Cyborg: Rebirth (2016) #1

DC Universe: Rebirth

by John Semper Jr. (Writer), Paul Pelletier (Illustrator), Sandra Hope (Illustrator)

Victor Stone was once a star athlete and brilliant student with a bright future. But after a tragic accident destroyed over half of his body, Victor was kept alive by merging flesh with advanced technology. Today he is the Justice League co-founder called Cyborg. But is the young hero a man…or a machine that merely believes it’s a man?

Genres: Comics, Dc Comics, Science Fiction, Comics Manga, Graphic Novels

25 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 7, 2016

About the author

Emmy-nominated, Harvard University graduate John Semper Jr. has been developing, writing and producing television and film for over forty years, with a special emphasis on children’s television and animation.

His extensive and extremely varied writing and story-editing (head writer) credits include multiple episodes of such classic and well-known animated shows as Scooby-Doo, Smurfs, The Jetsons (Hanna-Barbera Productions); My Little Pony, The Moondreamers (Marvel Productions); Duck Tales (Disney); Alvin and the Chipmunks (NBC Productions); and many others. He produced, story-edited, and wrote the Fraggle Rock animated series for Jim Henson Productions and he co-created the original, live-action Dog City, also for Jim Henson.

Mr. Semper is probably best known for his work as both producer and head writer on Spider-Man: The Animated Series, the hit action-adventure animated series for Fox Television, based upon Marvel’s pre-eminent super-hero character. He subsequently received an Emmy nomination for his work at Warner Brothers Television Animation as story-editor for the successful series, Static Shock.

He has also branched into writing comic books, handling a 19-issue story arc for Cyborg as part of the "Rebirth" of all of the DC Comics super-hero line-up.

Mr. Semper’s feature film writing credits include the live-action comedy Class Act, released by Warner Brothers. Afficionados of Japanese animation director Hayao Miyazaki have appreciated Mr. Semper’s English language scripts for the Disney-released feature films, Laputa: Castle in the Sky and Kiki’s Delivery Service.

Mr. Semper’s pre-school children’s television show credits include the puppet series Puzzle Place for PBS, for which he was also a co-creator, and the long-running, popular Jay Jay the Jet Plane on PBS, for which he served as writer, executive story-editor, and producer. Several of his stories featuring the Jay Jay characters have been adapted into children's books.

In the interactive computer software field, Mr. Semper has written for Disney (“The Hercules Interactive Storybook”), Knowledge Adventure (“The X-Men Cartoon Maker” and “The Spider-man Cartoon Maker”), Broderbund and LucasArts Entertainment. Mr. Semper also worked personally with George Lucas developing projects for the George Lucas Educational Foundation.

Mr. Semper indulged his love of Sherlock Holmes mysteries by writing and illustrating The Singular Affair of the Missing Ball, the first adventure in a new, full color picture-book series featuring the “world-famous” canine detective, Sherlock Whippet; his companion and biographer, Dr. Dogson; and, of course, the nefarious villain, Professor Murray R. Catty, notorious cat burglar of London. This humorous parody of Victorian “penny-dreadful” dime novels is a treat for readers of all ages who enjoy both Sherlock Holmes and absurd humor. Details are available at the Sherlock Whippet website where a selection of illustrations are on view.

Early in his career, he had the pleasure of directing animation icon Walter Lantz in a live-action and animated clip compilation short film that Mr. Semper wrote for Universal Studios/Walter Lantz Productions. The film, entitled, Walter, Woody and the World of Animation, played for one year in a special exhibit devoted to Mr. Lantz on the Universal Studios Tour. It was then released by Universal for sale on videocassette and a copy of the film was donated by Mr. Lantz to the Smithsonian Institution.

Mr. Semper also was a host and producer of the Experience Talks radio show on KPFK-FM Los Angeles and other Pacifica Network stations from 2012 through 2019. He interviewed guests such as actors George Takei, Kathy Garver, and George Chakiris; author Charles Phoenix; musician Jerry Lawson; and many more creative people.

Reviews

[Jayson · Rating 3 out of 5]

(B) 75% | More than Satisfactory
Notes: It's more of the same, Cyborg's lame, no twists nor lore to add, this road-to-glory origin story's mainly about his dad.

*Progress update

[Wayne McCoy · Rating 3 out of 5]

'Cyborg: Rebirth #1' by John Semper Jr. finds Victor Stone with a quandry on his hands. It's a bit sparse on action, and big on soul searching.

The story starts promising. An ominous figure wakes something more ominous, and a crime in progress. The crime is stopped by Cyborg, the other matter remains ominous. Cyborg needs a repair done after he foils the crime, but he seems to have doubts. He has been replaced by so many parts, is he man or machine? This sets him soul searching with Sarah.

Not a lot happens, but there seems to be some set up for future issues. This might have been better served in a future issue leaving issue one for something more interesting.

