This issue is a little more clunky of one than we normally see from Robinson, a result of his attempt to cram a lot of exposition into the story. It actually reminds me of the challenge that he had in the first issue, where he similarly had to get a lot of facts on the table. But, since I know that the awkward moments of the first issue had nothing to do with his ability to write dialogue but more a need to get the ball rolling, I'm confident that he'll return to form next issue.
Dialogue aside, Robinson sets up an interesting struggle between Steppenwolf and Marov, the king of Dherain who we learn aided and abetted Steppenwolf during the war and now provides him sanctuary. You pretty much knew from the start where this "friendship" was going to go since, in human history, these sorts of alliances between conquering villains don't usually last all too long. We learn that Marov is only after Steppenwolf's advanced technology and the World Army bounty whereas Steppenwolf is looking for a country from where he can launch his campaign for world conquest. Both motives were pretty predictable. However, the surprising twist was the revelation that Steppenwolf was going to be aided in his attempt to take over Dherain by Fury, the daughter of Wonder Woman. Robinson has Marov ask the obvious question, why Wonder Woman's daughter would throw in her lot with an alien conqueror who killed her mother. We don't get an answer here, but I'm sure that answer is going to drive not a few plots over the coming issues.
The main drawback to the issue is surprisingly the dialogue, something at which Robinson usually excels. The exchange between the two Dherainian soldiers was seriously awkward, since I'm pretty sure that two soldiers chatting wouldn't feel the need to identify the name of their elite unit or to describe Steppenwolf as "powerhouse of energy, grand commander of the armies of Apokolips" given that everyone knows who he is. Moreover, Steppenwolf and Marov's exchanges also felt forced, particularly when Steppenwolf suddenly denounced Marov despite having had a friendly discussion with him a few pages earlier. I get that Steppenwolf knew that Marov was planning to move against him and had to announce his counter-attack at some point, but we're not really given any hint of it coming. One minute they're sipping champagne, the next minute Steppenwolf is announcing that Marov's men are as good as dead. I get that Robinson was trying to fill in some blanks, so I'll go easy on him, but this issue could've been truly spectacular had he found away to make the dialogue more fluid.
Still, with Steppenwolf and Fury now (somewhat awkwardly) introduced, it feels like all the pieces of the puzzle have fallen into place in terms of building our basic understanding of Earth 2. Steppenwolf makes it clear that he's been abandoned by his lieutenants (except for Fury) and I like the Napoleonesque vibe of the would-be conqueror plotting his return from isolation. I get the sense that now the fun begins!
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