Review: Worlds' Finest Vol. 2: Hunt and Be Hunted trade paperback (DC Comics)

A major DC Comics character gets his first prolonged screen-time in the New 52 at the end of Worlds' Finest Vol. 2: Hunt and Be Hunted, and seeing what happens with him, Power Girl, and Huntress next will -- Lord help me -- probably bring me back for the third volume. But while Hunt has some interesting moments, they fall amidst a mostly muddled story and way too many artists, and like the first volume this book feels like more filler than plot. Paul Levitz doesn't write a bad Power Girl and Huntress -- in fact, he writes a very good one -- but neither does he quite seem to know what to do with them.

[Review contains spoilers]

The book's first two chapters are essentially an excuse to put Huntress and Robin Damian Wayne on the same page, and they're likely the best of the book. Levitz could have gone the route of many writers when Damian guest-stars, positing Robin as a foul-mouthed kid who shows up or is shown up by the title character. Instead, Levitz digs deeper into this idea of Earth 2 as a parallel earth, to the point where Damian is nearly able to discern Huntress's origins solely by the similarities between their fighting styles during their initial tiff. The sequence is subtle and organic, and ought prove a good model for how other DC heroes might react when they finally meet their Earth 2 counterparts.

Supergirl/Power Girl team-ups have a reputation for the gratuitous (see Supergirl: Candor, for instance), but when Levitz parallel's Huntress's "not-brother" relationship with Damian against Power Girl's reluctance to reach out to her counterpart, it seems a potentially interesting meeting, indeed (it's coming, but I think in the Supergirl title and not under Levitz's pen). As I've said, I think Levitz "gets" this Power Girl and Huntress pretty well; Power Girl's statement late in the book is interesting that, while Huntress Helena Wayne had a debutante ball, Superman kept his Power Girl nee Supergirl hidden as a "secret" weapon, and that some of Power Girl's outlandishness now is a reaction to that. I'd be curious to see how much of this dissonance with her past factors into Power Girl's mixed feelings about "our" Supergirl now.

Hunt or Be Hunted gets a little wonky, however, around the point that Huntress and Damian track down Apokoliptian werewolves that happen to be regularly stealing money from Bruce Wayne -- why, we never find out, and ditto how this couldn't possibly have come to the attention of the Dark Knight himself. Each of the next four issues mainly involve a long fight scene -- Power Girl battles a dictator's forces before she captures the dictator; Huntress brawls with armored troops before she discovers they're supposedly working for Michael "Mister Terrific" Holt; Huntress breaks into Holt's offices twice and fends off his security both times, only to find that Holt is seemingly alive (while readers know he's actually marooned on Earth 2), something that's apparently public knowledge since "Holt" is participating a tech convention. The action, as in the first volume, isn't an end to itself that forwards the plot; instead it simply fills pages from revelation to revelation in the book.

The scene in which Huntress mourns Damian's death-between-the-pages in Batman, Inc. is moving enough, and Levitz uses well the fact that Damian is essentially Huntress's first "Earth 1 friend." The book does ramp up at the first mention of Holt, since again readers know Holt is on Earth 2 and so a storyline about him will likely have larger implications than just for the Worlds' Finest title (though Levitz shoehorning everything from the first volume's villain Hakkou to the werewolves to the gun-smugglers, etc. all to "Holt" stretches the bounds of sense more than a little). When Levitz finally reveals the faux-Holt as New God Desaad, Worlds' Finest only with its twelfth issue finally seems to be getting to its point. Learning more about the New 52 Desaad is enough to entice me to pick up the next volume, but I feel sure Levitz could have reached the same place in considerably less time or at least with more intrigue.

Artist Kevin Maguire, of Justice League International fame, presents himself well as always, especially on those aforementioned initial Damian issues; modern coloring helps to enhance the nice roundness of Maguire's lines. Equally legendary artist George Perez doesn't fare as well in the book, inked first by Maguire such that Perez's lines seem too dark, and later also by Phil Jimenez (no slouch either), whose style would seem to go well with Perez's but also emerges too dark. Toward the end the book takes on a bevy of fill-in artists, both well-known and not, and while no style is grossly different than another, it contributes to the sense of the book not hitting its marks when the art seems to be coming together piecemeal.

I recalled my ambivalence about the first volume of this title when I started reading Worlds' Finest Vol. 2: Hunt and Be Hunted, and I hoped that the second volume might impress me more when the first one didn't. Unfortunately, the second volume is more of the same -- good characters but a plot that mostly spins its wheels with only the occasional movement. The rub is that the cliffhanger in this one is enticing enough to keep going, but I'll probably be slower to grab the next volume of Worlds' Finest than I was this one.

[Includes original covers; does not include full two-page "WTF" cover.]

