Earth 2 1: The Gathering

The Earth 2 series is probably my favorite series of the New 52. The art is amazing and the storyline and the setup are intriguing. I really want to know where Robinson is going to go with this.The beginning of the book has Earth 2 facing absolute disaster, with Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman fighting a losing action against the hordes of Darkseid, led by Steppenwolf. They need a miracle and, fortunately, Batman is able to come up with one. Unfortunately, the mission is a suicide mission and all three are killed, as are the rest of Earth 2's heroes, known here as "wonders.". Darkseid's forces are destroyed and the Earth saved, although Steppenwolf manages to escape the carnage.We then flash forward several years, to a world without wonders, as we are introduced to two of the characters who will become the mainstay of the new series: media mogul Alan Scott and a very young Jay Garrick, the latter of whom is being rather cruelly dumped by his girlfriend for being something of a loser. Forget what you know about the classic Jay and Alan, Flash and Green Lantern, respectively; these are completely different characters, with different origins.Jay gets his powers after he finds the god Mercury, the last of the pantheon that was associated with Wonder Woman (the rest were destroyed in the final battle with Darkseid). He's been held prisoner for years by a power that he claims is an even greater threat than Darkseid was. He manages to escape but did so at the cost of his life. He has one trick left, though, and that is the power to gift his speed to a worthy human. Jay passes his test and becomes the Flash.A sidebar shows a very confused Earth One's Mr. Terrific teleporting in to New York, where he is greeted by Terry Sloan, the self-proclaimed "smartest man on earth," who has predicted his coming and who wants to use his powers and technology for his own purposes. This is just a brief foreshadow of a character of whom we will see much more later.Jay decides to check out his powers and finds, to his amazement, that he can do just about anything (well, aside from stopping). He saves a couple, finds that he can run up walls, across an ocean, and he finds that he has ended up in Poland, where he is greeted by a not-too-friendly Hawkgirl, aiming a crossbow at him.Meanwhile, Alan Scott has flown into Hong Kong, where he meets his lover, Sam. They get on a bullet train headed for a resort to have some quality time together. Alan has just proposed to Sam when we see the front of the train destroyed in a massive explosion as the rest of the train dives off a bridge and plummets into the gorge below. Sam is killed in the crash and Alan is badly injured but is confronted and healed by a green flame, "all the power of the earth." The flame tells him that "an evil will soon be upon the earth" that could destroy all life. The earth needs a champion and it has selected Alan Scott. The engagement ring that Alan had intended to give to Sam is repurposed as a source for the power that Alan is given and the Green Lantern is born.Unfortunately, the selection of a green champion also awakens "the grey," which has its own champion, a completely reimagined Solomon Grundy, whose power is to absorb all life essences around him, plant and animal alike, killing them in the process and strengthening himself. Hawkgirl and the Flash are the first to see and feel the impact of Grundy, even though they have no idea what's going on.The last of our protagonists is introduced in a flashback, the survivor of an atomic blast, Al Pratt, better known as the Atom, but an Atom reimagined, both in terms of his powers and his role as a military man, acting essentially as a government hero/agent.Grundy has reached America and is attacking the nation's capital, which causes all of our various heroes to converge. Al is ordered there by his superiors, Alan is sent there by the green flame, and Kendra (Hawkgirl) and Jay follow Grundy's trail of destruction. When Al arrives, we see his power vividly: he can grow to giant size and he appears to have some form of energy blasts. He lands atop Grundy and thinks the battle is over. A bit of conversation reveals that Kendra and Al have a history and that he has a mandate to bring her, and any other wonders, back under control of the World Army Council.Speaking of the Council, we are taken to its headquarters where we are introduced to Wesley Dodds (whom oldtimers will recognize as the Sandman but who here appears to be a master agent for the Council). The leader of their military wing, Khan, is arguing with his superiors, who want to nuke DC, and aren't convinced that his strategy will be successful.Back at the site, Al now realizes that his assumption of victory was premature, as Grundy reforms and starts feeding on his power. Hawkgirl and Flash rescue him while Green Lantern takes on Grundy. Back at the Council, the world leaders have decided to pin their hopes on someone we've previously met: Terry Sloan. It's clear that there is some back history there, as Khan's first reaction is to ask his men to arrest Sloan. The order is countermanded and Khan is ordered to work with Sloan, who we now find out has already ordered the nuclear attack on Grundy and Washington, D.C.Green Lantern has realized that the fight is futile and they need a new tactic, so he asks the others to continue the fight and defend his body while he goes inward to confront the gray, Grundy's master. The gray tries to subvert him by offering him an image of his dead lover, Sam, and at first the grieving Green Lantern is overwhelmed and compliant. However, he soon realizes the emptiness of the promise and so he overcomes the challenge. The gray refuses to withdraw Grundy and Green Lantern finds that he cannot attack the power directly. However, in the conversation, he gets a clue as to how to defeat Grundy, so he returns to his body and to the battle.I won't reveal the ending but it's a fitting end, in my opinion, and there is some interesting foreshadowing of events to come. This is a very promising start: some new and different origins for both heroes and villains, good action sequences, fantastic artwork, and some good hints of excitement to come. Highly recommended.

