New 52 Earth-2

[BatmanJones]

I followed the first several issues when they came out but fairly quickly dropped. Very recently I've been looking for anything to satisfy my JSA jones and though I know Earth-2 was NOT the JSA it was a sort of Elseworlds JSA and I've been trying to catch up with it. I had some questions for those who have read it...

To me the first three volumes were very difficult to get through (as all James Robinson writing is for me lately) but I pushed through and got to Vol. 4 which was by Tom Taylor and I blazed through volumes 4 and 5 and felt like I was going to have a very fun ride.

Based on reading order suggestions from internet when I got to Vol. 6 I was sort of instructed to read that volume and also Earth-2: World's End at the same time and both have felt like a slog. It happened right when Taylor left the series.

So my questions are:

1. With all the various series' based around this mythology, does it get better?
2. Should I stop where I am and pick up somewhere else?

I got pretty invested during Vol. 4 of the original series and I'm prepared to keep going if folks recommend it or say it does indeed pick back up and if it does when.

Any/all feedback appreciated. Thanks, y'all.

[WillieMorgan]

Nah, not really. The Earth 2: Worlds End weekly series and the first six issues of the succeeding Earth 2: Society titles were all brought down by very poor writing indeed. They were either written or overseen by a guy called Daniel H. Wilson who, frankly, just wasn't a comic-book writer. He had no mastery of the art-form whatsoever and just seemed to throw his storylines together randomly. These are all poorly thought through and executed reads, almost amateurish. Earth 2: Society is a particular mess. After 6 issues Wilson was replaced with Dan Abnett and the series did improve but not enough that I could recommend it over so much other stuff out there.

The series also never really recovered also from being co-opted by editorial after Robinson's run and reshaped to fit into a larger narrative alongside the other weekly series, Futures End. Between Earth-2: Worlds End and Society some of the characters were also major protagonists in Convergence by Jeff King, which was a bit of an Earth-2 title in all but name. I can't recommend that either now. It's not bad but is becoming more and more redundant as the Rebirth saga moves along.

This was a series that went off the rails and never really recovered. There's so much better material out there that I can't recommend it unless you're a completist.

[CaptCleghorn]

I followed the first several issues when they came out but fairly quickly dropped. Very recently I've been looking for anything to satisfy my JSA jones and though I know Earth-2 was NOT the JSA it was a sort of Elseworlds JSA and I've been trying to catch up with it. I had some questions for those who have read it...

To me the first three volumes were very difficult to get through (as all James Robinson writing is for me lately) but I pushed through and got to Vol. 4 which was by Tom Taylor and I blazed through volumes 4 and 5 and felt like I was going to have a very fun ride.

Based on reading order suggestions from internet when I got to Vol. 6 I was sort of instructed to read that volume and also Earth-2: World's End at the same time and both have felt like a slog. It happened right when Taylor left the series.

So my questions are:

1. With all the various series' based around this mythology, does it get better?
2. Should I stop where I am and pick up somewhere else?

I got pretty invested during Vol. 4 of the original series and I'm prepared to keep going if folks recommend it or say it does indeed pick back up and if it does when.

Any/all feedback appreciated. Thanks, y'all.

Taylor and Wilson were crap. Actually, Taylor was crap and Wilson was one of the worst comics I have read in almost 50 years of doing this. Robinson and Abnett were fine.

Taylor has his apologists who say the problems were caused by editorial interference, and that might very well be so. Certainly the series meandered from one direction to another until it finally ended up looking it the start of the series.

[BatmanJones]

Nah, not really. The Earth 2: Worlds End weekly series and the first six issues of the succeeding Earth 2: Society titles were all brought down by very poor writing indeed. They were either written or overseen by a guy called Daniel H. Wilson who, frankly, just wasn't a comic-book writer. He had no mastery of the art-form whatsoever and just seemed to throw his storylines together randomly. These are all poorly thought through and executed reads, almost amateurish. Earth 2: Society is a particular mess. After 6 issues Wilson was replaced with Dan Abnett and the series did improve but not enough that I could recommend it over so much other stuff out there.

The series also never really recovered also from being co-opted by editorial after Robinson's run and reshaped to fit into a larger narrative alongside the other weekly series, Futures End. Between Earth-2: Worlds End and Society some of the characters were also major protagonists in Convergence by Jeff King, which was a bit of an Earth-2 title in all but name. I can't recommend that either now. It's not bad but is becoming more and more redundant as the Rebirth saga moves along.

