Earth 2 #1 Preview/Eventual Discussion

[Steelspawn]

Having not really read a lot of DC in the past only really tried with the New 52 and can't say I am reading more than maybe four of those now I have to say I really enjoyed this book.

I do find it awfully confusing however as I don't know the deeper connection that a lot of people are talking about but it certainly has me wanting to learn more. Especially how they ended this first one, like mentioned before there were a few ideas thrown in which didn't make a lot of sense but I really like the idea that by issue two they are going to have to rely on a whole bunch of new heroes.

Would anyone suggest any other titles from the past to read to bring me up to speed with what they are doing here or just take this as a new reader and see what's in store considering this is following the new 52

[ascended]

Well, after one issue its hard to tell exactly where Robinson is going to take everything, but I would say dont worry about the past. The core aspects of the characters involved will still be the same as they have always been but this is still a whole new ball game. If you like what you see here and want some older stuff though, then go hunt down the 1999 JSA relaunch by Goyer, Robinson, and Johns. Robinson's Golden Age miniseries was really, really good too. And I would be remiss if I failed to mention his Starman series from....94 I think. Amazing stuff.

Anyway, I was....hesitant....about the new E-2. I had hopes, but was not sure how well those hopes would be realized.

Turns out it wasnt a bad read at all. I felt like plenty happened within the issue. Pratt, Scott, and Garrick certainly didnt get much panel time, but the issue fleshed out the setting rather well. I feel like I have a handle on the world these people live in, and in order to relate and understand them, thats sort of a must.

I actually enjoyed it more than I thought I would, really. Nicola Scott's art was top notch, by far the best work I have seen from her, and Robinson seemed on the ball too. The pacing was solid, dialogue was *fairly* tight, all the players sounded more or less right to me. And even though Garrick, Pratt, and Scott only got a page or so each, I feel like I got a solid taste for who they are. What really surprises me though, is that even though decades of history has been taken out I still feel like I recognize Jay and Allan. They're younger, obviously, but I still get the same vibe from them as I used to.

All in all, Im quite happy with this issue.

[dnatroy_aka_darman]

Great first ep... killed the 3 all off, that was a bit of a disappointment but had a feeling that was going to be the case. Don't want it to be JLA E2
Good costumes all gone now haha.
Will now have to see if mantles picked up? Diana's lasso remains so would think something would come of that? Though granted a blade thru her, who's to really say that's death to her LOL. The last of the amazons and she's gone too.
Nic does an awesome job, and well granted ya the dialogue could use some work, it sure beat his work in JLA.

[Lemurion]

Man, that prose really got tiresome after a while. The story wasnt too bad though. I do have some problems with it:

1) Why did they win so easily in E0 but lose so bad in E2?
2) Why couldnt Superman fly in the tower and do that virus thing and survive the blast?
3) The virus thing was too independence day.
4) I will upload the virus and it will spread, but the tower will have to conveniently detonate to kill me. I know all this because i am an expert in New Gods technology and software.
5) How will the tower spread the virus... if it detonates on the spot?
6) Steppenwolf? Who is that? I only know of Darkseid, some big bad brawler that just appears and beats people up. Dont tell me that there's more New Gods than him! Next thing you'll tell me that he's a master strategist who isnt supposed to get into brawls with incects. (that's actually a stab at Johns, not Robinson)
7) Why not use Azzarello's new Hermes design and give some publicity to the WW reboot? Why go with old design?

And of course there's Alan's EXPOSITION EXPOSITION EXPOSITION dialogue and Jay's girlfriend that has to be over the top mean to hammer the point home that he's a loser. He's just talking to her and she's acting like she's getting assaulted or something.


tl;dr i didnt like the writing and execution of it.

1) They won more easily on the main Earth because there were more heroes: specifically Cyborg with his connection to Apokoliptian technology.
2) Because they needed a diversion and Superman can only be in one place at one time.
3) Valid, but I like ID4 so it didn't bother me.
4) They've been fighting for some time, he's studied his enemies.
5) Infection, then explosion, it's in the story.
6) Steppenwolf is one of Darkseid's elite - and has been for 40 years (first appeared in 1972)
7) Because this is Mercury, not Hermes. The Roman Gods held prominence in Earth 2, not the Greek ones.

Finally, Alan's exposition isn't dialogue, it's a narrative monologue and cast as such in the comic. You get a lot of exposition from the narrator of a documentary. As for Joan and Jay, that parallels their first appearance in the Golden Age, she sloughed him off because he had no ambition.

But if you didn't like it, I'd avoid the next issue.

[George Taylor]

Heck, didn't know if I'd pick up E-2 because of what I was told by a friend about it but then changed my mind and read it. It wasn't that great except for Nicola's art, but at least I liked it enough to get the next issue. I didn't like that the trinity died but at least their legacy'll be carried on by the the new heroes.

[Kyle Anderson]

ok at some point down he road,maybe they could introduce a new trinity,maybe in the earth 2 book,then given their own book.
here would be my new trinity- tim drake,cassie sandsmark,and conner kent/kkon-el

No. If they are taking the JSA of the main Earth, then at least I want this to be just about them. I have enough Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman on the Main Earth.

[ShaggyB]

Since we're comparing this to Justice League, I can't see how anyone could be invested in the one dimensional teenagers in that book.

I actually enjoyed it. Especially Hal and Batman's back and forth exchanges. takes all kinds I suppose.