When the New 52 came out, beyond the sales figures exploding left and right, many pre-52 fans were crying foul because their old universe had changed. Change is difficult for comic fans because they invest so much time and money into the characters they has grown on them. So after the initial release of the New 52, DC announced Earth 2, an alternate universe away from Earth 1 continuity (the 52 DC titles) in hopes of calming down fans of the old universe, as well as getting established comic writer James Robinson and artist Nicola Scott to better exemplify this. Now does this mean Earth 2 carries on the stories and characters of the previous DC Universe? No. This is still the New 52 version of the Earth 2, but it gives Robinson his own new universe to build up and reintroduce many characters for fans of the Golden Age of comics which is quite interesting.EARTH 2 VOL.1: THE GATHERING collects issues #1-6 and see's Earth 2's "Trinity of Wonders" Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman sacrifice their lives to save Earth from Apokolips 5 years ago (the exact same timeframe as Earth 1's Geoff Johns own  Justice League, Vol. 1: Origin (The New 52) ). In the present day, 5 years have passed which the planet has had peace since then, but the scars of the planet will forever stay intake. But something is coming that will break the time of peace and Earth needs new heroes to defend the planet. Enter Alan Scott (Green Lantern), Jay Gerrick (The Flash), Kendra (Hawkgirl), and The Atom to rise to the occasion.The story is essentially like any beginning team book in that we get introduced to the characters, know a little about them, and team up and fight back the bad guy. It's simple as that, but Earth 2 is subtly different intone. Earth 1 has its big team series Justice League with top writer Geoff Johns and top artist Jim Lee making a huge summer movie blockbuster introduction. It's a fun book but it is a little silly and it doesn't delve on the characters specifically, but the team. Earth 2 on the other hand has more a low-key introduction (except the beginning battle with Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman reenacting it's own version of the Apokolips) with established name writer James Robinson and artist Nicola Scott actually building the world around them and introducing old characters with new takes on them with a more slower, less ambitious idea. This is what makes Earth 2 diverse and different from other DC books because it's not so much about extreme action and absurd situations, but more about building the world one step at a time under the New 52 label.A new universe means alternative takes and origins for these characters, like Alan Scott is a corporate spokesman and owner who instead of finding a meteorite and carving his ring from it, his powers come from the Earth. Jay Garrick gains his powers from the Messenger God Hermes instead inhaling hard vapors. And Hawkgirl and The Atom (he's actually the Atom Smasher, not to be confused with Ray Palmer The Atom) will have their origins down the road, but all characters so far have enough differences for this new take and similarities to their old Pre-52 Golden Age selves that the fan in me enjoyed what Robinson is cooking up for these characters. Even more so with all of the many name drops and teases that most hardcore DC fans will find themselves gitty with excitement to what is in store down the road what is to the inevitable formation of the Justice Society of America. When that happens, I don't really care when, but fans of this comic will go along for the ride just to see their favorite characters reintroduced in the New 52 Earth 2.Nicola Scott does some stunning art work that ranges from big and epic (the Apokolips fight), to light and humorous (Jay adjusting to his new powers), to powerful and quite emotional (Alan becoming the Green Lantern). Scott does some great art and carries much of the narrative well. Eduardo Pansica does some of the fill-in art between some of the issues with Scott and for the most, it's handled very well.As for complaints, there a few.- First thing the most notable, that being is the misleading cover. Yes Ivan Reis does the all of the beautiful covers and this is the cover to issue 1, but Earth 2 Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman only appear in issue #1 and that is it. They are dead. So please do not confuse the book thinking you're going to get these characters, because you're not.- Second has to go to Robinson's writing. The man has a bad tendency to over write his books and Earth 2 is no different, as well as some the character interactions are bit stiff.- Third is probably the biggest flaw depending on the perspective, is the new roles for Earth 2 characters. This being an alternate universe of old DC characters, many people might not like the changes in these characters, especially the highly debatable decision to turn Alan Scott gay. This was all over the news media when it first hit. For the most part, it doesn't really effect the comic at all when you see for yourself and it doesn't really affect me. I'm open-minded about a lot of things, especially fictional characters, because their not real. I know some purist will hate this idea, but again, this is an alternate universe and Robinson is playing with that idea. Who knows? Earth 1 Alan Scott could be straight for all of those purists? I don't know, but it is what it is and it doesn't affect me.- And finally if you're not familiar with the Pre-52 universe, especially the golden age characters, then you might not like or get this. Most of the charm and fun I found about this series is the notion of knowing the characters and future teases due to my knowledge of DC lore. If you're new or not familiar to these characters, most of excitement might be lost.EARTH 2 VOL.1: THE GATHERING does exactly what it is meant to do in building the world and the reinterpretations of old golden age characters with a fresh new spin on them. Even if the writing is a bit long and weak in some parts and having an open mind on these new interpretations of old characters, I am excited for is to come in the future. If you're a fan of the JSA Pre-52, then I think you'll really like where this book is heading so I think it's worthy of 4 star rating. New fans might like this book, but not be balled over, which I would give it a 3 star review. Very interested to see the introduction of Dr. Fate in volume 2!

