DC Comics REBIRTH Recap - Creative Teams, Schedule & a Few New Details
Saturday at WonderCon 2016 marked the long-awaited announcement of DC's Rebirth creative teams, along with details of the slate of new titles. With dozens of creators and even more characters involved, it's easy to lose track of all the important details of Rebirth.
Fortunately, Newsarama was on the scene, and we've got you covered when it comes to the big headlines you might have missed. From returning creators, to fan-favorite characters, and some surprising titles, here are the big bullet points from DC's Rebirth announcements.
A few huge name creators will return to titles they've previously worked on, and some classic teams will be reunited to take on new characters. Chief among these is the return of Greg Rucka to DC Comics, returning to Wonder Woman, a character he previously enjoyed an acclaimed run on. He's telling two concurrent stories, one set in the present, and one set in the past entitled "Wonder Woman: Year One," with artist Nicola Scott who also returns to the character.
Also returning home is Dan Jurgens to Action Comics, a title which will feature the pre-Flashpoint Superman existing alongside Clark Kent, as well as Lex Luthor in his Superman armor. For Superman, the Batman and Robin and Green Lantern Corps team of Peter Tomasi and Patrick Gleason will reunite, along with Doug Mahnke. A third Superman title, called New Superman, will be written by Gene Yang. It centers on a Chinese teenager who gains a portion of Superman's power. This title was previously announced as "The Super-Man," but according to DC Co-Publisher Dan DiDio, the book's title was changed when Yang came onboard and pointed out that there is no Chinese word for "the," prompting the slight change.
In Batman's world, Tom King takes over as the writer of the main Batman title with artist David Finch, while Scott Snyder stays with the Caped Crusader on a title called All-Star Batman. All-Star Batman will feature a rotating art team, with every arc featuring a classic Batman villain tailored to the artist. Artists confirmed for the book include John Romita, Jr., Paul Pope, Sean Murphy, Tula Lotay, Jock, Francesco Francavilla, and more. The stories will be set in the main continuity. Meanwhile, James Tynion IV takes over Detective Comics, which features a team lead by Batman and Batwoman. Tim Drake will return in that title, wearing a version of his original Robin costume. Nightwing also returns to his classic blue and black look in a solo-ongoing by Tim Seeley. Batman Beyond will feature the return of Terry McGinnis to the title role.
Many fan favorite characters will return in Rebirth. A new Blue Beetle title features Jaime Reyes teaming up with Ted Kord, who will mentor the young hero. Wally West will get a version of his classic Kid Flash costume in Joshua Williamson's Flash, while Kyle Rayner, John Stewart, and Guy Gardner were all confirmed to be a part of Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps. DC Chief Creative Officer and the architect of Rebirth Geoff Johns also confirmed that the Legion of Super-Heroes, JSA, New Gods, and Shazam would all have a place in the post-Rebirth universe, but that each of these properties warranted a major story to herald their return, and needed room to breathe and not get lost among today's announcements.
As for pre-Rebirth titles, several, including the previously announced Gotham Academy and Earth 2, will simply be continuations of their previous incarnations, and weren't considered Rebirth properties. Similarly, Jimmy Palmiotti and Amanda Conner's Harley Quinn will remain largely the same. Bryan Hitch will also remain with the Justice League, though he takes over writing their core title from Geoff Johns. Frances Manapul will write and draw Trinity, which features Batman, Wonder Woman, and Superman. Ethan Van Sciver will return to Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps alongside writer Robert Venditti. Scott Lobdell remains on Red Hood and the Outlaws.
Two titles, Super-Sons and Justice League of America, had no details or creative teams confirmed, though Super-Sons was confirmed to feature Damien Wayne and Jonathan Kent, the sons of Batman and Superman.
Rebirth also marks several creators, such as Joshua Williamson who will write Flash, Sam Humphries who will write Green Lanterns, and Christopher Priest who will write Deathstroke joining DC Comics for the first time, or returning after many, many years. Similarly, John Semple, the new writer of Cyborg, will work in comic books for the first time after a long history in animation, which includes Static Shock and Spider-Man.
Even all of this news only scratches the surface of what we learned at DC's Rebirth announcements, so stay tuned to Newsarama for more analysis, news, and interviews with some of the biggest creators in Rebirth.