Later this week ... the first-ever Collected Editions "co-review," of Francesco Francavilla's Black Beetle: No Way Out, and then, Wonder Woman Vol. 4: War. Don't miss it!

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Review: Earth 2 Vol. 2: The Tower of Fate hardcover/paperback (DC Comics)

I know it's a different Earth. I know the personalities are wildly different. But people ... this book has Wesley Dodds on the page, whole and hearty. Who can refuse a book that brings back Wesley Dodds?

[Review contains spoilers]

James Robinson's Earth 2 Vol. 2: The Tower of Fate really only moves the Earth 2 story forward by inches. If, like me, you're simply agog at the new takes on Wesley Dobbs, Al Pratt, Lee Travis, Jason Wing, Red Tornado, and the rest, then the thin plot ought not bother you too much (except to make you eager for the next volume). If playing "spot the obscure DC Comics reference" isn't your thing, however, you shouldn't be watching Arrow you may find yourself wishing Robinson would pick up the pace a little (though unfortunately that would only hasten his departure from the series).

Most of this volume involves the second origin of the new Doctor Fate -- the second origin because, through a series of events probably more convoluted than they needed to be, Khalid Ben-Hassin has already been Fate once, refused the power, and now he's on his way to becoming Fate again. Perhaps because Khalid is Earth 2's first brand new character to take on an established character's mantle, Robinson devotes four issues to his development, mostly setting aside the rest of Earth 2's cast.

I wouldn't have minded the slow build if other things were going on at the same time or if more of the cast had been involved in the Fate story. As it was, it's obvious to all involved from the beginning that Khalid would become Fate again and defeat the book's villain du jour, Wotan, so there was a lack of suspense in, essentially, a story we've read a dozen times before. Robinson offers a couple of surprises, including why Khalid is "Doctor" Fate and also Khalid's connection to a more familiar Fate-related character, but these were not enough to make up for the relative lack of screen-time that Green Lantern, Hawkgirl, and others have in this volume.

At the same time, Robinson is somewhat famous for the slow build, crafting plotlines over years in Starman as well as interrupting the flow with the "Times Past" stories. Tower of Fate includes another such example, in a chapter where Robinson leaves behind all the heroes entirely and focuses instead on Apokoliptian villain Steppenwolf and his protege, the new Fury. I perhaps didn't like so much the spotlight on Steppenwolf -- in the light of day, he's a less scary presence than he was before -- but I appreciate the point Robinson makes here, that the series is Earth 2 and so all the players are of equal importance, heroes and villains.

Mostly I'm curious to see where Robinson takes Earth 2 next. That's tinged with sadness, of course, since Robinson leaves the book with issue #16, which will fall in the middle of the next collection, Earth 2 Vol. 3: Battle Cry (no longer "War," probably because of the Wonder Woman collection by the same name). The upcoming fight with Steppenwolf is one thing -- though there's so many references here to an evil greater than Steppenwolf that I have to imagine the battle against Steppenwolf still won't be the main event -- but also this volume teases the return of Mister Miracle and Big Barda, too. It's almost as much a relief to see them as it is Wesley Dodds -- even if these aren't the exact same characters, many of them were so much maligned toward the end of the pre-Flashpoint DC Universe that there's joy in seeing them rejuvenated, back on the page.

I have a theory that Scott Free and Barda aren't the only New Gods hiding in plain sight in Earth 2 (I won't spoil it but contact me if you want to hear more). That Earth 2 has Mister Miracle and Brian Azzarello's Wonder Woman has Orion would seem to make the two titles rife for a crossover, though Azzarello's title remains largely disconnected from the rest of the DC Universe -- strangely so, considering that the presence of the New Gods might make Wonder Woman a central DC Universe book. One day the Justice League will have to rematch with Darkseid, and one day the Earth 2 characters will have to meet the "Earth 1" characters, and I'd be very pleased if this was a well-organized event that encompassed these various storylines from a variety of titles.

Despite collecting seven issues, James Robinson's Earth 2 Vol. 2: The Tower of Fate feels like an appetizer -- the origin of another member of the new Justice Society as they continue to come together. That's a little off-putting only because Robinson has so precious few issues left; at the same time, if Fate is predictable, it's never boring, and having Doctor Fate around again -- and Alan Scott and Jay Garrick, and Wesley Dodds and the rest -- is enough for me to support a series. Now if only a new Hector Hall would make the scene, unite him with Fury, maybe get a new Infinity Inc. going, then this series would really be on a roll ...

[Includes original and variant covers, two-page "WTF" cover, sketchbook section]

Next week -- we'll stick with James Robinson for a bit with his Vandal Savage story in DC Universe Presents Vol. 2. See you then!

