DC Rebirth: the 2016 relaunch and what it does to Superman
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Everything on DC Rebirth seen from Superman, not from the whole DC line. The one-shot DC Universe: Rebirth #1, written by Geoff Johns, goes on sale May 25, 2016 (July cover). The same day, the New 52 Superman dies in Superman volume 3 #52. You will understand where Lois, Clark and Jon come from, what Superman Reborn fuses in 2017, and why Action Comics resumes at #957 then reaches #1000.
📋 Contents
- DC Rebirth #1: the May 25, 2016 one-shot
- The Final Days of Superman: the New 52 titleholder dies
- Superman: Lois and Clark, 2015: where Lois and Jon come from
- June 2016: the titles change Superman
- Superman Reborn, 2017: the two histories become one
- Action Comics #957, then #1000 on April 18, 2018
- What DC Rebirth keeps, and what it corrects
- French editions: DC Univers Rebirth and Superman Rebirth T1
- FAQ — Frequently asked questions
- Conclusion
DC Rebirth #1: the May 25, 2016 one-shot
DC Rebirth starts, for the line, with DC Universe: Rebirth #1. Geoff Johns writes. Gary Frank draws a large share (chapters 1, 2, 4 and the epilogue), with Ethan Van Sciver, Ivan Reis and Phil Jimenez. The DCU Guide gives a July 2016 cover and an on-sale date of May 25, 2016. Sixty-six pages, subtitle The Clock is Ticking Across the DC Universe!. This is not Superman: Rebirth #1, the Tomasi / Gleason one-shot on the Superman title.
Rebirth is not a reboot as radical as the New 52 of 2011. Many statuses remain. For Superman, the one-shot crosses a second Clark, a Lois, a child, and slips that that family « is not what it thinks » — The Hollywood Reporter quotes the line on May 25, 2016. We take no more than what the paper reports. Wally West and the clock belong to the whole DCU: here we stay on the Man of Steel.
Superman, from Lois and Clark to #1000
The Final Days of Superman: the New 52 titleholder dies
The Final Days of Superman runs eight parts, architected by Peter J. Tomasi. They appear in Superman volume 3 #51-52, Batman/Superman #31-32, Action Comics volume 2 #51-52 and Superman/Wonder Woman #28-29. DC.com listed them in April 2016. In Superman #52, Do or Die, the New 52 Superman dies, poisoned by kryptonite, beside Batman, Wonder Woman, Lana and Lois (THR, May 25, 2016).
This is not Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?. Urban titled the Moore collection Les derniers jours de Superman: the French almost overlaps Tomasi's English title. Two stories, thirty years, a French bookshop trap. The 2016 dead man is the New 52 Clark, younger, not married to Lois Lane in that continuity. We send you to the New 52, we do not retell it.
Superman: Lois and Clark, 2015: where Lois and Jon come from
Superman: Lois and Clark is an eight-issue miniseries, written by Dan Jurgens. The DCU Guide indexes covers from December 2015 to July 2016. VerseDB dates #1 on sale October 14, 2015 and #8, Arrival, Conclusion, on May 25, 2016 — the day of Rebirth #1 and of Superman #52. The pre-Flashpoint Clark, his Lois and their son live hidden on the New 52 Earth.
The son is named Jon Kent. His page exists: we do not redo his life there. He is not Kon-El, the clone Superboy. The family passes as the Whites, not as the Kents of the Planet newsroom. When the New 52 titleholder dies, it is this family that the June 2016 titles put forward.
June 2016: the titles change Superman
Action Comics #957, Path to Doom chapter 1, appears June 8, 2016. Dan Jurgens writes, Patrick Zircher draws. DC.com says it without wrapping it: the title resumes its original numbering. Lex Luthor presents himself there as protector of Metropolis. A « new Clark Kent » also appears — that is not yet Reborn's secret. The monthly Superman volume 4, with Superman: Rebirth #1, puts Jon at the center: Tomasi and Gleason, not Johns.
For a time, then, there are two Clarks in the city, and one caped Superman on the covers: the husband, the father. The secret identity becomes a family problem again, not only a glasses problem. Kal-El no longer has a single readable past. Rebirth shows that. It does not sew it shut yet.
Superman Reborn, 2017: the two histories become one
Superman Reborn is published in four parts: Superman volume 4 #18-19 and Action Comics #975-976. Wikipedia EN dates the arc to March 2017; the DCU Guide indexes several of those issues in May 2017. We say 2017, and we keep the numbers. Dan Jurgens, Peter J. Tomasi and Patrick Gleason write. Mister Mxyzptlk is the « fake » Clark who had been hanging around Metropolis since the relaunch. Jurgens told ComicBook.com: from Lois and Clark on, the idea of a second Clark led there.
The two Supermen and the two Loises fuse. The memories around them shift. It is no longer « the New 52 beside the pre-Flashpoint ». It is one continuity, with Jon. Mister Mxyzptlk is not Moore's prankster: here, he thinks he is helping. We do not lend him any line beyond what Jurgens published. Reborn closes what May 2016 had opened side by side.
