Welcome back to World’s End, where so many cool things happen but the book never stops and breaths in order for the reader to see how things will play out. It’s like dealing with six screaming kids in a toy store, all trying to figure out what to play with but they keeping throwing their toys back on the shelf. Definitely exhausting, but hopefully that toy that gets picked will reward you with some peace and quiet, just like how this book will provide some closure to the awesome storylines that have been lain out.
I’m going to start by saying half of this book was fantastic, crazy stuff that I’ve come to expect from Earth 2 and World’s End. The other half, however, was terrifyingly awful. There were so many moments where I was like “Where did that come from?” and “That was incredibly random and coincidental and had zero set-up,” and “WHY ARE YOU CUTTING AWAY FROM THIS!?” A whole lot of that third one. Then again that has what’s plagued Daniel H. Wilson’s story for me since the beginning.
When it comes to the artwork of Barrows et al., my gripes are more of the same as they have been the last two issues. The scenes between Grundy and Alan are sloppy, with minimal detail put in, and the Geneva pit scene irked me a lot. It’s a stark contrast to the comparatively well-done scenes in London and Amazonia. This will always be a problem as long as the large number of artists are working on one issue all together.
Rio de Janeiro:
Hands-down the best arc in this issue, Green Lantern and Grundy are fighting in the ruins of Rio. It’s a pretty knock-down drag-out fight, with both sides showcasing their growing powers, when The Green – Alan’s source of power – intervenes and stops them. She says that she and The Grey have reached a deal, along with the other members of the Parliament of Earth. Those are the forces that keep the Earth in balance: Green, Grey, Red, Blue, and White. Not only must Alan set aside his struggle with Grundy, but he must also team up with the three other avatars to battle Apokolips. Who are these avatars? One problem though: wasn’t Grundy working for Apokolips according to World’s End #1? It certainly seemed like he was. Did The Grey have a sudden change of heart? Why? I definitely wanted to know more but as soon as the joined forces the issue cut away.
Atlantis:
Aquawoman has released the Ancient Ones to battle her undead Atlantians. She then goes to unleash some sort of horrifying monster. What could it be?
London:
Oh hey, it’s Flash! Where you been buddy? He’s fighting alongside Hawkgirl and Doctor Fate, who are about to open a can of whoop on Famine. It’s the first real combat we’ve seen against the Furies since Issue 1, and it’s so tantalizingly brief that I found myself wanting to see more of it.
Amazonia:
These two…Mr. Terrific and Terry Sloan. These two have to be the most deus-ex-machina characters in all of comics right now, and that’s saying something. Let’s get something straight, since the start of Earth 2, Mr. Terrific has been under mind control by Bedlam and then has been confined to the Amazonian World Army base. Terry Sloan has been in the same position, except before he was under the entire planet’s scrutiny. How is it that these two guys have built weapons of mass destruction (and by “mass” I mean “god/planet killer”) without anyone knowing except the two of them. It made no sense, Terrific’s less than Sloan’s, because God knows how much he’s gotten away with. But yeah, this was literally pulling something out of nothing, and now there’s some sort of plan to destroy Apokolips?
Geneva Firepit:
This was by far the weakest section. There were at least three instances in this section alone where I was genuinely confused by what happened. Desaad still has Helena, and ends up jumping into lava for some reason. Ok…here’s where it gets weird. This is unedited, uninterrupted dialogue between Batman and Kara. “Damn!” “What. Did you. Do?” “Forgive me, Helena.” “You bugged her.” “A simple tracking device.” Now, that seems weird on its own, seeing as how there is nothing that really starts this exchange other than Desaad escaping. It’s not like Batman let him escape, or stopped Kara, at least not as far as I saw. Then the next panel Thomas drinks some Miraclo – something he has admitted to having to do – and Kara calls him a junkie. Like what the hell? This guy is part of your team, how else would a sixty-something year old man fight against demons and gods? This section was just terribly edited and if this was the original product, it was poorly written too.
- So Superman is alive? I’m going to say no, seeing as how bringing back Supes over and over again would be dumb. He also looked like he had wires coming out of him, so there’s that. They also found him in the middle of nowhere, with no security and nothing holding him like a cell or containment field.
- Jimmy Olsen is going to die? Excuse me, please do not just drop that bombshell on me and then jump to another scene. That’s important stuff!
Recommended If…
- You like seeing crazy team-ups.
- You want to know more about Green Lantern’s future.
- You don’t mind the insane pace.
Overall:
There’s a lot of the same old problems, things I don’t see being changed any time soon. This doesn’t mean that they will just be accepted, but it’s something readers of this book are going to have to live with. Half of this book was so freaking good, and half was so very bad. I was so torn reading this issue.
SCORE: 5.5/10
