Every month, Brian Salvatore will take a glimpse at “Earth 2” from James Robinson and Nicola Scott in an in-depth column we’re calling “Greetings From Earth 2.”
The fantastic image above is by Tim Daniel. Check out more of his work here.
‘Lazy Sunday,’ or, ‘Show Your Cards’
This issue is all about letting everyone know what you’re up to, and letting the charade fall apart. Robinson is joined again by guest artist Yildiray Cinar for this stand-alone story featuring Steppenwolf and Fury.
Divergent Titles, Again
Maybe I only notice this with “Earth 2” because of the depth in which I read the book, but here is another month with a different title on the front of the book (“The Fury of Steppenwolf”) versus the inside (“Lazy Sunday”). The outward title is an obvious one, if a little cheesy. But the title given by Robinson, “Lazy Sunday,” is a much more interesting and, on the surface, ill-fitting one.
Is the idea of overthrowing a nation and ruling it with an iron fist so commonplace to Steppenwolf that this constitutes a lazy Sunday for him? Is the title a commentary on how unmotivated and unprepared King Marov is? Or, is it just a re-stating of the truth that Mr. Pibb and Red Vines = crazy delicious?
Steppenwolf Returns
For the first time since issue #1, Steppenwolf is back, and his presentation doesn’t appear to differ too much from the pre-“Flashpoint” Steppenwolf, except he’s a little bulkier and, at least so far, he doesn’t have a hover bike. I think we can all agree that’s something that needs to be resolved.
On a personal level, I have always hated Steppenwolf with the fire of a thousand suns, because as a child there were only 2 Super Powers figures I didn’t have: Cyborg and Steppenwolf.
The Look and the Fury
Fury, one of the pre-Crisis Earth 2 characters to show up in this series, is introduced here. While most likely not the spawn of Wonder Woman and Steve Trevor, she is certainly Wonder Woman’s daughter, and exhibits Amazonian powers quickly and forcefully here. This is a really interesting pairing of characters, and doesn’t feel gimicky or forced.
In fact, this book seems to exist in the sweet spot of the DCnU; it sells enough to be safe from cancellation, but is isolated enough to avoid editorial shenanigans as well.
The characterization of Fury is a great example of that placement. There isn’t a need to make her overly sexy, or put a hint of “hero trapped by bad circumstances” or anything of the like – she is a warrior, plain and simple. Let’s hope that this book can stay above the fray of the craziness of DC as of late.
Markovia -> Dherain
This issue takes place in Dherain, a new country to the DC Universe, ruled by King Marov. King Mar(k)ov, in past incarnations, has been the ruler of Markovia and the father to Brion Markov, aka Geo-Force. We’ll get to him in a little while, but first let’s delve into Dherain.
Dherain still appears to be a European nation (much like Markovia), and one that is technologically quite advanced, as well as shrewd in their dealings with other nations. A treaty was passed at the end of “the war,” which basically closed their borders and severed ties with the World Army, or so Steppenwolf is led to believe.
One of the really enjoyable pieces of this book has been the dedication to expanding the setting to really include countries and people from the entire Earth. From 9 issues (counting #0), Earth 2 is more fully developed and understood than all of New Earth, across literally hundreds of issues.
King Marov
Marov appears as warrior and king in this issue, and ultimately, falls at the hands of Steppenwolf and Fury. The character wears a Silverhawks-inspired flightsuit, as does his entire Northern Cavalry, all adapted from Parademon technology.
Continued belowEarth 2 seems to be full of leaders not afraid to get their hands dirty in combat, much like the Earth of pre-20th century life. King Marov seemed to be a well loved and respected leader, a military tactician, and a very intelligent man. If this man and his nation can fall to Steppenwolf, what hope does the rest of the Earth hold?
I couldn’t see Robinson naming a character “Marov” and not expecting people to connect the dots to Markovia. Is Terra (Geo-Force’s brother/King Markov’s daughter pre-Flashpoint) being a character in “The Ravagers” (on New Earth) perhaps forcing a slight name change here?
Hooray for Yildiray!
Yildiray Cinar continues his excellent two issue run on this book, not missing a beat whilst filling in for Nicola Scott. He gets to draw significantly more action in this issue than he did in the last, and he has some fun with sound effects in my favorite panel of his this month:
2 Shots of Presumption
1. Geo-Force is a lock for membership
A European prince, looking for justice for his father, seems like an almost too-perfect fit for Justice Society membership (if they’re even calling themselves that at this point). The way the book is shaking out, it appears that the book will be shifting focus all over the globe, and when the story shifts back to Dherain, whenever that is, seeing Prince Brion avenging his father seems to be coming up. As a long time Geo-Force fan, that is a wonderful proposition.
2. Bringing it all back Sloan
Eventually, a team is going to coalesce around some of these players, specifically Flash and Hawkgirl, who seem intent on forming such a unit. When that happens, Steppenwolf is going to be at the heart of the matter. He and his army are the reason that all this happened. He is the catalyst for the deaths of Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman. He is the grand enemy at the middle of this book. However, Sloan, Mr. 8, is truly the villain of the story – a story of wasted potential and evil machinations.
But maybe, just maybe, Sloan is able to pull himself together and defeat Steppenwolf. Would that be enough to redeem him? Would heroes accept him? Or is peace the last thing we wants?
Next month: Dr. Fate arrives!
Thanks for reading, and see you in 4 weeks!
