC’s sentiment in that regard.
Fortunately, I wasn’t the only that thought it sucked. It seems that the powers that be at DC have finally caught wind of the fact that not everybody wants to read about a scowling, hopeless Superman. In May of 2016, they hit the reset button yet again and each book was brought back to issue one. This time they’ve left the history of the characters in tact as this was more of a reboot in attitude than in continuity. The idea behind this latest initiative, called “Rebirth” is to bring back the spark that once made DC great. It’s about remembering what these characters stand for, and letting them stand for it once again. Hope, optimism, and love are once again the prevailing themes of DC comics.
The aforementioned Geoff Johns led the charge with his 80-page one-shot comic “DC Universe: Rebirth.” I’ve been talking about this comic for months, and I’ll probably be talking about it for years. Not only did it tell the affectionate story of Wally West (a.k.a. Kid Flash), trying to get back home after being displaced in time since the beginning of the New 52, it also served as a commentary on the past few decades of the comic book industry as a whole, all while launching the DC universe into its new direction and tone.
Wally’s goal isn’t only to get home, it’s also to warn his friends about a threat that only he knows about. Someone or something has stolen ten years out of everyone’s lives, removing friendships and destroying legacies. As Wally puts it “A darkness from somewhere has infected us. It has for a long time now.” This is how the writer explains the pessimistic tone of the New 52, and in the final pages of the issue, it’s revealed that Doctor Manhattan, a god-like character from “Watchmen,” is the threat that Wally speaks of.
What Johns is doing by making Doctor Manhattan the villain, is pointing out the less-than constructive influence that “Watchmen” has had on DC comics (and comics in general), and promising a return to a time before “Watchmen,” when superhero comics were largely optimistic and hopeful. “Rebirth” has been in effect for a few months now and, while there have been one or two disappointments (i.e. “Justice League”), so far I think it’s safe to say that DC has made good on that promise. Whether it’s Superman teaching his son how to live life with super powers, Green Lantern on a quest through space to find his friends, or Wonder Woman physically trying to get back to her roots, each new story comes with a renewed sense of joy and adventure. It’s a good time to be a fan of these characters.
