The Earth One Graphic Novels

[bretmaverick2]

I have never read a single volume of this series. Can you all convince me why I should make the investment and read them?

Is each series it ‘own thing’? Do they all have connecting threads?

[the illustrious mr. kenway]

So far each series is its own take on the DC character and seperate from each other. They are decent takes so just look at the previews online to see if you wanna read them.

[Alpha]

It's not the most exciting thing that has been done with each character, but each series has some value.

Superman Earth One is interesting because it's written in an intimate way about a 20 something year old Clark looking for a life in metropolis. The first people he meets in Metropolis aren't those you would expect. It's quite a sweet book. And then it has a pretty basic blockbuster story that isn't revolutionary but is cool enough. It also has beautiful art with Metropolis having this constant "golden hour" light, it exudes the spirit of the world of tomorrow being right around the corner (which is also pretty thematic for Clark Kent discovering who he's going to be). The sequels have touching moments too (specially a particular story about a cat in volume 2)

Wonder Woman Earth One is by far the most ambitious of all these books. It brings back the idea of the amazons being a society with really advanced technology and totally different values from our world. Volume 3 is a really great story and innovative for a superhero blockbuster. Volume 2 is interesting. Volume 1 isn't very good.

I really enjoyed Teen Titans vol 1 and 2 by Jeff Lemire. It's a really straight forward reinvention of the Titans without a robin and it works quite well. I like all the new takes on the characters and their origins as Young Adult story without cliche interpersonal drama.

Green Lantern Earth One is an action story using a slight rearrangement of the Green lanter mythos. It works, but it's not very innovative.

Batman Earth One is like everything Geoff Johns has written for the last 4 years. It's easy to read and entertaining. It takes away the idea of Bruce being a god but it didn't really leave an impression on me aside from the Killer Croc reinvention in volume 2. I haven't read volume 3 though

[Gaius]

They don't exist in the same universe as one another, except for maybe the Batman and Superman ones but aside from a small reference to Batman in the first volume of Superman: Earth One they otherwise exist independently. They're both pretty enjoyable imo and the Batman ones have the bonus of no BatGod, Joker, or Harley so it's easily among the best Batman material of the past decade.

Wonder Woman ones are a mixed bag, the final third volume is the best of that series but the previous two volumes I can't say I was fan of. I also didn't care for Paquette's artwork on the series.

The Green Lantern ones are the best of the bunch however. I would recommend those ones.

[Viridovix]

What about action? Everything seems interesting, but since we are talking about Superman, Batman, Wonderwoman...is this just origin stories or it also has some blockbuster action many people love to read?

[Multiverse]

Still need to collect the latest Volumes of Green Lantern and Wonder Woman, but so far I've enjoyed these take on certain DC Characters. My only nitpick is (outside of notes from Superman Volume 2) there's little to no sign of connectivity with these heroes (like is the STAR labs mentioned in the latest Batman volume the same as the Teen Titans one). I'm hoping we get more from Superman's line soon (I want to see more from this version of Lex Luthor).

[SiegePerilous02]

The Wonder Woman ones are the only ones I followed all the way through (or even just read period). They are very flawed; they have some very good ideas/updates on the Golden Age stuff mixed in with some dicey or outright bad ideas. It also has some satirical takes on Marston's ideas that don't quite land. Volume 1 is the worst of the bunch for this reason, but each subsequent volume gets better with 3 being the best thing Morrison has written with Wonder Woman in it. I like them if only for the art and the takes on Diana (at least past volume 1), Etta and the Holliday Girls and the best version of Dr. Psycho ever.

The Batman ones are pretty bad, and what I've heard of the Superman ones sounds even worse. I have not followed the GL one either way so I don't have an opinion on that one.

[king81992]

TT Erarth One gets dismissed by a lot of fans, but I enjoyed it.

[king81992]

It's not the most exciting thing that has been done with each character, but each series has some value.

Superman Earth One is interesting because it's written in an intimate way about a 20 something year old Clark looking for a life in metropolis. The first people he meets in Metropolis aren't those you would expect. It's quite a sweet book. And then it has a pretty basic blockbuster story that isn't revolutionary but is cool enough. It also has beautiful art with Metropolis having this constant "golden hour" light, it exudes the spirit of the world of tomorrow being right around the corner (which is also pretty thematic for Clark Kent discovering who he's going to be). The sequels have touching moments too (specially a particular story about a cat in volume 2)

Wonder Woman Earth One is by far the most ambitious of all these books. It brings back the idea of the amazons being a society with really advanced technology and totally different values from our world. Volume 3 is a really great story and innovative for a superhero blockbuster. Volume 2 is interesting. Volume 1 isn't very good.

I really enjoyed Teen Titans vol 1 and 2 by Jeff Lemire. It's a really straight forward reinvention of the Titans without a robin and it works quite well. I like all the new takes on the characters and their origins as Young Adult story without cliche interpersonal drama.

Green Lantern Earth One is an action story using a slight rearrangement of the Green lanter mythos. It works, but it's not very innovative.

Batman Earth One is like everything Geoff Johns has written for the last 4 years. It's easy to read and entertaining. It takes away the idea of Bruce being a god but it didn't really leave an impression on me aside from the Killer Croc reinvention in volume 2. I haven't read volume 3 though

TT Earth 1 is underrated.

