Earth 2 #31 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Instead of the stand-alone tales that we've had for the last few issues, where the authors have been telling us the back stories of some of the newer players in the series, Wilson, Bennett, and Johnson tell two stories from the margins of the events taking place in "Earth 2:  World's End."  Unfortunately, they do little to amplify our understanding of the ongoing events.

First, the Dr. Fate tale is so rushed that it makes little sense.  Nabu sends himself and Khalid to Apokalips, to raid the Hall of Lore, where Darkseid keeps his treasures.  However, Nabu is tricked into leaving Khalid for some sort of chained Apokoliptan sorcerer.  At least, I think it was a trick.  One minute, he seems to be a prisoner of the keeper of the Hall of Lore; the next minute, he appears to have colluded with the keeper to scam Nabu.  It's all unclear.  Then, despite the fact that said sorcerer is so powerful that he can dominate Nabu, Khalid casts a simple spell that severs his head, killing him and freeing Nabu.  I guess he wasn't so fearsome in the first place?  Finally, instead of stealing some of the treasures that might help in the fight against Apokolips, as I thought was the plan, Dr. Fate just destroys the Hall of Lore because he's mad?  Maybe?  Man, this story did not make sense.

Second, we have Marella in Atlantis doing...something.  She fights off some zombie Atlanteans, and she declares war on the surface world...I think.  This part was...you guess it...really unclear.  First, before I dive into the story, I was confused by the portrayal of her warriors:  they aren't humanoid (as Marella is), but appear more like Mer-Man from "He-Man and the Masters of the Universe."  I'm not sure if they're a different race than Marella or if their genetic structure was altered by the Fury with the same spell that rose the dead Atlanteans, but I definitely felt like I was missing something.  Second, in terms of the story, I get why she's mad; we learn that the firepits are burning off Earth 2's water.  But, I don't get how fighting with the surface world while Apokolips is invading is going to help.  Does she really think that Darkseid would just let her keep the oceans?  Also, her plan seems to be to steal all the moisture in the Earth's atmosphere to replenish the oceans, but is that enough?  Does that process happen naturally through the water cycle?  And, again, none of it will matter if Darkseid destroys the planet for raw materials for Apokolips.  Shouldn't she be taking the fight to him, save the planet, and then worry about the oceans?  First things first, Marella.

In other words, oy.  I would've rathered a look at what Dick Grayson is doing than the two half-assed stories that we get here.

* (one of five stars)