DC’s Earth 2 #1 : New 52
Written by: Kevin Hunter, Special to CC2K
So let me see if I’ve got this straight. DC Comics’ “Crisis on Infinite Earths” was a sort of house cleaning and inventory for DC Comics as it looked to get rid of a lot of an already crowded universe loaded with heroes and characters that readers longer cared about and divided them into parallel universes. That was fine and it created a little more stability in the DC Universe for nearly three decades. But apparently when you kills off characters or an entire universe, it doesn’t last forever?
Earth 2 #1
Writer: James Robinson
Pencils: Nicola Scott
Inks: Trevor Scott.
Such is the case when DC Comics made a big deal out of its beast of a revamp with “The New 52” series where the retelling and revamping of its universe continued in the new millennium. Now out of those ashes and using the same themes comes “Earth 2” #1 by writer James Robinson and artists Nicola Scott and Trevor Scott. DC Comics tells us that we may think that we know the truth about “Earth 2” #1 Just what truth? Oh really? Is it the Earth 2 where we saw the Golden Age heroes take on the enemies of World War II? The one that played a huge role in “Crisis on Infinite Earths” or what?
But putting my cynicism aside, I will say that this for the first issue of “Earth 2” titled, “The Price of Victory,” it comes in guns-a-blazing with a very good story and some great artwork. It opens with the three head honchos of the DC Universe, the modern day Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman trying to save Earth one last time. All three meet their ultimate demise at the hands of Steppenwolf (the villain not the band) and his band of parademons.
With them out of the way we are suddenly confronted with a young Alan Scott and an even younger Jay Garrick. You may know them both as Green Lantern and The Flash from Earth 2 and the Golden Age of DC Comics. Scott is now a media mogul and Scott is a slacker college kid. They are introduced as rich, young, hip and apparently unaware of what the future has in store for them. In other words, a retelling of a story and of heroes that have been around for over 70 years. We even get a slight glimpse at the new Power Girl and Robin. For more on them you’ll have to read “World’s Finest” #1. “Earth 2” #1 and its characters played a pivotal part in “Crisis on Infinite Earths” and stayed around long enough for new stories of the “Justice Society of America” and “Kingdom Come,” as well as making numerous appearances in other DC stories. They were the true survivors of the Crisis on Infinite Earths. Now the entire world gets it own comic book.
There have been updates and retelling of characters and stories since DC Comics ended its Golden Age of comics with the Silver Age in the 1950’s. But how many times have we read origin after origin of Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, the Flash, The Titans (teens and adults) and the Justice League? Some were very good others weren’t. Pretty much the same old stories updated for the modern era. For instance, instead of a universe where background characters driving Yugos, using standard land line phones and playing Dungeons and Dragons on IBM 486 computers, they are now driving Priuses using iPhones and playing Dungeons and Dragons on iPads.
I’ll give DC Comics credit for always trying to keep things fresh, new and modern. “Earth 2” #1 just may work with new readers as well as some longtime diehards like me, and will no doubt get really interesting especially in future issues when they may have to reintroduce Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Hawkman, Hawkgirl, Hourman, Mr. Terrific, ect.. But I may be in the minority as far as enthusiasm for “Earth 2.” I have a feeling that “Earth 2” will eventually morph into a new version of the Justice Society of America, which isn’t a bad thing mind you. But for those of us who have been around the corner and back with DC Comics, this is a road we’ve traveled down way too many times before.