Review: Earth 2 #1

Earth 2 #1 was better than I expected, certainly better in terms of an introduction to a world than Justice League #1, though there were still elements that I found problematic.

One of my big worries about the book had been that DC Comics’ Trinity of Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman would overshadow the more exclusively-Justice Society characters like Jay Garrick and Alan Scott. They’ve solved this problem neatly, and in the process given the book a bit more of a hook than it would have had otherwise.

I’ve seen the issue described as a prologue, and it is, in that most of the issue takes place five years before the main series picks up. But it’s also a finale: The first 20 pages or so are really the concluding chapter in an apocalyptic war that changed the face of the world. In fact, if Earth 2 does well enough, I can see DC telling the story as a 6-issue miniseries, though the final issue really ought to be a reprint of this story plus an epilogue.

I like what I’ve seen of Alan Scott so far. I haven’t seen enough of Al Pratt to decide. Jay Garrick…well…I’m not terribly thrilled at what’s become of him, but let’s see what we get in issue #2.

On to the spoilers! Continue reading

This Week: Earth 2

Earth 2 #1
STORY BY James Robinson
ART BY Nicola Scott, Trevor Scott
COVER BY Ivan Reis, Joe Prado
COVER PRICE: $3.99

First issue of an ongoing series from writer JAMES ROBINSON and artist NICOLA SCOTT!

  • Who are the heroes of EARTH 2 – and what befell them?
  • Starring ALAN SCOTT, JAY GARRICK and many others!
  • You may think you know Earth 2…but this is DC Comics – The New 52, where anything can happen!
  • Don’t miss the extra-sized debut issue!

Article and preview at USA Today.

Also out this week: the hardcover collection of the new Justice League: Origin.

Who’s planning on checking this out? Who’s planning to skip it?

Collected Editions Reviews Flashpoint

The Collected Editions blog has been reviewing the Flashpoint trades over the past week. The tie-ins were collected in five trade paperbacks, grouped around one of DC’s big five characters, titled The World of Flashpoint Featuring…

The miniseries less directly related to the major characters were spread around the other books, some thematically and some apparently at random, but the Flash collection is actually filled with stories focusing on Flash characters: Citizen Cold, Kid Flash Lost, Reverse-Flash, Legion of Doom (starring Heat Wave) and Grodd of War.

The site has also put together a Flashpoint trade reading order.

Speed Reading

Two weeks’ worth of linkblogging.

First, the Flashy links

Flash writers’ other work

More comics links

Creators’ Rights. This is an ongoing discussion, but here are a few key posts.

Geoff Johns’ Flash: All About Speed?

Monday’s post about how Wally West’s dynamic character makes him harder to reboot than Barry Allen got me thinking about something Geoff Johns said to Hero Complex when he took over the book back in 2009:

But you look at what the theme of Flash’s book has been for the last 200-something issues with Wally West and it’s been about a man trying to fill someone else’s boots. It doesn’t really have anything to do with speed. I mean, it has something to do with speed, but it was not totally what the book was about. The new Flash that I’m doing is all about speed.

At the time, I found it disingenuous because Geoff Johns wrote six years of that run himself, and he could have focused more heavily on speed with Wally West if he’d wanted to. And I found it worrying because he felt Wally’s defining characteristic was wanting to be like Barry Allen. Not the journey of becoming a hero, not learning to be an adult, but specifically trying to be someone he’s not.

But now I find the quote even more annoying, and here’s why:

Geoff Johns’ Flash, from Rebirth through Flashpoint, is not all about speed. It’s not even about hope, as suggested in Blackest Night.

It’s about a man so driven by grief that he nearly destroyed the world. Not even through speed, but through time travel.

The great over-arching Flash story from 2009-2011 might have been more appropriate for Booster Gold or Rip Hunter. (Or maybe Green Lantern/Hal Jordan, considering that it sounds a little like Emerald Twilight and Zero Hour when you break it down that far.)

Oh, well. Time to chalk it up as one more missed opportunity from that run, and Move Forward.