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‘Earth 2: World’s End’ #23: in the end it doesn’t even matter

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.

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Astro City # 21 ends the Quarrel story with few surprises

A good ending can make or break a story. It can make an ok story great, and by the same coin make a good story seem poorer if the ending is lacking in something. The ending to the current arc of Astro City’s current storyarc doesn’t really fall into any of these categories. After a simply “ok” storyline, Buskiek and co have delivered a serviceable enough ending, but not one that makes the faults of the previous issues seem any better. The story has often felt drawn out, a bit prone to wandering, and the hope going in to the finale was that these problems would feel validated or justified. Sadly, that isn’t the case, and now that we can finally view the story a whole, the view hasn’t improved. None of which is to say that it’s been bad, just perhaps not up to Busiek’s usual standards.

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The end of ‘Earth 2’ at #32

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.

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At the crossroads of doom in ‘Earth 2: World’s End’ #22

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 …

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‘Earth 2: World’s End’ #21: it gets better

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.

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‘Earth 2: World’s End’ #20: the end of the world is boring

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 …

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‘Batwoman’ #39: hanging up the cowl with grace

So, Batwoman makes its way onto its cancelation. It’s quite the tragedy as the current arc is actually far more compelling and novel than the series has been in a long time. Of course that’s not going to stop this issue from being another of the book’s many controversies. What has already drawn the malice of the book’s struggling fandom is the return and redemption of Red Alice, Kate Kane’s psychopathic twin sister. Alice is one of Batwoman’s oldest foes, dating all the way back to her first solo outing in Batwoman: Elegy. She’s a major component of Kate’s mythos and Andrekyo’s decision to turn her into a hero is seen as a betrayal.

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‘Secret Six’ #2: cats out of the box

Gail Simone continues the return of her DC brainchild, Secret Six. While it’s a shame this reboot involves dumping the diverse and nuance cast from before the New 52, it’s also a good sign that Simone is not letting this book rest on the laurels of its predecessors. What she has is a mysterious and compelling story with a team just as shady.

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‘Wonder Woman’ #39: war-torn and worn out

One would go on to think that after being the problematic brain child of a single writer for three years, seeing someone else take up the reigns would be exciting. It would be a chance to explore brand new territory, perhaps utilize the seventy-plus years of history and say something regarding Wonder Woman’s place as the best known female on the planet. So why is it that David and Meredith Finch’s Wonder Woman so boring?

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Constantine, Ep. 1.11 to 1.13 develops cast, but has plot hiccups

Even though it is riddled with plot inconsistencies and even some slasher film/supernatural show cliches, Constantine starts to find itself as a show in its final three episodes as it embraces being a mythology lite, episodic show with a few season finale reveals and plot threads that could expand its universe and heighten the threat level of the Rising Darkness from being a silly name that occasionally, almost does something bad every other episode. But its biggest strength going forward is its small, morally ambiguous ensemble cast that really benefited from showcase episodes like “Quid Pro Quo” (for Chas) and “Angels and Ministers of Grace (for Zed and Manny) down the stretch. If it continues (either on NBC or as SyFy’s Hellblazer), Constantine has a solid foundation with these characters and actors along with sense of atmosphere and setting in most episodes.

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‘Astro City’ #20 sees Quarrel’s story pick up speed

After spending several issues focused primarily on the origins of Quarrel, Astro City issue 20 seems to have finally gotten around to the story proper, as the action in the current storyarc kicks into high gear in time for next issue’s explosive finale. Considering that the main problem with the previous issues was that they felt too much like setup, this makes issue 20 undoubtedly the strongest of the arc thus far, finally tackling the promised subject matter of non-powered crime fighters coming to terms with the fact that their prime is behind them and thinking about what the future holds.

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‘Earth 2: World’s End’ #19 stays the course

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.

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Cullen Bunn joins ‘Earth 2: World’s End’ in #18

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 …

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The Flash, Ep. 1.12, “Crazy for You” hits a few speed bumps along the way

This week on The Flash, Britne Oldford stars as Shauna Baez (Peek-a-Boo) a metahuman who’s mastered the power of teleportation via quantum entanglement. After breaking her boyfriend Clay Parker, out of Iron Heights prison, Barry Allen is tasked with solving the case by taking the residual DNA particulates found at the crime scene to S.T.A.R. Labs for analyzing. Aiding Barry in his investigation is his incarcerated dad Henry who discovers that Clay owes money to a local crime boss, who just happens to be planning a major heist.

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Doug Braithwaite, a Skilled Superhero, Sci-Fi, and Fantasy Artist

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 …

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The Question and Case Closed: The Case of Two Investigators

As river bends and flows into smaller creeks and lakes from its source of the ocean likewise a tale may appear similar to another but the two tales will be different. Why should two ideas from the source of imagination grow into separate ideas? The answer comes with understanding elements of storytelling, cultural background, and …

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‘Earth 2: World’s End’ #17: too little too late

Earth 2: World’s End #17 Written by Daniel H. Wilson, Marguerite Bennett, & Mike Johnson Art by Scott McDaniel, Robson Rocha & Guillermo Ortego, Eduardo Pansica & Paul Neary, Jorge Jiminez, R. B. Silva & Walden Wong Published by DC Comics If there’s one way that World’s End in any way thematically follows Earth 2, …

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My Top Ten Most Anticipated Comics of 2015

It’s come to my attention as of late that I tend to write mostly negative reviews. Despite the general consensus, I don’t find much in writing bad things about comics. I’d prefer to read good books over bad ones any day.  It’s just that I read more things from DC Comics than other publishing companies …

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Advance Review: ‘Gotham Academy #4’ is the perfect Gothic school story

Over the years, a variety of comics creators (Scott Snyder and Kyle Higgins most recently) have developed the setting and history of Gotham to make it a place where stories not involving the Caped Crusader can be told. One of these stories is Gotham Academy, a mix between a high school slice of life story and an old fashioned Gothic mystery. (One of the main characters is even called Heathcliff.) Gotham Academy #4 involves the series’ leads, the enigmatic second-year Olive and the nerdy first-year Maps, trying to decipher an esoteric symbol while trying to find out who the school’s ghostly intruder is.

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‘Earth 2: World’s End’ #16: another one bites the dust

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 …

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