Rebirth Round-up: Week 6

It’s another week of new Rebirth one-shots & new titles from DC and with momentum firmly behind the creative teams the quality seems to have been getting better and better……which was always the hope.

Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps: Rebirth #1

Written by Robert Venditti

Art by Ethan van Sciver

Coloured by Jason Wright

Lettered by Dave Sharpe

In recent years the Green Lantern universe has always been something I gravitate towards and I had high hopes for the GL Corps in this new Rebirth world.  This issue doesn’t really have a great deal happening in it but feels like more of a setup for what’s to come.  Hal Jordan returns to a Galaxy that’s seen the Green Lanterns ousted by the Sinestro Corps and with the Yellow Lanterns at the helm an air of fear seems to hang in the vacuous space atmosphere.  To challenge that we have Hal who spends the issue soul searching up to the point where he embraces the power of his ring and sets his sight on putting things right in the Universe.  While it may be a long way to get to the point there’s no doubting that Venditti is revelling in that build-up and that becomes an infectious element to the story.  Add Van Sciver’s epic art and Wright’s glowing colours into that mix and the proves to be one of the best releases so far for me.

9/10

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New Super-Man #1

Written by Gene Luen Yang

Art by Viktor Bogdanovic (pencils) & Richard Friend (inks)

Coloured by Hi-Fi

Lettered by Dave Sharpe

With the main Superman title not exactly wowing me I was keen to see what this “New” Super-Man could do and with a superhero story transported to China it’s a very different origin than I was expecting.  In this case it’s high school bully Kong Kenan who catches the eye of a local reporter after saving his latest target from the clutches of one of China’s latest supervillains.  That’s not the only person who notices Kong and the Bully with a heart is approached by the government to take part in an experiment that guarantees him his own powers.  Cue that bully swagger merging with super powers as the latest manufactured hero is let loose to learn the ropes of how to save the world……although he gets an impromptu visit from two of China’s other superheroes before he gets too out of hand.  Thankfully it’s not all bold, brash gestures but underneath that there’s a slick commentary on race & class that saves this from being just another origin story.

7/10

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Nightwing: Rebirth #1

Written by Tim Seeley

Art by Yanick Paquette

Coloured by Nathan Fairbairn

Lettered by Carlos Mangual

Dick Grayson is returned to his Nightwing persona with real style as Tim Seeley weaves a personal journey for Dick that sees him pour his heart out as he finds his place in the Bat-World again.  Huntress, Midnighter and Batman himself all appear but it’s his connection with Damian that brings out the best from this release as that soul searching gets him through to the realisation that his best course of action is to don that Nightwing outfit again and get involved in more direct crimefighting.  It’s not before time though as the Parliament of Owls have set their sights on him and while this could well have been nothing more than an intricate setup it feels like much more than that.  That’s down to Seeley’s mix of themes and pacing coupled with some amazing art from Paquette……which results in another top release within the Rebirth set.

9/10

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Probably one of the strongest weeks for DC’s Rebirth with these new titles starting plus the likes of Detective Comics #936 & The Flash #2 continuing to impress.  This will make sure that there will be more DC titles on my pull-list……and I’m sure others will be the same.

G-Man