Post by williscorto on Dec 22, 2013 22:01:52 GMT -6
This is a series written by James Robinson of Starman fame. It is basically a JSA book, but an Elseworlds "What If?" premise. But it isn't your Roy Thomas JSA. Its got none of the nostalgic charm of All-Star Squadron, and none of the legacy appeal of the more recent JSA books.
SPOILERS abound below.
TPB#1:
Apokolips has invaded the earth and the planets have been at war for some time. Batman comes up with a plan, of course, but its a suicide run. Batman blows himself up. Superman and Wonder Woman are also killed in this last battle.
Its a surprisingly brutal beginning to what then becomes a slightly hokey series. Following that, Jay Garrick (Golden Age Flash), Alan Scott (Golden Age GL - and he is as gay as a spring lamb), Hawkgirl (hot black chick) and Al Pratt (Golden Age Al Pratt) all pop up to fight Solomon Grundy in a very vanilla, somewhat dull and predictable storyline.
ts appeal that "What If" uncertainty. Standard continuity won't allow New York to be blown up by some supervillain (I always liked that about Excalibur when they were on that interdimensional train - in one scenario, Dr Doom has destroyed New York with an anti-matter bomb - some serious plot extrapolations which would never work in standard continuity).
But there is no guarantee of that in Earth 2 - indeed, Metropolis is described as an abandoned ruin, destroyed in the war with parademons. Mass destruction is always fun to read in a comic, it also provides in my view some realism to the story. If super-powered beings are fighting each other then they are always to leave some great gaping holes behind. This was part of the attraction of The Authority back in the day - LA was wiped out by "supercreeps" and East Timor evacuated by the team. I think neither of these things could have happened on the "standard" Earth. aside from abberations like the destruction of Coast City, and the Invasion! of Australia where my home country was turned into a POW camp (I remember one Australian guy writing into the letters page, describing himself as part of the resistance, asking for money).
TPB#2:
Earth 2 tpb 2 introduces Dr Fate. He has diamond encrusted black tights. Its a pretty revamp of the costume. And his nemesis, Wotan, started off life as a ridiculously hot chick. Now, he is a pretty boy with green skin and long hair.
Wonder Woman's daughter is revealed. Its Fury, but she has black hair like her monther. It makes me wonder who the father is - not Steve Trevor? Fury is allied to Steppenwolf, and is a villain. She's gonna kick Steppenwolf's arse once she realises he killed her mum, and this has been telegraphed from the first page of her appearance, and so when this eventually happens, no one in the reader audience will be surprised in the slightest.
I'm not understanding/enjoying the New Gods elements to this - Mr Miracle and Big Barda have made a cameo - other than it finally explains why Darkseid is to be feared. Darkseid has had a pretty pathetic win/loss record. Every invastion of the Earth has failed, and he frequently suffered invasions of his own planet, successfully, by puny humans. It is not clear whether these are the same New God characters who otherwise appear in Earth 1, or if these are "Earth 2 New Gods".
Hawkgirl's origin is also revealed. She is basically Lara Croft: Tomb Raider struck down with a bad case of wings as a consequence of raiding the wrong Egyptian tomb. I quite like this - they wings are part of her, and she was cursed from poking around in the wrong places. Except, she has an inexplicable love of rocket-propelled grenades. That seems silly, somwhow.
Jay Garrick and Alan Scott are annoying, as is the new Fate. There's something wrong with their characterisations. They all seem a bit too young, fresh, and enthusiastic. Guess I'm used to the JSA being composed of cranky old men =- or at least, men who fought Nazis and had some genuine old school heroism to them.
Fate is an Egyptian kid who sounds like he grew in Des Moines, not Cairo. He seems young, full of kneejerk comraderie to his buddy Jay Garrick, whom he has just met. Jay Garrick is inspiring Fate to heroism - but really, Garrick is just a punk who runs fast. Alan Scott is arrogant, soft, and you get the sense is slightly hung-up about being gay.
Sigh. Disappointing. Robinson could have kept the 1940s backdrop, had them all in 1945 thrown 70 years into a strange future by Wotan or Per Degaton, and had them struggling with iPhones, drones, and refridgerators. There would have been some humour to that as well as some of the old JSA charm as well as interaction with a 4th generation Huntress and Powergirl, plus Silver Scarab, Jade and Obsidian, Fury and some of the other old Infinity Inc characters as a resistance force to a world ruled by old JSA villains. Never mind.
