The “Rebirth” continues to explore the legacy of its greatest heroes as the Justice League face an indomitable foe and the Flash re-explores his connection to the source of his powers when the Scarlet Speedster prepares to train an entire new generation of speedsters as a new threat targets Central City!
The comics legacy established by DC Comics is the equivalent of modern day mythologies. The publishing imprint’s Chief Creative Officer Geoff Johns has always expressed as much about the impenetrably powerful pantheon of characters that have inspired more than 75 years of comic books, television series, blockbuster movie franchises and more multi-media than you can shake a stick at! Continuing to explore that legacy, DC Comics current publishing-wide rebrand appropriately enough is called “Rebirth” and is promising a return to greatness for many of it's lasting mainstays.
Two just released compilations take a significant look at that pantheon of characters and reasserts their place in the currently evolving theme of “Rebirth”. Longtime readers can now pick up The Flash Vol. #1 - “Lightning Strikes Twice” and Justice League Vol. #1 - “The Extinction Machines” the premiere arcs in the actively narrating “Rebirth” story that will soon spiral into a thrilling conclusion as was recently reported in the upcoming crossover event “The Button” to play out in issues of Batman and The Flash.
● Justice League Vol. #1 - “The Extinction Machines” written by Bryan Hitch with art by Tony Daniel has the team taking on an invasion of a very different kind. Still mourning the passing of their Superman and not entirely sure what to make of his “replacement” the league is going through some growing pains!
Among the most powerful members responsible for protecting a great legacy include the members of the Justice League! Although the roster has changed over the years, the current assembled might on the team is among the greatest that the DC Universe has to offer. After an earth-shattering series of events that included a battle of godlike proportions that resulted in the death of the league’s vaunted enemy Darkseid. The group didn’t take too long to regroup but bolstered their number by adding a pair of Green Lanterns to make up for Hal Jordan’s vacancy.
Now mysterious energies connected in very personal ways to each individual member of the league are combining in an effort to undermine the Justice League and take over the planet. The league is going to have to pull it together and learn to trust one another if they are going to prevent an alien infestation of enormous proportions.
This premiere arc from Bryan Hitch who inherited the series from Geoff Johns, is meant to reestablish the Justice League as the Earth’s first line of defense, but Hitch is also navigating through a minefield of all-new variables including the recent death of the “New 52” Superman and the discovery by the league of his replacement, a Man of Steel from an alternate-timeline that should not have survived after “FlashPoint”.
Hitch has taken on telling stories with the League of enormous proportions and largely imaginative scale. “The Extinction Machines” is in many ways familiar territory for the league, and is a great jumping point for new readers.
● The Flash Vol. #1 - “Lightning Strikes Twice” written by Joshua Williamson with art by Carmine Di Giandomenico brings the man at the center of all the multiverse drama face-to-face a new enemy and a city full of speedsters!
Without a doubt the Flash is often regarded as the hero leading the charge of the Modern Era and the torchbearer of the DC Universe’s legacy. Barry Allen was introduced to readers and heralded the Silver Age of the DC Comics. Inspired by his predecessor the Golden Age speedster Jay Garrick, the Silver Age is considered the beginning of the greatest era in comic book storytelling.
After having apparently saved his one-time sidekick from a null-existence, Barry Allen and Wally West are confounded by a new mystery! While Wally West has been lost in the time stream, someone — or something — has stolen 10 years of their life! Central City is suddenly struck by a massive lightning storm that transforms many of its citizens into speedsters…now Flash must train an entire new generation before a new enemy surfaces that wants only to consume the powers of the Speed Force for himself!
For fans of the Scarlet Speedster this arc also includes the introduction of the “new” Kid Flash, the current time-stream’s Wally West and Barry is going to need all the help he can get when he confronts a new enemy, another speedster named Godspeed!
Both of these Vol. 1 editions are available now!