The Watchmen storyline thus far:

The Rebirth of the DC Universe: Watchmen, the Multiverse, and Everything

Superman Reborn:

The Button:

Oz Unhooded

Checkup on the DC Universe Rebirth : Mr. Oz Unhooded (Part 1)

Checkup on the DC Universe Rebirth: Mr. Oz Unhooded(Part 2) – Tim Drake & A Lonely Place of Living

DC Universe Rebirth: Oz Unhooded Part 3 – Detective Comics #965 & Action Comics #988

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Next week we get the next installment of The OZ Effect (Action Comics) and A Lonely Place of Living (Detective Comics)

“THE OZ EFFECT” part three! The startling revelation of Mr. Oz’s origin has stopped the Man of Steel dead in his tracks. With Superman distracted by disasters looming around the world, Mr. Oz has the time to confront Lois Lane

A LONELY PLACE OF LIVING’ part two!

Tim Drake has been locked in Mr. Oz’s fortress-but now he’s free and roaming the prison while his captor faces off against the Man of Steel. But is he the only prisoner who’s been freed?!

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First off, the solicits set up a timeline for the events with Mr. Oz. When Oz vanishes in Detective Comics #965 he is headed to reveal himself to Superman.

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On my second and third readings of the issue, I found the exchange between Oz and Tim in the above panels to be the most telling:

This is the second instance that Oz has told Tim that something he was doing turned “his eye” toward him.

When he was first imprisoned Mr. Oz mentioned something similar:

It got me thinking exactly what are those threads are that he was reconnecting and how they all connect to Oz or the larger Rebirth/Watchmen story.

Detective Comics #950, The Big Picture

Tim confronts Batman about the strategically placed members of the Bat-Family and why it looks like Batman is preparing to go to war.

Everything, except for Tim’s “What next? You own private Justice League?*” from this exchange seems to point to the events of METAL. Is METAL more closely related to Rebirth then Snyder et al. would have us believe?

*- I highly doubt that at this point in time Batman would know that he would be traveling to the Microverse in search of Ray Palmer with the newly formed JLA. A journey which seems to be leading to the whole “time is broken” and who is the responsible, angle of Rebirth.

Again, the closest thing that I can think of was that he was going to be attending Ivy University and could possibly be in contact with Ray Palmer who was investigating the microverse and found temporal anomalies.

I mean it would be clearer if Tim also said, you know I found out you have this Smiley Face button at the Cave and you have been working with The Flash on, what’s is that about? While this was a way to tease the other bat-books, nothing that has happened so far (except one incident in Nightwing) even hints at tieing into the Watchmen storyline.

I even went back and looked through the DCYou Teen Titans (it was rough) but still nothing that I could find that would lead me to believe that Tim was fitting things together about the missing time in the DC Universe or would cause ‘his eyes’ to turn towards Tim and see him as a threat.

I also find it strange that Tim is the one who is the one so intertwined and so loved. In the past, it has been Dick Grayson who has been that “beacon of hope” and rallying point for the heroes in the DCU. While I am a big fan of Tim, but besides the New52/DCYou Teen Titans and the current Bat-team, his influence doesn’t go much further into the DCU.

I just hope that they drop some more clues as to what he was reconnecting and how it ties in…

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This exchange makes me think that Mr. Oz and Dr. Manhattan (assuming) are not working together and that Mr. Oz has plans that are at odds with this person who has been watching.

As for the last panel where Oz states that “His Eyes” have turned elsewhere probably means what is happening in JLA and ‘as he prepares to act’ seems to hint at the upcoming confrontation between Superman and Doctor Manhattan in “Doomsday Clock”

The I must put my plot in motion before it is too late … makes me think that Mr. Oz calling himself Jor-El is a red herring (plus the more I think about it, kind of a let down).

I know this could be nothing more than mistakes with the art but the first appearances and last one in Detective Comics prior to The Oz Effect and A Lonely Place of Living suggest that Oz is not a badly scarred Jor-El that we have been told has been Mr. Oz.

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The solicit for Detective Comics #966 suggests that other prisoners besides the two Tim Drakes may be also free.

We still don’t know who Oz was talking to back in Superman #34.

I highly doubt it was Mister Mxyzptlk (who escaped) and this scene takes before he acquired Doomsday or Prophecy

Booster Gold

As I talked about in The Rebirth of the DC Universe: Watchmen, the Multiverse, and Everything Booster would seem to be the logical choice. Rip Hunter can be ruled out as he appeared in Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps and while I think it would be cool if it was Waverider, the character is not that well-known to be an integral part of the story and would be a stretch.

Booster Gold has not appeared in the Rebirth Universe (the Flintstone Annual doesn’t count) and wasn’t around after the Convergence event and Oz first appeared following the event.

Nobody has even mentioned Booster Gold in the Rebirth era as far as I can tell

Booster Gold has fought Doomsday, and while he hasn’t beat him, he has definitely held his ground following the first meeting in the Death of Superman story

Booster Gold is responsible for ensuring the Timestream is not tampered with, one would need to take him off the board

Booster Gold likes to talk and talk and talk.

Plus, Booster Gold will be appearing in next storyline deals with the fallout from The Oz Effect, is this because he is freed by Tim.

Booster Gold was not in the promo that promoted the DC Rebirth era, does anyone remember him? Just Superman since he was ‘reborn’?

Fan Theories

In Detective Comics #947, Tim escapes from his cell and sees something before he is zapped back to his cell:

Writer James Tynion IV, has stated that it clear that Tim was absolutely dumbfounded by what he saw when he briefly escaped into the hallway of his prison.

Tim Drake’s a brilliant young man, so it takes a lot to become shocked and confused by just any sight. So what did he see?

Doomsday and Prophecy, I think can be ruled out, since they would be in restraints in their own cells.

Tim is too surprised to see a future version of himself in the Detective Comics #965, so in my opinion, rules out the Tim Drake that vanished in Batman Beyond, if Oz has him at all.

There are, what looks like two other cells on either side of Tim, but it unclear if they are occupied. Plus Tim is looking down the hall, not side-to-side.

I mention the above because on the Internet there are a few theories floating around about what he may have seen that shocked and confused him so much.

He saw one or more of the three Jokers

I highly doubt this because first off, the explaination of the three Jokers is Geoff Johns’ story to tell according to Scott Snyder, explaining why The Joker appears in the Dark Nights: METAL event. The Joker has yet to appear during Rebirth time (The War of Jokes and Riddles is a flashback story)

2. Conner Kent and /or Bart Allen from the PreNew52

While I would like to see these characters return after being butchered during the New52, I highly doubt that they are there in Oz’s prison or coming back soon since Jonathan Kent is now Superboy and the New52 Wally West is Kid Flash.

Plus, Tim would probably recognize the New52 Superboy and I don’t even want to talk about New52 Bar Torr…

Although I believe that DC gave themselves a way to at least bring back Bart Allen from PreNew52 (which I may discuss in a later post) with his Flashpoint fate.

Whatever Tim saw, it must have to do with whatever threads he was reconnecting.

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More next week…