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

Earth 2 #3:  This issue serves almost exclusively as the Green Lanter's origin story.  Robinson sticks close to the origin story of the DCU's version of Alan Scott, revealing that he was saved by a green flame representing the Earth's energy in order to save Earth 2 from a coming evil.  (Honestly?  I like it a lot better than some alien police force having magic power rings that get recharged by glowing battery lanterns.)

To be honest, though, this issue felt a little formulaic to me.  Where issue #1 and #2 seemed to vibrate with energy, Robinson doesn't manage to summon the same level of emotion in this issue.   I had expected to begin this issue with Alan Scott reeling from his disfigurement and the death of his lover.  However, we skip from a disfigured Alan learning about Sam's death straight to Alan agreeing to become the Green Lantern, with little insight into Alan's thoughts along the way.  To me, it's a serious missed opportunity.  Robinson had done a great job last issue showing Alan as a dynamic guy, the type of leader with an over-sized personality who draws people to him.  He hinted at the arrogance that likely comes with being a blond, handsome, strapping billionaire, but tempered it by making it clear that Alan was aware of it (and even self-deprecating about it).  He showed Alan as a towering figure who controlled his own destiny, but also as a guy who felt the need to share it with someone, showing us the love that he felt for Sam.  In just that one issue, Robinson gave us a believable character, flawed, but also fun, powerful, but also grounded, exactly the type of guy who would make for a dynamic leader of the Justice Society on Earth 2.

Here, though, we (ironically) lose some of that color.  The Alan here is too much of a Boy Scout.  Sure, Robinson pays some level of hommage to Sam, showing us Alan's decision to use the engagement ring that he intended to give to Sam as his power ring and his pledge to fight in his honor.  But, most of the issue is dedicated to Alan's focus on fighting evil.  I feel like we could've done without the Flash/Hawkgirl interlude, freeing up some time to focus on Alan trying to process his last few hour before we got into the details of his new powers.  If we had had those intermediary scenes, I think this issue would've been great.  Instead, it reads as a pretty standard origin story, with little emotional impact.  It's not terrible, but it's not as great as it could've been.

That said, Robinson does a good job throwing us right into Alan's first challenge, with the appearance of this world's Solomon Grundy as the grey foil to Alan Scott's green flame.  Grundy's representation of decay makes a lot more sense as an enemy of Alan -- the embodiment of nature -- than Sinestro just happening to embrace yellow as a color.  I'm excited to see where Robinson goes with it, particularly since Grundy will so prove to be a real challenge to Alan so early in his career.  So, though I'm disappointed that Robinson didn't give me the emotion in this issue that I wanted, I'm still excited to see where he goes in the coming issues.  I'm hoping that Robinson takes the time to explore Alan's thoughts as he tries to process these events, so that Sam doesn't become a distant memory by issue #4.