I’m just going to jump into the review. Here’s the brief overview: stuff just happens, again, but Daniel Wilson’s story really goes nowhere. It’s all just a build-up.
Space: Probably the coolest image in the book, Alan Scott is back in space fending off asteroids seeing as how Apokolips just destroyed the Moon. That whole “destroyed the Moon” thing is glossed over throughout the issue, because blowing up celestial objects is pretty standard comic book stuff. Meanwhile, the Sloan, Mr. Terrific, and Apokolips crew lands on the newly-arrived planet Armageddon-style to battle the forces of Apokolips.
Here’s a thought: if Bruce is on Apokolips in Batman & Robin, does that mean that this crew is destined to fail? There is only one Apokolips in the DCU, and it’s at Earth 2 right now. So when the hell does Batman & Robin take place? I get that continuity has always been an issue for comics, but come on. This is just stupid with how much is going on right now. There are about 387 Batman stories going on right now, with the continuity all out of whack. Never before have I felt so overwhelmed by a lack of continuity.
Chicago: Babs, Dick, and Ted Grant are fighting off people infected by the Furies. Then a meteor hits and Babs vanishes. IS BABS DEAD? FIND OUT IN EARTH 2 #29. Ugh, editors.
Gotham: Oh remember Constantine, he’s just unleashed some of Earth 2’s greatest villains, none of which I knew. WHAT WILL THEY DO? FIND OUT IN CONSTANTINE #19. Ugh, editors.
Beneath Earth-2: The Wonder team has finished battling the clones of Superman, only to find out that Helena’s heart has stopped. WILL THIS BE A REPEAT OF FOREVER EVIL? FIND OUT IN WORLD’S END #9. Ugh….
Another quick note, can we just stop this idolizing and remembrance of Superman? If he’s not going to come back, then why do they keep making everything revolve around Kal? The whole “well here is his shield” conveniently placed where Lois can find it is ridiculous right after they fought not only the Superman clones and Bizarro. I don’t see this kind of harkening for Bruce or Diana, so unless the endgame of this series is to bring back Superman – which would be an incredibly dumb thing to do – then just let these characters move forward.
Amazonia: Khalid has transferred his power to Jimmy, and both are recovering from the ordeal.
Let’s get to the artwork, which is by far the weakest part of this issue. All throughout the issue, the artwork of Barrows et al is nothing short of atrocious. It’s painful to say, given the energy that I’m sure is put in by the creative team, but it looks as if zero effort was put into the art. Just a few small examples: Ted Grant has no mouth in two panels, Flash looks like a more unstable version of Elongated Man, Val looks like a frog, there is no definition for most of the characters let alone detail, and most of the characters look like plastic toy representations. When the Earth 2 Flash sitting on my desk is more realistic-looking than most of the characters in the book, that’s a severe problem. For a story that is more coherent than the majority of the series so far, the artwork is perhaps the worst.
- Grundy got axed in half, and Sam is being infected by Pestilence. While I doubt either will die, it was still pretty intense to see War hack into him like that.
- Hawkgirl is now under the control of War? Or something? I don’t quite understand how the Furies are able to influence people like that.
Favorite Quote: “The time for attacking is over Chancellor. Our only goal now is to survive.” – Commander Sato.
Recommended If…
- You’ve been following the story so far.
- You’ve been waiting for Apokolips to show up.
Overall:
Some gross artwork holds back the scattered story as World’s End pushes forward as a title that has been quite the disappointment so far. Oh, and if you have to tell me not once, but twice in the editor’s notes to “Check Out (Insert Comic Here)” you are failing at your job as an editor and a writer.
SCORE: 4/10
