With great fanfare, DC Entertainment's Rebirth program was born earlier this year, featuring the company's lineup of iconic superheroes in completely new stories that combine the characters and stories beloved by fans for many decades with fresh and diverse new perspectives while addressing contemporary social and cultural issues. The Rebirth series spans DC Entertainment's superheroes--among them, Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, the Flash, the Green Lantern and Aquaman--and creates a cohesive universe, setting the stage for years of DC Entertainment superhero stories.
Now those stories are being launched in book form, first with DC Universe: Rebirth Deluxe Edition, a hardcover that features behind-the-scenes and character sketches of the DC: Rebirth universe. (More on this title below.) Then in January, the first stories from the relaunched titles will begin appearing in paperback collected editions, each focusing on different superheroes. (More on these titles below.)
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| Dan DiDio | |
The Rebirth line brings back qualities and aspects of the characters' histories that some longtime fans found missing in the New 52 stories, which was launched in 2011 and featured reworked characters and attributes different in key ways from their predecessors of yore. (Nonetheless, the New 52 series had booming sales and drew in many new readers, revitalizing the comics market.) The revived qualities in the Rebirth line include optimism, hope, idealism and selfishness. DC Entertainment publisher Dan DiDio notes that Rebirth embraces "the true generational history of the DC line and past attributes that may have been forsaken or forgotten." As a result, the DC Entertainment has integrated "all the freshness of the New 52 but kept in long-term material," which has excited both longtime and newer fans, DiDio says.
Since the launch in comic book form in May, the Rebirth stories have been wildly successful. To date, more than 18 million copies have been shipped. Eleven of the titles have shipped more than 200,000 copies each; 60 titles have shipped more than 100,000 copies; and 21 titles have gone back to press. "They've captured what fans want," says DiDio.
Observing that "the graphic novel and bookstore business has exploded for us," DiDio points to the huge amount of TV and movies over time involving DC characters as a main factor in creating and expanding reader interest. "The level of awareness has never been so good," he says. Now, with the Rebirth books, bookstore customers will be able to "find the source materials for what they're enjoying on TV and in the movies."
He emphasizes, too, that the Rebirth stories "show the expansiveness of our world. They're not just reading a story but entering an incredible world where these characters live.... The stories are tied into specific events and have a shared continuity." The best part: the Rebirth program is a long-term program, meaning that like the universe itself, the DC Universe will continue to expand.