Last month, the superstar team of Paul Levitz, George Pérez and Kevin Maguire launched “Worlds’ Finest,” the tale of Earth 2’s displaced Robin and Supergirl, known to us as Huntress (Helena Wayne) and Power Girl (Karen Starr). The first issue was packed with character detail, informative flashback scenes, beautiful art, and an exciting cliffhanger.
The second issue has beautiful art and, basically, exactly the same information from last month, just presented in a slightly different way. This may be the least necessary second issue I have ever read.
Written by Paul Levitz
Illustrated by George P̩rez and Kevin MaguireРHUNTRESS and POWER GIRL versus THE IRRADIATED MAN!
– Learn what our heroes have been doing since they arrived here five years ago from Earth Two!
One of the things that we talk about a lot on The Hour Cosmic is the idea that the Big 2 (Marvel and DC) think that we, the readers, are dumb, and present things in such simplistic, redundant, and watered down ways in hopes of getting through our rockheads. “Worlds’ Finest” #2 could hardly be a more perfect distillation of our core thesis. This is the emergency brake, in case last issue moved just too darn fast for you.
Which, of course, it didn’t. Issue #1 was a fine comic, establishing our characters, their place in this (foreign) world, introducing an enemy, showing their motivations and setting up a main narrative for the book. It did so elegantly in a well-paced 20 pages with nary a wasted panel or word.
What we get here is just a restating of all of that. We get another flashback scene to the same night that they landed here with exactly one piece of new information (Karen feels “different” here – still powered, just slightly different) revealed. We get another conversation about how Helena is determined to make this world her new home, whereas Karen is desperate to find a way back to her native Earth. We see, again, how Karen is filthy rich, and we learn how she funds her company (by undersea gathering of rare minerals, in case that was the burning question you were left with last month).
One thing we get again that is a good thing is the fantastic artwork. George Pérez hardly needs another feather in his cap to prove why he is one of the greatest artist to ever work in comics, but that doesn’t stop him from doing some amazing work here. His characters remain to be some of the most expressive in all of comics, and he avoids making a book with two female leads into an ogle-fest. My only real complaint with the art in his section of the book is that Scott Koblish seems to be a little on the heavy side, ink-wise, and I think that affects both the coloring on the pencils negatively. Every sequence is just a little muddier than it should be, and a lighter ink touch would have helped that.
By contrast, Kevin Maguire, providing his own inks, makes his pages seem like they pop off the page on first glance because of the balanced ink work. Maguire draws women beautifully, again, without making this the Power Girl books of old, which were more about her chest than her powers. Maguire’s work initially suggests innocence, but it is easy to see the same characters drawn by Pérez in his work. Maguire’s section this week is the definition of unnecessary (except that Huntress found an indestructible belt, maybe from Earth 2), but his art made it a nice detour, visually.
But the real issue here is with Levitz, a guy who has written enough comics to know better than to pad an entire issue with borderline useless information. This stinks of a rush job, but the art dispels that theory. So, again, why would an entire issue be spent reminding people what they read last month? Does the reveal that Hakkou may be from Earth 2 (a revelation on the cover, mind you) really justify this issue’s existence?
Continued belowOf course not. This title has a ton of potential, from its purpose to its creative team to its status as an almost completely female-centric book to its handling of legacy characters. This is a book that everyone associated with comics, I believe, wants to succeed. This isn’t a “Red Hood and the Outlaws,” where most fans are hoping that their beloved characters find sunnier pastures soon, this is an A-list team giving B-list characters a shot to have an A-list book.
But this is merely C-class work at best. If next month’s issue is as padded with fluff as this month’s is, it will be my last reading the book.
Final Verdict: 4.3 – Beautiful Art, Boring Book
