Earth-2: The Gathering, Vol. 1 by James Robinson

Genre: Superhero Comics

Series: Earth-2, Vol. 1

Publisher: DC Comics (March 13, 2013)

Length: 160 pages

My Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

First off, I have always had a soft spot in my heart for the Justice Society of America from Earth-2. As a kid, I always enjoyed their guest appearances in other DC comics, so it isn’t difficult to convince me to like these guys.

Second, What If stories are some of my favorites. Sometimes, they can be a bit irritating or ridiculous, but when handled correctly, they provide a nice twist to the familiar.

With both of those things being said, I fully expected to go all fanboy over Earth-2. I mean, the idea of What If all of Earth-2’s heroes were killed turning back Parademons from Apokolips sounded awesome. The further idea of What If new heroes arose and who would these guys be was damn good.

After finishing, I guess, this was an okay first story arch. Some things were great. Some were boring. And there was a lot of things which were okay.

The great things first.

The DC Big Three had a very emotional, heroic send off. Wonder Woman’s final fight was fairly stupid in my opinion, but otherwise the whole episode was tastefully scripted.

I thought the introduction of Green Lantern, Flash, The Atom, and Hawkgirl was handled well. Each one had their moment in the spotlight, even if Hawkgirl’s origins and background are still a bit mysterious. That isn’t really a complaint though, because a bit of  suspense added to the narrative.

The foreshadowing of a potential traitor among mankind’s ranks peaked my interest; one of the main reasons I wanted to read further.

The okay.

Green Lantern’s sexual orientation was handled fairly well, presented as normal, not anything to get all preachy about. Perhaps there were missteps with Alan Scott’s character, but since I’m not gay I don’t know if I overlooked something.

The updated costumes. Okay, Flash has a pretty damn silly helmet. Green Lantern looks better than before, but still not great in my opinion. The Atom has a military vibe. And Hawkgirl – well, she looked okay, I guess, though the color scheme looked strange on her.

The bad.

I didn’t like the superheroes working for the government angle. It has just been done to death. I know it is realistic, but I’m tired of it – which is my personal problem, I suppose.

Solomon Grundy and the whole power of the Gray was a bit flat to me. I’m not a fan of one dimensional villains, and Grundy is definitely a pretty one dimensional guy here, whose only coherent thought seems to be to destroy everyone. Boring stuff to me, even with the whole Green versus Gray twist.

Like I said, Earth-2 isn’t the best comic collection which I’ve ever picked up, but it is a solid read. Entertaining, filled with action, and having enough cool moments to keep a reader’s interest, I’m looking forwarding to continuing on with the series.

Purchase the book at Amazon.