The DC Comics Rebirth event is possibly just what the doctor ordered, at least to fix issues many readers have with the New 52.
When DC launched the New 52, the company decided to take many of its most beloved characters and change them so that they might appeal to younger audiences. Yet, the company now thinks that, maybe it missed something with those stories and is using its upcoming Rebirth event to reconnect fans with those characters.
In an interview with Newsarama, DC Comics co-publishers Dan DiDio and Jim Lee spoke about Rebirth, as well as how it will affect the New 52.
Lee discussed how the New 52 overlooked "things like legacy and generations of things that were hallmarks of the DC Universe."
"Geoff [Johns, DC Comics Chief Creative Officer] came up with this brilliant story that basically allows us to seat the New 52 within the continuity that preceded it," Lee said. "So it really synchronizes and harmonizes pre-52 with New 52 continuity, I think in an elegant way that allows, I think, long-time fans to have their cake and eat it too, and all the new fans that we got through the New 52 to keep up with the fact that the universe is continuing to grow and evolve and is exciting and new."
DiDio said that the plan for Rebirth is to bring everything back into one universe, especially in moving forward. However, Rebirth will also give the creators a chance to go back to each character's basics.
"This is almost like a reset," DiDio said. "We're getting back to the basics of the character again.
It's not a reinvention. It's not a reboot. It's just going back to what the core strengths of what the characters are, reinforcing them, understanding clearly what the characters stand for, what their motivations are about, who they are."
DC also plans on rolling out the comics in a different way than normal. The first issues will not all arrive at the same time, but will release on a staggered schedule throughout the summer. Characters with best-selling titles will also get two issues per month, instead of one. This means investing in bigger teams of writers and artists to meet these new deadlines.
Another change is that the new titles will not have a lot of variant covers, which is often the norm these days.
"We're still using variant covers, but we're actually using one variant cover artist for each book," Lee said. "They sort of get tenure, as it were. And they're going to be responsible for being the alternate cover artist on that book. And we're only doing it on our top-selling books."
DC's Rebirth begins in June.
