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colindalaska's review against another edition
3.0
Really disappointed with the lack of scope. This is Robinson’s opportunity to reinvent the Justice Society on a brand new world, and other than ditching the Flash’s iconic hat, and making Green Lantern gay he does nothing new. (Including doing a minimalist Blackest Night and retreading the end of Avengers movie)
daphne_dlcrz's review against another edition
4.0
Great Artwork and interesting story. Earth 2 is very different from Earth 1.
cassie_grace's review against another edition
3.0
I love how central Alan Scott is to this story and how unabashedly queer he is. The fight with Grundy wasn’t particularly compelling for me, though, and it was half the book.
rhganci's review against another edition
4.0
Zany antics abound in our first glimpse (sort of) of the New 52 Multiverse, and James Robinson and Nicola Scott give us a weird, quasi world government, a lot of saint language to celebrate the fallen Trinity (Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman, of course), and a new use for a B-list villain that can only provide just the right degree of adversity to bring together, hopefully, the fledgling team of new "Wonders" to protect the world.
It sounds like a scaled-back mega-plot, and to some extent, that's exactly what it is. The plot revolves first around the Earth-2 version of Darkseid's Parademon invasion, the tragic aftermath that martyrs a more-experienced trio of Wonders than the Earth-Prime version we encounter in Justice League, Vol. 1: Origins, and a struggle that unifies a trio of apostate and new metahumans, including a college-age Jay Garrick (the Flash), a Hawkgirl on the run from the World Army, and a brand-new, totally different Green Lantern. Robinson hurries to fill in a lot of the gaps in the 5-year jump forward in time that comes as part of this catch-up volume, and as such, the size of the conflict that the story centers on never feels quite as big as they want it to be. Ultimately, we can be sure that there is much more to come, a larger conflict and a more robust roster of Justice League members (or whatever they're going to be called) in the issues to come, but as that's the expectation that we take away from the story, the end of this first arc falls somewhat flat.
The artwork, however, is stunning. Nicola Scott sketches up a beautiful, detailed world with expressive, easy-to-follow action sequences and impressive settings, especially on splash pages or other large panels. She also gives the story some of the most expressive facial models that I've seen in a while, especially in issue #1, as the entire issue revolves around the final moments of Darkseid's invasion. The drama of that issue lends most of its power to the art of Nicola Scott, and even as the storytelling stumbles towards the end of the collection, the artwork gets better and better, and as such, is worth checking out.
It sounds like a scaled-back mega-plot, and to some extent, that's exactly what it is. The plot revolves first around the Earth-2 version of Darkseid's Parademon invasion, the tragic aftermath that martyrs a more-experienced trio of Wonders than the Earth-Prime version we encounter in Justice League, Vol. 1: Origins, and a struggle that unifies a trio of apostate and new metahumans, including a college-age Jay Garrick (the Flash), a Hawkgirl on the run from the World Army, and a brand-new, totally different Green Lantern. Robinson hurries to fill in a lot of the gaps in the 5-year jump forward in time that comes as part of this catch-up volume, and as such, the size of the conflict that the story centers on never feels quite as big as they want it to be. Ultimately, we can be sure that there is much more to come, a larger conflict and a more robust roster of Justice League members (or whatever they're going to be called) in the issues to come, but as that's the expectation that we take away from the story, the end of this first arc falls somewhat flat.
The artwork, however, is stunning. Nicola Scott sketches up a beautiful, detailed world with expressive, easy-to-follow action sequences and impressive settings, especially on splash pages or other large panels. She also gives the story some of the most expressive facial models that I've seen in a while, especially in issue #1, as the entire issue revolves around the final moments of Darkseid's invasion. The drama of that issue lends most of its power to the art of Nicola Scott, and even as the storytelling stumbles towards the end of the collection, the artwork gets better and better, and as such, is worth checking out.
shane_tiernan's review against another edition
3.0
This started out really dark and then became about the gathering of a new Justice League on an alternate earth. Art was cool, characters were decent, looks like the line-up will probably be Green Lantern, Flash, Atom, and Hawkgirl, but they're not actually "together" yet.
lintkaurea's review against another edition
3.0
Una oportunidad desaprovechada. Podría haber sido muy interesante.
scottpm's review against another edition
4.0
A good reboot of the classic JSA set in the modern world. I can't wait to see where it leads. Hopefully the events of the first issue continue and don't get "fixed."
rorycb's review against another edition
3.0
I am quite the fan of James Robinson's comic book output, but I wouldn't count this is as part of his best work. As interesting as the plotting was, some of the dialogue was a "Stan Lee" level of clunky. However it must have stood out at the time of the New 52 roll-out as something unique and gathered itself a strong following.
