Half ass Review : DC's Second Wave : "Earth 2". Sucks so far.

[CrystalLight]

So , although I haven't had time to read my regular comics , I was able to steal a reserve customer's copy of Earth 2 and give it a browse.

Don't worry. I gave it back when I was done.


Although I will collect the series , I have a feeling it's going to continue it's already massive face-plant.

Ya got Superman , Batman and Wonder Woman.

This is their story, or at least alternate versions of threesome , and unfortunately , versions that we've seen a hundred times before. Although this is to be expected w/any form of a reboot. So I can't really hold that against them. They play important roles in a worldwide, so-called "Apokolips War" , and fail to do much more than die.

Seriously?

Okay , so we have 3 characters whom have Golden Age Backgrounds of containing God-Like Powers. Part of the reason Superman is so fucking boring. Aside from their collectively dysfunctional background stories ; they are pretty much fucking perfect. And pretty.

Then .. let's bring in Alan Scott and Jay Garrick.

Sound familiar? They should.

HOWEVER!

They have dick-shit to do with the OG JSA'ers we know well.

Alan although , has a little more depth to his personality .. Jay? Portrayed as a fucking use-less college graduate who's more concerned with banging his ex-girlfriend Joan's box than with having anything resembling their famous personalities. Atop that , the writer spent so much time focusing on the 'Big 3' that Alan & Jay's appearance didn't pack as much of a punch as I feel it should have.


I ponder : WTF are we doing straying away from the original origins of the Justice Society?

If we're creating some form of a new JSA , then the focus needs to shift away from Batman , Superman & WW. They weren't this prioritized in the original Earth 2. So why now? And they die anyways. Also , how is Crisis on Infinite Earths going to play into this? Is Ant-Man going to destroy Earth 3?

I was left a little disappointed than I thought I would be. The writer spent too much time handing out a History Lesson , instead of honing it to an even playing field so new readers & old alike could enjoy.

 

[Myriads]

Of all the DC characters the Golden Age ones are my favorites. So Earth Two is a series that I approached with some hesitation once the facts that it would be an all new take were revealed.

I trust James Robinson as a writer. His work on the Starman series back in the 90's and '00's was amazingly solid, and his current Shade mini is a great read every month. So I had hopes that his scripts for this would be as good.

So I went in with a lets see attitude.

I enjoyed the book. I think the fact that I went in with no expectation of the 'old JSA' helped that enjoyment.

Robinson is faced with having to set up a whole world from the ground up. Deliver motivations for characters, and try and move a story forward at the same time. I feel he succeeds in this. And I'll add that there was a 'Earth Two' feel to the story. Echos of the characters I liked were here in these.

Alan Scott so far feels on mark. Jay Garrick as Jo said seems a lot more of a looser then the Jay we knew, but then When we met Jay back in the 40's he was a headstrong college student trying to find his way, so Perhaps this Jay is just him a bit earlier. The origin change one can see coming is sensible. Earth Two always felt more magical and mystic in general.

We saw a few other JSA members in proto form. Al Pratt to name one. So foundations are being set.

I'll be along for the ride. So far so good.

Earth Two's 'sister book' World's Finest, written by Levits and art by Pereze and Frank is excellent, and captures HUntress and Power Girl very well. The core of their friendship which has been missing since the 1st Crisis is back and clear, and their motivations to get home to Earth Two are a god driver for the series. I'll recommend it also!

Myriads

 

[CrystalLight]

his current Shade mini is a great read every month. So I had hopes that his scripts for this would be as good.

Now I haven't done anything aside from shelf this book. -- We don't get a lot of pulls for it.

Should I invest? What's the premise? I've done NO research into this series.

 

[Myriads]

The Shade is an old Golden Age bad guy that used to fight the Jay Garrick Flash. He was a typical bad guy, had dark powers and got tossed in Jail often.

When Robinson created the Starman series he built a deep history for the book that went from the golden age to the present, and one character he picked up and polished was the Shade.

He added depth to the character, and explained his motivations. He was not a villain, but instead a man who had his own code of ethics and honor that he followed, and he super villain days were mostly a result of boredom and such. He was interesting.

The Shade series has focused down on him and revealed bits of his history, background and so forth as the shade tries to resolve a family problem that has come to his attention, and as he is an immortal now it's a pretty big problem. We recently ended a 3 issue arc that focused on his adopted daughter (who happens to be the vampire protector of Barcilona Spain) It's been a good read in my opinion, but then I like the golden age feel of Robinson's take here, and the deep tapestry of ideas he builds to back the character. It's not normal super hero stuff, and a book that is to taste. I'd say read the first one or two and see if you like it. It's hard to say if a reader will or not without a lot of knowing what else they tend to enjoy.

I like it.

Myriads