Vince Russo's The Brand

Do you remember the old days when it was a big deal for a movie to start at midnight? Now they start at 7 p.m. the night before and are still somehow considered midnight shows/opening day gross. Do you remember the last time a COMIC BOOK SHOP opened at midnight?!?! 52, maybe? Civil War? I don’t really know. Google isn’t yielding any useful results. Regardless, it is here.

After months of teasing and speculation the 80 page DC Universe Rebirth arrived today with an almost laughable (in the good way!) 2.99 price tag. I read spoilers the other day, so I knew what was coming. Hell, the spoilers made me buy it. I would have read about it once reviews were out. I probably would have then searched out a copy. But the spoilers sent me to a comic shop on a Wednesday to pick up a comic for the first time in a year. Convergence got me last year and for the same reason.

This is your last chance to leave before I throw out spoilers. I’m serious. If you scrolled down you’ve already seen it…last chance. You know what, it’s your own fault…it was in the title. Now, in the words of Heath Ledger’s Joker, “Now, here we go.”

The book starts off with a watch and a mysterious narrator. He talks about time and something missing (everyone who stopped reading New 52 already knew that). He needs a lightning rod(!!!!) to ground him. If you read a certain DC book at all in the 90’s and 00’s you already know what’s going on. He finds Batman, someone who should know him. That’s where we get our first shock.

Why is the Joker so crazy and all over the map? Well because there’s three of him of course. Not sure how I feel about this at all, but there’s potential. How else do you explain the goofy not quite evil Joker, vicious Robin killing Joker and whatever the New 52 Joker was? Well you just make three of him of course. When it comes to comics my faith in Geoff Johns is restored, so I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt.

It’s time for the big reveal! Wally West, Kid Flash, The Flash, MY FLASH is back! Hot damn! He’s younger than he was at the end and in a Kid Flash costume, but whatever…I’ll take anything for the real Wally West! This guy was THE FLASH to me. What little I had read of Barry was boring as heck. Wally was the first sidekick to take over and the work Mark Waid and Geoff Johns did on the character are some of the best comics I’ve ever read. They defined my teens and early 20’s.

Unfortunately for Wally Bruce doesn’t remember him at all. He mentions the Flashpoint Batman’s letter and disappears, sucked back into the speed force. He’s trying to find his friends and warn them of something before it’s too late.

We get a recap of Wally’s origin and history including the Teen Titans, Crisis (which was wiped out by Convergence last year), the 90’s, Flash Rebirth and Flashpoint. The odd thing is that it’s the white Iris from Pre-New 52. Now he says that after Flashpoint, when history was coming back together someone perverted it…they infected it and stole 10 years from them, along with love.

Wally falls through the speed force some more before landing in a loony bin housing original JSA member Johnny Thunder. The JSA history was completely stolen and the 98 year old Johnny threw away the magic pen after WW2. Next up Maggie Sawyer, a 90’s Superman character who was there during my falling in love with DC, is interviewing a blonde girl with a Legion ring who says that she’s seen the future and everything will be all right.

Next we move along to The Atom(s?). Ray Palmer (who just shrinks and isn’t a DC version of Iron Man) has shrunk down and disappeared into the microverse. His ex-wife Jean Lorring (Eclipso, the reason Identity Crisis happened, etc…) is alive again. Ryan Choi is his TA and he sees a message from Ray warning him about the microverse. He’s cut off before he can finish, but not until after he tells Ryan he has left him a shrinking belt to use.\

Wally reminds us that LEGACY is gone from this new Earth. Again, it’s something that echoes readers feelings so well. Now we see that Ted Kord is alive again. He’s talking to Jaime Reyes Blue Beetle. Out of nowhere a Dr. Fate appears (another JSA member!!!). He tells Ted that basically he’s an idiot and the scarab on Jaime isn’t alien, it’s magic.

Next Wally talks about new heroes as we are shown several new versions of heroes before we see Pandora from Flashpoint. She’s executed by a mysterious attacker. She speaks of hope and how the mystery man has skepticism, doubt and corruption in their cold heart.

After that we are whisked away an island with a strange girl holding a baby Darkseid and talking about a brother named Jason that Wonder Woman doesn’t know she has. Wally zips right along to the death of (New 52) Superman. A ton of heroes are gathered, including Green Arrow and Black Canary. Wally speaks again of what was lost: history, love, friendships. We cut to Lois and Clark (Pre-New 52) talking about New 52 Superman’s death. FYI, this is why my wife stopped watching Flash with me. She just can’t grasp time travel/infinite Earths/etc…Clark is stopped by some strange guy called Mr. Oz who warns him that Clark and his family are not who they believe they are, and neither is the dead Superman.

Wally talks more about history  as he zips to an island with Aquaman and Mera. They talk a bit before Aquaman gets down on one knee and proposes. Back at the site of New 52 Superman’s death Linda Park, Wally’s wife and the mother of his children, is being turned away by a cop for not working for a legit news service (beware bloggers!). Wally appears, hoping that she will bring him back. Unfortunately she doesn’t know him and now his spirit is crushed.

