The destruction of Earth 2 is at hand, and all the Wonders are fighting back against the forces of Apokolips in a last-ditch effort to save the few human beings who remain, crawling about in the dirt trying to escape the fiery inferno threatening to consume them. Sounds awesome right? Too bad so little happens. This is supposed to be some all-encompassing evil, a machine that literally eats planets, and yet I feel no danger, no threat, no sense that all is truly lost. Every time a door is closed, a convenient window opens up, and so on and so forth. While the setting has become contained, the story is not. Stuff happens, but nothing of substance, nothing to chew on and digest and absorb. It’s all white noise splashed on a page.
Atom’s Haven: Flash and Hawkgirl are trying to fight back against the terraformers that have come to consume Earth 2. Above them, Val, Kara, and Lois are doing battle against the satellites themselves. Val finally starts fighting back, but only after talking about how violence has gotten them nowhere. Kara convinces him to use his powers, and the trio try to take the fight to the stratosphere. What waits for them, however, are a group of sentry robots that mean to keep them occupied while the terraformers take over the planet.
Coast of England: The rig that Helena and Thomas discovered last issue turns out to be some kind of giant robot/laboratory/pet project of Bruce Wayne’s, operated by Oliver Queen. Ollie is sporting a different coat of paint, and it certainly was kind of him to disappear from existence because his dead friend’s daughter might at one point in the future, need his services. If my friend asks me to spend the rest of my life on an underwater research station that served as the final repository of DNA samples for every creature and plant in existence, I would have a few second thoughts.
Atom’s Haven Command Center: Major Sato has pretty much given up hope when all the evacuation ships in Atom’s Haven begin to launch, Most of Atom’s Haven’s citizens have been taken over by Brainwave, who plans on leading them as some kind of savior. I’ve brought up enough how this book has to stop adding plot lines and characters this deep into the story, and this is another example of that problem. Brainwave might have been featured for half an issue, and now he’s suddenly a player with only a few issues to go? Not one person who is reading this issue cares.
Beneath Atom’s Haven: Dick Grayson and Ted Grant are following the horde of people controlled by Brainwave. They start getting headaches, and Dick just ditches Ted among the mindless horde. Why doesn’t Brainwave’s power affect them? Does Brainwave know, “Hey, these guys are main characters, I have to keep them pretty much functional for the next few issues!”
TSS Endurance: Ugh. This story line makes less and less sense every time I read it. Terry Sloan, Mr. Terrific, Mr. Miracle, Fury, and Sandman are all on that hidden, inter-dimensional, space station capable of holding hundreds of thousands of people in it. Sloan does the typical bad guy shpeel about doing things for the “greater good” and how everything is “according to plan.” We get a tiny look into his background, but for people who didn’t read the Future’s End tie-in, this will make absolutely zero sense. Then again, I read the tie-in and this still makes almost no sense. Sandman decides to do something for the first time in forever and punches Sloan, who of course lets him hit him, because that’s also in Bad-Guy 101 at your local Arch-Villain University. Oh, and then some straight-up nonsense happens and we are left with a cliffhanger that lacks all suspense and logic.
Where before Daniel Wilson’s story was all over the place, operating at a break-neck speed with characters falling and fighting across the globe, now it has stalled. As I mentioned earlier, nothing happens. There are no new developments, no explanations, no fights against things other than abstract masses. Also, the Wonders are fighting against the terraformers above Atom’s Haven…what about all the other ones around the world. Stopping just one would surely not stop the whole machine. Right? Right?! That would be too stupid and convenient…oh, wait. This book excels at that.
Oh, hello new art team! A whole bunch of names have switched around! Let’s call this (searching for most interesting name) Ortego et al. Congrats Guillermo Ortego, you are the new face of this art team; and what an interesting face it is. I actually really enjoyed the artwork this issue, which was probably the sole redeeming factor for picking it up. Loaded with tons of vivid reaction shots and a varied landscape, this is the kind of artwork I would have liked to have seen throughout. So good on you, new art team, you’re the best this book has gotten so far.
- Mentioning Dinah but not showing her does not earn you points,
- The Endurance just blows up, because it’s “all part of the plan.” I hate the writing in this book.
- Here’s what we know about Sloan’s origin: he’s not from Earth 2, and has somehow convinced Apokolips to eat Earth 2 instead of his own planet. Which planet that is exactly, we don’t know. Guess it won’t be that important.
Favorite Quote: “Your dad was the ultimate doomsday prepper.” – Oliver Queen, because we all knew that anyway.
Recommended If…
- You want to give the new art team a chance, for whatever reason.
- You’re with me, in it until the end.
Overall: I’ve done enough spouting about this book’s logic breaks, time skips, unintelligeble story, inconsistent artwork, shallow characters, and all the other flaws that have hit it. Either you’re buying it, or you’re not, and this issue won’t change that.
SCORE: 5/10
