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.
This issue brings Scott back on pencils, and gives her a whole slew of new characters and settings to draw. It also continues to divide the “heroes” into multiple groupings, without any real shape of a team to come.
#1 – Dr. Fate – While we never see him put on the helmet of Nabu, we do meet Earth 2’s Dr. Fate, named Khalid Ben-Hassin. He is a reluctant hero who has real consequences for using his power, which is temporary insanity and, seemingly, real pain. He does not want to be Dr. Fate; he does not want the responsibility.
One thing that Robinson’s characters can all say is that they are not part of this world for the same reasons. Jay is the Flash because, well, his regular life wasn’t going to so great. Kendra has no choice; what do you do with wings? Alan is trying to avenge a love lost; Khan wants to protect the world from Sloan. It is refreshing to see such a diverse set of motivations bringing these heroes together.
#2 Judomaster – Sonia Sato, a World Army representative from Japan, shows up along with Dodds and the Atom and attempts to bring in Jay. Sato was the name of the most recent Judomaster, a JSA member who was romantically involved with Damage, son of Al Pratt, the Atom. I wouldn’t be surprised to see the New 52 version of that being an Atom and Sato romance brewing.
Robinson has shown that he is interested in bringing a real variety of former Justice Society members into this comic, and Sato is an unusual, but fitting choice to join the ranks. This also continues to expand the global feel of the book, and provides even more diversity. In many hands, having such a diverse cast would seem like pandering; for Robinson, it feels natural.
#3 – Wotan – Dr. Fate’s greatest foe pops up the same issue Fate does and, in his one panel, doesn’t really get to show too much about who this new Wotan is. The looks is classic Wotan, plus a little Beast Boy thrown in for good measure.
The scope of this book is quite large and, because of that, can appear to be a little fragmented, especially on the villain front. So far, Grundy has been exiled to the moon, Terry Sloan has positioned himself as a big shot in the World Army, Steppenwolf and Fury are camped out in Dherain, and Wotan is in a magical realm. That doesn’t even discuss the question as to whether or not the World Army is evil or not.
Since the book is called “Earth 2,” it makes sense that the scope is a little blown out and distorted, as compared to most of DC’s current books. This is also giving the world time to reveal itself, and to keep surprising the readers at each turn.
Wonders appears to be popping up in waves, with Alan and Jay getting their powers at roughly the same time, as well as Khalid and Kendra doing the same, and the World Army recruiting their heroes at approximately the same time as well. Even the Ternion popped up around the same time, as did their teenage counterparts. How far are we away from the next batch of heroes to show up?
The World Army’s mission seems to be at times contradictory, or at least the actions of its members do. We know that Dodds is helping Khan, the seemingly level-headed and “good” commander of the army, but his actions here seem to be pretty coldhearted. The Atom is a pretty stereotypical “just following orders” sort of guy, and Sato also seems pretty blind to anything other than what she’s commanded to do.
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So, are these misguided people, or are they simply good soldiers? Clearly, Robinson has plans for these characters, so it will be interesting to see if they develop into something more than just people following someone else’s lead.
Yildiray Cinar did a fine job for the past two months, and I’m glad he’s one of the artists on May’s “Earth 2” Annual, but it is nice to have Scott back. To celebrate her return, here are two of my favorite panels from this issue. First, we have yet another great silhouette-inspired panel, with a bright backlight and a shadowy figure up front, which is something Scott does exceedingly well.
Next, we have some of her amazing work done with Jay. Her Flash work has been the highlight of her run thus far, and this issue doesn’t disappoint.
1. Khalid and Khan will be the uniting forces
When typing this out, I realize that they both have the same two letters of their names, and both have ties to the Middle East, but that is actually not at all why they will be the ones to unite the heroes together. Khan has the potential to be the most powerful hero in this series, and he will provide people like Kendra and Jay the type of power that will make them want to follow him into battle.
Khan has a different sort of power: clout. He has already amassed a pretty hefty group of allies, including the Atom, Dodds, Sato, the late King Marov, and the prototype Red Tornado.
When the odds are really against the World Army and Khalid and co. step in to help, it will be Khan’s leadership that allows these heroes to co-exist.
2. The new Batman will be trouble
May’s aforementioned annual introduces a familiar version of a dead character:
The new Batman of Earth 2 debuts as The Atom begins a mission to lead a new team of heroes—but are any of them prepared for the threat they’re about to face?
A new Batman seems like one of two things: a) a World Army intimidation technique or b) a civilian trying to avenge his role model. Neither seems like it would work out too well. I’m thinking it is more a) than b), and I’m thinking that this new Batman isn’t going to turn out so well.
Then again, maybe this is the Earth 2 Dick Grayson ascending to the same role his New Earth counterpart did when his Bruce Wayne died. Only time will tell.
Thanks for reading, and let know how wrong I got things in the comments. See you next month!
