Comic Review: DC Universe Rebirth Chapter Three

Issue: DC Universe Rebirth Chapter Three

Name: Love
Published: 2016 by DC Comics

Blurb:

Creators:

Writer: Geoff Johns
Artist: Ivan Reis
Inker: Joe Prado, Ivan Reis
Colorist: Hi-Fi
Letterer: Nick J. Napolitano

First Look

Characters:

The Good: Wally West, Green Arrow, Black Canary, Aquaman, Mera, Linda Park, Superman (parallel Earth), Lois (parallel Earth)
The Bad:
The Undecided: Grail, Darkseid, Mr. Oz

My Reading:

This chapter starts with a scream.

It’s not the scream of Pandora’s explosion from last chapter, nor do I think it has anything to do with the first scene of this one, but I’ll mention where I think the scream comes from in a bit.

The first scene of this chapter focuses on Grail and she’s holding the reborn Darkseid baby. This follows pretty directly on the heels of The Darkseid War in Justice League #50. The baby’s not crying so I don’t think the scream is from him but this is an important scene for the reiteration of the story about Wonder Woman’s twin brother, Jason.

It’s the second scene where I think the scream eminates. This spread shows the aftermath of Superman’s death. I think the death of Superman had some pretty impactful repercussions that Wally could hear from within the Speed Force/outside reality. This beautifully drawn scene carries a lot of emotion and carries forward the events that occurred in Superman #52. I think these first two scenes of this chapter indicate that not everything from the New 52 era is going to be put aside – somethings will continue.

Once we show the continuity from some of the New 52 comics, we show some of the items that have been lost…particularly the love. Green Arrow and Black Canary are shown barely even knowing each other when in the previous reality, they were lovers. We also see Aquaman proposing to Mera as indication that Love will play a role in the new Rebirth era.

Superman and Lois from the alternate world of Lois and Clark are also shown with concern for thier son seeing the news that Superman is dead. We then see that Superman is confronted by someone new – Mr. Oz – who claims neither of he nor the fallen Superman are what they believe.

But the key segment of this chapter revolves around Linda Park. As Wally indicated in the previous chapters, she’s always been his link to reality whenever he entered the Speed Force. If he can only get her to remember him, he should be able to break back into reality. She’s covering the death of Superman and Wally appears to her.

Sadly, she doesn’t remember him and this sends Wally back into the Speed Force worried he might not be able to make it back to reality at all.

What did I learn:

• Green Arrow and Black Canary used to be a couple.
• Mr. Oz knows something about both the dead Superman and the one from the parallel world.
• It looks like Grail, Darkseid, and Wonder Woman’s brother, Jason, may play some significant roles in Rebirth.

My Thoughts:

This chapter didn’t as much tell a bunch of stories but rather seemed to focus more on relationships that people who’ve read DC before have missed. The Green Arrow/Black Canary and the Aquaman/Mera pairings look, from this chapter, to be something that hasn’t been around much in the New 52 era. For me, I’ve got no knowledge of anything different so I kinda got the feeling that this chapter wasn’t as much for me as the first 2 were.

Sure, I’ve read the Lois and Clark series so I know something about the parallel Superman and his family but this Mr. Oz is the key player in this chapter, I think. Just like Doctor Fate in the 2nd chapter and the big blue hand in the first chapter, Mr. Oz appears to be someone from outside of the current reality – kinda where Wally is at the moment. These guys seem to know more about what’s going on that anyone else and the only hero that knows anything about the missing time so far is Wally. Oz and Fate, while they know more than others, haven’t hinted to knowledge of the missing time. I get the feeling that Oz and Fate are gonna be big players in this Rebirth event as it proceeds.

As far as the chapter title of Love, we can clearly see that Love is in some ways transcending the loss that’s happened to the universe. With Aquaman and Mera clearly showing that they’re moving forward and Lois an Clark showing concern for thier son, I get the sense that love is indeed important here. I can also see the love and dispair in the scene where Superman has died – the artistic rendering of these pages is pretty incredible. But then we also see how love was also lost with the parallel lives that Black Canary and Green Arrow are living, without each other. The final blow comes as Linda Park doesn’t remember Wally.

For some reason these failures to remeber Wally really touch me deeply – even though I barely know the character. I suppose Geoff Johns and the artists have been able to convey the immensity of forgetting someone you love. I find it a hard thing to conceive of and perhaps that’s why it feels so monumental.

In any case, this chapter was a bit less impactful to me than the previous 2 sections so I rated it a bit lower. It was still good however and I feel I learned a bunch.

My Rating: B+

This comic can be found on Comixology or at your local comic book shop.