Earth 2 #1

No I haven't given up on either Subspecies or The Walking Dead, if that is what you're thinking. I am currently midway through my second watch of Subspecies III with the review coming together. My biggest problem right now is time. Although I'm not doing one of those degrees where you need to read a book and do an essay a day, I'm in Uni three days a week, add at least one day on top of that for recovery sleep and another for hanging with friends and that only leaves me with two days. Some films require little rewatching or leave me with little to say so I'm able to get the review out in a few hours but when I'm doing a franchise like Subspecies, the films normally require multiple rewatches and leaves me a lot to say because I take things like continuity between sequels very seriously. So, when I get a window of time but not an amount that gives me the chance to fit in a whole movie, I like to fit in things like this that I don;t normally get to do. Enjoy!


Why New 52's Earth 2 of all things? Well mainly because I've heard it's basically the only good comic currently being published under the New 52 banner - and not just because of a gay Green Lantern. Due to all the stigma behind it all and the complicated nature of comics in general, I'm not going to really get into any of the crap behind this or New 52 or whatever else. This comic is basically a full on reboot, so I'm going to read it as such and also treat it as such in my review. I just want to see what all the fuss is about, really. If you're interested in anything I've mentioned here, the answers are just a few words in Wikipedia away.

Our first issue, like a relic from the nineties, is largely one long action scene, which doubles as a flashback detailing how The Trinity (Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman) all died fighting a war with another dimension, leaving Earth 2 largely superheroless. And as epic as that probably sounds and as epic as the images may make it look...it just isn't. I don't even know why, I guess because they rushed to kill off all three and leave some page time for the new heroes, none of them really get an epic send off that they deserve, they just begin to fail one by one in ways that wouldn't normally leave a dent in other comics. It just felt weak, underwritten. As said, once they've done killing them off we then get brief introductions to our future heroes (although we aren't supposed to know them as that yet...). Alan Scott (the Gay Lantern) is a bit like Tony Stark, how many of these sorts of characters do we need? Jay Garrick (The Flash) gets brutally dumped by a real bitch of a girlfriend and ends the comic with a meeting with Mercury. Yeah, it wasn't exactly story heavy this month....

And as said, the greatest problem with this issue is pacing and trust me, it really holds the thing back. I understand that the Trinity dying is a key event which makes Earth 2 a very different world from the main continuity world, but their deaths took up more time than introducing our new characters did but still not enough time to give them any poignancy, meaning that both areas of the issue are let down. It also just seems so pointless that their deaths were the main focus, because really 90% of that detail will have no use for us for the rest of the series. You could have summed up that whole thing with 'Imagine a world where Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman die in a dimensional war...welcome to Earth 2' and build this up as they went, because surely for the first issue it should be introducing and establishing our new (and central!) characters as the main focus? Not a bunch of people set up to kill off?

Despite being classed as a true reboot and set in an entirely different universe from the main continuity, I'm honestly not sure how many non-comics readers are going to really be able to follow this because really the only walls I slammed into with this, is with the confusion of what I already know and not really knowing how much of this is I'm meant to simply write off as 'it's a reboot in a new universe' or stuff that I should have known ages ago. Like for example, Robin in this is Batman's daughter or the fact that none of the superheroes, most notably Batman, feel completely out of character. However if you have no idea why any of what I mentioned is a problem or gave me some confusion, you may actually find this easier to swallow than I did. I suppose a comic geared completely for new readers is what you guys all wanted, right? That is what you get.

Due to that skimpy story and action heavy focus, our central characters mainly get their personalities developed through their thought boxes. And this really isn't as terrible as it sounds, they manage to give a surprising amount of variation, personality and back story to them through small bits of text and micro-scenes. Although I guess with The Trinity dead by the end of this, 90% of that doesn't really matter...

I really dislike Nicola Scott's artwork, it's just so scruffy and rushed looking, I mean her action scenes function okay, albeit a little static, but I just expected something better as this is where 'the epic begins' according to the cover. I know DC have some fantastic artists on the New 52 payroll, so she just seems an odd choice...unless of course they're just treating it as 'that other universe title' and they don't give a fuck.

I must say though, Jim Lee's Earth 2 redesign tweaks for The Trinity are awesome, they just look so much more practical and fitting, I can't wait to see what he does with The Flash and Green Lantern. I'm pretty sure all that spandex was never particularly practical. Wonder Woman is a warrior princess, now she really looks like one. Superman's is fairly subtle but taking away the red underpants makes a world of difference, for the best and Batman...Batman just looks awesome, I think he finally has a costume that lives up to his awesome.

Honestly what we have here could have been really good but the pacing just breaks it. Killing off the DC's big three is a story arc all in itself, so condensing it down to twenty pages just does not do it justice. But then rushing in the actual heroes of the story in the last seven pages does them no justice either, meaning neither half of the issue really gets the space to be as good as it probably seemed on paper. In the defence of it, this is especially kind to completely new readers. Although I'm honestly not sure how much is down to this, they've certainly played a lot with pre established mythos since well...they can, basically. This is an alternative Earth, remember? Meaning the whole thing comes with even less baggage than other so called reboots, making it even better for new readers. Honestly I'm not sure how much existing DC fans will get out of this, although I suppose they could enjoy it on a sort of 'What if factor' to see what is done with their favourite characters. Even my criticisms with Scott's artwork is only really with her style and her artwork perfectly functions, like or dislike for a style is a completely personal thing and you may very well enjoy it. So overall, a somewhat wasted premise, sadly but a pretty decent window into DC for new readers which is basically the reason it exists.

Pros;

• I don't think you could get any friendlier to new readers. 
• Although it isn't exactly plot heavy, James Robinson shows real promise of a great writer for this series, especially when it comes to characters.
• The Trinity look so good!

Cons;

• They've made a lot of changes to what us existing DC fans knew simply as truths and it can be a little overwhelming how much you have to swallow because it's another universe. 
• I don't mind action over plot, but the action was underwhelming and the story is clearly the stronger aspect, so that is where the focus should be. 
• 90% of this largely turned out to be pointless since our Trinity, which we follow around for most of it, just die and the comic just swiftly moves on. I know that is important to the shape of Earth 2, but did the flashback need to be the focus, really? 
• Not a big fan of Scott (as in the artist). 

Think About It!

-Locke