Earth 2 #22
Written by Tom Taylor
Art by Nicola Scott, Trevor Scott, and Peter Pantazis
The short of it:
Alan Scott was not beaten to death by Superman, he was incinerated by the death of Steppenwolf and the carving open of the Earth. Thing is, his powers come from The Green, and it’s not done with him yet, so Alan is back and he is pissed. In the Batcave our supporting cast discuss what Crazy Fate’s nicknames for them are. Val tries and fails to save, and Lois gives him stories about Clark before getting sad that she’s a robot. Then at Bedlam’s place, Superman gets pissed about there being a secret Kryptonian, almost kills Terry Sloane, and then sees the footage of the people that saved Val. The fact that there’s a Batman infuriates him.
Next up is Lois trying to teach Val how to fly, because, I mean, what’s the point of a Kryptonian who can’t fly? Then again, dude is also a pacifist, so they might be completely boned. He picks it up after almost nose diving into the ground, but then the Parademons show up. With Superman. Lois gets attacked by a group of Parademons, Superman attacks Val and Hawkgirl gets her wing clipped. Really, the only thing that stops Superman from caving in Val’s skull is Lois calling to him, and seemingly shaking him out of his madness.
What I liked:
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Alan might get his powers from some place different, but he’s just as immortal as he was back when Johns wrote JSA.
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For as much as I’ve taken to griping about over the top body counts in books/movies, this book makes it worthwhile. The ridiculous number of casualties just enhances the dire nature of the events occurring, and it puts the entire planet on a ticking clock. The more deaths, the more suspense, and Taylor actually handles that.
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The book looks great, and Nicola really does it all. Action, the light stuff, Alan Scott on the mountain of bones, everything.
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Hawkgirl gets a bite taken out of her wing to go along with Flash’s broken leg, Fate’s insanity, and Atom’s missing arm. There’s nothing quite like having heroes you can actually maim.
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There is no obvious endgame here. More often than not, when the big two pull an end of the world story, there’s always a clean reset button just waiting to be pressed. I don’t think anybody is looking at this book from a creative standpoint and looking for a backdoor, I think everyone is all in with go crazy, and the book is better because of it.
What I didn’t like:
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I understand that, despite the horrible situation, you need to teach your Kryptonian how to fly, but…it was just too feel good of a moment. Between that and the shaving, I get that the book need a light tone at times, but it just didn’t sit with me. Too corny.
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Superman hears a robotic voice claim to be Lois and has a moment of clarity? I understand needing to have the moment, but with as much mind screwing as he’s been through, I imagine it would take more than someone knowing his wifes name to make him stop skull bashing.
Final thoughts:
You might think that an end of the world scenario where the battle is over, the good guys lost, and there’s no chance at coming back (despite their best efforts) might get boring. This book is proof that it does not.
Val’s parents were scientists, so he was raised as a pacifist. That’s cool. Superman’s parents were scientists and he’s Superman. Supergirl’s parents were an artist and a scientist, and she’s currently a Red Lantern. Point is, scientists on Krypton don’t have to mean uberly peaceful to a fault.
Val is going to be Mon-El, isn’t he? I mean, his name is Val-Zod, and post Zero Hour, Mon-El was the Daxamite known as Valor.
We also need a Daxamite. Maybe not in this book, but somewhere.
Nicola Scott is amazing, and if she were to ever leave this book, it better be for nothing less than Justice League.
The book needs more Michael Holt. There were early promises about him being around, but that was when Robinson was on board, and I’m assuming long before the game plan turned into “Blow it all up!”
I also wouldn’t mind a Dr. Mid-Nite, Wildcat, Hourman, or Thunderbolt.
