DC Comics; $9.99

Starting right off with a homage to Flash #123’s “Flash of Two Worlds” cover, the Milestone 30th Anniversary Special #1 brings together the contemporary Milestone Dakotaverse and its original 1993 incarnation in the lead story of this anthology. Fans of both iterations will find something to like about it, but for me it’s Noelle Giddings’ colors on these characters again. Her distinctive approach was part of what made original Milestone great, and it works brilliantly again here.

The second story pairs an older Static with Batman Beyond, the third takes up from the ending of 2010’s Milestone Forever two-parter, and the fourth is an epilogue to the Blood Syndicate Season One series, which seems to set up a challenging follow-on series.

The fifth story is this issue’s second truly shining moment, an excerpt from an upcoming YA Static graphic novel, Static Shock: Up All Night. Static was clearly the most successful character from the original Dakotaverse, but it’s also proven the most difficult for which to recapture the original magic.

Since Dwayne McDuffie’s untimely passing, a lot of really good comic book writers have tried to reignite that electric spark, and none have reached that original groove. This graphic novel written by Lamar Giles looks like it might just do the trick.

I sure hope so.

– J.C. Vaughn