The Justice Society was always a favorite of mine and Earth 2 was always fun. But this reboot takes a serious turn for the dark. I really liked it. Please read and enjoy.

Parallel Earths have been a major part of DC's continuity on and off since the early 60's (they disappeared for many years after Crisis On Infinite Earths). The first and most fondly regarded was Earth 2 on which heroes first appeared just before World War 2 (as, of course, they did in the comics of the time) and those characters became a firm part of DC's continuity (even after Crisis altered the continuity so that they had always been on Earth 1) and stayed there pretty much until the massive reboot which is DC's New 52 when superheroes only appeared about five years before the timeline of the new 52 comics begins.So what DC has done is effectively wipe out those much loved (by older comics fans at least) Golden Age characters. Now writer James ('Starman') Robinson has created a new Earth 2 but this time (and there are other differences), the diversion from Earth One's timeline is the invasion by Apokolips when Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman (Earth 2's only superheroes) died saving the world. It's now five years later and new superheroes (or 'wonders' as they are called on this world) are just appearing. This first installment features new Green Lantern, Flash, Atom and Hawkgirl whose alter egos are the same as the original Earth 2 characters so that link remains. They are, however, often very different to their originals -media magnate Alan Scott (GL) is openly gay. They are brought together to fight a new Solomon Grundy whose origin is a bit too close to the New 52's Rot for my liking, but that's a minor quibble.Writer Robinson produces his best work by far since his memorable run on Starman, creating interesting new characters with a lot of potential. The society in which they live is different with ample room for exploration -as a result of the invasion, there's now a world army. The pace of the narrative is fast and furious as GL and The Flash discover their new powers. The artist is (and at this point please feel free to imagine an imaginary chorus singing 'Hallelujah!') the wonderful, the awesome Nicola Scott of pre-New 52 Birds Of Prey fame who draws with energy and dynamism. And full marks to Trevor (no relation) Scott whose inking does justice to Nicola's pencils.Simply, this is one of the best titles to come out of the New 52 and only misses a 5 star rating by a hairsbreadth. Essential!

was bit disappointed on reading thin on the Kindle Fire HDX...some of the two page pictures cant resize so the text seems tiny. The pics are all really well drawn but this is a bit of a drawback on the Kindle.

Was always interested in the concept of an alternate Earth so this was one new 52 comic I was going to pick up and I am glad I did.Three heroes have saved Earth at a cost of their lives, its up to a new group of heroes(some of them only recently acquiring powers) to band together as the new wonders of Earth.

Not for me but my son who claims this series are some of the best written comics ever

Very good graphic novel, I love it when they do alternative worlds because it gives the lesser known characters a chance to shine and they seem really up against it in this world!