Written by Daniel H. Wilson
Breakdowns by Scott McDaniel
Pencils by Paulo Siqueira
Published by DC Comics
This week brings something miraculous as Earth 2: World’s End finally calms down from the hectic and segmented narrative it’s been rolling with since its launch. This issue is something surprising as the paragraphs of pencils and inkers usually accredited for a single issue gives way to Paulo Siqueira. It seems this issue is meant to serve as filler and explanation for some of the things the series has left unexplained. It’s a nice breather, but not quite enough to salvage the series.
If there’s one thing that makes this issue stand out it’s that the story is much more focused. Main World’s End scribe, Daniel H. Wilson takes over this issue which is entirely about the New Gods team, Mr. Miracle, Big Barda, and Fury. They really need some time to themselves as they’re the characters with the least explanation and backstory. Their allegiances to Apokolips and Earth have been in constant flux, something that does continue into this issue with Big Barda. One of the major stumbling points of World’s End has been the lax backstory to the New Gods. This issue opens up with Darkseid escaping from his prison at the core of Apokolips. Why and how he’s been locked up has yet to be explained, and it’s all very confusing. There are additional cases of characters and technology using abilities not before established, similar to how the helm of Dr. Fate and a Motherbox can combine simply because the narrative says so. On the plus side, this issue explains the nature of how the new New Gods mythology and the multiverse function in the New 52. It seems this Darkseid is in fact the Darkseid who attacked the main DC Earth in the opening arc of Geoff Johns’ ‘Justice League.’ It seems part of the famous deal where Darkseid and Highfather exchange their sons was that Darkseid was given the Earth 2 universe to be his domain. It’s simple things like this which could have been explained with a few lines of dialogue and made ‘World’s End’ a much simpler read. Easily the highlight of this issue is that it brings the underdeveloped Fury into her own character, something she’s needed for a long time.
What brings this issue up ranks beyond any previous installments is that it’s the only issue to feature one penciler, Paulo Siqueira. While Siqueira is not the best artist in World’s End’s talent pool, he’s practically a godsend this week. There’s no change in art teams every six pages. It’s not the best choice of talent, but it’s preferable to the tangled mess of styles that has plagued this book.
Earth 2: World’s End #11 does a lot of service to the series. The breakneck pace is finally stopped to best tell the audience about what’s going on. It’s by no means a redemption of the title, but it’s better than the alternative.