We get a glimpse of two strange people in Batman-like costumes staring at the bat signal. Next we see Constantine and Swamp Thing talking. Wally tries Captain Boomerang, Cyborg and Nightwing before finding the other Wally West and giving us a strange retcon about an uncle and the reason there are two Wallys.

He watches Wally 2 save a kid and fells time slipping away. He’s almost at peace now. He tells a story of Barry being a good, kind hero and decides he can die in peace now. Before he goes he wants to warn Barry about the impending doom. They talk and he thanks Barry for an amazing life, content in the fact that he will now join the speed force to power the next generation of speedsters. As he says his goodbyes Barry finally remembers, reaching out and pulling him from the abyss.

It is such a touching and heartwarming moment. As the two heroes cry Barry laments the fact that he forgot. He remembers everything now as we see Wally get powers and the Teen Titans, along with the Pre-New 52 Iris again.

The two talk a bit as Wally tells Barry that it’s not his fault. Someone else, someTHING else changed everything. The two heroes have resolved to stop it as they stare at the black sky with its freaky lightning.

If these panels didn’t warm your heart and almost bring you to tears you either aren’t human or you aren’t a comics fan. Between this and Wally in the Batcave I’m telling you I was honestly almost in tears.

Speaking of the Batcave, we go back to Bruce. He has framed the letter from the Flashpoint Batman, aka his father. Wally and Barry discuss what has happened and who it could be. Barry asks if it’s Reverse Flash, but Wally says it’s too powerful, even more powerful than Darkseid. He says it’s someone they’ve never met. He tells Barry there is a war coming. A war between hope and despair, love and apathy, faith and disbelief.

Bruce sees a glint off in the distance. He digs into the cave walls. He uncovers…a Watchmen button? Wally says, “We’re being watched,” as the page goes black.

We see Earth and Mars. A small glint shoots through space before landing on the Red Planet. The watch from earlier is disassembled before being cleaned and repaired. There’s a quote from Dr. Manhatten to Adrian as the last page has a yellow watch face with only 9,10,11 and 12 in Roman numerals with a bloodstain where the 2 should be.

“The clock is ticking across the DC Universe!”

With that we get a nice glimpse of DC Heroes before some covers for upcoming Rebirth books along with a checklist for them.

This book was fantastic. It reminded me how much I missed the old DCU. It wasn’t happy exactly, but it wasn’t so dark. It was brighter than the world we live in, not grim and gritty 24/7. Beyond that it had a history, a legacy. There were several generations of heroes fighting side by side. Jay Garrick with Wally and Bart was incredible. The JSA was touching. It respected what came before it and used that to build something new. Alan Scott mentoring Kyle Rayner were some of my favorite GL stories ever. Superboy being raised by the Kents and fighting alongside the Titans was just special. The way Clark treated Conner like a little brother (FYI that’s where my first son’s name came from, the second one is Oliver so that one’s a gimme). Steel, Superboy, Supergirl, Ma, Pa, Lois, Guardian, Natasha Irons, Emil Hamilton, Perry, Jimmy, Ron…Superman had a family in both identities and they were both fleshed out and real.

The art was stellar throughout the entire book. It blended seamlessly between the artists. The story played well across each chapter. It built and built until it came to a satisfying conclusion. Bringing Wally back was beyond amazing. I held out hope that it would happen, but I didn’t truly believe it at all.

As it stands Johns constructed a coherent story that teased what’s to come while showing us what’s changed and what’s been streamlined. He teases us enough to make us want more, but leaves it vague enough that they can still swerve us at any moment. With Wally, Kyle and MY Superman I am so excited for DC again that I can’t contain it. I’m mad I have to start spending money on comics again, but I’ll get over it. If they bring back Conner Kent Superboy (not that New 52 garbage) I’ll be in Heaven!

It gives me hope that if DC can do this with the comics they can still save the movies. They realize what’s wrong. They have to. If they would just let the TV side have all the toys in the toy box this could really lead to a revitalization of DC across all media. New 52 tried and failed. It happens.

This quote from Geoff Johns on Newsarama perfectly sums up my feelings on the New 52:

“[on Superboy] One of my favorite characters of all time,” Johns continued, “And I had a great time writing him in Teen Titans, and I loved writing him in his solo run [in Adventure Comics]. They reintroduced him in the ‘New 52’ and he was so different, so vastly changed, that I couldn’t connect with the book that well. The emotional tie just severed, and it didn’t sever in the way that made me angry, it was worse than that: I had apathy for it. I didn’t care anymore.”

That sums it up perfectly. It wasn’t that I was angry at the new characters. I didn’t care at all. These were people who seemed like people I had grown up with, but they weren’t them. I didn’t know these people. I had no attachment to them. I had no desire to get to know them. That’s why I didn’t buy a comic for 4 years. Now, like Michael Corleone, “Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in.” Kudos DC. I’m impressed that you recognized what was wrong, admitted it and took steps to fix it. And seriously thank you for bringing back Wally.