Earth Two #23 – Review

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

The Story: Even for a perpetrator of mass genocide, there’s no place like home.

The Review: From the moment Superman made his reappearance on Earth-2, many of us instantly assumed that either he was some evil doppelganger created by Steppenwolf to demoralize the world, or that, at worst, this was a Superman under some kind of psychic control. But only in our least serious imaginings did we consider that the Superman brutally tearing soldiers, ships full of innocents, and whole countries apart, could be doing so rationally.

That’s a scary thought, but one that seems very plausible after he takes a good look at Lois and says uncertainly, “You weren’t supposed to see me like this.” That very line suggests a sense of shame, which in turn implies a conscience, which means this Superman still has a sense of self. Twist! Even worse, the discovery that Lois is still alive doesn’t magically bring him back to his senses; even with her and his parents present, he unhesitatingly orders an attack on Gotham and the remaining wonders.