There's some pretty art, but I won't be buying this going forward.
SPOILERS abound below.
TPB#1:
Apokolips has invaded the earth and the planets have been at war for some time. Batman comes up with a plan, of course, but its a suicide run. Batman blows himself up. Superman and Wonder Woman are also killed in this last battle.
Its a surprisingly brutal beginning to what then becomes a slightly hokey series. Following that, Jay Garrick (Golden Age Flash), Alan Scott (Golden Age GL - and he is as gay as a spring lamb), Hawkgirl (hot black chick) and Al Pratt (Golden Age Al Pratt) all pop up to fight Solomon Grundy in a very vanilla, somewhat dull and predictable storyline.
ts appeal that "What If" uncertainty. Standard continuity won't allow New York to be blown up by some supervillain (I always liked that about Excalibur when they were on that interdimensional train - in one scenario, Dr Doom has destroyed New York with an anti-matter bomb - some serious plot extrapolations which would never work in standard continuity).
But there is no guarantee of that in Earth 2 - indeed, Metropolis is described as an abandoned ruin, destroyed in the war with parademons. Mass destruction is always fun to read in a comic, it also provides in my view some realism to the story. If super-powered beings are fighting each other then they are always to leave some great gaping holes behind. This was part of the attraction of The Authority back in the day - LA was wiped out by "supercreeps" and East Timor evacuated by the team. I think neither of these things could have happened on the "standard" Earth. aside from abberations like the destruction of Coast City, and the Invasion! of Australia where my home country was turned into a POW camp (I remember one Australian guy writing into the letters page, describing himself as part of the resistance, asking for money).
TPB#2:
Earth 2 tpb 2 introduces Dr Fate. He has diamond encrusted black tights. Its a pretty revamp of the costume. And his nemesis, Wotan, started off life as a ridiculously hot chick. Now, he is a pretty boy with green skin and long hair.
Wonder Woman's daughter is revealed. Its Fury, but she has black hair like her monther. It makes me wonder who the father is - not Steve Trevor? Fury is allied to Steppenwolf, and is a villain. She's gonna kick Steppenwolf's arse once she realises he killed her mum, and this has been telegraphed from the first page of her appearance, and so when this eventually happens, no one in the reader audience will be surprised in the slightest.
I'm not understanding/enjoying the New Gods elements to this - Mr Miracle and Big Barda have made a cameo - other than it finally explains why Darkseid is to be feared. Darkseid has had a pretty pathetic win/loss record. Every invastion of the Earth has failed, and he frequently suffered invasions of his own planet, successfully, by puny humans. It is not clear whether these are the same New God characters who otherwise appear in Earth 1, or if these are "Earth 2 New Gods".
Hawkgirl's origin is also revealed. She is basically Lara Croft: Tomb Raider struck down with a bad case of wings as a consequence of raiding the wrong Egyptian tomb. I quite like this - they wings are part of her, and she was cursed from poking around in the wrong places. Except, she has an inexplicable love of rocket-propelled grenades. That seems silly, somwhow.
Jay Garrick and Alan Scott are annoying, as is the new Fate. There's something wrong with their characterisations. They all seem a bit too young, fresh, and enthusiastic. Guess I'm used to the JSA being composed of cranky old men =- or at least, men who fought Nazis and had some genuine old school heroism to them.
Fate is an Egyptian kid who sounds like he grew in Des Moines, not Cairo. He seems young, full of kneejerk comraderie to his buddy Jay Garrick, whom he has just met. Jay Garrick is inspiring Fate to heroism - but really, Garrick is just a punk who runs fast. Alan Scott is arrogant, soft, and you get the sense is slightly hung-up about being gay.
Sigh. Disappointing. Robinson could have kept the 1940s backdrop, had them all in 1945 thrown 70 years into a strange future by Wotan or Per Degaton, and had them struggling with iPhones, drones, and refridgerators. There would have been some humour to that as well as some of the old JSA charm as well as interaction with a 4th generation Huntress and Powergirl, plus Silver Scarab, Jade and Obsidian, Fury and some of the other old Infinity Inc characters as a resistance force to a world ruled by old JSA villains. Never mind.
There's some pretty art, but I won't be buying this going forward.