Justice League Incarnate #2 Discussion/Spoilers

[sifighter]

Williamson’s crazy omniverse second act continues on today and with this issue we get a bit more info of overall what’s going on in the grand scheme of things. Oh yeah and there is a Batwoman who laughs now from Earth-11 who appears to have an infinity gauntlet....yeah it’s as weird as it sounds.

Anyway we basically have two stories going on within this issue. The away team from last issue is on Earth-13 of Magic after following Darkseid while the House of Heroes is dealing with both Grail and Kalibak leading a horde of Parademons all while Orion is inside arguing with them on what to do. I will say we get some decent character moments in this issue, Captain Carrot being afraid of magicians is probably my favorite followed by don’t call me Doctor Batman from Thomas. We even get some follow up from Injustice Incarnate from one of its members before we get to real meat of things. Which is the reveal that Darkseid isn’t the only problem such as Asmodel the fallen angel who you might remember from JLA in the 90’s. Because that guy is fighting Darkseid in this issue similar to the fight to the Thanos stand in last issue.

Also we get a reveal of why Darkseid is reality hoping and running around instead of staying and fighting the Incarnate team. Basically every big bad of multiverse is chasing after the multiverse crack and Darkseid has been trying to nab it first before anyone else can. We get to see a wide shot of people Darkseid is competing with, all looking to get to the crack in the multiverse and go beyond it for the power that lies beyond. But we also learn that the crack is causing problems, such as Batwoman who laughs.

Because Dr. Multiverse who can see through the multiverse reveals that it’s not a Batwoman from the Dark Multiverse but instead the actual Batwoman of Earth-11. And no they don’t explain the Infinity Gauntlet, she just has it on her for some reason. Basically parts of the multiverse are being corrupted because of the huge cracks in it, creating another big problem besides the fact that so many powerful people want its power. Hopefully the heroes can take care of it after the big cliffhanger ending.

Overall It’s pretty clear that Williamson wants this to be a huge threat and he’s basically indicating that all Crisis level entities are on the playing field at this moment competing with Darkseid. That said I wish we would see more of that because it really only feels like Darkseid is actually trying. We see him throwing his allies at the multiverse protectors while he’s personally hunting down the crack and fighting those who get in his way. Maybe we could see what some other people are up to is all I’m saying, I see the Gentry/the Empty Hand from Multiversity let him do some stuff at least. I guess what I’m asking for is I’d like to see an evil equal who besides the heroes is also giving Darkseid a tough time.

I also felt like with Darkseid’s whole conspiracy and plotting thing that he was more threatening in Infinite Frontier then he is here because he doesn’t feel much like a tactical genius but instead a big brute just chasing power. But hey it’s only issue 2 of a sequel series that Williamson says is Act 2 of a three act plan so we just have to wait and see how Williamson sticks the landing.

[sifighter]

Here is Batwoman who laughs design/origin if anyone wants to know.

[Robotman]

Overall I enjoyed the issue. I love Earth 13! Definitely had a laugh when they revealed the password was “OGITREV” .

Also loved seeing Orion back in his classic costume and the return of Strummer.

Towards the end it did feel like there was just too much going on and a lot of exposition trying to explain everything.

I do wish they would refer to the multiverse crack as the breach or something like that. It just sounds odd when they say things like “he’s reaching for the crack!” or “we need to plug up the crack!”. Yes, I know I have the sense of humor of a 10 year old

[K. Jones]

I do really like that all the "Break the Multiverse" level threats that Darkseid actively needs to deal with are Grant Morrison things. I mean par for the course, Williamson has really taken the crown as far as who'll run with Morrison's concepts lately and the whole Infinite Frontier and Justice Incarnate premises here are wholesale sequel stories to Grant's Final Crisis and Multiversity story beats, but there's something effective about the use of those villainous threats.

Azmodel teaming up with Gloriana is a new one. Novel. Cute. In the splash, her placement next to The Empty Hand continues almost a decade later to clarify my "I'm pretty sure even though all evidence is circumstantial" belief that The Empty Hand is one and the same as The Nebula Man. I didn't recognize some of the other threats. Tartarus from last issue, yeah. The big monstro thing, I'm not sure, though. Or the cloaked grim reaper guy with the glowy cosmic eyes. The Captain Carrot variant of Felix Faust is a great touch, though. Is he Felix Fox?

[Bored at 3:00AM]

The eye-rolling introduction of the Batwoman Who Laughs aside, this was a big improvement upon the first issue. Williamson's Darkseid is still a colossal bore, but I'm more enthusiastic about reading the next issue than I was last time around.

[Factor]

The issue was fun during the Earth-13 section, but then became a huge mess pretty quickly. Who the hell wanted a Batwoman-Who-Laughs? BWL has got to be one of the dumbest concepts Snyder introduced.

[Johnny]

BWL is like Cosmic Ghost Rider, another goofy concept that became really popular for some reason. BWL is just one of those things that got a lot of traction so DC would try to milk it for all it's worth.

[Batgrayson]

So, Nekron and the Empty Hand are going to be just cannon fodder for Darkseid?

[sifighter]

So, Nekron and the Empty Hand are going to be just cannon fodder for Darkseid?

Neither of them have done anything yet so hard to say how they stack up. So far Asmodel, Batwoman who laughs, and the Thanos-parody have gotten in the fight; the empty hand has only appeared to show that he is part of the group of people interested in what Darkseid wants.

[justinslot]

This comic is confusing me in a pleasantly nerdy way, so I'm just going to post about it.

Okay, so Earth negative 11 in the Dark Multiverse, home of Bryce Wayne, the Batwoman who got mad when Catman died and drowned the Earth. I assume Earth negative 11 is the opposite of Earth positive 11, the gender-swapped Earth, so Batwoman must be Bryce Wayne there.

THIS comic says the Earth-11 Batwoman is...Kathy Kane?? But it's the genderswapped Earth! Kathy Kane is like Kevin Kane! If the genders weren't swapped and it was just female heroes had the main roles there Aquawoman would just be Mera. But she isn't.

...seriously though I am loving this book. A Multiversity sequel, a tour through DC history and cosmology and the current state of the multiverse, and a President Superman--my favorite alt Superman--tale. Love all the alternate and tribute characters we're getting. Dino-Cop in a prominent role!

[Jody Garland]

Earth-11's Batwoman being Kathy Kane has been true for a while. Bryce Wayne was invented for Metal, AFAIK. You're right it's a weird conceit, just shoehorning in distaff counterparts into spear roles and vice versa when applicable.

[justinslot]

Ah, thanks for letting me know this was established previously. Earth-11 Kathy Kane must be a refugee from another Earth (acquires no-prize.)

[LordUltimus]

For the record, it was Grant Morrison's The Green Lantern that established the Earth-11 Batwoman as Kathy Kane.

[scribbleMind]

I was going to pick this book up until I came into this thread. We just got rid of The Batman Who Laughs, and now The Batwoman Who Laughs? I don't need that in my life.

[sifighter]

I was going to pick this book up until I came into this thread. We just got rid of The Batman Who Laughs, and now The Batwoman Who Laughs? I don't need that in my life.

She isn't really around much honestly, she's really only a nod at Batman who laughs instead of a main player especially since it's not a dark multiverse thing but instead the already pre-existing Earth-11 Batwoman corrupted by forces wreaking havoc. In fact she runs off when the bigger threat appears the issue after she shows up.