Earth 2 #2
Written by James Robinson
Art by Nicola Scott, Trevor Scott, Alex Sinclair, and Pete Pantazis
The short of it:
Mr. Terrific winds up crash landing on Earth 2 after the events of his own book, but before he has a chance to figure out what’s happened to him he’s approached and subdued by the worlds smartest man, who was waiting for him. Meanwhile, Jay Garrick talks to the dieing God named Mercury and tries to convince him that they need to get him help. Mercury seems intent to lecture Jay and hope that it sticks, before touching him and imbuing him with the speed of the Gods. The last acts of a dieing God. Alan Scott meets up with his boyfriend in Hong Kong, and they prepare to take a bullet train to some secluded romantic spot. Jay works on figuring out his powers, playing around with them, having fun with them, taking out Apokorats, but then one big push later and he’s in Poland meeting another member of our future society. And then Alan’s train ride? Well, that goes according to history.
What I liked:
- Terry Sloan. Brilliant beyond all belief, scary beyond all belief. The worlds smartest man seems to have no interest in fair play, and has far more in common with Lex Luthor. I love that, the worlds smartest man debuts as a ‘villain’, but we have no idea why or what for. Not to mention the scars. Great debut for the man once known as Mr. Terrific.
- A speedster who does parkour. I actually gave that some thought a few years ago, and really, it just makes sense. You’d expect someone that fast to be at least somewhat agile, so why not boost the free running to super speeds?
- For as much as everyones origins are changing, it was nice to see Alan still be on that train. Jay may not be a scientist, but Alan is still Alan.
- I LOVE Nicola Scott’s art and have for years. I’ve always felt she was under utilized, as she has a great style that can make any book look that much better. Her presence makes this already important book seem even bigger. There’s so much going on here, so much attention to detail. She’s an absolute superstar.
- Speaking of awesome art, I love how Mercury deteriorates more and more with each panel. He’s literally dieing before our eyes.
- I also like how Jay’s costume is an at will thing. He thinks about it, he’s wearing it, he doesn’t want it on? It’s gone! So simple and easy.
What I didn’t like:
- I get changing Jay’s helmet along with the rest of the costume, but Mercury is wearing his helmet! Why does it turn into a bucket?!
- This book needs extra pages every issue. I want more.
Final Thoughts:
What’s a greater danger than Apokolips? Space Nazis with the Spear of Destiny?
Waynetech is acknowledged in the beginning of the issue as having been acquired by Tylerchem. Does the world know Bruce Wayne was Batman? Or do they just think that their ‘he’s in the name’ CEO died during the invasion?
I love that DC sold this issue as the reveal of Alan’s sexuality and didn’t hype up what he does at the end. Like, they showed us the pages of him with his boyfriend from the start, Marvel would have shown us the ending.
I feel like I’m going to kick myself for skipping out on Mr. Terrific now, but hey, at least he’s here now! In a book I want to read!
Is anybody else seeing these Falling Skies ads in books this week and wondering what the hell show they’ve been missing out on? It’s going into its second season and it looks like this, and this is creepy enough sci-fi that I’d normally be all over it. How did it evade my radar?
I love the idea of the World Army. On Earth 1, the Apokolips invasion got shut down near instantly, but here it went on long enough that the world had to recover as a singular entity. World peace through near total domination. I can dig it.
I’m going to predict Steppenwolf for either the first big bad guy the eventual JSA faces, or for their recurring arch-nemesis. Despite the Apokolips invasion, we keep hearing his name instead of Darkseid’s.
Overall: 8.5/10
