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| Written by Stefan Blitz |
DC Entertainment hosted a Saturday morning special event at WonderCon announcing details of it’s upcoming Rebirth relaunch hosted by DC All Access co-host Tiffany Smith with announcements and introductions moderated by DCE Co-Publishers Dan DiDio and Jim Lee and DC Chief Creative Officer Geoff Johns. In addition to the 500 fans in attendance, the event was also streamed live on the DC Entertainment YouTube channel to a worldwide audience online.
DiDio, Lee and Johns discussed the event, acknowledging how 2011’s New 52 relaunch is no longer a replacement for the 80 year plus history, but instead, just a chapter in it’s ongoing saga. With Rebirth, the intention is to return to the essence of the stories and characters that have defined the publisher since 1938.
DiDio addressed the question of, “Why Rebirth? Why now?” “Sometimes what happens, and you can feel it now, you lose your way a little bit. The hope is to show our recommitment to you, the fans.”
In addition to announcing titles and creative teams, DiDio announced that many titles would be published on a bi-weekly basis and all titles, beginning with the 80 page DC Universe: Rebirth would reduce in price to $2.99.
Teasing the DC Universe: Rebirth one-shot, Johns said that some characters will return — and, “There might be a death of a character. There might be the biggest secret in the DC Universe ever.”
View the entire press conference below and check out details of the titles and creative teams (along with art) after the jump!
DC Universe: Rebirth Special
written by Geoff Johns, and drawn by Gary Frank, Ivan Reis, Phil Jimenez, and Ethan Van Sciver. (see the cover in the header)
Superman / Wonder Woman Titles
Superman Rebirth (One-Shot)
Written by Peter J. Tomasi and Pat Gleason with art by Doug Mahnke.
Action Comics
Action Comics will return to its original series numbering, will be written by Dan Jurgens and drawn by Patrick Zircher, Tyler Kirkham, and Stephen Segovia. Jugens’ story features Pre-Flashpoint Superman in the lead role, and Lex Luthor as a supporting character/antagonist who is also claiming to be the Superman of Metropolis. It ships twice monthly, starting in June.
Superman
Superman will be written by Peter Tomasi and Patrick Gleason, with art by Gleason and Doug Manke. It ships twice monthly, beginning in June.
Wonder Woman Rebirth (One-Shot)
Written by Greg Rucka with art by Phil Winslade.
Wonder Woman
Wonder Woman will be written by Greg Rucka, and drawn by Liam Sharp and Nicola Scott.
It ships twice monthly beginning in May, and with Sharp illustrating contemporary adventures, and Scott providing Year One stories.
New Super-Man
New Super-Man will be written by Gene Yang and drawn by Viktor Bogdanovic. The book features a seventeen-year-old from Shanghai, Kenji Kong, getting the powers of Superman and learning to be a hero.
Supergirl Rebirth (One-Shot)
Written by Steve Orlando with art by Brian Ching, Emmanuela Lupacchino.
Supergirl
Supergirl will be written by Steve Orlando with art by Brian Ching, and ships monthly beginning in September. The series will pit Supergirl against the Kryptonian Cyborg, who is revealed to be Kara’s father, Zor-El.
Trinity
Trinity stars Superman, Wonder Woman, and Batman and will be written and drawn by Francis Manapul, with additional art by Clay Mann. It will ship monthly starting in September.
Superwoman
Superwoman, a new character, will star in a book written and drawn by Phil Jimenez, with additional art by Emanuela Lupacchino. It will be released monthly starting in August.
Super Sons
Super Sons, starring the sons of Superman and Batman, ships monthly beginning in September written by Chris Burns and Dennis Culver with art by Jorge Jimenez. (Creative team not confirmed by DC at this time).
DC Heroes
Justice League Rebirth (One-Shot)
Justice League
Justice League will be written by Brian Hitch, with art by Tony Daniel and Fernando Pasarin. It will ship twice monthly beginning in June. New Green Lanterns Jessica Cruz and Simon Baz will both be in Justice League.
The Flash Rebirth (One-Shot)
Written by Josh Williamson with art by Carmine DiGiandomenico and Neil Googe.
The Flash
The Flash will be written by Joshua Williamson, with art by Carmine Di Giandomencio and Neil Googe. It ships twice monthly beginning in June with a story arc centered around a Speed Force incident that introduces dozens of new speedsters, and Barry has to train them. One of them, named Godspeed, ends up a killer.
Hal Jordan & The Green Lantern Corps Rebirth (One-Shot)
Written by Rob Venditti with art by Ethan Van Sciver.
Hal Jordan & The Green Lantern Corps
Hal Jordan & The Green Lantern Corps will be written by Robert Venditti with art by Ethan Van Sciver and Rafa Sandoval. It ships twice a month beginning in July. John Stewart and Sinestro will both appear in this title.
Green Lanterns Rebirth (One-Shot)
Written by Geoff Johns and Sam Humphries with art by Ethan Van Sciver
Green Lanterns
Green Lanterns will be written by Sam Humphries with art by Robson Rocha and Ardian Syaf, and ships twice monthly beginning in June. The series will star Simon Baz and Jessica Cruz, and is akin to Lethal Weapon in space. The Red Lanterns will be the villains of the opening arc, which will be titled, “Red Dawn.”
Cyborg Rebirth (One-Shot)
Cyborg
Cyborg will be written by John Semper and drawn by Will Conrad and Paul Pelletier. It ships twice monthly beginning in August. The series, Semper said, will explore if the title character is “more machine than human or more human than machine” “We’re really going to go into a dark place with him, and figure out what he’s all about.”
Aquaman Rebirth (One-Shot)
Written by Dan Abnett and Brad Walker, with art by Walker, Jesus Merino, and Phil Briones.
