Despite several initiatives since then, it’s strange to think that ten years have already passed since the quite successful DC Rebirth relaunch (at least initially).
It was a ‘back to basics’ approach, or, as the co-publisher at the time, Dan Didio would say, ‘getting them back to the core concepts of what makes those characters great’. He was talking about Superman, of course. Undoubtedly, more characters were concerned, but no character would come to symbolise what went wrong with the New 52 more than Big Blue.
It worked. It was — mostly — good for a time. I enjoyed Peter J. Tomasi and Patrick Gleason’s Superman, which focused on the Superman family and their young son, Jon Kent. This was perfectly complemented by Dan Jurgens’ Action Comics. On the opposite, I dropped Tom King’s Batman after a few issues — I found it totally boring! Nevertheless, there were still other titles to enjoy, such as Nightwing (by Tim Seeley and Yanick Paquette), Red Hood and the Outlaws (by Scott Lobdell with great art by Dexter Soy), and more from the Bat-family.
And way, way more! One of the highlights for me at that time was following this sometimes overlooked Justice Leaguer, Aquaman, written by Dan Abnett (where is my omnibus or compendium, DC?) and, of course, the inimitable Super Sons series, which, thanks to Bendis’s shenanigans a few years later, occupy now a special place, a product of a particular era, a time when Jon was the cutest 10 year old!
There were many worthy (and less worthy) titles published during the Rebirth era, from Christopher Priest’s Deathstroke run to Venditti’s Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps, or James Tynion’s Justice League Dark. There were totally forgettable, messy, fun, or horrible events (the less said about Heroes in Crisis, the better), several Christmases celebrated, and little fun series with old and new characters.
For a time, it was a really good time. Things took a turn (it’s no easy task to keep up momentum or quality), but all in all, it was a fun era, and we are celebrating its anniversary with a Complete Reading Order!
The Complete Rebirth Reading Order
Batman Rebirth. From the Monster Men to Batman’s Wedding, City of Bane, and The Joker War, you can rediscover the Dark Knight comics of the Rebirth era, written by Tom King, Scott Snyder, James Tynion, Peter Tomasi, and more. See the guide. Superman Rebirth.
Green Lantern Rebirth. Simon Baz and Jessica Cruz became protectors of Earth and members of the Justice League under the pen of Sam Humphries and other writers. Meanwhile, Hal Jordan continued to fly with Robert Venditti and Rafa Sandoval in the Rebirth era, which also saw the debut of Sojourner Mullein. See the guide.
Justice League Rebirth. The most famous DC superteam continues saving the world before events such as Justice League vs. Suicide Squad and Dark Nights: Metal will lead to the creation of different teams to deal with specific problems. See the guide.
More from Comic Book Treasury…
The Absolute Universe expands this year to include Absolute Green Arrow and Absolute Catwoman. Our guide has also been updated to include a list of the announced collected editions and an issue-by-issue reading order. Check out our Absolute Universe Guide.
Bucky Barnes is currently leading a team of New Avengers while Marvel Comics continues to reprint Ed Brubaker’s Captain America series, which saw Bucky’s return from the dead. You can find all of these stories, and more, in our updated Winter Soldier reading order.
Beyond Superheroes: Explore all the possibilities of the Overworld with our Minecraft graphic novels, or go for some post-apocalyptic stories with the Neon Genesis Evangelion manga.
On the Web…
Poison Ivy unleashes eco-terror on Gotham City in BATMAN: BAD SEEDS crossover event. [Comics Beat]
Gender Queer: The Annotated Edition Expands America’s Most Banned Graphic Novel [IGN]
Kim Deitch’s How I Make Comics [The Brooklyn Rail]
Yevgenia Nayberg’s Chernobyl Graphic Memoir [GraphicMEMOIRBlog]
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