EARTH 2 #23

[ MY TITS ARE MADE OF METAL ] 

Now listen very-very closely, people, because I will say this only once. You, Tom Taylor, I want you to write some short yet snappy sentences. You, Nicola Scott, I want you to draw some dynamic yet daring visuals. And as for you, DC Comics, well, make yourself look pretty, God damn it!! You've really gone down hill since June, 2014.

To QUOTE Sun Tzu: 'The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting'.

THE STORY:

Now listen here, Val. Are you seriously trying to tell me that you allowed Superman to take Lois? And that the only real reason you and Hawkgirl managed to make you way back to the Batcave, is because the once-dead Green Lantern saved your collective asses?

Yes! Yes you are? Oh! Fair enough then. Still. It could have be a lot worse I suppose. Superman could have also told Bedlam to send his army of War Hounds to savagely attack us.

WOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHH!

F*ck! Spoke too soon. Red Arrow, over and out, SPLAT!

THE GOOD:

Now normally I'm not a huge fan of this type of action-packed story-line. And I say this because this sort of thing is nothing more than a sequence of action inspired events, which lead onto another sequence of action inspired events.

This time, though, there was a certain quizzical aspect about it that made me stand-up and really take-notice. Specifically, where the characters and the artwork were concerned.

Well, let's face it. Combined with some pretty spectacular fighting scenes -- thanks to Nicola Scott's vast yet cinematic visuals -- there's also a tale with a number of character driven questions that are dying to be answered. Such as
(1) Why did Superman take Lois to see his parents?
(2) How did Green Lantern come back from the dead?
(3) When will Doctor Fate get his brain back on track?
(4) How did Jimmy Olsen get his powers?
(5) What's happening with the Flash?
(6) Why the f*ck does Superman want to kill Batman? Plus does he know he's not Bruce?

See what I mean?

THE BAD:

Once again the only problem I had with this adventure was that it was a very quick read. Now maybe this had something to do with the pacing of the overall narrative. Cause in all fairness, it did come across more like a fighting-adventure than a talking-adventure. Not that this was a bad thing of course. Nonetheless, it's still worth mentioning all the same.   

THE MUSIC:

I feel compelled to compare this comic book to the Fugees / Roberta Flack classic, 'Killing Me Softly', mainly because of that scene where Superman took Lois to see his parents. Ha!

THE COMPARISON:

As implied by some of the comments I've already made, folks, generally speaking this pretty dazzling tale comprised a lot of fighting and a modicum of talking. And so, using this loose pretext as a guide for my comparison, I'd say it would work fairly well with a professional wrestler of some kind. Preferably a pretty one.

Ggrrrr! Down boy!

THE CONCLUSION:

Now something I deliberately failed to mention was that a certain character died in this issue in a rather needless fashion. I mean, why's DC doing this all of a sudden, eh? Why introduce us to a new character with some promise, and then kill them off without a care in the world?

OK. I know I might be jumping the gun here. But having said that the manner in which this character perished did feel fairly final somehow. Permanent even. As though they would never grace these page's again unless it was part of a flash-back sequence.

Then again I could also be talking crap. Sometimes when I'm writing one of these summations I can never second guess what's coming up next month. And this, in turn, makes my conclusion either seem pre-judgemental by nature, or idiotic by default.

Although I suppose what I'm trying to say -- in a rather muddled fashion I might add -- is that the uncertainty 'Earth 2' brings along with it, could either be its downfall or its saving grace.

Know what I mean? Nuff said!