Why wait for DC Rebirth?

Why wait for DC Rebirth?

You may have heard about this thing DC is doing in the upcoming months, a little thing called “Rebirth”. Hell, maybe you haven’t heard of it, if this is the first time you’re hearing about it, here’s the Cliff’s Notes. Wait, you don’t know what Cliff’s Notes are either? Oh, millennials, before the internet us older ones had to read books, but if we were lazy (or smart) we could buy Cliff’s Notes, a much smaller book that essentially gave us the synopsis of the book, thus, A+ on our book report. I digress, let’s get back to DC Rebirth.

I’m more of a Marvel guy and I’ve felt that everything DC Comics has done recently has been something involving Harley Quin or a mess of variant covers. The DC books I do read (Batgirl and Black Canary) rarely deal with any other DC characters so they feel somewhat distanced from Harley Quinn and the DC Universe. Anyways, DC’s “New 52” are coming up on their 52nd issues so it only seems appropriate in logic only found in comic books that they restart and renumber everything anew. That’s where DC Rebirth comes in.

DC Comics will be releasing most books monthly and a few twice monthly with a lower price point starting towards the end of May 2016. Here’s the thing, if you avoided the New 52 or came into the whole DC game a bit late, there’s not need to wait for the DC Rebirth. There’s a few good books that have just starting hitting the shelves over the past few weeks.

You may remember a little book called Swamp Thing being written by its original co-creator Len Wein. Not really my style but a book that has a really classic old school style.

Another book that’s running that old school vibe is Superman: The Coming of the Supermen. Yes, SuperMEN! Where did these new Supermans come from and what do they want? Written and drawn by the legendary Neil Adams, the book’s look and feel screams nostalgia. A very interesting read with WAY too much narration from Lois Lane but a great new look at Superman and how he’s going to deal with this awkward situation of 4 other dudes that may or may not have his exact powers.

Maybe I don’t read that many DC books because I just don’t know much about the universe, I don’t know many characters or origin stories other than Batman and Superman’s. For those of you that are in the same boat, you’re also in luck. Two of my favorite books out of this lot: Superman American Alien and Legend of Wonder Woman.

Right now I’m hearing a lot of chatter about Superman: American Alien, after reading it I can concur that this book is legit. Skip the destruction of Krypton, skip Jor El, skip the escape pod jettisoned to Earth, instead, let’s look at an impressionable young man already feeling alienated from his peers and then trying to deal with the onset of new and uncontrollable powers. The book is lean with almost no filler; and crisp, clean art adorns every page. Superman: American Alien is being written by Max Landis and has plans of proper artists filling up each upcoming issue. You want to get back into Superman before rebirth? You should probably start here.

Then we have Diane Prince, the Amazon Princess, warrior goddess herself also getting a little origin story love in Legend of Wonder Woman. Sure her origin story is filled with Greek names I can barely pronounce yet remember, but damn is it deeper than I would have ever expected. So much drama, so much sorrow hidden in the land of Themyscira. Renae De Liz deserves a lot of credit for Legend of Wonder Woman, the book is gorgeous! Every page just exudes power, something Diane of Themyscira deserves, even if she is just a teenager begging to be a warrior. If you don’t plan to read Legend of Wonder Woman, at least do yourself a favor, pick it up off of the shelf and bathe in the beauty of every page.

The last miniseries that should grab your attention is the newest Poison Ivy: Cycle of Life and Death from Amy Chu and Clay Mann. Poison Ivy appears to be turning over a new leaf (heh heh)  but after a fellow scientist is found dead, it looks like Poison Ivy will be the primary suspect. Sure the book has an unneeded Harley Quinn appearance, but the story is just as intriguing as the origin stories of Legend of Wonder Woman and Superman: American Alien. It also doesn’t hurt that Clay Mann’s art is pretty damn impressive. Not the strongest of the bunch, but a good read nonetheless.

DC Rebirth may be months away, but these are arguably the best books DC is putting out right now and they’re all miniseries which means no long term commitment. Start reading these books now, you don’t want to get too far behind, and I believe Poison Ivy: Cycle of Life and Death is already into her second printing.

Go. Why are you still here? Go… shoo.