"I look down at it and know without question: I love this world. But there's something missing."
Those are some of the first words readers will see in today's DC Universe Rebirth #1, and there's no doubt about it: this is a message pointed directly at every fan of the company by writer Geoff Johns.
The DC Universe is no stranger to meta moments — hell, Grant Morrison basically carved out a career by speaking directly to the audience for decades. However, what the company did today with Rebirth doesn't just break the fourth wall, it breaks down the comic book industry as a whole.
Ever since the company was rebooted with the New 52 in 2011, it has felt like there was something missing, as Johns states in the issue itself. In an attempt to clean up some messy continuity and simplify the DC heroes for new readers, the New 52 instead robbed the heroes of their charm, of their personalities and of the one thing that made them endure for decades: their hope.
Rebirth is an attempt to change all of that, and it seems almost personal for Geoff Johns, who always held onto the bright, optimistic DC of years past. It's so personal that it seems like Johns couldn't help himself from basically saying flat-out that he knew the New 52 didn't work countless times throughout the issue.
As the lost Wally West tries to find his way literally back into the DC continuity, Johns showers readers with imagery from the company's past: Flashpoint, Crisis on Infinite Earths, the Golden Age Joker, the original Teen Titans and on and on. It's all a reminder of where the company has been and where it hopes to go once again.
However, Rebirth isn't just about reinstating classic stories and characters, it's about getting that trademark DC feel back again. Johns even acknowledges the dark path the company went down in the New 52 with one of Wally's more poignant bits of narration:
"A decade was removed like a Jenga piece," he said. "I don't know exactly how or why, but it changed everything. Heroes that were legends became novices. Bonds between them were weakened and erased. Legacies were destroyed."
Most telling of all, he states: "A darkness from somewhere has infected us. It has for a long time now, I think. Even before Flashpoint."
This is Johns literally telling readers that the New 52 messed with the very legend of the DC heroes. It erased their legacies, altered their identities and turned them — dare I say — into something less than heroic.
The biggest complaint about the New 52 was how dark and dreary it all was, and here's Johns not just agreeing with audiences, but painting that tone as a malicious virus that's spread across the company. Through Wally, Johns is staking the claim that this is something he's looking to personally exorcise from the brand with Rebirth.
Yet, is that "darkness" just about the New 52? With the Watchmen universe coming to DC, and Doctor Manhattan most likely having created the universe itself, maybe Johns' opinions on the matter go back further.
Maybe the New 52 was so bleak and so dark because of Manhattan and his views on what humanity really is. Maybe the New 52 is the physical embodiment of his thoughts on people and heroism, after witnessing the Eddie Blakes and Adrian Veidts of his world almost wipe out any decency left in humanity.
DC Rebirth is a comic that speaks directly to you, the reader. Not in the chuckling Deadpool way, either. It's a town hall meeting in comic book form where frustrations are vented and promises of a hopeful future are made. Will DC stick to the landing? We won't know for a few months (at least), but the company is aware change is needed. Maybe the biggest change will be to go back to what made these heroes so iconic in the first place.
