Earth 2: World's End #3 - A Review

The most aggravating thing about Earth 2: World's End is a lack of credits by page number for the artists involved.  This annoys me because I need to know who to blame for the fact that Dick Grayson is being drawn like a combination of Mr. Spock and Goku.

I could, in theory, look up each individual artist's name and try and compare this offending page to their other work on-line. But with nine credited artists on this issue alone, that is far more effort than I feel like spending on so mediocre a title.


Mediocre is a strong word, I admit, but it is aptly applied here.  There are many good things about Earth 2: World's End but any greatness is mitigated by the work of less-skilled creators.  The old saying about "too many cooks" has never been more aptly proven.

This applies to both the writing and the artwork.  I've enjoyed the work of Marguerite Bennett and Mike Johnson before and there are a number of well-written scenes with great dialogue throughout the book.  However, the actual plot, as paced by Daniel H. Wilson, leaves much to be desired.


Granting that there are a lot of subplots to balance out, I feel it would be more effective to spend each issue focusing on one or two subplots rather than trying to devote at least one page to each one.  We really need more than one page to convey the scope of Green Lantern's solo effort to rid Rio De Janeiro of monsters.

Earth 2: World's End #2 - A Review

Taken on the level of a summer blockbuster, Earth 2: World's End #2 is an enjoyable story. Building upon last issue's explosive climax, our heroes scatter around the world to deal with the reactivation of the four Apokolptian fire-pits and the emergence of four apparently dormant villains from that evil world.  The first one they encounter is K'li - a preteen girl who raises the dead and introduces herself as an avatar of War.


There's a lot of good action sequences here, but this book suffers in comparison to the monthly Earth 2 book.  There, we had amazing action but we also got a number of good character-building scenes. The closest we get to that here is the implication that Lois "Red Tornado" Lane really hates zombies because they remind her of her own status as a dead woman's spirit in an inhuman body.


As before, the artwork is all over the place.  There are a number of artists with a number of conflicting styles and the final effect is not a positive one. Stylized renditions of our heroes clash with more realistic artwork and naturalistic action scenes look awkward next to more forced poses.

On the whole, I see little reason to pick up this book unless you, like me, are deeply interested in the final fate of Earth 2.  Even then, the lackluster artwork may drive me away from this story.  I really wish DC Comics would assign different art teams to individual issues rather than having multiple artists doing a few pages in each issue of these extended series.

World's Finest #17 - A Review

I fear my patience with World's Finest has finally worn out.  Generally, I've enjoyed this book and I've found Paul Levitz's take on Huntress and Power Girl to be enjoyable.  I've especially liked how he made an effort to include small moments that revealed the characters in each issue, showing the character's personalities outside of their lives as superheroes.  


That being said, it's become apparent that Levitz is being forced to tread water while DC Editorial figures out exactly what it wants to do with these characters in the grand scheme of either Earth 1 or Earth 2.  Why else would the on-going plot of Power Girl's quest to get home be neutralized in favor of her randomly losing her powers while Huntress suddenly becomes obsessed with a super-powered killer who is targeting fashion shows?  Even with part of this story taking place inside of the villain's mind, we're still no clearer on her motives and the whole affair feels very repetitive after last month.


The artwork is a larger issue.  To be quite blunt, Scott McDaniel and R.B. Silva are completely incompatible as artistic partners.  McDaniel's sketchy style is an acquired taste and while his work looks quite good in close-ups, it loses all charm and detail in the mid-range and long-range.  Silva is a good detail-oriented artist, but his strengths lie in depicting rounded, cartoonish figures.  For him to try and ape McDaniel's more angular style is a disservice to them both. 

World's Finest #16 - A Review

World's Finest #16 offers more of the same high-quality superhero action readers have come to expect from this title.  Trapped once more on Earth One following their battle with the villain Desadd last issue, our heroines are reacting quite differently to their missed chance to leap home.  Helena "Huntress" Wayne elects to throw herself into her work and an investigation of a mysterious arsonist targeting fashion shows.  Karen "Power Girl" Star, by contrast, is wallowing in self-pity - not only because of the missed homecoming but because the battle with Desadd has left her superpowers in a state of flux. 

Paul Levitz does a fine job of playing up Karen's loss without making her seem overly emotional.  It helps that Karen's reaction seems far more natural than Helena's mute acceptance of that which she can't control.  Then again, Helena's always been more of a cypher compared to Karen under Levitz's pen and her interest in returning to Earth Two was limited to begin with.


This title's biggest problem has always been its' artwork and a lack of consistency due to the continually rotating art teams.  That trend continues with yet another new team of artists that proves to be far less competent than the previous one.  Scott McDaniel has delivered quality work in the past and indeed his work with Chuck Dixon on Nightwing remains one of my favorite series of all time.  That being said, his breakdowns on this issue are sloppy and R.B. Silva is a poor choice for a finisher.  I liked Silva's work on Superboy but Silva's rounded, deliberate style is at odds with McDaniel's angular sketchy schtick.  The final product is odd to say the least! 


I fear World's Finest is a title adrift.  With the road to Earth Two closed, there is no long-term goal for its' characters nor is their ultimately a point other than heroism for heroism's sake.  That is not necessarily a bad thing given how rare it is to see honestly heroic characters in modern superhero books.  Yet one senses this divide is the one of the few things preventing this book from being a great title rather than a merely good one.  A consistent art team couldn't hurt, either!