Aquaman
Aquaman will be written by Dan Abnett and Brad Walker, with art by Walker, Jesus Merino, and Phil Briones. According to Abnett, the title character wants to “proactively make himself whole.” One of the things he wants to do is make Atlantis a nation of the world — stop making it secret and hidden away. Atlantis isn’t very willing, and the surface world isn’t too eager, either.
Titans Rebirth (One-Shot)
Written by Dan Abnett with art by Brett Booth.
Titans
Titans will be written by Dan Abnett and drawn by Brett Booth. It ships monthly beginning in July. According to Abnett, “These are legacy characters. This is about DC’s heritage. This is about characters that are either trained or raised by classic characters, and are now heroes in their own right. This is not necessarily a trendy thing to say, but they’re also friends. As to what actually happens in the book — I can’t tell you anything.”
Green Arrow Rebirth (One-Shot)
Written by Ben Percy with art by Otto Schmidt and Juan Ferreyra.
Green Arrow
Green Arrow will be written by Ben Percy with art by Otto Schmidt and Juan Ferreyra. It ships twice monthly beginning in June. The new series will finally have Green Arrow meet Black Canary as well as bring back the character’s long-missed goatee.
Harley Quinn
Harley Quinn will be written by Jimmy Palmiotti and Amanda Conner, with art by Chad Hardin and John Timms. It ships in August, twice monthly.
Suicide Squad Rebirth (One-Shot)
Written by Rob Williams with art by Jim Lee.
Suicide Squad
Suicide Squad will be written by Rob Williams, with art by Jim Lee and Philip Tan. It ships in August, twice monthly. The team will be made up of Killer Croc, Harley Quinn, Katana, Deadshot, Flagg, with more members to be announced.
Red Hood & The Outlaws (One-Shot)
Red Hood & The Outlaws
Red Hood & The Outlaws, shipping in August, will be written by Scott Lobdell with art by Dexter Soy. Bizarro and Artemis, of the Amazons, will join Red Hood for what Geoff Johns called a “dark trinity.”
Deathstroke Rebirth (One-Shot)
Deathstroke
Deathstroke will be written by Christopher Priest, with art by Carlo Pagulayan, Igor Vitorino, and Felipe Watanabe. It ships twice monthly, beginning in August.
Batman Beyond Rebirth (One-Shot)
Batman Beyond
Batman Beyond will be written by Dan Jurgens with art by Bernard Chang. It ships monthly beginning in October, and sees the return of Terry McGinnis as the title character.
Blue Beetle Rebirth (One-Shot)
Blue Beetle
Blue Beetle will be written by Keith Giffen with art by Scott Kolins. It ships in September, and unites Jaime Reyes with, according to Johns, “His mentor, Ted Kord.”
The Hellblazer Rebirth (One-Shot)
The Hellblazer
The Hellblazer will be written by Simon Oliver with art by Moritat. It ships monthly beginning in August and features John Constantine and Swamp Thing on a mission together.
Teen Titans Rebirth (One-Shot)
Teen Titans
Teen Titans, written by Ben Percy and drawn by Jonboy Meyers, ships in October, and according to Johns, “Damian Wayne decides he’s going to lead the new Teen Titans, and nobody wants him to, so it’s Robin versus the Teen Titans.”
Justice League of America
Twice monthly, starting in September. No further details announced.
Batman Titles
All Star Batman
Written by Scott Snyder, with art by John Romita Jr., Jock, Sean Murphy, Tula Lotay, Paul Pope, and more, ships twice monthly starting in August, and will feature many of the classic Bat-villains. Romita describes his story as, “Batman dragging Two-Face across the country; Imagine taking Batman out of Gotham and dragging Two-Face tooth and nail across the country, and the two of them butting heads constantly.”
Snyder added, “Both of us wanted to do something special for you guys,” and described his story as, “Batman, ‘Road Warrior,’ ‘Death Race,’ monster trucks, chainsaws — it’s out of control. We’re excited. I want to make Two-Face as scary as the Joker.”
Batman Rebirth
Written by Tom King and Scott Snyder with art by Mikel Janin.
Batman
Batman will be written by Tom King, with art by David Finch and Mikel Janin. It will ship twice monthly, beginning in June.
Detective Comics
Detective Comics will be returned to its original numbering, will be written by James Tynion IV, with art by Eddie Barrows and Alvaro Martinez. It will ship twice monthly starting in June. This will be a team book featuring Batman, Batwoman, Spoiler, Tim Drake, Cassandra Cain and Clayface.
Nightwing Rebirth (One-Shot)
Written by Tim Seeley with art by Javi Fernandez and Marcus To.
Nightwing
Nightwing, will be written by Tim Seely, with art by Javi Fernandez and Marcus To. It ships twice monthly beginning in July. Dick returns to his former blue and black uniform colors (with a design inspired by Batman: The Animated Series) and finds a new mentor for Dick called Raptor in an arc titled “Better Than Batman.”
Batgirl
Batgirl will be written by Hope Larson, with art by Rafael Albuquerque. It ships monthly beginning in July, and marks Larson’s first superhero work in comics. The run will take Barbara Gordon out of Burnside, and onto a backpacking trip in Asia. “She’ll be on a bit of a training mission as a superhero.”
Batgirl & The Birds of Prey Rebirth (One-Shot)
Written by Julie and Shawna Benson with art by Claire Roe.
Batgirl & The Birds of Prey
Batgirl & The Birds of Prey will be written by Julie and Shawna Benson, with art by Claire Roe. It ships monthly beginning in July. This title features Batgirl, Black Canary and Huntress (back in costume) on the trail of someone pretending to be Oracle.
Other returning titles (not yet scheduled) are Earth 2 and Gotham Academy: Next Semester.
What looks good to you? Are the changes positive or negative? Sound off in the comments.
