Welcome to the new column “Comics Issues” where two Sound on Sight comics writers debate a important or controversial comics industry topic. First up, we discuss whether the DC New 52 was a successful initiative or not. Feel free to post your opinion in the comments below.
In the Pilot episode the Penguin warns Gordon that there will be a war coming to Gotham City, a war that would possibly result in a change of power amongst the crime bosses. As it turns out Penguin was not merely playing Cassandra predicting doom for Gotham but planned for the war to happen all along. Ever since the Wayne Murders the Falcone crime empire began crumbling due to having lost one of its pillars leaving Falcone weak in his reign which prompted all of the crime underbosses to sniff around and try to tear him down. Although the Wayne Murderer remains a mystery the finale resolves Falcone time in power, relinquishing him to possibly make way for the dawn of a new class of villain to overtake Gotham, one that will be full of colorfully criminal characters and Machiavellian madmen (and madwomen); the Gotham City by which the comic book mythos are based. Now that Falcone has fallen, is the new Gotham City finally rising?
Lucius Fox: “You want to be able to turn your head.” Bruce Wayne: “Sure would make backing out of the driveway easier.” ―Lucius Fox and Bruce Wayne Tim Burton, Joel Schumacher, and Christopher Nolan have all left their mark on Batman’s cinematic incarnations with varying degrees of success. Burton’s distinctive gothic style redefined Batman for …
Batman #40 features the battle to end all battles between Batman and the Joker drawn in gory detail by Greg Capullo and Danny Miki, but the scraps of dialogue between the blows and explosion are occasionally weighed down by exposition. Snyder does punch things up in the third act and leave Gotham and the Batman title as wide open as it’s been since the dawn of the New 52. He and Capullo make “Endgame” the dark mirror of Batman Eternal, and it’s interesting to see this storyline fit in the larger context of their run on Batman and the weekly series, which preceded it. Questionable plot devices aside, Batman #40 concludes the “Endgame” in a brutal, personal manner that really shakes up the status quo on this book.
DC’s latest event comic reaches its second (technically third) issue and continues the trend of disappointment. Despite a star studded cast of the excellent Earth 2 hero roster, Convergence has had very little to do despite all the publicity hype and the bringing in of countless parts of DC’s history. With so many great stories on the table, it’s a shame that this story ends up so empty.
As DC’s next big soft-core reboot begins underway, one of the most troubling facts to acknowledge is that despite the compay’s claims to have a new marketing strategy with a wider target audience in mind, that some of their most troubling decisions dating all the way back to 2011 are going nowhere. Case in point, just about everything involving DC’s handling of Wonder Woman, not just in comics but also video games, animated movies, and very likely the upcoming live action films, seems to be stripping the character of the revolutionary feminist philosophies that she was born from and replacing it with the same toxic masculinity straight out of 300. DC has taken William Moulton Marston and swapped him for Frank Miller and it still remains one of the New 52’s cardinal sins that intends to live on beyond Convergence.
It’s finally come down to this, the end of World’s End. This drawn out excuse of a weekly has been going on for a good half a year and now the oversized creative crew gets to do their final send off to the book and this entire world. It’s about as disappointing as one would expect.
Next year will mark the fiftieth anniversary of the debut of Batman, the 60s series starring Adam West as the titular superhero and his alter-ego Bruce Wayne, and Burt Ward as the Dick Grayson version of Robin. But even though the series ended in 1968, the duo’s involvement with the iconic DC hero and the …
So it’s come to this, the penultimate issue of Earth 2: World’s End and what is soon to lead in to DC’s much hyped Convergence event. Does it surprise anyone that this issue is bad? Of course not! If there’s one thing that can be said about World’s End, it’s that it’s consistently awful.
It’s the same old drill again, another issue of DC’s regular installment of disappointment. Guess it’s time to get it done. Earth 2: World’s End reaches issue #24 and is set to conclude in two weeks. Looking back on the last six and a half months leads one to conclude that the finale will most certainly be disappointing given how mismanaged this entire endeavor has been since day one. That being said, this week brings shockingly the closest knit issue to date, that is to say, there’s something that ties the many plot lines together and not something like the terrible art or drawn out fight scenes.
Batman #39 is headed towards another meeting of greatest foes. The Joker has been ahead of Batman at every punch in this arc. To save Gotham Batman must prove again the Joker underestimated him. When it unfolds, Batman will have to become the aggressor and improviser that the Joker has been. If he fails, he’ll become the bat hanging upside down. The Joker has promised his best trick of all, Snyder will deliver.
Like a weekly root canal, it’s time to endure Earth 2: World’s End again. At least there’s solace that this defilement of this once great universe will soon end. What is truly making this final stretch of World’s End appalling is how little is happening. The last twenty two issues have featured their cast effectively spinning their wheels in the mud and one would assume that’s to kill time, both to justify this book’s status as a weekly and to build up to a great planet shattering climax. As previously stated, the end of the world is shockingly dull.
