Earth 2: World’s End #26 Review

All hail Darkseid!

Alternate universe stories can be great because literally anything can happen. You can’t do that in a regular ongoing title because you want a reader to pick up the next issue and find it in almost exactly the same position as it was last month.

That’s been part of the fun in reading Earth 2 since it first was released. You can make Alan Scott gay and explore his relationships while getting some good publicity out of it, for instance. You can have a different member of the Wayne family be Batman, and it lets you put a different spin on the character.

DC had been selling several weekly titles for the last several months, and the World’s End book helped flesh out an epic storyline in this alternate universe.

EARTH 2: WORLD’S END #26
Writers: Mike Johnson, Marguerite Bennett, Daniel H. Wilson
Artists: Paulo Siqueira, Robson Rocha, RB Silva, Jorge Jimenez, Tyler Kirkham, Eddy Barrows
Cover: Andy Kubert
Publisher: DC Comics
Cover Price: $3.99

Previously in Earth 2: World’s End: Can Alan Scott harness the power of the planet as Green Lantern to stop the invasion of Earth-2?

THE BAD GUY WINS EVERY ONCE IN A WHILE

In “our” universe, it’s important that a certain status quo be maintained, as I previously mentioned. But in the Earth 2 universe, you can have a “world’s end” and mean it!

We’ve been watching Darkseid attack Earth in this series, and it’s been quite a costly battle for the heroes. I can’t help but compare it to when that dark god attacked the Justice League in their comic. Things went much easier for the good guys. The challenge there is to figure out how they’ll win, not if.

However, it’s fun not knowing that the villain will be defeated each time. And this series has been called World’s End for a good reason, which takes place in this final issue.

The characters have been dealing with a lot of loss, including the aforementioned Green Lantern. He’s lost his lover and recently had to endure the passing of several other powerful avatars. That’s helped him get juiced up, but taking on a god can take a lot of power, perhaps more than he has even now.

I’ve particularly liked seeing this world’s version of Dick Grayson. He’s still the noble hero we’re used to encountering on “Earth 1,” but he’s taken a different path, having married Barbara Gordon and raising a child. Given that many comics prefer single guys and gals, following a character with a family has been a unique and positive experience.

During the coming weeks, we’ll see these characters in the “Convergence” event, and I’m going to fascinated to see how they are involved with that “multiverse” series. I’m hoping they can continue their journey forward, but we’ll see.

KEEPING A WEEKLY GOING

There have been several creators involved with both the scripting and the art in this weekly, and personally I enjoyed their efforts. I didn’t mind the art changing occasionally from page to page because putting out a weekly comic can be a real challenge! This is one way to keep it on schedule that I didn’t mind since the art was reasonably consistent from page to page.

To my knowledge, this series didn’t miss a week, and that’s quite an accomplishment! I think that’s also true of Futures End and Batman: Eternal, so DC’s got this all down to a pattern.

As I’ve said with Batman: Eternal, it’s been great to know that every Wednesday, I was going to get a great Bat-book to read each week. The same has been true of the other weeklies, and I was always on the edge of my seat each week, wondering what was about to happen in Earth 2. It’s been a great ride.

This book handled things in a 24-like manner, having multiple storylines going on, with each one often focusing on different people. That worked here because the supporting cast has been a strong one, with the Flash and Hawkgirl being really important. It was also great fun to see Doctor Fate get “helmet” time again.

BOTTOM LINE: An Earth-Shattering Event Concludes

The irony of this whole situation is that we know Geoff Johns has a “Darkseid War” coming in Justice League. The fact that the Earth has taken quite a pounding in Earth 2 adds just a bit of doubt to how that storyline will resolve itself.

I’ve heard from several store owners that the weekly books have sold pretty well in their shops. My hope is that DC will take notice and put out a new weekly or two after Convergence has concluded and the new titles have settled into place.

And this isn’t the end for Earth 2. Following “Convergence,” the new series will be called Earth 2: Society, an obvious reference to the Justice Society, that world’s version of the Justice League in previous incarnations. After this epic story, I’m looking forward to see what these creators have in mind for this alternate reality! They’ve got my interest grabbed!

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