Here's a last run-down of all the titles, creative teams, format and schedule announced Saturday:
Title
On-Sale
Frequency
Writer
Artist(s)
JUNE
DC UNIVERSE: REBIRTH SPECIAL
25-May
One-shot
Geoff Johns
Ivan Reis, Phil JimenezEthan Van Sciver, Gary Frank
ACTION COMICS #957
8-Jun
Twice Monthly
Dan Jurgens
Patrick Zircher, Tyler Kirkham, Stephen Segovia
AQUAMAN REBIRTH #1
8-Jun
One-shot
Dan Abnett
Brad Walker, Jesus Merino, Phil Briones
AQUAMAN #1
22-Jun
Twice Monthly
Dan Abnett
Brad Walker, Jesus Merino, Phil Briones
BATMAN REBIRTH #1
1-Jun
One-shot
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
FLASH REBIRTH #1
8-Jun
One-shot
Josh Williamson
Carmine DiGiandomenico, Neil Googe
FLASH #1
22-Jun
Twice Monthly
Josh Williamson
Carmine DiGiandomenico, Neil Googe
GREEN ARROW REBIRTH #1
1-Jun
One-shot
Ben Percy
Otto Schmidt, Juan Ferreya
GREEN ARROW #1
15-Jun
Twice Monthly
Ben Percy
Otto Schmidt, Juan Ferreya
GREEN LANTERNS REBIRTH #1
1-Jun
One-shot
Geoff Johns, Sam Humphries
Ethan Van Sciver
GREEN LANTERNS #1
15-Jun
Twice Monthly
Sam Humphries
Robson Rocha, Ardian Syaf
SUPERMAN REBIRTH #1
1-Jun
One-shot
Peter J. Tomasi, Pat Gleason
Doug Mahnke
SUPERMAN #1
15-Jun
Twice Monthly
Peter J. Tomasi, Pat Gleason
Doug Mahnke, Pat Gleason
TITANS REBIRTH #1
15-Jun
Monthly
Dan Abnett
Brett Booth
WONDER WOMAN REBIRTH #1
8-Jun
One-shot
Greg Rucka
Phil Winslade
WONDER WOMAN #1
22-Jun
Twice Monthly
Greg Rucka
Liam Sharp, Nicola Scott
JULY
BATGIRL
13-Jul
Monthly
Hope Larson
Rafael Albuquerque
BATGIRL & THE BIRDS OF PREY REBIRTH #1
20-Jul
One-shot
Julie Benson, Shawna Benson
Claire Roe
HAL JORDAN & THE GREEN LANTERN CORPS REBIRTH #1
13-Jul
One-shot
Rob Venditti
Ethan Van Sciver
HAL JORDAN & THE GREEN LANTERN CORPS #1
27-Jul
Twice Monthly
Rob Venditti
Ethan Van Sciver, Rafa Sandoval
THE HELLBLAZER REBIRTH #1
20-Jul
One-shot
Simon Oliver
TBA
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
THE SUPER-MAN #1
13-Jul
Monthly
Gene Luen Yang
Viktor Bodganovich
TITANS #1
27-Jul
Monthly
Dan Abnett
Brett Booth
AUGUST
ALL STAR BATMAN
Aug TBD
Monthly
Scott Snyder
John Romita Jr., Jock, Sean Murphy
BATGIRL & THE BIRDS OF PREY
24-Aug
Monthly
Julie Benson, Shawna Benson
Claire Roe
BLUE BEETLE REBIRTH #1
24-Aug
One-shot
Keith Giffen
Scott Kolins
CYBORG REBIRTH #1
3-Aug
One-shot
John Semper
Will Conrad, Paul Pelletier
CYBORG #1
17-Aug
Twice Monthly
John Semper
Will Conrad, Paul Pelletier
DEATHSTROKE REBIRTH #1
10-Aug
One-shot
Christopher Priest
Carlo Pagulyan, Igor Vitorino, Felipe Watanabe
DEATHSTROKE #1
24-Aug
Twice Monthly
Christopher Priest
Carlo Pagulyan, Igor Vitorino, Felipe Watanabe
HARLEY QUINN
3-Aug
Twice Monthly
Jimmy Palmiotti, Amanda Conner
Chad Hardin, John Timms
THE HELLBLAZER #1
3-Aug
Monthly
Simon Oliver
TBA
SUICIDE SQUAD REBIRTH #1
Aug TBD
One-shot
Rob Williams
Jim Lee
RED HOOD & THE OUTLAWS
24-Aug
Monthly
Scott Lobdell
Dexter Soy
SUICIDE SQUAD #1
Aug TBD
Twice Monthly
Rob Williams
Jim Lee, Philip Tan
SUPERGIRL REBIRTH #1
17-Aug
One-shot
Steve Orlando
Brian Ching, Emmanuela Lupacchino
SUPERWOMAN #1
10-Aug
Monthly
Phil Jimenez
Phil Jimenez, Emmanuela Lupacchino
TRINITY REBIRTH #1
10-Aug
One-shot
Francis Manapul
Francis Manapul, Clay Mann
SEPTEMBER
BATMAN BEYOND REBIRTH #1
28-Sep
One-shot
Dan Jurgens
Bernard Chang, Ryan Sook
BLUE BEETLE #1
28-Sep
Monthly
Keith Giffen
Scott Kolins
JUSTICE LEAGUE AMERICA
14-Sep
Twice Monthly
TBA
TBA
SUPER SONS #1
7-Sep
Monthly
Chris Burns, Dennis Culver
Jorge Jimenez
SUPERGIRL #1
7-Sep
Monthly
Steve Orlando
Brian Ching
TEEN TITANS REBIRTH #1
21-Sep
One-shot
Ben Percy
Jonboy Meyers
TRINITY #1
21-Sep
Monthly
Francis Manapul
Francis Manapul, Clay Mann
OCTOBER
BATMAN BEYOND #1
Oct TBD
Monthly
Dan Jurgens
Bernard Chang
TEEN TITANS #1
Oct TBD
Monthly
Ben Percy
Jonboy Meyers
