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Is It Good? Earth 2: Society #1 Review

Comic Books

Is It Good? Earth 2: Society #1 Review

Of the three weeklies that ran for a bit, I ultimately gave up on Earth 2: World’s End. Between the fact that it was doing way too much and the villains feeling way too overpowered (among other reasons), I just stopped. Now at the end of it all comes this brand new comic called Earth 2: Society, written by one of the weekly’s writers by the name of Daniel H. Wilson. Is it good?


Earth 2: Society #1 (DC Comics)


Is It Good? Earth 2: Society #1 Review

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After the events of Earth 2: World’s End, a lot of the citizens of that Earth have escaped and have begun settling down on a new planet to start over. Twelve escape ships survived and twelve cities have been built. However, how smoothly will things go for our heroes?

Of all the new series, new creative teams, and big changes to happen in DC Comics this month; Earth 2: Society was the one I was the most unsure about considering how much crap all of those characters had to put up with. Sadly and almost not surprisingly, Earth 2: Society #1 was a mediocre and quite dull beginning. To start with, this comic is no way new reader friendly. Unless you have specifically been following the events of Earth 2 and its weekly title closely, you are going to be very much lost on what is happening. The comic gives you a very rushed summation of what happened at the end of the weekly before diving into the deep end and that’s really it. It’s a comic that demands new readers to just go with it, but it comes across as too exclusive and presents nothing of value or substance to really dig into either.

Is It Good? Earth 2: Society #1 Review
Shinier? What kind of Batman uses the word “shinier”?

And therein lies the biggest problem of this comic, it lacks substance. The story is entirely setup and barely goes anywhere. Considering this is the extension of the weekly, you’d think the writer would get the ball rolling with some excitement and move the story forward. However, it just covers the characters arriving on the Earth and what the new Batman is up to in the present. We don’t know what this new Earth is like, how we got to this point, have very little in the way of characterization for almost anyone, and there’s barely any hook here to pique your interest. At best, we know that Green Lantern is acting oddly and that someone is after Terry Sloan, but that’s it! I’ve heard that this comic will be switching back and forth between different characters each issue, but couldn’t Wilson at least make this a bit more exciting or give us more than this?

There’s really not much to say about the writing in this comic. Characterization is lacking, just hitting the same character beats from the weekly and not doing much else. Only Dick Grayson of Earth 2 is given any focus and everyone else is just sort of there for a quick cameo to remind you they exist. I get the approach to the comic, but for a first issue, it would have been nice to see any of the other five characters on the cover do something. The pacing is fast and the comic goes by very quickly with not much going on. The dialogue and narration is bland, with no real good or memorable lines of any kind. No sense of humor, no urgency, no strong drama since the story takes place after everyone arrived, and barely any intrigue. This is a really hollow and flavorless experience.

Is It Good? Earth 2: Society #1 Review
Thank you Jorge. I so wanted an emphasis on Barbara’s cleavage when she was shot to death.

The artwork by Jorge Jimenez is the only real positive going for the book. The layouts are easy to follow and read, the characters look pretty decent (though Sloan looks like Constantine in some panels), the colors are nice, there are some nice shots on occasion, and I do like the use of shadows and inking here in some scenes. That’s pretty much it though, since the artwork really doesn’t have much else to work with when the script is so forgettable.

Is It Good?

Earth 2: Society #1 is the first (and hopefully only) bad new book DC Comics launched in their new program. The story is lackluster and barebones. The artwork is nice but has little to work with considering the forgettable writing, and even though it is intentional by the writer, there’s barely any characterization going on here. With so many new comics and new creative teams that DC is putting forth, there are much better things you could be spending your money on this month if you need your superhero fix.

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