Earth 2 #5 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Awesome.  This issue is just awesome.  I don't even know where to begin.

The best part is the dynamic that develops between the four Wonders.  Robinson has had some time to develop their personalities and begins to go to the next level, as we see them begin to interact with each other.  He does so in the best traditions of Peter David and Dan Slott, with each character responding to every other character in a different way and his responses revealing something about his character.  For example, we see Atom express disbelief several times at Flash's naivety.   When Flash tells Atom that he and Hawkgirl saved him because they're Wonders and Wonders "do the right thing," you can just feel him roll his eyes when he comments, "Oh brother, where did they find you?"  It shows that Al Pratt has seen a lot in his life and that he already knows that the world isn't as simple as Jay Garrick believes it to be.  In his interaction with Hawkgirl, however, we see this world-weariness translate into the respect that he has for a former teammate, even if his commitment to duty makes him adamant that he has to take her into custody.  Finally, his belief in the military makes him bristle when Green Lantern arrives giving orders, leading him to note that he's the only one there who has any authority.  But, we see that his commitment to duty doesn't leave him without his common sense when he recognizes that Alan Scott has a plan and that he should support it if he wants to defeat Grundy.  In other words, in showing how Al interacts with the other Wonders, we learn a lot about Al.

But, beyond characterization, Robinson also gives us an engaging plot.  We still know little about the World Council that appears to run the World Army.  Since the World Council all appear in military uniforms, it seems clear that the world is currently run by a loosely organized military dictatorship.  However, it's unclear at this stage how public their role is.  We're definitely given plenty of reasons to question their judgment (and motivations) when they bring in Terry Sloan to "consult" on the situation in Washington, DC.  The fact that they would so willingly embrace the guy who destroyed several countries shows the bottom-line approach they take, an approach all the more supported by evidence when they agree with his suggestion to nuke Washington, DC.  They seem to be so pre-occupied with preventing an Apokoliptian invasion that they're willing to essentially replicate the damage that Darkseid would do merely in the interest of keeping order.  It's pretty clear that Robinson isn't going to rush the intrigue related to the Council and I can't wait to see where he goes with it.

Finally, lest we think that it's all just testosterone and intrigue, Robinson tugs at the heart strings at the end, with the Grey offering Alan his deepest wish, the return of his lover, Sam.  Alan's temptation is put in all the starker relief given the fact that his new allies are defending his body while his mind engages the Grey, putting them in increased danger the longer he's seduced by the Grey's offer.  How's that for a team-building exercise?

All in all, yet another great issue from the best of the "New 52!"