[bretmaverick2]

I think I’ll start with the Teen Titans.

Thanks all for the input.

[chachi]

1. Green Lantern - Probably the best of the line so far. We should get a third volume sometime in 2022?

2. Batman - We just had the third volume of this line drop in Early June. I like the fact that these show an inexperienced Batman growing and learning with each volume instead of being "The Batgod" Probably has the best version of Killer Croc to date of any Batman Comic.

3. Wonder Woman - Has it good moments and bad moments but overall a solid trilogy. Volume 3 is the best of the 3.

4. Titans - Volume 1 is very good and as others have said under rated. Has a Runaways "feel" to it. Volume 2 has a drastic art change and has a lot going on, but Volume 1 is great.

5. Superman - Volume 1 is the best of the 3, it has a certain feel to it. Volumes 2 and 3 I did not care for.

Not sure where the future of this line will go. I do expect a third volume of GL. The writer has made some posts on his Twitter page about being ready to do a volume 3, but hasn't heard anything back from Dc yet. Jim Lee said last fall, that there are other titles in the works, so we shall see.

[Alpha]

1. Green Lantern - Probably the best of the line so far. We should get a third volume sometime in 2022.

I saw lots of people over the moon with volume 1 but I don't get the hype. We've seen the same set up with the GLC in main continuity. None of the characters are written in a remarkable way, just normal action heroes. The most interesting part is the Earth aspect, but even that isn't all the new and it's the smallest part of the story.

What are the reasons you enjoyed it so much?

[Bored at 3:00AM]

I have never read a single volume of this series. Can you all convince me why I should make the investment and read them?

Is each series it ‘own thing’? Do they all have connecting threads?

They're a mixed bag and are each their own story that don't connect into a larger universe.

JMS & Shane's Superman is pretty dreadful if you're looking for a Superman who's more aspirational. This Superman seriously considers using his godlike powers to make millions playing in the NFL. If that sounds like your bag, you could give it a shot, but this series isn't beloved by many, although it certainly sold well enough.

Johns & Frank's Batman is a similar approach, but works better for me. This is about a very human, very fallible Bruce Wayne at the start of his career. I haven't read the final volume, so I don't know if it has a satisfying conclusion, but the first two are pretty decent reads if you're into a more "grounded" approach to Batman.

Morrison & Paquette's Wonder Woman is a very ambitious attempt to deal with the incredibly weird philosophy and ideas that were the foundation of the original Golden Age character. It's not entirely successful, but the creators are at least making a big swing, it looks gorgeous, and they aren't trying to run away from who the character was for the first few years of her publishing history.

Hardman & Brechko's Green Lantern is far and away the strongest of the Earth One line. It's a great, grounded reimagining of the GL mythos and a less idealized Hal Jordan. The art is absolutely amazing and the action is great. If you're going to pick up any of these books, this is the one to read.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

I saw lots of people over the moon with volume 1 but I don't get the hype. We've seen the same set up with the GLC in main continuity. None of the characters are written in a remarkable way, just normal action heroes. The most interesting part is the Earth aspect, but even that isn't all the new and it's the smallest part of the story.

What are the reasons you enjoyed it so much?

I've been reading Green Lantern for decades and we've never seen a version of the GLC like that, because it simply wouldn't be possible without some massive retconning that I wouldn't want them to do. I wouldn't want to go into too much specifics so as not to spoil any of those reveals for new readers, though. Suffice it say, that's a very different version of the GLC, in addition to the more cynical Hal Jordan.

[M L A]

Yes, each series is its own thing.

And IMO Green Lantern Earth One > Batman Earth One > Wonder Woman Earth One > Superman Earth One > Teen Titans Earth One

TTEO: Absolutely tragic they gave probably the only team Earth One book that'll exist to the guy who admitted he can't write teams. I thought maybe TT could finally have a good book due to not having all the baggage of the franchise, and while there were some bright/interesting spots in both of the volumes, they just weren't very good. The first volume is better than the second. And as much as I wasn't a fan of it, I still feel like Lemire deserves to at least round out his story with a third volume.

SEO: I can see why people say the first volume was one of the inspirations for Man of Steel. Art was better than TTEO which is why I'd rank it better. But liked it about as much as TTEO (which is to say not very much as all) and like TTEO has some bright/interesting spots but they aren't enough to really make the overall story and character arc good. Also JMS clearly wanted to do more.

WWEO: I get what Morrison was going for but ultimately he didn't really pull it off. The art was consistently great with some interesting paneling, but storywise each volume was just not as good as one before it.

BEO: I hate how "batman but realistic" is what everybody wants nowadays but I will say I am okay with it here as Johns actually wrote Batman as incompetent and weird but willing to learn and able to get better. Best Croc, Bullock's little arc is nice, and I like the different kind of Alfred. Second volume is one of the best Earth One books and first volume is pretty good but the third one crapped the bed pretty hard, as you can tell DC told Johns he wouldn't get a volume four. Frank's art is good as always.

GLEO: This one just ranked first because both volumes are good storywise and artwise, and I hope it gets a third volume.