Legion World Forums LEGION COMPANION Dr. Gym'll's Cultural Rarities Earth 2

Well, no Wally or Donna.

http://www.newsarama.com/comics/james-robinson-describes-earth-2.html

Wow, I can't imagine Jay fans will like that redesign.

At first I thought "what that helmet", then I thought "isn't that Well Spoken Sonic Lightning Flash"?

Wow. I don't like what I'm seeing about this series at all.

I am not opposed to Robinson designing a new parallel world. I just wish it was not being called Earth-2. I know Earth-2. This ain't it.

*poof*

...I feel really bad for Nicola Scott at this point.

Robinson says in the interview released today that "this isn't the Justice Society".

That's all I needed to hear to completely eradicate ALL of my pre-launch excitement.

Amen to that, Kent.

And, like Sarky, I feel really bad for Nicola Scott. This should have been a time for celebration, with a female artist getting an A-List team book for the first time. Instead, it's all starting to look more like a trainwreck waiting to happen.

Well, I'm pretty sure Nicola Scott understood the pitch going in and wasn't some kind of victim here, guys, so feeling bad for her seems a bit over the top, eh?

Now, though, we know why this book was called "Earth Two" and not "JSA". I'm still gonna give it a try. Robinson is always at his best when given some space to do his own thing. If I don't like what I see, I'll drop it like a hot potato like I do pretty much anything (other than LSH) that doesn't do much for me.

Lardy, I supposed I did overreact, but I think it is possible that the "meat" of the book may have changed during the voyage from Point A to Point B. Nicola might have thought it was going to be more like the old-school Earth 2 or even the old-school (Goyer/Johns era) JSA.

I'm starting to get the same feeling in my gut that I got just before the last time I quit buying new comics for over ten years. In fact, it was seeing a Justice Society book on the racks a few years ago that got me interested in buying comics again. Maybe it's time to find something else to spend my money on.

You should spend your money on Atomic Robo, which is better than anything DC is publishing.

I guess getting back to the 1960s context of Earth-2 having a 20-year head start over Earth-1, some of what he is doing makes sense - drawing from a little of old Earth-2 with some 1990ish 'grim and gritty, like Watchmen, but without the substance.'

Indeed, even in the late 70s/early 80s, until right before All-Star Squadron, there did seem to be a contradiction of the 20-year rule with WW2 - the Levitz origin was clearly WW2, yet other stories adered to the 20-year rule. In Detective 500, for instance, the lead story is set on the 20th anniversary of the Waynes' death and the 40th of the Earth-2 Waynes' death; Batman and Robin go to another Earth to save that world's Waynes. That story put the E-2 Waynes' too close to WW2 for Batman to have been in a wartime story.

So I guess, upon further reflection, I am just put out that I never got the chance to see Earth-2 done anything remotely close to how I would do it. I do hope Robinson's project does turn out to be just as exciting as I found Earth-2 to be in the late 70s and early 80s. Maybe someday I'll read the trades.

I miss the original Earth-2. Do you? If so, then let's talk about it right here.

Well, this is a fustercluck, isn't it? Was anyone clamouring for post-apocalyptic Young JSA starring Widower Superman, Last Amazon Wonder Woman and Thomas Wayne?

[And a REALLY, REALLY ugly redesign for Jay Garrick]

They needed at least a 20 year span for E2's super-history. Yoking it to the same "Five Year Life" as the DCnU is... yeah...

I suspected that was you!!

The one and only!

It's as much for discussing our fave "official" JSA stories as it is about my "unofficial" JSA stories.

Every new announcement I see makes me more and more glad that I dropped DC Comics completely. They honestly seem to be determined to tell the kinds of stories and create the kind of universe that is the exact opposite from what I want in my super-hero comics. Not to mention the eye-sore of looking at all those ugly costume redesigns.

I honestly feel that completely ending my relationship with that company has been the best decision I've made in a long time, both for my wallet and my blood pressure.

I'm actually surprised that so many posters here haven't also dropped them, because, other than a few bright spots (e.g. Swamp Thing, Batwoman, Flash, etc.), I see so little about the DCnU that appeals.

Wow, that Jay Garrick redesign is ugly. Makes me even more worried about the Alan Scott redesign. (which is funny considering Alan's original costume is red, green and purple...)

Polyanna is starting to lose her optimism.

This is kind of like trying to pass South Park off as "Peanuts".

Oh my god! They killed Pigpen! You bastards!

Sorry, but you are not allowed to lose ypour optimism or hope. Someone has to be the cheerful and happy one ... and YOU have been appointed. Now do your job or I'll push you out of a tree!

*poof*

All I've really been doing is complaining on here, huh?

By my comment about Nicola Scott, I'm regarding Mauro Cascioli and how his gorgeous artwork is now forever tied to one of the worst stories ever printed in comics. Regardless of whether or not Miss Scott signed on to Earth-2 because she wanted to, I've made judgements that Earth-2 is going to wind up like Cry because of "how far heroes will go" being a general tagline. And it's being written by the same man who wrote Cry. If Earth-2 genuinely does go the way of Cry for Justice, Miss Scott's going to have to deal with that black mark for a long time. I know I can't stand Cascioli's artwork at this point because it's too great a reminder (some said for Geraldo Borghes and Fabrizio Fiorentino after their respective work on Rise and Titans).

In views of constructive criticism, I do like Maguire's design of Supergirl, even if it takes away Karen's originality and makes her solely a Supergirl from a parallel Earth. If I have to bring up the cleavage, I'll say this: at what point can we differentiate what is Karen genuinely being stronger for bearing her cleavage regardless of what people think about it, and what is shameless male justification for cheap thrills and boob jokes? Hearing someone like Geoff Johns or Jimmy Palmiotti rationalize that Karen is a strong woman because of her big boobs and because she's not afraid to show cleavage don't hold much ground because they're both men. But if Amanda Conner, the most iconic Power Girl artist, has no problem with her costume or the size of her breasts, I mean genuinely has no problem, I have no complaints. And now Karen has a costume that doesn't reveal her cleavage, though her breast size hasn't changed. Is Karen's chest size the sole, dominating factor in her strength, or should she be judged regardless of her breasts? Unless the actual Power Girl shows up in real life and gives her opinion on it, it'll always be up for interpretation.

I can't really say that any of Earth-2 genuinely clicks with me because I would rather be reading a fun comic and this, the main Earth-2 comic that is, doesn't look like it's shaping up to be one. I'm not interested in reading about what lengths heroes will go because that's been done so many times it's become a cliche. But I guess I shouldn't even bother making an argument if I've sworn to never buy anything James Robinson writes ever again.

I don't know if I'm going to buy, or at least try, World's Finest. I'll give it a look and see what I think.

Sark, I understand what you're saying about artists and their association with bad stories, but if I like an artist's style enough, I can forgive them if and when they move on to a project that's more to my liking. For example, Ivan Reis drew Blackest Night, the first issue of which I consider one of the most appalling pieces of trash to ever be published; I skipped the remainder of Blackest Night, and said no to Aquaman when it became apparent that Johns has become the proverbial leopard who can't change his spots. But if Reis were to, say, reunite with Dave Gibbons for another cosmic romp, I'd forgive and forget in an instant.

Similarly, if I hate Earth-2 as much as I'm expecting to, I won't read it beyond the first issue, but if Nicola Scott's next project is to my liking, I'll forgive and forget.

Of course, it's ulitmately your call what you yourself do, and I will respect your decision. To each their own.