Demythify: New Earth 2 Batman’s Identity Puzzle, All-New All-Different Superman Family & Building To Movie Style Earth 2 Superman vs. Batman (DC Comics New 52 Spoilers)

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Welcome to a special New Year’s Eve edition of Demythify!

Despite DC Comics seemingly spoiling the identity of the new Earth 2 Batman in their action figure solicitations, the actual identity has yet to be confirmed in the Earth 2 comic book. And, I wouldn’t put it past DC to put a false identity “out there” as a guerrilla marketing tactic to ensure readers stick with Earth 2 after writer James Robinson left the book, replaced by Injustice Gods Among Us digital comic writer Tom Taylor. Good news: Nicola Scott remains on Earth 2 as penciller through the writer change.

Earth 2 #18 hit stands this month and it had a lot of puzzle piece tidbits concerning who the Earth 2 Batman might be and continues the introduction of Earth 2’s All-New All-Different Superman Family.

Spoilers follow.

In terms of the former, I was again shocked by how much DC Comics revealed in its free preview pages of Earth 2 #18 particularly about the very different new Earth 2 Batman.

What we learned from that free preview about who the Earth 2 Batman might be:

  • He believes he should have been alongside Batman when he died. That teases that he may be an ally of Earth 2’s original Batman (the deceased Earth 2 Bruce Wayne) from the Justice Society (or whatever the group of “Wonders” were called on Earth 2). It could also mean that this Batman may be one of Batman’s previous sidekicks, e.g. Dick Grayson, if there was one on Earth 2, etc.
  • He has super strength and seeming invulnerability. That could be due to the technology in the Batman costume or he could be an alien of some kind or a human augmented by a Miraclo pill – that gave the pre-Flashpoint Hourman his powers – or some such that would give him meta-human abilities.
  • He is a dark knight of vengeance and seemingly bloodthirsty witnessed in his decimation of the soldiers as referenced by Red Tornado. Could DC try to cash in on the success of the Flashpoint Batman, who also had a red’ish costume, and was the brooding and grieving father of Bruce Wayne, Thomas Wayne? I’m not suggesting this Batman is the Flashpoint Batman, but perhaps is Bruce Wayne’s Earth 2 father or, to throw a curve, Bruce’s Earth 2 brother.

There were also some interesting moments in Earth 2 #18 that teased more about the identity of the new Earth 2 Batman that weren’t part of the free preview.

What we learned from those spoilers pages about who the Earth 2 Batman might be:

  • The new Earth 2 Batman seems to be aligned with Aquawoman the presumed Queen of Atlantis – who we’ve seen teased before during the team-up of Earth 2’s original Superman and Batman with the Dan Didio dubbed Prime Earth‘s Superman and Batman in Superman / Batman #2 (spoilers here). Could the new Batman be an Atlantean like Aquaman or Tempest grieving the loss of the Wonders? That could explain the superpowers and the warrior / bloodthirsty spirit.
  • He loathes the Joker. Well, that points to the Batman Family again. Certainly the actions he took against the Joker in the cliffhanger page above show an emotional (over)reaction to the Clown Prince of Crime.

It would appear that new Earth 2 Batman could rival Earth 2’s Superman or at least make that fight interesting. It seems that DC is building to Superman vs. Batman in Earth 2. Batman appears on track to joining Earth 2’s Wonders per the January 2014, February 2014 and March 2014 solicitations.

Earth 2 #18 also introduced a new Wonder to readers. A recognizable member of the Superman Family.

Jimmy Olsen! And he has super-powers…

Jimmy Olsen is a walking super-human computer social network called the Accountable.

This follows Earth 2 #17’s introduction of Lois Lane’s new persona which was spoiled as part of DC’s free preview for that issue as per the below.

Lois’ new Red Tornado persona is becoming more well-known as seen in Earth 2 #18 (not in the free preview this time).

So, who is next? An African-American Perry White as the Earth 2 Shazam?

Kidding aside, I am as intrigued by Tom Taylor’s Earth 2 as I was James Robinson’s Earth 2. I really can’t anticipate what is next from page-to-page. I imagine that is easier to achieve with an “alternate Earth” DC Comics New 52 title than any of its main universe books which, while entertaining, seem heavily edited to conform with or set up future stories.

I’d also like to wish you all the very best as you celebrate the ushering in of the New Year. I hope you have a great 2014 and thank you for your support in 2013. All the best and thank you! Be safe.

Thanks for reading. All feedback welcome. :)


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John is a long-time pop culture fan, comics historian, and blogger. He is currently the Editor-in-Chief at Comics Nexus. Prior to being EIC he has produced several column series including DEMYTHIFY, NEAR MINT MEMORIES and the ONE FAN'S TRIALS at the Nexus plus a stint at Bleeding Cool producing the COMICS REALISM column. As BabosScribe, John is active on his twitter account, his facebook page, his instagram feed and welcomes any and all feedback. Bring it on!