Confessions of a Comic Book Guy is a weekly column by Steve Bennett of Super-Fly Comics and Games in Yellow Springs, Ohio.  This week, Bennett looks at the latest DC revamp, Astro Boy, Mickey Mouse, and more.

As previously reported (see "Confessions of a Comic Book Guy--This Town Needs an Enema!"), according to a Bleeding Cool piece, Julie Schwartz once told Dan Didio "every 10 years DC Comics needs an enema."  And I can’t disagree, though these days it seems more like the procedure is required every five years.  Undergoing one of their periodic line rejuvenations seems to be DC's only really reliable means of rallying their base and (at least temporarily) increasing sales.

Like a lot of you I've been through a number of these things, and would like to think I have a firm handle on how they work by now; you rotate some characters in, others out, then revamp, reveal, and repeat as needed.  But I've got to confess I've been having a little trouble with "DC Rebirth."  I mean, are characters just going to spontaneously revert back to their previous pre-"New 52" looks, the way Amanda Waller just did in the recently released Harley Quinn & The Suicide Squad April Fool Special?

It's possible my confusion is due to a lack of information.  But then, so far DC has been pretty parsimonious when it comes to disseminating details.  Hopefully, this will change after I get a chance to read the DC Comics Previews catalog that is shipping today.

I'm particularly perplexed by what's up with Superman, specifically the fact that they're benching the "New 52" version at least for the foreseeable future, with the post-Crisis one in the black stealth suit filling in.  He's supposedly dying after which his powers will be redistributed between Lois Lane as the new Superwoman, a new Chinese Super-Man (given the increasing importance of foreign markets one has to wonder if Time-Warner will try to market the character in China) and Supergirl.  I wondered why Supergirl would need somebody else's power until I checked online and found that I had completely forgotten that she had been depowered back in 2015's Supergirl #40.  Add a Lex Luthor who's declared himself Superman to the mix and you have a storyline that pretty closely resembles 1993's Reign of the Supermen.

I'm going to go ahead and assume that the "New 52" Superman will be back eventually, if only because DC has released concept art of what Superman will be wearing once the dust from DC "Rebirth" finally settles down.  And to the disappointment of some, there will be no red trunks.  Tom Derenick's turnaround, based on a Jim Lee design, is basically just a simplification of his original post-"New 52" costume (the one I dubbed the "steampunk Victorian NASCAR space suit").  It eliminates all of the hyper-detailing and added "textures" that I found both unnecessary and unneeded.  This version is both clean and simple; in short, it works.

But I suppose it tells you exactly what kind of a Comic Book Guy I am by the fact that I’m far more interested in the announcement that DC Comics will be launching "Young Animal," a Mature Readers imprint headed up by The Umbrella Academy’s Gerard Way (see "DC Announces Gerard Way Pop-Up Imprint").  I'm looking forward to both Cave Carson Has a Cybernetic Eye and Shade the Changing Girl but the title I can't wait for is a new version of Doom Patrol written by Gerard Way with art by Nick Derington.  Not only will the new series feature the legendary Flex Mentallo, the character will also be getting a new miniseries by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely.  That's right, they'll actually be doing a sequel to Flex Mentallo, Man of Muscle Mystery.  Somebody pinch me.

As far as I'm concerned there can't be too many Mickey Mouse comics, and apparently IDW Publishing feels the same way.  First up in July, there's Mickey Mouse Shorts: Season One, a four-issue series directly adapted from the Disney Channel series by Scott Tipton.  Then in September IDW will be initiating a new line featuring French creators' takes on classic Disney characters, starting with Mickey's Craziest Adventures, a 48-page full-color hardcover by Lewis Trondheim and Nicolas Keramidas.

As America's #1 undisputed Astro Boy fan (I will take on all challengers) I feel like I should mention the recent piece on the Comic Book Resources website, "'Astro Boy Reboot' TV Series Debut New Poster."  It says the "26-episode series will blend CGI and traditional 2D animation for a story aimed at ages 8 to 12" and ends with "'Astro Boy Reboot' doesn’t yet have a U.S. distributor;" looking at the vaguely European look of the "contemporary designs" on the poster I have to say this version of the character has all the earmarks of a series that arrives without any fanfare on either Netflix or Hulu.  Then it disappears without a trace.

The opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff of ICv2.com.