Action Comics #957, then #1000 on April 18, 2018
#957 of June 8, 2016 gives Action Comics back its historic numbering, the one that starts from Action Comics #1. The New 52 had restarted at #1 in 2011. Rebirth resews the counter. Two years later, Action Comics #1000 goes on sale April 18, 2018 (DC.com, GCD, Bleeding Cool). Indexes often give a June 2018 cover. Jim Lee shows a costume with the red trunks. This is not a Reborn chapter. It is a numbering milestone, and a bundle of short stories.
Among the essential stories, #1000 counts as an anniversary, not as an origin. If you place the character across the eras, 2016-2018 is the seam: New 52, pre-Flashpoint family, then one past. Byrne 1986 and Infinite Crisis 2005 stay upstream. Johns does not cancel them in one stroke.
What DC Rebirth keeps, and what it corrects
Rebirth keeps Metropolis, Lex, the Planet, many New 52 statuses outside Superman. It does not erase 2011 the way Byrne wiped the Silver Age. It corrects the New 52 Clark's bachelor status: Lois and Jon become the status quo. It corrects, in 2017, the coexistence of two Supermen. It keeps the idea of a son — Jon, already born in Lois and Clark, not invented in May 2016.
It does not cancel Infinite Crisis. It does not cancel The Man of Steel. It changes who holds the Superman series, then sews two pasts. Jonathan and Martha Kent remain the Kansas parents, in a past that is now unique after Reborn. If you want Jon's detail, his page is enough. Here he counts as what Rebirth does to the father.
French editions: DC Univers Rebirth and Superman Rebirth T1
Urban Comics published DC Univers Rebirth, 592 pages, in 2017: Johns's one-shot plus the line's Rebirth #1 issues (BubbleBD, BDZoom). Superman Rebirth volume 1, Le Fils de Superman, appears July 7, 2017, ISBN 979-10-268-1137-4: Superman: Rebirth #1 and Superman #1-6, Tomasi and Gleason (Bedetheque, GCD, ActuaBD). Those dates are not May 25, 2016.
Watch out for the title Les derniers jours de Superman at Urban: that is the Alan Moore collection (2016), not Tomasi's The Final Days of Superman. We do not assign a French ISBN to the 2016 arc here; the listings step on each other. Do not mix Rebirth 2016 with the New 52 of 2011 either, nor DC Universe: Rebirth #1 with Superman: Rebirth #1. Two one-shots, one month, two teams.
FAQ — Frequently asked questions
Is DC Rebirth a reboot like the New 52?
No. The New 52 (2011) started most titles from zero. Rebirth, in 2016, relaunches the line without wiping everything. For Superman, the New 52 titleholder dies, the pre-Flashpoint family takes the series, then Superman Reborn sews the two pasts in 2017.
When does DC Universe: Rebirth #1 come out?
On sale May 25, 2016 in the United States, July 2016 cover. Geoff Johns writes. Gary Frank, Ethan Van Sciver, Ivan Reis and Phil Jimenez draw. This is not Superman: Rebirth #1, the Tomasi / Gleason one-shot.
Who dies in The Final Days of Superman?
The New 52 Clark, in Superman volume 3 #52, on May 25, 2016. Eight parts, Peter J. Tomasi. Urban's collection Les derniers jours de Superman reuses Moore's 1986 title: those are two distinct deaths, thirty years apart.
Where do Lois and Jon come from in Rebirth?
From Superman: Lois and Clark (eight issues, Dan Jurgens, on sale from October 14, 2015 to May 25, 2016). That is the pre-Flashpoint couple and their son, hidden on the New 52 Earth. Jon Kent has his own page.
What is Superman Reborn?
A 2017 arc in Superman #18-19 and Action Comics #975-976. Jurgens, Tomasi and Gleason. Mister Mxyzptlk. The two Supermen and the two Loises fuse into one continuity. This is not the May 2016 one-shot.
Why do Action Comics #957 then #1000 matter?
#957, on June 8, 2016, gives the title back its historic numbering, interrupted by the New 52. #1000 goes on sale April 18, 2018. This is not a Reborn chapter: it is a milestone, with a red-trunks costume on Jim Lee's cover.
Which French edition should you read for Rebirth?
Urban, DC Univers Rebirth (2017, 592 pages) for Johns's one-shot and the Rebirth #1 issues. Superman Rebirth volume 1, Le Fils de Superman, July 7, 2017, for Tomasi / Gleason. Those dates are not May 2016.
Conclusion
DC Rebirth, for Superman, falls in three beats: the New 52 titleholder dies on May 25, 2016, the Lois and Clark family takes the June titles, Reborn fuses them in 2017. Action Comics finds #957 again, then #1000 on April 18, 2018. This is not a Byrne. This is not a New 52.
If you chain the reboots, read the New 52 first, Jon Kent beside it, the eras for the wide map. And if you pick up an Urban album titled Les derniers jours de Superman, check the cover: Moore 1986 is not Tomasi 2016. Johns, on May 25, opens the door. Reborn, the next year, closes it on a single past.