It was rumored for months with information being teased and leaked here and there, but now we know the full picture of what DC’s “Rebirth” event will be beginning in a few weeks with the release of the DC Rebirth one-shot and unfolding over the course of several months. This article is going to be your survival guide for the transition from the New 52/Post-Flashpoint comic universe to the “not-a-reboot” Rebirth continuity. We’ll run down the complete list of new titles and creative teams as we have released them so far, talk about DC’s new price point and whether cheaper comics will actually save you money, and talk about some of the few plot points we know of what to expect as this whole thing goes down. Ad of course for the sake of argument, we are solely focusing on the titles that we here at TBU will covering and not the whole DC Universe. So, grab your Swiss army knife, pack your can opener, and make sure you have plenty of batteries for your flashlight because Rebirth is coming and you need to be prepared. Here is our list of things you’ll need for sure if you want to survive:
1. A Notepad and a Calendar
These are two of the most important things you will need in order to successfully survive Rebirth. You’ll need the notepad to keep track of all the new titles and their creative teams. Many titles will be relaunching with new issue #1’s and brand-new or resurrected titles will be beginning as well. There is one exception to the new #1 rule as Detective Comics will be reverting to it’s “legacy” numbering going back to the numbering scheme it had before the New 52 renumbered the title. So to get to the Rebirth numbering, you start with the original 882 issues of Detective Comics (not including the #0 or #1 Million issues) and add the 52 issues from the Post-Flashpoint era (again not including issue #0 or the other special issues from DC events like Villain’s month) and you get a grand total of 933 which brings us to the first Rebirth issue being #934.
Additionally, you’ll definitely need a calendar as Rebirth completely changes the DC publishing schedule (not to mention the fact that several current ongoing titles will continue for a few months until Rebirth gets into full swing). The whole event gets kicked off with DC Universe: Rebirth Special #1 which sets the stage for the entire schedule of new books and the return to a mixture of new and old continuity and characters (which DC could not possibly stress enough is not reboot). After that, many of the new titles get special Rebirth #1 issues before beginning with their new #1 issues. Also, some but not all of these new titles will be shipping twice monthly and you’ll need that calendar to keep them straight. Finally, the release of these new titles is being stretched out over several months, so you’ll need something to remind you of how these new titles are being staggered.
Here is the full list of titles and creative teams that have been announced as well as the Rebirth release schedule for TBU related titles:
June 2016:
BATMAN REBIRTH #1
1-Jun
Tom King, Scott Snyder
Mikel Janin
BATMAN #1
15-Jun
Twice Monthly
Tom King
David Finch, Mikel Janin
DETECTIVE COMICS #934
8-Jun
Twice Monthly
James Tynion IV
Eddy Barrows, Alvaro Martinez
TITANS REBIRTH #1
15-Jun
Monthly
Dan Abnett
Brett Booth
July 2016:
BATGIRL #1
13-Jul
Monthly
Hope Larson
Rafael Albuquerque
BATGIRL & THE BIRDS OF PREY REBIRTH #1
20-Jul
One-shot
Julie Benson, Shawna Benson
Claire Roe
JUSTICE LEAGUE REBIRTH #1
6-Jul
One-shot
Bryan Hitch
Tony Daniel, Fernando Pasarin
JUSTICE LEAGUE #1
20-Jul
Twice Monthly
Bryan Hitch
Tony Daniel, Fernando Pasarin
NIGHTWING REBIRTH #1
13-Jul
One-shot
Tim Seeley
Javi Fernandez, Marcus To
NIGHTWING #1
27-Jul
Twice Monthly
Tim Seeley
Javi Fernandez, Marcus To
RED HOOD & THE OUTLAWS REBIRTH #1
27-Jul
One-shot
Scott Lobdell
Dexter Soy
TITANS #1
27-Jul
Monthly
Dan Abnett
Brett Booth
August 2016:
ALL STAR BATMAN #1
Aug TBD
Monthly
Scott Snyder
John Romita Jr., Jock, Sean Murphy
BATGIRL & THE BIRDS OF PREY #1
24-Aug
Monthly
Julie Benson, Shawna Benson
Claire Roe
HARLEY QUINN #1
3-Aug
Twice Monthly
