IT’S A NEW DAY (no not that shitty WWE stable) but a new day for heroes and people of Earth 2. No matter how remarkable or disparaging a comic book event is, the fallout from said event. A new status quo that can push the book into a bold new direction. Most of the time I follow that big event and I’ll have and understanding on where the book is going post event. Due to me not reading Convergence it’s going to be interesting to see how much of Society is recap and how much is just running with the concept.
It seems that Daniel H. Wilson decided to instead of either showing the origin of this “new” Earth 2 or jumping right into an already established world, Wilson wants to have his cake and eat it as well. Judging from this issue alone, the balance between the past and present is handled well enough. Both stories are equally engaging despite their clashing tones, and I never felt that I was being short changed from either story. However from a new reader perspective I did find it odd that most of the heroes that were shown weren’t really given a proper introduction.
With a large cast of characters to draw from I can see why Wilson ventured away from that, but when I see that Batman (a character plenty of people know) I question why not just have caption boxes for people are just jumping in and have no prior experience. I understand that this is a new Batman now that Thomas Wayne is dead (not sure how but that doesn’t really matter) and if Batman is going to be the driving force for the series then I can understand, I don’t agree with it but I understand. Part of the beauty of Earth 2 prior to World’s End was just how different it was from the New 52 with a different Green Lantern, Flash, and Hawkgirl as the primary leads.
I don’t think that Batman will the only character to receive character development as the series goes on.
A critical problem I had with Earth 2 in the past was the lack of reinventing villains associated with the JSA. Thankfully Wilson immediately rectifies this with a slightly new spin on Johnny Sorrow. I’ll admit that while not much is given on his character, as he’s portrayed as this mysterious new evil force with all the tropes that one can think of. It’s a basic introduction to a new character yet it works well proving that some things should remain shrouded in mystery for a bit.
New series artist Jorge Jimenez joins the society and I deeply enjoyed his more exaggerated style, it’s not abnormal but it also a “house style” His sections on Batman reminded me of how Tony S.Daniel used shadows to give Batman that mysterious look. Although his Terry Sloan reminded me of John Constantine but that’s only in his debut panel. His action sequences are well executed but I feel that Jimenez doesn’t allow them to breathe as the camera appears to be zoomed in.
Earth 2 Society was a mixed bag of treats, there were aspects of it that have me excited for the direction of the book, and most of my concerns will most likely be corrected. Finally for the love of God, can Dick Grayson just have his son back already? Least this time I’ll only have to see him bring that up once a month.
Earth 2: Society earns a 3/5
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