Earth-2 #3 review

Earth-2 #3 review

 “Jade Knight”

Rating: 4 / 5

Pros: More mystery; Great character design for Hawkgirl and the villain

Cons:  Green Flame dialogue

And the introductions continue in James Robinson’s latest issue about the life of Earth-2 superheroes.  The issue continues the focus on the building of the new group of heroes, the Green Lantern, the Flash… and more importantly, Hawkgirl (okay, that might just be my own personal importance).  A little talking, and little action… and all of a sudden Robinson also introduces the great mysterious villain on the Grey (I won’t spoil that one just yet… but the name if a pretty heavy handed hint).  If anything, this re-imagining of the old villain we knew quite well is a great development for the Earth-2 world and the best new “old” character Robinson has developed yet.  Great work by Nicola Scott for the design (or was it Brett Booth, I've lost track)!

(more after the jump)

"Morrissey Gets a Job" by Brian Brooks

Originally created by Brian Brooks as a colouring book way back in 1999, this “clip-art-chic” series is an awesomely silly collection of his post-rockstar career just working for a wage.  Drew from http://www.marriedtothesea.com/ would be pleased, I'm sure.

Earth-2 #2 review

 “Age of Wonders”

Rating: 4 / 5

Pros: Rich characters; Great art; Tons of mystery

Cons:  Alan Scott’s dialogue; Flash’s costume

The foundation laid down by James Robinson continues to grow in this issue of the new Earth-2 series, a part of DC’s second wave of released titles.  Detailing the events after the death and disappearance of all the heroes, otherwise known as Wonders here-in, the world is coming to terms with the loss of Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, Robin and Supergirl.  (note: follow the adventures of Robin and Supergirl, now known as Huntress and Power Girl, in Worlds’ Finest written by Paul Levitz).  As mentioned previously, Robinson works best with a blank slate, with new worlds, and with fresh new ideas applied to very familiar or underused characters.  This foundation is developing into what can be considered the new Justice Society of America. 

In this issue, a number of familiar faces make their mark.  He reveals the appearance of Jay Garrick as the new Flash, with powers gained by the god Mercury.  Although Jay is now a down & out youth with nowhere to go, he has now been given a great power and a direction in life.   We see the appearance of Michael Holt (aka Mr. Terrific), as he travels from Earth-1 to this new dimension... but runs into a mysterious and creepy Terry Sloan.  Is Terry a bad guy here... or just someone trying to protect his world from intruders?  We also see Alan Scott in a new light.  Likely, the best splash page of the whole issue, we are finally revealed the Winged Wonder of Earth-2 (what I was waiting for!).  Not the person you’d first expect, but a stunning reveal nonetheless.

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 quick introduction to Earth-2

With the development of the Silver Age of comic books, pioneered by the genius of Julius Swartz, a fateful rift was created between these wonderous new stories, and the stories of yester-year from the WWII era.  With Showcase #4 in 1956, Robert Kanigher wrote the introduction of a new Flash, and new type of hero… and forgotten were the days of the Mystery Men and the Super-men. 

This rift between old and new was not to be forgotten for long... in fact Julius Swartz and Gardner Fox developed the fantastic idea of creating two different Earths, one where heroes of the WWII era grew and retired and the “present-day”heroes where new faces replaced old familiar names… as seen in 1961’s Flash #123 “Flash of Two Worlds”.

Justice League of America #21 (1963)

These 2 worlds paved the way to the annual team-up between today’s Justice League of America and the older Justice Society of America.  Flash meets Flash.  Superman meets Superman.  Batman meets Batman. 

(more after the jump)

Worlds' Finest #2 review

“Rebirth II”

Rating: 3 / 5

Pros: Depth of character; Kevin Maguire art

Cons:  Inconsistent storytelling styles

The main point of interest for the development of this series is that it is telling two separate tales.  One part, as drawn by Kevin Maguire, recounts the stories and events around the arrival of Kara and Helena to Earth-1 from their other-dimensional Earth-2 five years previously.  The second part, as drawn by George Perez, shows the unfolding events of their present-day attempts to return home.

Let’s start in the present.  This second issue, featuring the lost super-heroines of Power Girl & Huntress, jumps right into a 90s-style brawl with a lot of fire and explosions… with just enough dialogue to keep the story going.  The typical big baddie Hakkou plays the typical role of the typical destroyer just out to make things worse for the heroines.  He blows up Kara’s Gateway (and only chance so far to try to get home)… but for mysterious reasons so far.  It hasn’t been effectively detailed who this dude is and why he’s running around collecting radiation and blowing stuff up.  His few pieces of dialogue aren’t any better than “You are strong indeed, but Hakkou is more powerful!”.  A very simple and one-dimensional character design, but we’ll see how this develops.  I’m hoping that Paul Levitz is steering this storyline to something more interesting or critical… which I believe he is.  He’s dropping enough little mysteries and teasers into the dialogue that he’s trying to keep you guessing.  For example, Hakkou tells the girls they are tampering “with matters beyond [their] world” and Huntress theorizes that he’s powerful enough to hurt Kara possibly due to a kryptonite power source.  Is Hakkou from Earth-2 as well?  Is he from another planet?  Is he from Krypton?  Or is he, like the present-day story hints, from Apokolips?

(more after the jump)

Worlds' Finest #1 intro & review

Rating: 4 / 5

Pros: Great character development; Kevin Maguire art

Cons:  Nothing of note... yet

I was delighted to see that two strong female characters, created near the end of the old Earth-2 era in DC Comics during the late 70s, have made it back into the New 52… as rebranded and retold for a new generation.  I am even more overjoyed to see these two headlining one of DC’s legacy titles: Worlds’ Finest, although differently punctuated for these girls.  Historical footnote, the original World’s Finest Comics featured, almost exclusively, the power team-up of the great Superman and Batman for 323 issues, running from 1941 to 1986. 

After the Crisis series in the late 80s redefined the status quo for many DC characters, World’s Finest ended rather abruptly… to make way for the new darker Batman in his own series, and the retelling of Superman by John Byrne.  Made perfect sense, and nobody really missed the passing of such an important title.  The 2 heroes met up again in the Superman/Batman series on the early 2000s (stories from which has been featured in a couple DCU animated films so far)… and World’s Finest was forgotten.


But Worlds’ Finest (note the punctuation change) has returned… now headlining two very deserving characters, two characters who can proudly play heir apparent to Superman and Batman.  Of course that all depends on their history and connection to Earth-2.

(more after the jump)