[ShaggyB]

Man, that prose really got tiresome after a while. The story wasnt too bad though. I do have some problems with it:

1) Why did they win so easily in E0 but lose so bad in E2?
2) Why couldnt Superman fly in the tower and do that virus thing and survive the blast?
3) The virus thing was too independence day.
4) I will upload the virus and it will spread, but the tower will have to conveniently detonate to kill me. I know all this because i am an expert in New Gods technology and software.
5) How will the tower spread the virus... if it detonates on the spot?
6) Steppenwolf? Who is that? I only know of Darkseid, some big bad brawler that just appears and beats people up. Dont tell me that there's more New Gods than him! Next thing you'll tell me that he's a master strategist who isnt supposed to get into brawls with incects. (that's actually a stab at Johns, not Robinson)
7) Why not use Azzarello's new Hermes design and give some publicity to the WW reboot? Why go with old design?

And of course there's Alan's EXPOSITION EXPOSITION EXPOSITION dialogue and Jay's girlfriend that has to be over the top mean to hammer the point home that he's a loser. He's just talking to her and she's acting like she's getting assaulted or something.


tl;dr i didnt like the writing and execution of it.

1. story implies that Superman, Wonder Woman and Batman simply arent enough. Even with Robin and Super Girl backing them up. Cyborg, Aquaman, Green Lantern and Flash are the difference makers. Also theyd been fighting for longer... where as the JL fought for a day.

2. because he wouldnt have been able to get a clear shot at it. Batman was just a human, thus hes being underestimated.

3. lol, least he didnt use a mac.

4. He does tell you that they have blown them up only to watch the signal switch tours and then more towers arrive. Again they have been fighting them and losing for longer than the fight was in JL.

5. Because the virus will spread once in the first tower. The tower detects the virus and blows up... its just too late.

6. dont follow this as a complaint on the JL book. Are you saying youd prefer granny and crew show up instead of darkseid? I think Id rather see the big guy in the main book.

7. different gods in earth 2

8..... Because showing you a rock bottom transformation is more emotional.

[Moriarty]

Since we're comparing this to Justice League, I can't see how anyone could be invested in the one dimensional teenagers in that book.

i'm still surprised at all the praise that is directed upon the Justice League book. sure, the art is nice...but that's about it. paper thin story. Darkseid angry! then...ok, show's over. i know Johns is better than that.

[Ghostbuster]

I don't really think DC thought this through. Earth 2 had Superman, batman, wonder woman,power girl, huntress, Mercury and the roman gods fighting. That's a way more powerful group than the 7 newbies on Earth One!

Also what happened to Darkseid did he die and Steppenwolf took over? Is he now more powerful than Darkseid since he was able to take out Superman and Wonder Woman in two seconds and Darkseid couldn't kill anyone?

[batmanjones]

Well，i think as soon as we learnt that Helena is the daught of Earth 2 Batman, it is very clear that the Batman is Bruce......Besides, when people are sure that Superman of Earth 2 is Clark, it is easy to guess who are the other member of trinity...

There's no reason he couldn't have been Thomas Wayne as he was in the Flashpoint mini-series. He could have been anyone really. The rules are completely different on Earth Two.

As for the Darkseid/multiverse question, it doesn't make any sense to have a different Darkseid for each earth. Darkseid is already from a parallel universe. If the JL and JSA can travel between parallel universes (and they will be able to) certainly Darkseid can.

[Theozilla]

I don't really think DC thought this through. Earth 2 had Superman, batman, wonder woman,power girl, huntress, Mercury and the roman gods fighting. That's a way more powerful group than the 7 newbies on Earth One!

Also what happened to Darkseid did he die and Steppenwolf took over? Is he now more powerful than Darkseid since he was able to take out Superman and Wonder Woman in two seconds and Darkseid couldn't kill anyone?

No Darkseid did not die. Steppenwolf is just a general. And the situations are just different for the different worlds.

As for the Darkseid/multiverse question, it doesn't make any sense to have a different Darkseid for each earth. Darkseid is already from a parallel universe. If the JL and JSA can travel between parallel universes (and they will be able to) certainly Darkseid can.

There are not different Darkseids, the New Gods are being treated as multiversal singularities, Superman in the initial Justice League arc confirmed he saw Apokolips invading multiple Earths and saw different version of himself die. The Darkseid who invaded Earth Prime also invaded Earth-2.

[batmanjones]

That would actually be a pretty interesting concept.

Wasn't that pretty much the case from 1985 until last September? After CoIE, the JSA co-existed with the JLA and pre-dated them as heroes. Superman was late to the game as was Batman. And Wonder Woman was so late to the game that they replaced her in the original JLA with Black Canary. So this is hardly an original idea.

[batmanjones]

Y'know what I want this to be?

Earth 2's Superman, batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, etc.... ? They're all the grown up sidekicks.

Connor is Superman, Dick is batman, Donna is Wonder Woman, Wally is the Flash, etc....

In the real Earth Two, the original that is, Wally West didn't exist and neither did Connor. In fact, there was never even a Superboy on E-2. Superboy was a Silver Age/Earth One concept. I can't remember if there was a Wonder Girl in the Golden Age, but I feel like she/Donna is an E-1 creation as well. And certainly there was no E-2 Teen Titans unless you count Infinity Inc. which had zero of the same members as the TT we know.

[stephens2177]

No. If they are taking the JSA of the main Earth, then at least I want this to be just about them. I have enough Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman on the Main Earth.

this isnt a JSA book,its earth 2,as in the whole earth,with a whole earth of hereos,so the possibilities of more than just the JSA is good.

tim wouldnt be a billionaire whose parents were killed,and cassie wouldnt be a amazon,both would be normal practically well adjusted kids,and the superclone would be created out of supermans scraps and luthors brilliant,but devious mind,with no ties to krypton,or the kents.

so no it wouldnt be the same as the trinity,it would be a much more grounded human trinity.