Well, it’s finally come, the last issue of Earth 2. The reason Earth 2 and its weekly series Earth 2: World’s End gets reviewed every week is that despite all the bad worlds said about in the last six months, Earth 2 used to be one of the best books coming out of DC. In fact, it was one of the few books that made the New 52 somewhat justified in its existence. Instead of rehashing older stories or making embarrassing changes to characters older than the company that published them, Earth 2 did something different. It build a whole new world from the ground up, embracing its comic book roots by being a series about ordinary people swept up into the world of the impossible and altruism and hope overcome the darkest to times. It broke standards by bringing Lois Lane, who’d been killed off panel for little purpose, back from the dead as a superhero and making Val Zod a more true-to-nature version of Superman than Superman has been in years. It was helmed by the great James Robinson and continued by the excellent Tom Taylor. Yet that golden age has come to a close, for the past six months DC has done everything in its power to sabotage this series. It turned this book into little more than a tie-in to World’s End which itself is little more than a sloppy mess of a title, stumbling its way to the finish line. What little gems of aspiration could have been found were buried under editorial mandate and terrible management. While this series will live on after the upcoming Convergence event as Earth 2: Society, the damage has been done. There is little to no hope for this series to ever reclaim its greatness. Hence it is with a heavy heart that this is the last issue of Earth 2.
Earth 2: World’s End #22 Written by Daniel H. Wilson, Marguerite Bennett, Mike Johnson, & Cullen Bunn Art by Scott McDaniel, Tyler Kirkham, Eduardo Pansica & Marc Deering, Jack Herbert & Vicente Cifuentes, Jorge Jimenez, Robson Rocha & Guillermo Ortego Colors by Gabe Eltaeb Published by DC Comics Well it’s a new week which means …
Another week means another issue of Earth 2: World’s End and while the chance for this series to be anything beyond cheap tie-in material to DC’s Convergence event has long passed by, this issue is a shocking improvement to what has usually be a painful slog to read. It’s true that this series has stuck the terrible decision to split art duties between plotlines instead of individual issues such as with Futures End and Batman Eternal, but for once this series does something that resembles competence.
Earth 2: World’s End #20 Written by Daniel H. Wilson, Marguerite Bennett, Mike Johnson, & Cullen Bunn Art by Scott McDaniel, Tyler Kirkham, RB Silva & Walden Wong, Jorge Jimenez, Robson Rocha & Guillermo Ortego Published by DC Comics Once again Earth 2: World’s End rears its ugly, ugly head as the book is wont …
Last week, Earth 2: World’s End did something unexpected, it improved. With the help of Cullen Bunn, issue #19 has some moments to shine with great characterization and heart-felt moments to wash out the terrible artwork and redundant Life Avatar battles. All of that goes right down the tubes as World’s End falls back into line with over-stretched plot lines, sloppy science fiction, and egregious artwork.
Earth 2: World’s End #18 Written by Daniel H. Wilson, Marguerite Bennett, Mike Johnson, Cullen Bunn Art by Scott McDaniel, Eddy Barrows, Eber Ferreira, R. B. Silva, Walden Wong, Eduardo Pansica, Marc Deering, Jorge Jimenez, & Tyler Kirkham Colors by Andrew Dalhouse Published by DC Comics So, another week means another issue churned out by …
Doug “Dougie” Braithwaite is one of a few comics artists who can make pencils look like the beautiful strokes of a paintbrush. This skill made Braithwaite a perfect choice for DC Comics’ 2007 Justice maxiseries, which was an homage to the old Super Friends vs. Legion of Doom. He pencilled the comic while Alex Ross co-wrote and painted over his pencils. Braithwaite has …
Earth 2: World’s End # 16 Written by Daniel H. Wilson, Marguerite Bennett, & Mike Johnson Art by Scott McDaniel, Tyler Kirkham, Eduardo Pansica & Paul Neary, Robson Rocha & Guillermo Ortego Published by DC Comics Another week means another issue of Earth 2: World’s End, the series that would have been cancelled by now …
From humble beginnings as comic book characters, both Batman and Superman have emerged as globally recognisable icons. Whether they appear on the silver screen or as virtual slot icons on mobile websites such as au.royalvegascasino.com, they now front lucrative franchises that generate billions of dollars on an annual basis. These franchises will both gain a …
In this week’s Gotham, Gordon returns to the Gotham City Police Department to regain his Detective rank but in order to do that he has to prove himself to Commission Loeb by bringing in the Arkham Asylum inmate that escaped in “Rogues’ Gallery” under his watch. This episode shows Gordon revitalized and more focused with the understanding that he needs to be at the GCPD and nowhere else; it’s where he wants to be and where he can do the most good. We have seen Gordon be all gun ho before as in “Penguins Umbrella” but this time he’s taking charge and asserting himself, where before he was acting reckless with unrealistic goals.
Earth 2: World’s End #15 Written by Daniel H. Wilson, Marguerite Bennett, Mike Johnson Art by Scott McDaniel, Eduardo Pansica & Paul Neary, R.B. Silva & Walden Wong, Jorge Jimenez, Robson Rocha & Guillermo Ortego, Tyler Kirkham, Eddy Barrows & Eber Ferreira Published by DC Comics Another week, another issue of Earth 2: World’s End. …