Some thoughts on the Earth 2 character designs and comments

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Some thoughts on the Earth 2 character designs and comments

DC was busy this past week providing some previews of the looks of some of the characters appearing in the upcoming Earth 2 books, Earth 2 by James Robinson and Worlds’ Finest by Paul Levitz this past week. And here are some of my thoughts.

First up Helena Wayne as Robin:

My take? I really like it. It’s a bit fussy in the knee pads and with all the belts and pouches, but I like the colors and I like the costume is amazingly gender neutral. I like that her hair is pull back as well. I was also intrigued by Robinson’s commentary on her:

“Helena Wayne has been taught how to be the perfect Robin,” said James Robinson, writer of EARTH 2. “Assured as a detective, fighter, scientist, pilot and all around crime-fighter she’s been groomed by Batman to be the perfect caped manhunter (or should we say manHuntress) when she grows up.”

So finally there is a girl Robin that everyone can agree is “real”, right?

On to the next costume, the Pre-PowerGirl, Supergirl:

This is marginally better than the current Supergirl outfit in that 1) she doesn’t look like she is wearing a diaper and 2) her boots don’t have cutouts for her knee. I’m not crazy about the high collar but the S logo is interesting. I am more concerned on the very different tones between Maguire’s art and Perez. More than I was when they were first announced as artists on alternative arcs.

I also like Robinson’s take on her:

“Superman’s cousin loves her adopted world with a passion, seeing how the people of Earth have adopted her and taken her to their hearts,” said EARTH 2 writer James Robinson. “She is the definitely brightest light among this first group of Earth 2 heroes.”

I am very happy with the idea of Supergirl and ultimately Supergirl being a positive character. And from the sound of what is going on in Earth 2, light is going to be at a disadvantage:

Isn’t Nicola Scott the artist on this book? Can we please see her take on Wonder Woman? Hasn’t Jim Lee had enough shots at redesigning her? Or was this just a left over design from the new 52? That said I don’t hate this. I like the skirt but I’m not sure the boots quite work. But they are flat which is something. But the costume is the least of my worries once I see what Robinson has to say about her:

“Due the events that open the saga of EARTH 2, Wonder Woman is already the last Amazon of this world and she is determined to avenge her sisters…at whatever cost,” said EARTH 2 writer James Robinson.

Ugh. Ugh. Ugh. Please. More dead Amazons? How many writers have gone there? More Wonder Woman “avenging at whatever cost?” Didn’t we just have avenging alt-Wondy in Flashpoint? This makes me very, very nervous about Robinson. When he’s good, you get “The Golden Age” and Starman and when he’s not? You get Cry for Justice.

I sincerely hope this is the former and not the latter. But I have this very uneasy feeling because of the next design:

This is better than the design they are using in the new 52 by orders of magnitude. If the new 52 high collar look is a $.50 piece this is a crispy $20. And Superman looks so young and handsome. But as nice as that costume the commentary diminishes it value:

“Mourning the death of his beloved, Superman carries both a sadness in his heart along with the weight of Earth 2′s welfare upon on his shoulders, while never showing this and seeming to all that he is this world’s peerless champion,” said EARTH 2 writer James Robinson.

“What would you have to do to teach Superman to kill?” asks EARTH 2 editor Pat McCallum. “He’s endured the loss of his home world, and now the Last Son of Krypton must weather the death of his soul mate Lois Lane. Just how far can you bend the Man of Steel before he breaks?”

Seriously, who at DC hates Lois Lane? Why are Lois and Superman only able to presented as a couple outside of the DCU in the upcoming Smallville comic and Superman Adventures, a kids book? What does that say about the value of marriage in the new 52? Hasn’t the success of Aquaman shown that a loving, committed couple CAN sell a book? Who would have thought we’d see the day when Aquaman and Mera became the poster child for happy couples in DC and Lois and Superman would be decoupled through handwaving Flashpoint rebooting nonsense and death?

I was hoping that Earth 2 would be an alternative to the very dark new 52. That it would be a respite for those who cherished some of the old DC and give them a world where they could still have some of what they thought they had lost.

But right now based on what information DC has released, it appears to be worse. At least Lois is alive in the new 52. And the Amazons have only been transformed into snakes not outright massacred.

I’ll wait and see, but I’m very nervous about this.

I want this from James Robinson’s Earth 2