Jimmy Palmiotti, Amanda Conner
Chad Hardin, John Timms
SUICIDE SQUAD REBIRTH #1
Aug TBD
One-shot
Rob Williams
Jim Lee
RED HOOD & THE OUTLAWS #1
24-Aug
Monthly
Scott Lobdell
Dexter Soy
SUICIDE SQUAD #1
Aug TBD
Twice Monthly
Rob Williams
Jim Lee, Philip Tan
TRINITY REBIRTH #1
10-Aug
One-shot
Francis Manapul
Francis Manapul, Clay Mann
September 2016:
BATMAN BEYOND REBIRTH #1
28-Sep
One-shot
Dan Jurgens
Bernard Chang, Ryan Sook
JUSTICE LEAGUE AMERICA #1
14-Sep
Twice Monthly
TBA
TBA
SUPER SONS #1
7-Sep
Monthly
Chris Burns, Dennis Culver
Jorge Jimenez
TEEN TITANS REBIRTH #1
21-Sep
One-shot
Ben Percy
Jonboy Meyers
TRINITY #1
21-Sep
Monthly
Francis Manapul
Francis Manapul, Clay Mann
October 2016:
BATMAN BEYOND #1
Oct TBD
Monthly
Dan Jurgens
Bernard Chang
TEEN TITANS #1
Oct TBD
Monthly
Ben Percy
Jonboy Meyers
2. Long Term and Short Term Memory
Another thing that DC has been adamant about concerning Rebirth is that this is not another reboot. They aren’t even really using the word “relaunch” like they did with the DC-You initiative either even though they are obviously doing that as well. So, from a more basic standpoint, you may be wondering exactly what Rebirth is going to be. Well, the answer will play out over the course of the next few months and will deal a lot with the particulars of each title and the characters in those titles, but here are a few things we do know so far from the Rebirth announcement panel that was live-streamed and from a few other tidbits around the internet.
- Rebirth will not be a reboot. I know I said that already but it is something they are seriously stressing. In essence, it seems like this is an attempt to take the things that people have liked about New 52 continuity and stick them back into Pre-Flashpoint continuity in a cohesive unified way that will likely involve some retcons but which will not be a complete reboot like we saw with the New 52. Some characters will be returning, other characters will be returning to their old personas. The current status quo will stay in some places but the old status quo will return in others. We don’t know all the specifics yet until we get the issues in our hands, but that is the overall gist of it.
- The DC Universe Rebirth Special will reveal a lot of mysteries and clear up a lot of questions. The solicitation for this issue teases that one DC character will die, three heroes will be reintroduced into the DCU, a secret will be revealed that explains “why the DC universe is the way it is,” Batman will become obsessed with the answer he gets about the Joker’s identity in the pages of Justice League #50, and another secret will be revealed that will answer why the DCU lost part of itself and set up the central threat in rebirth.
- Batman will be the solo book for the Dark Knight while Detective Comics will be a Bat-family book focusing on a team of characters including Batwoman, Red Robin, Spoiler, Orphan, and others.
- All Star Batman will be an in continuity book where Scott Snyder and lots of big-named artists can highlight interactions with certain villains starting with Two-Face.
- Dick Grayson is back as Nightwing (and back in blue as well) and will lead the Titans team as well.
- Jason Todd is back as a villainous Red Hood in Red Hood and the Outlaws.
- Damian Wayne will be the leader of the team in Teen Titans.
- Barbara Gordon gets a solo Batgirl title and will lead a team including Black Canary and Huntress (the same Helene Bertinelli that has been in Spyral) in Batgirl and the Birds or Prey.
- Gotham Academy and Earth 2 will get new titles that will be mostly direct continuations of their current stories and with the same roster of characters. Because of that they are not even listed as part of the Rebirth event according to the information released by DC.
- DC will stick to this newly reborn cohesive continuity by having an interconnecting storyline for the first two years after Rebirth.
That should get you started with your preparations. Tomorrow we will talk about what Rebirth means for your wallet and what the most important item you need will be.