I received a review copy of this issue from DC Entertainment and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this comic book.

[Dr Rashmit Mishra · Rating 5 out of 5]

OK That was amazing !

I guess when i went to buy this i had very low expectations but i was pleasantly surprised to see this issue exceed anything i could have expected from it .

The Issue basically dealt with the past of Cyborg and his creation , but also went furthur back to show the past of his parent and revealed a few details about his father that may finally take away alot of Victors faith .

Issue started in the middle of the action scene which did come to an abrupt end but overall was a fun little sequence and Ginkees who noticed Red Torando in the Last page eh? how about it ? i'd be so excited to see Red Tornado back , please bring him back DC.

[Siona Adams · Rating 2 out of 5]

In one word: disappointing. This was basically a recap of Vic's New 52 origin and a little bit of set up for the main line. I'm still going to give the main line a chance because Aquaman started out rough, but my hopes aren't very high. I wish Martian Manhunter was still a founding JL member now tbh

Edit (9/15/16): I have to cut back on my comics so I'm dropping this title from my pull list. I may pick up the trade if I hear good things about the run eventually, but I'm not sure.

[Letande D'Argon · Rating 2 out of 5]

First of all, this one isn't really bad. New readers actually have a chance to like it. Artwork is OK, narration is... well, a bit messy, but still OK... The problem is - the whole issue is pretty much a recap. Recap of what happened in The New 52. And that's a huge problem. If you're getting this one as a part of the big DC Rebirth Omnibus, then it'll feel OK to you. But if you'll buy it as a separate product... then it'll feel like a joke to you. Just because everybody hates recaps. Those are something you get on DVD in between of some real episodes. And it's something you get for free as a part of the story in comics. Getting the whole issue just like that is just... wrong. But again, not so bad for the new readers. As for the new ones... Yes, there are few interesting touches for them, but all in all - not worth it.

[Mega · Rating 3 out of 5]

That is an appropriate name for a comic like this, considering that half of this comic is pretty much just a recap of Cyborg's origin story, because that is TOTALLY necessary. Although, I guess I can kinda see the logic in this decision, considering the fact that read this probably wouldn't even know Cyborg's origin story........ even though it isn't that hard to guess at all. Most people just didn't pay attention before because who cares about Cyborg? Also, this comic ends with the burning question of whether or not Cyborg could be considered human anymore, which is yet another incredibly generic plot point in these kinds of stories. I'll just go ahead and answer it for him: yes, he is human, because he can think for himself and make his own decisions. Now let's move on from this point and watch him blast more bad guys with the laser!

Issue #1

[Manjari · Rating 1 out of 5]

Tedious! Good grief! The mystery narrator is absurdly pompous and switches tenses randomly. The dialogue doesn’t sound natural. The throwaway monster is an evil robot called Malware (for fucks sake) and it makes tired, clichéd references to the Terminator and HAL. Wow. There are countless awful uses of technological terms that don’t make any sense or are just cheesy as hell (“When I get hacked, I hack back!”). This might even be fine if the overall tone of the book was funny, but it’s totally not, so everything falls flat.

Besides that, it’s just another overdone rehash of an origin story with very little to differentiate it from previous tellings. What a stinker.

[Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 - It’s hard not to like a comic book that executes the fundamentals this well.

This issue of kinetic action from penciller Paul Pelletier seemed to be building up to a big twist, but despite a cackling villain on the final page the real reveal was something more subtle and surprisingly human. Cyborg didn’t show too much personality in this issue, but somehow writer John Semper Jr. made him seem most interesting he’s ever been, for me.

Read More @ http://crushingkrisis.com/2017/01/dc-...

[Tar Buendía · Rating 3 out of 5]

No esperaba nada de Cyborg porque nunca había leído nada sobre él y de base no me llamaba.

El toquecito musical me ha gustado mucho y me ha generado curiosidad. Muy tierno.

[elin ✰ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gorgeous illustration and unlike most of the Rebirths, a pretty good introduction. I already know Victor’s origin story so this wasn’t particularly thrilling but that’s fine.

[Steven Shinder · Rating 4 out of 5]

I actually thought this was really enjoyable. Silas asks the hard questions regarding whether he really has revived his own son or just created a copy. And that ending has me really interested.

[Mike Jorgensen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great one-off in the rebirth series. I think want d to get a backstory on him before the Justice League movie comes out (the BvS origin story was about as clear as mud.) I really liked this, it gave the backstory but also the central themes and tension of the character. Once again, not sure I'll be able to follow this series all the way through, but I am still excited for it.

[Cory · Rating 3 out of 5]

not sure cyborg needed a rebirth. i liked the story he had going.

[Brendan · Rating 2 out of 5]

not a huge fan of rebirth issues that have no direction. This will be another series that might need some quick adjustments

[mike andrews · Rating 4 out of 5]

The conflict they are showing between the human and machine side of Cyborg is very well done