DC Rebirth? More like DC Retcon
Ok, I'll admitt going into this book I was extremely angry and mad about this book and just DC in general as I had heard that Watchmen was now being incorperated into the DCU. However, I tried to go into this book optimistacally and enjoy it. I hoped that maybe this book could win me over and want to make me read DC comics after the Watchmen thing to me was a massive turnoff for the company. Unfortunately in my opinion this book was just ok in my opinion. I know a lot of older comic book fans loved this book and it is easy to see why. This comic is probably one of the most fanservice-y book I think I have ever read. It reads like a massive apology that talks endlessly about the glory days of DC. If you were a fan of DC but hated all the changes the New 52 made, well then this corrects them or at least cushions the blow as it tries to re-establish post Crisis DC in the post Flashpoint world while also setting up new changes that will later be seen if someone will have to retcon those too. Though it doesn't fix everything as things I hated about the New 52 are still there like Captain Marvel being Shazam, Creeper is still a demon, pretty sure Question is whatever the hell he is, and all those terrible origins are still canon.
The biggest fanbase that is serviced here are the Wally West fans who felt like they lost the character with the reboot. That is probably one of the key reasons this book falls flat for me as you had to be a fan to really care about this as it really relies on the emotional bonds readers would have had with this character. I never was much of a Flash fan, so for me this didn't do much. I didn't feel a connection. There were some really good moments that I did like in it like when it was going through Wally's history. I really liked many of these personal moments and the bits of fun, but they felt lost in all the retconning. This comic didn't really seem to have much of a story to begin with. It plays out just mostly like a bunch of scenes happening in random orders to fix or set up things in the DC Universe that it felt exhausting. Thankfully it was a mostly short read. There were scenes that I really like such as the Blue Beetle one and the Aquaman one, but there were others that fell flat like the Atom one. I did notice how Wally West going to tell Batman first about the situation and how it seemed to homage Crisis on Infinite Earths. It also relies on Flashpoint itself a lot in the book, but it makes it to where if you hadn't read Flashpoint you should be able to understand it. Overall, despite narrative shortcomings and enough exposition to make Christopher Nolan blush I really liked the tone it had established in this book. This was probably the most DC feeling book Ive read since Flashpoint happened and sucked. I think had the last part in this book not been tacked on at the end this would have been a four star review. Unfortunately, that last part was literally the one thing DC could have done to make me dislike it.
That thing is of course the inclusion of Watchmen is literally the worst thing DC could have ever possibly done in my opinion. If you had given me the choice between most of my favorite characters being killed and wiped from existence, Batman becoming a psychopathic murderer, and Captain Marvel sticking to his New 52 roots or Watchmen to be incorperated and milked for decades I would have chosen the former every day of the week. Watchmen is my favorite comic and almost all the characters are special to me and now the threat of losing that is more important to me than the state of the DC Universe. While presented in this book, Doctor Manhattan is the cause of all the cynism in the world. This is supposed to a be twist on how Watchmen was the comic that changed the medium and was the story almost all writers strived to achieve. The reason for this was one I have and am still trying to figure out why he chose to go this route. I understand thematically why, but Im trying to tell if there was an altererior motive and was to shame either Watchmen or all the writers who blindly went out chasing the success it recieved and ended up losing what made superheroes popular in the first place. Overall though its clear from the final words this isnt the last you have seen of them. Whether or not that is a good thing depends on the person. Personally, I hate the idea of DC doing a bunch of sequels, crossovers, spinoffs, and whatever else as long as they can sell it. Watchmen may have started out as the Charlton characters and intended to be a part of the DC Universe, but once it ended it became something else and both creators hated the idea of it being incorperated into DC. There really isn't anything more left to do with these characters and anything else is fluff to make money and could potentially taint the characters. I dont know what DC's plans are with them and until I dont know if I can read anymore comics they publish. Nothing in Rebirth really got me interested in whats to come and the Watchmen situation has me both furious and apethic towards them. They were my favorite comic company and now I just dont care to read anything they make.
As to whether Id recommend this book really depends on what kind of reader you are. If you are a hardcore DC and/or Wally West fan, this book is a must read. If you got in with the New 52 and love that, I dont really think you will like this. If you are a new reader and heard about Rebirth and want to jump in, you may like this as a guide on what to read and expect but other than that I don't see you enjoying this book as it is mostly is mostly just a series of retcons and scenes setting things up tied together by the love of Wally West and the nostalgia of pre Flashpoint. There are many other thoughts and feelings I have, but I probably should wrap it up. This will be my last DC review at least for quite some time as I will now mostly read Marvel and Indie comics instead. I hope you can enjoy this book more than I did. Now to end things off with a song. Normally I dont do this, but I felt this song capture my feelings perfectly.
