Earth Two #21 – Review

By: Tom Taylor (story), Nicola Scott (pencils), Trevor Scott (inks), Pete Pantazis (colors)

The Story: When even the one percent are doomed, you know things are really bad.

The Review: There’s a running pattern that Taylor has fallen into ever since he took over this series, or at least a number of obligatory beats that must be included in every issue: World Army forces take desperate last stand, get decimated, fall back; Superman kills a bunch of people or causes a crapload of damage; one (or more) of the Wonders gets taken down a notch.  It’s a pretty grim formula, to say the least.

To its credit—if you can call it a credit—this issue hits every beat to a tee: its last outpost devastated, the World Army flees as Superman arrives, ripping off the Atom’s arm and beating him with it.  Frankly, I’m surprised Superman lets him live, or at least leaves him to bleed out in peace.  It’s this relatively more lenient treatment of the Wonders that makes you feel that the violence visited on the World Army is gratuitous.

Earth Two Annual #1 – Review

By: James Robinson (story), Cafu (art), Julius Gopez (pencils), Cam Smith (inks), Pete Pantazis (colors)

The Story: The big guy goes after the small fry.

The Review: While some might use the recent announcement of Robinson’s departure from this series (and DC as a whole) as ammunition against DC’s creative instability, I happen to see it as a perhaps wise, even necessary thing.  Robinson’s power on Earth Two began waning a long time ago, and by now, his writing is no longer a factor for why I remain attached to the title.  Really, it’s more the concept, as opposed to the execution, that keeps me on board.

It is not lost on me, however, that even conceptually, this series is fully a product of Robinson’s imagination.  I’m perfectly willing to admit that in terms of actual plot development, he has good ideas and Earth Two has become a compelling, independent world because of it.  But his character work has been horrendously shallow on this series, mostly as a result of an increasingly hackneyed style of dialogue and narration.

Earth Two #9 – Review

By: James Robinson (story), Nicola Scott (pencils), Trevor Scott (inks), Pete Pantazis & Alex Sinclair (colors)

The Story: Just because you’re a rambling lunatic doesn’t mean you can’t be a hero.

The Review: Despite my threats last month to Drop this series in a couple issues, if I’m to be perfectly honest with myself (and you), I’ll probably end up sticking with it in the long run just to see how the characters turn out.  Perverse curiosity, not genuine interest, motivates my investment in Earth Two.  If I want to see the Justice Society live again in some form or other, this is the only place I can turn to.

I do recognize of course that there’s little resemblance between the Justice Society of yore and that of the new 52, but I’m actually not sure if all the changes have been for the worse.  Let’s face it: the pre-relaunch JSA was truly a basket of white-bread characters, a reflection of its Golden Age roots.  I’m not really a purist; I don’t mind seeing superheroes reimagined as from different cultures and backgrounds if I didn’t much care for person under the costume anyway.

Earth Two #6 – Review

By: James Robinson (story), Nicola Scott (pencils), Trevor Scott (inks), Alex Sinclair (colors)

The Story: If you want to know how the man of the moon got there, ask Green Lantern.

The Review: Even though now I look back on my inglorious days as a college fiction writer with a lot of fondness, when I focus the lens a little tighter on those individual days, mostly I recall a lot of flop sweat.  I think history will say that I was a much greater appreciator of writing than a writer, because I remember nothing I wrote satisfied me.  Truth be told, I was probably harder on myself than anyone, which meant I was more sensitive to the missteps of others.

And that’s why when Green Lantern scoffs at the Grey, “You honestly thought my sadness at my lover’s death would be the opiate of my defeat?” it’s hard for me to resist a shudder.  It has all the marks of—let’s not call it bad writing, but rather, overexcited.  If you’re a new writer, it’s the kind of thing you’d put to paper, thinking in your head it’s lovely and dramatic, without once saying it out loud and hearing how awkward and so very, very lame it is.

Earth Two #5 – Review

By: James Robinson (story), Nicola Scott (pencils), Trevor Scott (inks), Alex Sinclair (colors)

The Story: Hiring a perpetrator of genocide as crisis consultant?  Desperate times…

The Review: The more I read this title, the more I admire Robinson’s approach to making Earth Two a true parallel world.  This Earth clearly has elements inspired by the one bearing most of the current DC features, but they don’t have any direct counterparts to each other.  In some cases, Robinson amalgamates concepts together (Alan Scott as both Green Lantern and a Superman-type figure); in others, Robinson puts in so much of his own ideas, they’re only barely familiar.

The Grey and the Green obviously fall in the amalgam category, being fusions of Green Lantern and Animal Man/Swamp Thing mythology.  Coincidentally (or not), the Grey is making a play for the whole planet just as the Rot is doing in “Rotworld.”  The big difference is the Grey isn’t letting the grass grow under its feet—so to speak—in the process; Earth Two faces its demise at the hands of Grundy in less than a day.

Earth Two #4 – Review

By: James Robinson (story), Nicola Scott & Eduardo Pansica (pencils), Trevor Scott & Sean Parsons (inks), Alex Sinclair & Tony Avina (colors)

The Story: For the size-challenged dude who dreams of a major growth spurt.

The Review: On a team book, the moment that sets the tone for the whole series has to be when the various characters finally come together.  The recent Stormwatch and the original New Avengers (Cap, Iron Man, Spider-Man, Spider-Woman, Luke Cage, and Daredevil) are examples of team get-togethers that really sold the series for me.  The current Justice League, in contrast, nearly ruined my enjoyment of their entire book with their pointless, obnoxious interaction.

So now you might well wonder how the de facto Justice Society rates.  Honestly, it still seems too early to tell, even though you have four of them all in the same page at once by the end of the issue.  Flash and Hawkgirl have a charming working relationship, and Green Lantern’s ability to remain polite in a crisis sets him up for future leadership, but otherwise these folks haven’t really had a chance to size each other up yet.  As far as these people as a team go, you like what you see, but you want to wait it out a little longer before deciding if they’re worth following or not.

Earth Two #1 – Review

By: James Robinson (story), Nicola Scott (pencils), Trevor Scott (inks), Alex Sinclair (colors)

The Story: With some stories, it’s better to start at the end.

The Review: I can hardly believe this, but pretty close to a year ago, I talked about how much I liked parallel-universe ridiculousness in all its forms.  I’m such a sucker for that kind of stuff that if you told me there’d be an episode of Glee where for some musical-related reason, everything went the opposite of how it should be (read: watchable), I’d probably show up.  So obviously, I really like DC’s Multiverse concept, and was excited to see its return, starting with Earth Two.

And for most people, you can’t hear “Earth Two” without associating it with the Justice Society.  I imagine the purists will be frothing at the mouth once I mention the Society doesn’t appear for even a moment in this issue—at least, not as such.  But have faith and remember who’s writing this thing: Robinson, the man who brought the Society back to prominence for the new millennium, so his track record is pretty good here.