TITLE: Superman Rebirth Issue #1
YEAR: September 2016
COMPANY: DC Comics
Storytellers: Peter J. Tomasi and Patrick Gleason
Penciler: Doug Mahnke
Inker: Jaime Mendoza
Colorist: Wil Quintana
Letterer: Rob Leigh
Superman was created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Schuster
DC Comics Rebirth stories brought back the stories that people loved.
After the company took risks with “52” and “The New 52” to create a new universe that is modern winning over fans who wanted a fresh take on the heroes, while alienating longtime fans, needless to say, it took some major cajones for DC Comics to admit that they made some mistakes.
But truth be told, I didn’t read these new stories or post-Zero Hour and I was more of an observer. I saw what Marvel Comics did post-Onslaught and the Ultimate series, so I wasn’t surprised that DC Comics would try to take risks. No matter how you cut it, comic books is a business and it’s not always easy to gauge who is the primary demographic and with competing areas of entertainment, how many titles people will want to spend.
I was fortunate that back in the ’80s and ’90s, $20 or $50 went a long way for purchasing comic books.
But with that being said, these days, it’s not easy as one comic book can be around $2.99 – $4.99 an issue.
But when I heard that DC Comics was trying something new again called “Rebirth”, as an observer, I wasn’t sure how things would work out until I read the rave reviews from readers and reviewers.
So, earlier this year, I purchased the Rebirth omnibus (note: DC Comics has now released an expanded version in Sept. 2017) and I was definitely impressed.
When “Superman” ended with issue #52 (of the “New 52”), Superman (of the “New 52”) died but minutes before, he was helped by Superman (the one we have read in the past). Somehow, the Superman, his wife Lois Lane and their son existed in “New 52” along with the Clark, Lois Lane of the new parallel world they were living in. They made the decision to live on the farmland to not interfere but to help whenever he could, stealthily with his black costume (the one that he wore when he was reborn after his death fighting Doomsday).
This now leads to “Superman Rebirth”.
In the first issue of “Superman Rebirth”, Superman recalls how the New 52 Superman sacrificed his life to save the world. Seeing the monument that was created in his name, he sees someone going through the underground temple.
When Superman goes to see who it is, it’s Lana Lang. Lana is shocked to find out that Clark is not alive but he tells her that he’s not the same Clark of their world.
He explains to her that he waiting for the return of Superman and believes that he will come back to life. While she refuses to believe him, he explains to her of how in his world, he came back to life and believes the Superman in this world will come back.
She tells him that she made a promise to bury Clark beside his parents in Smallville back in Kansas. He tells her that he wants to keep his ashes safe in a place safe until he can find a way to bring him back to life.
And to Clark’s (I will start referring him as Clark 1 and the other as Clark 52 to avoid confusion) surprise, Lana knows about the Fortress of Solitude which leads to Clark 1 and Lana Lang to going to the Fortress of Solitude to look for answers and find out if they can bring Clark 52 to life.
Overall, “Superman Rebirth” was a good start. There was no dramatic story of Swashbuckling Superman taking on a major villain to kick off the first issue, it was a tale of two Supermen, one dead and one from a parallel world who is still alive. And we learn that Clark 1 believes Clark 52 will come back to life… But will he?
“Superman Rebirth” is definitely recommended! But if you can, check out the DC Rebirth Omnibus!!!