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Review: Worlds' Finest Vol. 1: The Lost Daughters of Earth 2 trade paperback (DC Comics)

An interesting premise and some wisely re-imagined characters carries Paul Levitz's Worlds' Finest: The Lost Daughters of Earth 2 a very far distance. Unfortunately, the number of issues collected here outpaces the utility of the plot, to the point where the book begins to feel decompressed; the juxtaposition of the past and present with artists Kevin Macguire and George Perez respectively is entertaining and certainly pretty to look at, but this too gets gimicky after a while as it fails to come to any cohesive point.

[Review contains spoilers]

The best part of Paul Levitz's Worlds' Finest is his new Earth 2-born Power Girl and Huntress. Though the two initially seem much like their pre-Flashpoint counterparts (as did Huntress in Levitz's Crossbow at the Crossroads miniseries), later in the book Levitz begins to differentiate and re-imagine their voices. Huntress is, in comparison to the former Helena Bertinelli, somewhat bookish and reserved, preferring to remain in the shadows; Power Girl is bold but also surprisingly flirty, more tawdry than one would expect considering that she was once Earth 2's Supergirl.

The two are friends but not close, only having recently reunited; Power Girl Karen Starr nee Kara Zor-El has spent the past five years in the spotlight, building a tech company in an attempt to find a way back to Earth 2, while Huntress has fought crime but largely remained hidden.

Power Girl is brash enough that at times it's hard to fully sympathize with her character; also, that Levitz chooses to have Karen buy her way into corporate dominance rather than on her own smarts, as in the previous continuity, seems a step backward. Huntress, however, is a more interesting study -- a new Robin, the daughter of Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle, raised from birth for the role and having experienced all the pressure and adventures that go along with that. Levitz only scratches the surface of the stories he could tell, well aside from the present Worlds' Finest action.

But most of what this book establishes, it establishes in the first issue. In the past, Power Girl and Huntress are mistakenly shunted to "our" Earth, as also seen in James Robinson's Earth 2: The Gathering, they filch a little of Bruce Wayne's money, and they set up lives for themselves; in the present, they fight a radioactive hulk named Hakkou that's bent on destroying the device that will send them home. Little about that, if at all, changes over the next successive three issues; Levitz shows them continuing to set up their lives, but there are no surprises there that change our understanding of the characters in the present, nor does their continuing fight with the one-note Hakkou reveal anything about how they became stranded across dimensions.

Levitz would seem to take the Lost approach (or do we call it "the Arrow approach" now?), paralleling the present with the characters formative moments in the past. Worlds' Finest has a classic art team, and Maguire especially sells Power Girl and Huntress's clowning around and the differences in their personalities. But again, well-drawn flashbacks aren't enough -- Levitz doesn't actually tie the past action to the present nor offer any new information, so four issues in, the book feels repetitious.

The fifth issue sets Huntress and Power Girl in separate adventures, but again what follows is mostly predictable -- Power Girl fights a rampaging machine in the sunlight, Huntress takes out a sniper in the night. The final issue is the book's Zero Month issue, and this is a good look at the characters' more interesting Supergirl and Robin personas, though I wonder whether Levitz has revealed here too early the circumstances of Selina Kyle's death.

At the same time, Levitz offers up plenty of other mysteries -- maybe too many. Power Girl's powers don't work right on "our" Earth for some reason (though Levitz is never specific how they're different), Huntress has apparently gained a modicum of invulnerability somehow, there's a mysterious belt that made the trip across dimensions with them, Hakkou has some sort of dimension-hopping in his background, and apparently even the circumstances of Power Girl's original arrival on Earth 2 are suspect (it would be an interesting turn if it ended up that Power Girl was sent from "our" Earth to Earth 2 originally and not vice versa as in pre-Flashpoint continuity). Levitz sums up these questions at the end of the fourth chapter, perhaps too helpfully; mystery is fine, but the list of questions only serves as a reminder of all that hasn't been explored already six issues into this series.

I really enjoyed James Robinson's first Earth 2 collection, but unfortunately this second book in the franchise doesn't live up to the first. From writer -- Paul Levitz created Huntress, once upon a time -- to artists to characters and concept, Worlds' Finest: The Lost Daughters of Earth 2 should be a book that can't miss, but unfortunately some good character work only takes it so far. Possibly Levitz had to bide his time here to line up with other events in the DC Universe; hopefully that's the case and this series's second outing will be better than its first.

[Includes original covers, costume designs and sketches by various artists]

New reviews on the way!

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Review: Earth 2 Vol. 1: The Gathering hardcover/paperback (DC Comics)

Just as there's few writers I'd trust more to return Barbara Gordon to the role of Batgirl than Gail Simone, there's few writers I'd trust to re-imagine the Justice Society of America than James Robinson.

