New Comics!: The "Earth 2" Edition (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Earth 2 #1:  I have to say, something is rotten in the state of Denmark when I like the alternative version of the Justice League's battle with Apokolips more than the original version.  Robinson and Scott provide a truly epic re-telling of the Justice League's battle with Darkseid's minions, managing to convey more emotion and tragedy in just one issue than Johns and Lee did in six.  I mean, sure, it's partly because they kill DC's the Trinity (Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman) in just a few pages, so you're inherently going to have some emotion and tragedy involved, no matter how well or poorly the issue is written or drawn.  But, Robinson manages to give you enough insight into these versions of the characters and their lives that you feel like you know them, even though they're not the heroes that we do actually know.  He also avoids the trap in which almost all the other DCnU authors have found themselves entangled, somehow highlighting the differences between these characters and their counterparts without making it feel excessively expository.  Superman struggles to stay focused as the destruction around him reminds him of the fall of Metropolis and the death of Lois.  Wonder Woman tries to channel her rage over the loss of Paradise Island and the death of the Roman gods into fighting off the parademons.  Perhaps most impressively, Robinson has Batman finally soften in the last moments of his life, wishing his daughter, the Huntress, a good life as he saves the world.  All these moments feel organic to the story.  Rather than just having Superman inform us that Lois is dead, Robinson frames her death as part of Clark's struggle to stay focused.  Same with Diana and the Amazonians.  This gambit succeeds in no small part because Scott manages to convey real emotion on the characters' faces while at the same time showing the horrific scenes that surround them with appropriate grandeur.

Similar to "Amazing Spider-Man" #545, the issue that launched "Brand New Day," the story doesn't end as it reaches its climax.  After Batman's sacrifice saves the world, we fade into the present, where we begin to see, for the first time, the world as it is now.  Jay Garrick and Alan Scott are completely rebooted and, I have to say, I'm a fan.  Until my return to comics, I only intermittently read DC (and, when I did, it was mostly "Batman"), so I have a weak understanding of its history, particularly when it comes to the Multiverse.  As such, I never really understood the Golden Age Flash and Green Lantern and how they fit into the former DCU.  This lack of knowledge makes life easier here (ignorance is bliss!), because I'm not saddled with comparing Jay and Alan with their DCU counterparts.  It's enough that I like the characters that they are here.  Robinson sets up Alan as an analogue to Tony Stark, but it's his work with Jay that most intrigues me at this point, portraying him as a somewhat shiftless twenty-something whose college girlfriend harshly dumps him because he has little potential.  It's a great scene, and I particularly liked the following scene where he sits on a hilltop drinking beer contemplating how right (but still cruel) she was.  Robinson really manages to convey the confusion of someone at that transitional moment in his life, and it's hard to imagine who wouldn't pick up the second issue after the final scene.

I admit to subscribing to this series after the announcement that Alan Scott is going to be gay, because, as a gay comic-book fan, I felt guilty after I dropped "Batwoman."  But, I may have come for the gay, but I'm staying for what Robinson and Scott do here.  Of all the "New 52!" I feel like this one is the most successful launch.  In fact, right now?  This issue is up there with "Avenging Spider-Man" #5 and "Batman" #5 in the "Issue of the Year" competition.

Earth #2 2:  First things first.  Robinson does a great job setting up the coming challenges that the new heroes of Earth 2 will face, particularly given that he does it on multiple fronts.  First, he establishes, through the video screens that Mr. Terrific encounters when he suddenly appears in downtown Manhattan, that Steppenwolf is still at large.  I meant to mention it in my review of "Earth 2" #1, but I was really impressed with the way that Robinson and Scott made Steppenwolf, Darkseid's Pro-Consul, if you will, a large-than-life villain in just one issue.  I mean, the guy only appeared in three panels, but you knew that he was a bad-ass.  You could feel Superman and Wonder Woman's fear of him when they mentioned him, something in and of itself that gave you a sense of how dangerous he was.  But, his appearance in those three panels -- brutally murdering Wonder Woman, coldly commenting as Superman dies -- really upped the villain factor.  The fact that he wasn't killed with the parademons is exciting.  First, it raises all sorts of questions.  Why didn't he die with the parademons?  Is he still connected to Darkseid?  But, it also gives what seems likely to be Earth 2's future Justice League a pretty hard-core arch-nemesis before it has even formed!  You know that the League is going to have to address that loose end at some point.

