If there's one thing you'd have to give the "DC Universe Rebirth" credit for, it would certainly be its relentless pursuit of something grand. Writer Geoff Johns is aiming high and he knows it, but he's also aware that there's something at stake here, with much more to lose for him and DC Comics than to win. A successful rebirth event might result in a creatively compelling future for a lot of DC's trademark series. If it goes wrong, though, it might take a long time for DC to recover from it.
However, after reading the first chapter, focusing on the Wally West incarnation of The Flash and his struggle to escape the Speed Force, it all looks very promising. Probably its greatest achievement is that "Rebirth" makes complex and complicated matters look easy. If you don't know know what "Flashpoint" is or what happened during "The New 52" era, it all doesn't really matter. Johns impressively manages to pack a lot of coherently presented information in these first few pages. New readers will instantly feel familiarized with something bigger, while seasoned readers might be happy about the little update.
Sure, there is a sense of self-importance that permeates the story, Batman pales beside the strong writing Wally receives, and Gary Frank's and Ethan van Sciver's polished art plays it too safe at times, but all in all this is a more than satisfying first part of DC's ambitious rebirth event.
Chapter 4 and epilogue of "Rebirth" see writer Geoff Johns add less new characters into the mix, but rather develop the stories he has already established in the first three chapters. Artists Phil Jimenez and Gary Frank do an absolutely superb job of grasping the nuanced emotions of the two Flashes' reunion, and Johns just masterfully paces Batman's discovery of Rebirth's final (and somewhat expected/heavily hinted at) revelation.
