Reading DC Universe Rebirth Comics

Recently I have started reading a few comics from the new DC Universe Rebirth line of comic books. I read DC Universe Rebirth issue #1 before starting to read the Rebirth solo comics. On June 8th I picked up Wonder Woman Rebirth, The Flash Rebirth, and Superman Rebirth. I had like a four minute debate on whether I should get Batman Rebirth or Superman Rebirth. Mind you, if I could afford both at the time, I would have gotten both. However, I'm a college student on a budget, so I had to pick. I ended up opting for Superman Rebirth because I was more curious to see what parts of the continuity they were going to keep for Superman and the explanation behind the new Superman that exists within this continuity. Later the next week I was able to pick up Batman Rebirth. I got the variant covers for all of them because I wanted them all to match and for the most part liked the designs better.

So far, I love what they have done with the new continuity for DC Comics for Rebirth. I use the term "new" loosely because Rebirth has taken elements from the old pre-New 52 continuity and elements from the New 52 and combined them. Personally, I disliked a lot of the things they changed in the New 52. Essentially they erased the legacy of any long standing characters when the New 52 reboot occurred. Lois Lane and Clark Kent weren't an item. Dick Grayson, who has always been very well associated with various characters in the DC Universe essentially had no significant friendships or relationships of any sort. Characters that historically had origin stories that were well known and remained unchanged for decades suddenly were unrecognizable. A good example of this is Beast Boy who in the New 52 continuity was red instead of green at some point and was related to Animal Man erasing any trace of his original origin story with the Doom Patrol. There were other changes I resented because it was a downgrade for some characters. Starfire was a character that lost a lot of her personality and was pathetically sexualized in the New 52. This was something I really hated. Even within DC's animated universe has issues when it comes to consistent storytelling. A lot of their films including Justice League vs Teen Titans and Batman vs Robin have scenes that cater to a younger audience and then have subsequent scenes that aren't appropriate for children due to dialogue or thematics. It's like DC couldn't decide who they wanted to market to.

Without giving too much away, I'll say that Rebirth has given us an explanation as to why a lot of the characters in the New 52 are much younger than their pre-New 52 counterparts and why beloved characters like the original red-headed Wally West are missing from this timeline. Some characters and relationships pre-New 52 fans miss are back, which I'm sure many will be happy about (as I am). I'm looking forward to the rest of DC's new Rebirth line. I've read all of the Rebirth one-shots that have come out to date and am excited for future solo series like Nightwing #1 that hits shelves this July 2016. I probably won't be reviewing these titles on this blog, but I wanted to give my opinion so far for any comic book fans that read my reviews. Definitely recommend all Rebirth titles to any DC fan that hasn't picked them up.

The Lost by James Patterson (Witch & Wizard Book 5) Review

I had trouble getting into the last book of the Witch & Wizard series. I was kind of ready to be done with this series when I started reading this book. The main characters had kind of lost their luster for me, especially Wisty because she was immature at times and not self aware. I think she grew as a character by the end of the novel, but it took too long for my taste. It was interesting to see Whit and Wisty's relationship and the struggles they went through as a family caused by the circumstances they were in. I think it really showed that things like war and conflict can separate family because of differences in point of view, but that love is still what precedes any separation caused by conflict. I was happy with this book by the end, but I would give the Witch & Wizard series as a whole 3 stars out of 5 because I think it could have ended two or three books earlier. In a way, it may have overstayed it's welcome as a series.

SPOILER SECTION: Don't keep reading if you haven't completed the book.

Some time has passed since the last book as is revealed in the first few chapters. Whit has moved in with Janine and Wisty and him are helping anyone who is injured on the streets due to the chaos that is the society they are in. Pearl ends up being one of the casualties that they are unable to save. It kind of bothered me that with the large role Pearl seemed to play in previous installments that her death is brief and kind of brushed over. We aren't even shown how she died. I think starting the book with the scene in which she was initially injured so badly would have been a better introduction. It would have helped us understand better how she had her falling out with the main characters much better.

As the book progresses it is obvious that Whit and Janine are pretty much married at this point in the storyline in everything but name. Throughout the book Whit struggles with his role in this war and consistently questions whether what he is doing is right. People in the city fear him and Wisty because of their powers. Whit, having a very strong moral compass, gets to the point that he leaves Janine out of care for the rest of the world and even gives up his powers. I think this helped a lot in showing how Whit's character is self-sacrificing and selfless to a fault. Wisty on the other hand, seems to be blindsided to her point of view on her powers. She does kill people at a certain point in the book and doesn't seem to understand why people fear her. Her lack of understanding and self awareness are what irritate me most about her character. Wisty has trouble understanding that her decisions and recklessness can end up hurting people and placing them in danger. Whit and her eventually have a falling out when he gives up his powers in hopes for peace with the rest of the world. I can totally understand Wisty being upset at his decision, but I can't hate the guy  for doing it because I can sympathize. Whit felt that having his powers was too dangerous for the rest of the world and was willing to give up everything he loved most for the greater good.

Our new villain for this novel is Darrius, who wants to bring Wisty over to his side and is very interested in her powers. He makes for a good villain but isn't necessarily unique from any of the other villains in the book. This doesn't bother me too much because the story focuses on the development of the main characters enough that the development of the villain isn't as important.

I do have to commend the last hundred pages or so of the book. Within the last section of the book, Wisty helps Whit regain his powers and it is revealed that Darrius isn't the true villain of the book, but The One Who Is the One and his son are. The One Who Is the One comes back in a plot twist at the end and plans on having his son prove himself to him by battling Wisty and Whit. However, his son turns on him and Byron ends up sacrificing himself in order to close the portal to Shadowland. This effectively seals away The One Who Is the One together with his son for good. It's kind of bitter sweet, but truly shows Byron may have had his flaws but in the end truly cared for Wisty a lot.

The epilogue is open ended with Wisty giving a final speech after the final battle to a large crowd. There isn't any explanation as to how the government of this new world will be handled. Despite that, I was satisfied with the ending because I think it wrapped up nicely. I genuinely don't think this series should have lasted five books. At most, I think three would have been enough and I'm pretty sure that's the point where Patterson's ghost writer took over the writing because that's when I noticed I had a stark disinterest in the story as a whole. On the bright side, the story does end with a bang. I wouldn't go out of my way to recommend this series to anyone, though. It's an okay series, but it's not great.

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