But, Robinson doesn't just establish one potential villain, but two more.  First, we've got the "world's smartest man," Terry Sloan, making pretty quick work of Mr. Terrific just seconds after his arrival in Manhattan.  I'm not sure who Terry Sloan is, though I'm guessing that he may be someone that more long-time DC readers than I am recognize.  Robinson makes him a pretty powerful character, giving him the ability not only to recognize when Mr. Terrific would appear on Earth 2 but also to take over Mr. Terrific's technology to use against him.  Robinson also builds a less-specific third villain, the unnamed darkness that Mercury informs Jay is a greater threat than Darkseid.  It's the reason why Mercury gives Jay his powers, to help prepare the world for its coming.  Seriously, how much worse can you get than Darkseid?  The fact that Robinson establishes a current threat (Sloan), a hidden threat (Steppenwolf), and a potential threat (darkness) in one issue is pretty impressive.  I mean, talk about a second issue!

But, Robinson also pays attention to building his characters, not just his villains.  At first, I found Mercury's praise of Jay as a potential hero almost eyeroll-inducing, but Robinson manages to sell it with this line:  "You claim to lack a future?  Let me give you one."  I mean, OK, I can buy how a god could see into the soul of a human and know that he's a hero, but Robinson makes it clear that Mercury isn't saying that Jay is a hero right now.  He's still going to have to prove it, to grab the brass ring.  Robinson makes it easy to see because he's already shown us some moments of heroism from Jay.  We saw Jay instinctively try to help Mercury, not fleeing from the scene, not stopping his attempt to convince Mercury to let him call for help.  We also see him save the couple from "apocorats" just minutes after getting his powers.  Jay's obviously going to confront greater challenges that will make him question whether or not he can really embrace the future that Mercury portends here, but Robinson uses the moments of heroism in this issue to underline Mercury's assertion that Jay possesses a hero's soul (even if he's a directionless slacker).  (On an art note, I though Scott did a great job with Mercury here.  He's not the golden god we saw in the first issue, but a faded remnant of who he was.  The cracks that appear across his body as he talks to Jay were a great touch in underlining his descent.)

Robinson also gives us more info on Alan.  I loved that he had the driver call Sam "his friend."  I can't tell you how many people still call my partner "my friend."  The driver using that term somewhat reproachfully just felt pitch-perfect to me.  It shows why Sam was eager to leave Hong Kong, because it really captured that sense that I think a lot of gay couples feel that you can only really be yourselves when you're outside the glare of the public eye.  I know that Robinson isn't gay, but, man, he really got that.  But, rather than just focus on the personal, Robinson throws us an enormous curveball here.  I mean, I did NOT see the train explosion coming.  First, we have no idea why it exploded.  Is someone trying to kill Alan?  Or, did he just happen to be on the train?  Second, it raises all sorts of questions.  Is Sam going to survive?  I'm actually guessing that he won't, just because it's difficult for heroes to be in relationships, and a dead fiancé is a pretty good back story.  Third, did anyone else notice that flash of green in the train in the middle of the explosion?  I can't wait for the next issue to see what happens.

Finally (then I'll stop raving), Robinson starts moving some other pieces on the board.  As I mentioned, we're introduced to Mr. Terrific here, but we also get a brief introduction of Hawkgirl, who seems to know a lot about the events happening in this issue that anyone else.  We also get other hints about the world around us, like how Tylerchem (the company for which Jay's girlfriend, Joan, went to work) bought Waynetech.  Seriously, I bought this title on a whim and it's fast becoming one of my favorites.  If only "Justice League" were this good!