Has Moore said anything about that DCU Rebirth #1 yet?
Not to my knowledge, and I think he does not even care anymore since it has been thirty years and DC has made it clear that they will keep Watchmen in publication.
I still have to illegally download the comics onto my tablet get the issues, cause I'm definitely interested.
Download?
Since everyone and their grandmother knows because of the leak that happened before its release, what are your thoughts on the pre-Flashpoint Wally West returning? I personally love it (though I am not that crazy about Dr. Manhattan being the implied antagonist), but that has not stopped some people from slagging DC Rebirth. I guess you cannot please some people no matter what they do.
Personally, I think Johns was a bit heavy-handed with the "hope vs. cynicism" theme. While I suppose that one could argue that
Watchmen and
Dark Knight Returns inaugurated the Dark Age of Comics, I believe that it is an oversimplification.
Watchmen (and DKR, albeit to a lesser degree) was an incredibly dense and layered read that truly read like a novel and I believe that the antiheroes that followed Rorschach's example were one-dimensional copies. No, I believe that it was
Crisis on Infinite Earths, or rather, the immediate aftermath where DC essentially repudiated its own rich history for a short-term sales bump. Something I call the "Deconstuction Age" (1986-94) because the dismantling of the pre-Crisis multiverse and editorial inconsistency led to DC creating a Frankenstein-like monster by trying to force certain pieces to fit together.
The most egregious examples are the
Legion of Super-Heroes, where then-writer, Paul Levitz had to create a stopgap measures to explain how "Superboy" could still be a member of the Legion after the John Byrne reboot establish that Supes didn't establish his career until after he became an adult. Hell, there were still references to the Kara Zor-El Supergirl who was never supposed even exist post-Crisis. Eventually editorial mandate forced a soft reboot, but Legion continuity was pretty much FUBARed until
Zero Hour. The Silver Age Hawkman is another sterling example, where despite him playing a role in 1988's
Invasion, DC wanted
Hawkworld (released the following year, and a damn fine read) to take place in the then-contemporary DCU as opposed to the intended origin story. That necessitated a cascade of retcons that made the character untouchable for years.
Things got better after
Zero Hour. DC ran with the "legacy" theme with the return of the JSA to prominence after the success of James Robinson's
Starman. The Justice League returned to "all-star" status with Grant Morrison's
JLA. Something I call the "Reconstruction Era" that ended more or less with
Identity Crisis. Granted, more of DC's Silver Age elements crept into the mythos, culminating in Barry Allen's return in
Final Crisis.
And then they blow it up after
Flashpoint with the New 52, which left a bad taste in my mouth.
Rebirth seems to be fixing that by introducing elements from the pre-Flashpoint universe, but I'm wary. DC has a problem with rebooting and retconning, though Marvel seems to be worse at times since they heavily rely on recycling plots and shock tactics to drive sales.