I can't help but see the Earth 2 series (the first issues of which are collected in Earth 2: The Gathering) as fitting right in Robinson's writerly sweet spot. It's specifically DC's older heroes, which gives Robinson license to delve into all the DC historical minutia he uses so well, and it's largely an Elseworlds series (though with "real universe" ties), such to let Robinson do his own thing unfettered by larger continuity, in the spirit of his Golden Age.

I have enjoyed and found interesting Robinson's somewhat controversial works since he returned to DC, namely Cry for Justice and Justice League, but now I can finally say this: Earth 2 is James Robinson's best work since Starman, one that I think will fully put him on the map again.

[Review contains spoilers]

What complaints one might have about the new Earth 2 depend largely, I believe, on the expectations the reader brings into it. For instance, I'm thrilled with Robinson's recreation of Green Lantern Alan Scott and don't mind at all that Alan's green powers now come from the Earth; his ecological bent combines Alan's mythos with aspects that hearken to his one-time love Rose "Thorn" Canton, who had plant-based powers and passed them for a time to her daughter Jade -- generally, this all seems germane to Alan Scott, and Alan's demeanor is in line with his pre-Flashpoint "elder statesman" portrayal. (Robinson also offers perhaps the most cogent ever explanation for why this hero should be called Green Lantern, and why his powers should be then summoned through a ring.)

On the other hand, Robinson's new Flash Jay Garrick evokes former (Kid) Flashes Wally West and Bart Allen considerably more than he does the Justice Society's -- and his powers, far from being science based (as science-based as super-speed from inhaling water vapors can be) are now mystically granted by the god Mercury. Granted, old-Jay and new have Mercury's helmet in common, but this is far afield from the Jay of the past, and the greater issue is Jay's personality -- it's considerably jarring to see him go from elder statesman to young turk, impetuous and somewhat naive, especially when Alan Scott beside him keeps his leadership status.

But, indeed, Earth 2 is not the same old thing, though it's clearly a tribute to it. Robinson also introduces here a new Hawkgirl (though still Kendra Saunders, whom Robinson helped create), and a new Atom, Solomon Grundy, Mr. Terrific, and the Sandmen. Each different than before, but each with echoes of the past. And in this way, Earth 2 emerges as something DC Comics has needed for a while -- an ongoing Elseworlds series, a kind of Tangent universe, though where the characters' adventures still "matter," in which the best aspects of an Elseworlds book come through on every page: getting to see old, familiar characters reimagined in new and different ways.

And if the new Jay Garrick reminds us a little bit of Wally and Bart, well, that's not such a bad thing to have around, either.

Earth 2 is a rolicking adventure story that indeed reminded me of Robinson's very first (and only) JSA arc back with David Goyer -- the gathering of the heroes, the mysterious threat in the background, and this time, and all-out battle with Grundy rather than Mordru, which seems more appropriate. Robinson builds a fascinating world here quite outside the new heroes, especially the World Army that polices Earth 2. More than just a Justice League title using different heroes, Earth 2 depicts an entirely different reality even with its own language tics, and learning more about it will keep me coming back just as much as the heroes.

Robinson has always tended toward more emotional explorations of his characters, and in his most recent Justice League run, this almost became too prominent, as well as a certain choppy Superman/Batman-esque tendency to overlap the characters' narration boxes. Both of these aspects are present, worryingly, in the book's first issue (even as Huntress Helena Wayne is about to lose her father, I couldn't quite rectify her sorrow here with the tough Helena Bertinelli that I hear in my head), but fortunately these quirks dissipate once the book gets going.

Sometimes the characters' conversations, in Robinson's Sorkin-esque realistic style, feel disjointed (see Flash repeating Hawkgirl's "Trust me" four pages after the says it), but these are the exception and not the rule. For a reader who might have had difficulty with Robinson's style in the past, they can rest assured that in Earth 2, the coast is clear.

Artist Nicola Scott does her best work for DC so far in Gathering. I have enjoyed her work on Teen Titans, among other places, though I felt at times the characters' faces had a sameness to them. I have no such concerns in Earth 2, and I thought Scott depicted the youthful Jay Garrick especially well, and the inside of the World Army headquarters. It's tough to tell when fill-in artist Eduardo Pansica takes over, too, which is nice, making the look of the book cohesive overall.

From a bunch of great origins to equally-great character interaction and action, Earth 2: The Gathering never stumbles; the quality remains high from start to finish. This is an exciting book, and I couldn't be more thrilled that James Robinson is at its helm. The next volume, Earth 2: Tower of Fate, can't come soon enough; heck, why isn't DC producing digital specials about Earth 2's secondary characters?

[Includes original and variant covers, character designs, pencilled pages by Nicola Scott]

New reviews next week. Have a great weekend!

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