This was a series that went off the rails and never really recovered. There's so much better material out there that I can't recommend it unless you're a completist.

Thanks for the great reply. Not a completist. I have read most DC stories but am clearly seeking more of the old ones I skipped when they came out and want to catch up on now, which was my reason for giving E-2 a second chance. Sounds like it's not going to pick back up so I'm cool with abandoning it.

Would love any suggestions you'd be willing to share.

[BatmanJones]

Taylor and Wilson were crap. Actually, Taylor was crap and Wilson was one of the worst comics I have read in almost 50 years of doing this. Robinson and Abnett were fine.

Taylor has his apologists who say the problems were caused by editorial interference, and that might very well be so. Certainly the series meandered from one direction to another until it finally ended up looking it the start of the series.

Super helpful, thanks. I took to Taylor's issues because suddenly the story seemed to pick up when I'd felt so bored by the original Robinson issues. (When it comes to modern/post-Starman Robinson, 'I've got issues'.) And then as soon as it captured my attention Daniel H. Wilson showed up and sucked all the air out of the room. I'm not typically a very big Taylor fan though I do enjoy Injustice as a sort of guilty pleasure. I only liked what he did by comparison to the slog of the early Robinson work on Earth 2 which was better than he's been for the most part since coming back to comics but was still hard for me to get through.

I've never had an experience with a writer where I went from absolutely LOVING them (Starman, Golden Age) to absolutely HATING them (began with Cry for Justice but he just got more and more boring to me - I can't believe anyone is picking up his Trinity) like I have with Robinson. Frank Miller comes closest but I still find a lot to appreciate in Miller's totally nutso take on Batman post-DKR/Year One and though I hated DK Strikes Again when it came out I re-read recently and actually loved it. Re-reading Robinson never has that effect on me. In fact I can hardly manage to stay invested through an entire issue of anything he writes anymore.

[CaptCleghorn]

If you liked the first three volumes, I'd suggest that the last three Earth 2 Society volumes 2 through 4 might be worth a try.

[WillieMorgan]

Thanks for the great reply. Not a completist. I have read most DC stories but am clearly seeking more of the old ones I skipped when they came out and want to catch up on now, which was my reason for giving E-2 a second chance. Sounds like it's not going to pick back up so I'm cool with abandoning it.

Would love any suggestions you'd be willing to share.

You're very welcome. The first thing that I'd recommend, if you haven't read it already, is the Omega Men series by Tom King.

This is better than King's run on Batman, simply because King has more free reign with this series. It got rave reviews and was so worth it. Such an absorbing read. It even makes for a better overall read on trade where the story seems to shine even more. The subjects it touches on, the morality of war and how it affects the actions of people that start out with the best of intentions but gradually compromise for one, are masterfully handled. King also breathes such colour, individuality and vitality to the different planets that we visit in the Vega system that they almost seem to come alive on the page itself.

King is currently repeating this magic with his Mister Miracle series too.

[Zero Hunter]

Don't read Worlds End under any circumstances!!! It and the issues of Earth 2: Society written by Wilson are some of the most god awful dreck DC has ever published. If you have read the first 5 volumes I would say your good. Issue 27 is decent since it has some good character stuff between Batman and Huntress, but everything after that issue is just not worth even setting on fire.

[BatmanJones]

Don't read Worlds End under any circumstances!!! It and the issues of Earth 2: Society written by Wilson are some of the most god awful dreck DC has ever published. If you have read the first 5 volumes I would say your good. Issue 27 is decent since it has some good character stuff between Batman and Huntress, but everything after that issue is just not worth even setting on fire.

Very helpful and I will check out #27 on your recommendation. Thanks!

[BatmanJones]

You're very welcome. The first thing that I'd recommend, if you haven't read it already, is the Omega Men series by Tom King.

This is better than King's run on Batman, simply because King has more free reign with this series. It got rave reviews and was so worth it. Such an absorbing read. It even makes for a better overall read on trade where the story seems to shine even more. The subjects it touches on, the morality of war and how it affects the actions of people that start out with the best of intentions but gradually compromise for one, are masterfully handled. King also breathes such colour, individuality and vitality to the different planets that we visit in the Vega system that they almost seem to come alive on the page itself.

King is currently repeating this magic with his Mister Miracle series too.

