Earth-2 #1 review

“The Price of Victory”

Rating: 5 / 5

Pros: Power storytelling; Great nod to the past; Amazing start

Cons:  We'll see...

Thank you, James Robinson, by returning to your true form and outlining and amazing story about a totally different Earth-2 that we have never witnessed before.  Gone are the days of post-WWII mystery men.  Gone are the days of offspring and second generation heroes taking the mantle and the burden of the masks.  Gone are the days of the simpler times and simpler villains and the absence of dark anti-heroism that washed over the more familiar Earth-1 (eg.  Return of the Dark Knight).  With this first issue, Robinson is creating a new Earth… and new reality… and a whole new history to the comics we have all known and loved.

He opens the story with the tragic epic battle against Darkseid and the forces of Apokolips.  He opens with the only shown heroes of the day… the very familiar Wonder Woman, Superman, and Batman (albeit in different outfits and a tad more rage).  He opens with the other second generation, Robin (Helena Wayne) and Supergirl (Kara Zor-L), witnessing the defeat of Darkseid with the tragic price.  He opens with the death of those 3 big names, Wonder Woman, Superman, and Batman.  Now THAT is how you start a story.  In less than 20 pages he managed to re-create the hopelessness and sense of loss from 12 issues of The Crisis on Infinite Earths.

(more after the jump)

A major difference in this depiction of Earth-2 is the dominating presence of Darkseid and Apokolips.  To my knowledge, I do not believe that Darkseid and the Justice Society ever fought.  His presence on this new Earth is a strange twist... and also creates a much darker, savage, fearful Earth.  The rise of these new heroes won’t be an easy path... and Robinson is masterfully laying the groundwork for a very challenging and difficult ascent.



Another major difference in this new depiction of Earth—2 heroes is their youth.  They are no longer the aged and wise older veterans who were first assembled by Roosevelt at a time of war.  No these are new and young heroes.  Personally, that doesn’t sit well with me... just because I am so accustomed to the old school guys.  I’m accustomed to the red blouse of a Green Lantern.  I’m accustomed to the kind father-figure of Jay Garrick.  I’m accustomed to a gang of Mystery Men just out to do good in the world, despite the threat of McCarthyism.  But the unfamiliarity created by Robinson’s new characters doesn’t hold back any of my personal interest or enthusiasm.  If anything, I am now more eager to see these characters grow into the great idols we all know that they are capable of becoming.

He intertwines some good ol’ fashioned cameos from other old school names, like Jim Harper (The Guardian), Al Pratt (The Atom), and Alan Scott (The Green Lantern).  Robinson is laying the groundwork here for the future of Earth-2 and the other heroes who will fill the void left by the deaths mentioned above.  The readers familiar with the historical references will catch the small name dropping, like when Jay Garrick’s girlfriend Joan leaves him for a job with Tyler-Chem... we all know where this is going.

Luckily Robinson also has the dynamic art and visual storytelling talent of Nicola Scott.  I have never witnessed Scott’s art before, but I am so glad she is on board here.  She manages to fill the pages with pulse pounding action… where you can feel those explosions, you can feel the panic in the eyes of Robin, you can feel the swoosh of action as the heads of Parademons fly about.

Powerful scenes and a powerful story, this is what starts a series that is completely revamping the stories of yore.