The still ongoing “Rebirth” story-arc is proving a creative resurge for creatives at DC Comics who are finding all new ways of further developing iconic characters and dusting off decades of continuity in a fresh way.
It’s starting to catch on! The recent DC Comics “Rebirth” had been introduced as the means by which the imprint was going to retcon much of the publishing giants last company-wide reboot. “The New 52” was meant to reignite interest in long-standing characters, simplify the continuity and allow new readers to jump in without the dogma of 75 years of story-telling hanging over their heads. The tactic largely worked and sparked a trend, but for the faithful — it fizzled!
DC Comics established the benchmark of profoundly depending on its “legacy” characters popularity to help keep things interesting, and with that capitalized on the “Golden Age” which brought about the “Silver Age” propelling the fandom into the “Modern Age” of comics (post-Crisis) that gave way to several distinct creative arteries like the “Dark Age” and finally “The New 52”. That idea of an “event” to help clean house was viewed as a sharp marketing maneuver.
The “event” series became part of mainstream comics publishing and was notoriously utilized to great affect by the creative heads at DC Comics, to inspire the creative pool to look at things from outside the regular reigns and charge storylines into divergent territory. The “Rebirth” is intended to provide a happy middle, for new readers and the die-hard fan base that wasn’t entirely up to speed with the forward fast-thinking following “FlashPoint”!
With the recent return of the “classic” Superman to the prime DC Comics universe following the “Superman Reborn” arc, readers got the Man of Steel back, as well as his wife Lois Lane and the introduction of their son, the next generations Superboy! Jon has proven a worthy foil and companion to Damian Wayne, the current Robin and the son of the Dark Knight, Batman who has pulled a new one out of his utility belt and asked the Catwoman to make an honest man of him.
Whether the Batman and his longtime adversary Catwoman’s nuptials will come to term, in the new “Rebirth” storyline it makes sense that Bruce Wayne is taking a hard look at his own mortality and has grown dependent on securing his own legacy. If Catwoman is able to accept the terms of marriage to Gotham’s hero, then it is written: Not only will Selina Kyle emerge as the step-mother to Damian but perhaps she will give birth to tomorrow’s Huntress.
One of the key storylines that is still taking shape in the “Rebirth” arc is the eventual reintroduction of the “Golden Age” heroes, most of which were written out of the contemporary continuity, but with the return of the one-time Teen Titan, Wally West remnants of the Justice Society are starting to emerge. Most recently the Flash and Batman teamed up to solve the mystery of “The Button” and found themselves lost in the time stream, if not for the intervention of one Jay Garrick…
Currently lost in the time stream, Jay Garrick the “original” Flash has made his reappearance in mainstream DC Comics continuity courtesy of the “Rebirth” arc.
…the pair would have been lost, but the “Golden Age” Flash, with the exception of that appearance has yet to regain some ground and make a fateful return! The gears are already in motion and soon the final act of “Rebirth” will no doubt play itself out. In the meantime, a fresh perspective is giving writers and artist the opportunity to revisit and reexamine relationships that are helping to bring our favorite DC Comics heroes down to earth.