This is more helpful than it should be since I should have read Omega Men by now. King is far and away my favorite comic book writer lately so I really do need to read the stuff I haven't yet which means Omega Men and Sheriff of Babylon.

This was a great reminder. I already have Vol. 1 in trade and just haven't read it yet. I forgot I bought it.

[WillieMorgan]

This is more helpful than it should be since I should have read Omega Men by now. King is far and away my favorite comic book writer lately so I really do need to read the stuff I haven't yet which means Omega Men and Sheriff of Babylon.

This was a great reminder. I already have Vol. 1 in trade and just haven't read it yet. I forgot I bought it.

Oh man, if you're already a fan of King then Omega Men is absolutely essential. It was probably the best series I'd read from DC in at least five years, at least until The Multiversity came along. That's another massive recommendation from me, with the caveat in there that you need to have a love of the unique viewpoint Grant Morrison brings to the DC multiverse.

I think there's only one Omega Men trade for this series. DC waited and compiled the whole 12 issues into one. If you have that then you're good to go.

[BatmanJones]

Oh man, if you're already a fan of King then Omega Men is absolutely essential. It was probably the best series I'd read from DC in at least five years, at least until The Multiversity came along. That's another massive recommendation from me, with the caveat in there that you need to have a love of the unique viewpoint Grant Morrison brings to the DC multiverse.

I think there's only one Omega Men trade for this series. DC waited and compiled the whole 12 issues into one. If you have that then you're good to go.

I think I'll start it today or tomorrow. Right now I'm in the middle of re-reading all of Justice League International after pushing through Legends (which is so outdated at this point as to be almost unreadable) and am having much more fun with it than I'd remembered.

Omega Men is next on my list, thanks to your great reminder.

I love Grant Morrison, though sometimes I find @Rikdad's amazing blog posts to be the key I need to unlock the fullness of the stories. If you love Morrison I can't recommend Rikdad's posts about Final Crisis enough. No matter how much you might feel you got everything Morrison was serving I can almost guarantee Rikdad's posts on Final Crisis will make the story even richer for you. There will be stuff in there you hadn't considered and nobody had considered or I'm fairly certain that's so. Here's a link to his first Final Crisis blog post but as they go on they get more and more enlightening. Can't recommend them enough.

http://rikdad.blogspot.com/2018/01/f...ew-part-i.html

And of course I LOVED Multiversity and can't wait for the 'sequel.'

I recently re-read all of Morrison's Batman run (like all of it) up to the middle of Batman Inc. which I still have open and am sort of finishing it up in parallel with JLI.

[WillieMorgan]

I think I'll start it today or tomorrow. Right now I'm in the middle of re-reading all of Justice League International after pushing through Legends (which is so outdated at this point as to be almost unreadable) and am having much more fun with it than I'd remembered.

Omega Men is next on my list, thanks to your great reminder.

I love Grant Morrison, though sometimes I find @Rikdad's amazing blog posts to be the key I need to unlock the fullness of the stories. If you love Morrison I can't recommend Rikdad's posts about Final Crisis enough. No matter how much you might feel you got everything Morrison was serving I can almost guarantee Rikdad's posts on Final Crisis will make the story even richer for you. There will be stuff in there you hadn't considered and nobody had considered or I'm fairly certain that's so. Here's a link to his first Final Crisis blog post but as they go on they get more and more enlightening. Can't recommend them enough.

http://rikdad.blogspot.com/2018/01/f...ew-part-i.html

And of course I LOVED Multiversity and can't wait for the 'sequel.'

I recently re-read all of Morrison's Batman run (like all of it) up to the middle of Batman Inc. which I still have open and am sort of finishing it up in parallel with JLI.

I'm sure that you'll love Omega Men.

I seem to recall reading some similar blogs that dissected The Multiversity not long after it was released. I can't remember whether they were from the same author but they were very informative.

Even after all these years my favourite Batman story is still Gothic by Morrison, believe it or not. Mr. Whisper's final confrontation with his maker still sends chills down my spine when I think about it.

[jbmasta]

Oh man, if you're already a fan of King then Omega Men is absolutely essential. It was probably the best series I'd read from DC in at least five years, at least until The Multiversity came along. That's another massive recommendation from me, with the caveat in there that you need to have a love of the unique viewpoint Grant Morrison brings to the DC multiverse.

I think there's only one Omega Men trade for this series. DC waited and compiled the whole 12 issues into one. If you have that then you're good to go.

Another Tom King recommendation is Grayson.