Recap and Review: DC Universe: Rebirth #1

**This article contains Spoilers for DC Universe: Rebirth #1**

Last week, the television version of The Flash (spoiler alert for those who haven’t seen the season two finale) left viewers with a final shot of what many believe to be the start of a Flashpoint storyline for the CW’s “Arrowverse”. I don’t know if it was planned this way, if it was a coincidence, or if the Speed Force itself was guiding us to this moment, but it’s almost prophetic that DC’s Rebirth series would launch the day after The Flash season finale inspired by an event that’s one of the catalysts for this soft DC Universe reboot. I say it’s a soft reboot because [easyazon_link identifier=”B01DKZ7SG0″ locale=”US” tag=”bounintocomi-20″]Rebirth[/easyazon_link] doesn’t really act like a typical reboot. In fact, Geoff Johns, Chief Creative Officer at DC Comics, has stated these stories are a continuation not a reboot. Well whatever they decide to call it, Rebirth is definitely a game-changer for DC’s continuity. After reading it, I’d call it a meta-commentary or even self-criticism of the DC universe after the New 52 launch. You at least need passing familiarity with the New 52 to follow most of what’s going on. The comic at the beginning even recommends you read Justice League #50 and Superman #52 before you read this. The one-shot is told mostly from the point of view of a character left out the New 52 canon…Wally West. The original Wally West.

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Yes, there are now two Wally Wests. One that was lost in the Speed Force after the events of Flashpoint and the New 52 biracial Wally West. This isn’t the last shocker we see. I, like many others, really missed the old Wally West. I watched the old Justice League cartoon show even to this day on Netflix. In fact, I’m watching it as I’m writing this. Then there’s the Wally West from Young Justice that’s fantastic. For me, my definitive version of the Flash has always been Wally West. The CW’s Barry Allen has started to change that somewhat, but I was still very happy to see that huge close up shot of the yellow and red-suited Kid Flash Wally West burst through the Speed Force like a hero to the rescue. In many ways, he acts like it in a meta-reflection of the DC universe.

Throughout the issue, the original Wally West, decked out in his traditional Kid Flash yellow and red suit, is struggling to escape the Speed Force. He tries reaching out to various people he once knew in his old life with mixed results. The first person he tries to reach is Bruce Wayne in the Batcave. In an illustration that looks remarkably similar to a scene in Batman v Superman, Wally breaks out of the Speed Force, temporarily, to try to alert Batman. Bruce thinks the Speedster is Barry. He seems to have no memory of who Wally is. Wally emphatically implores Bruce to remember the letter Bruce’s father, Thomas Wayne, sent him before Wally is ripped back into the Speed Force. The letter Wally referring to is presumably the one Thomas Wayne wrote to Bruce during the events of Flashpoint, where Thomas Wayne, as that timeline’sBatman, gives Barry Allen a letter for Bruce to read when Barry makes it back to his own timeline. Wally says that letter is how it all started. The letter is the key.

We also learn from this sequence another big reveal about the Joker. It’s a continuation of the events from Justice League #50 after Batman sat on the Mobius Chair, giving him access to all the knowledge in the universe. He asked the Mobius Chair about the identity of the Joker, and the answer seemed impossible to Batman. Well, we find out the Mobius Chair told him that there are three Jokers. The three Jokers are stylized after the different versions of previous Jokers: one from the Golden Age, one from the Silver Age, and one from the New 52. It’s a pretty cool twist on the mythology of the Joker. It’s certainly a lot better than the idea that the Joker is immortal hinted at in the New 52. I’m very interested to see how this storyline plays out.

Wally continues on with his inner monologue briefly describing his life becoming Kid Flash and then as the Flash himself before disappearing after the events of Flashpoint, According to Wally, ten years were “stolen” when the timelines reconstituted after Flashpoint. Wally becomes convinced that the Flashpoint incident wasn’t Barry’s work but that of an outside unknown entity. Wally doesn’t think he’ll survive, but he keeps pushing himself to reach out to more people to make sure that history isn’t lost. He reaches out to an elderly Johnny Thunder aka Thunderbolt, who is committed to a nursing home because the world thinks he’s crazy. Wally reassures Johnny he’s not crazy, asks him to, “use the genie,” and to find the Justice Society before getting pulled back into the Speed Force, but not before Johnny makes a tearful apology to Wally for, “throwing him away.” I’m not exactly sure what that means, but it again seems like a meta commentary on DC for “throwing away” this version of Wally West when the New 52 launched. I imagine we’ll eventually find out what Johnny Thunder meant by that soon.

As Wally is hurtling through the Speed Force, there’s then a brief montage of various different DC characters that serve to establish each person’s starting point before their own issue series is launched in the coming months. One of the overarching themes in this montage Wally talks about is legacy:

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