It's a bold direction to take a DC Superhero Universe, albeit a parallel one, and it's a boldness you'd wish the mainstream continuity might take. But it only in these creator driven titles, parallel to the mainstream, that interesting superhero stories get told it seems. Interesting that this wasn't to last. Due to it's success, DC management wanted to add another companion title, not written by Robinson, so he walked away from it.
But again I thought it was good but not that good.
I'm a fan of Nicola Scott's art, but I feel her work was robbed of it's specialness by the inking. As evidence I'd point to the original pencils included in the extras that look so much better. Also the title page credits attributes art to another person but doesn't indicate where that starts from, which is annoying. You can only guess when the quality of art drops that it may be this other artist, mimicking the style of Scott's.
Once again it was good, but didn't convince me as being anyone's best work.
It's a bold direction to take a DC Superhero Universe, albeit a parallel one, and it's a boldness you'd wish the mainstream continuity might take. But it only in these creator driven titles, parallel to the mainstream, that interesting superhero stories get told it seems. Interesting that this wasn't to last. Due to it's success, DC management wanted to add another companion title, not written by Robinson, so he walked away from it.
But again I thought it was good but not that good.
I'm a fan of Nicola Scott's art, but I feel her work was robbed of it's specialness by the inking. As evidence I'd point to the original pencils included in the extras that look so much better. Also the title page credits attributes art to another person but doesn't indicate where that starts from, which is annoying. You can only guess when the quality of art drops that it may be this other artist, mimicking the style of Scott's.
Once again it was good, but didn't convince me as being anyone's best work.
mschlat's review against another edition
3.0
If you go far back enough in the history of DC Comics, you reach All-American Publications, an outfit from the 30's and 40's. All-American was responsible for the creation of much of DC's stable of heroes, including Wonder Woman, Hawkman, the Golden Age Flash, and the Golden Age Green Lantern. Later on, during the Silver Age of the 50's, the Flash and Green Lantern were revamped and made part of the new JLA. However, the writers and editors couldn't help but pay homage to the older characters, so readers discovered Earth-2: an alternate dimension where all the original versions still existed (and, of course, had team ups with the new versions).
Decades laters (after a few Crises), we have the New 52. Since now apparently alternate dimensions are great, we have a new Earth 2. In this setting, the corresponding versions of Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman have died fighting an invasion from Apokolips. A few years later, "wonders" (another name for superheros) start appearing, mainly consisting of (wait for it!) re-revamped versions of the All-American heroes.
The volume is therefore a bunch of origin stories and a story of how a super team might get together. (Things aren't fully set at the end of the first volume.) Everything clicked for me, but nothing stood out. Robinson does a good job of establishing characters (especially the new Flash, who screams neophyte at every turn), but I wasn't particularly moved to pick up another volume. One issue may be the art. Scott's art is crisp and clear, but tends to favor spectacle over personal emotion.
Decades laters (after a few Crises), we have the New 52. Since now apparently alternate dimensions are great, we have a new Earth 2. In this setting, the corresponding versions of Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman have died fighting an invasion from Apokolips. A few years later, "wonders" (another name for superheros) start appearing, mainly consisting of (wait for it!) re-revamped versions of the All-American heroes.
The volume is therefore a bunch of origin stories and a story of how a super team might get together. (Things aren't fully set at the end of the first volume.) Everything clicked for me, but nothing stood out. Robinson does a good job of establishing characters (especially the new Flash, who screams neophyte at every turn), but I wasn't particularly moved to pick up another volume. One issue may be the art. Scott's art is crisp and clear, but tends to favor spectacle over personal emotion.
georgezakka's review against another edition
4.0
Earth 2 brings an interesting twist to our favourite characters, immediately the trinity sacrifices themselves to save the world from apokolips. 5 years later were introduced to our new heroes who have to save Washington from the Grey and its host Solomon Grundy. Its exciting and a fun book, with good art. Looking forward to whats next.