Earth-2 #19 *Spoilers included!*

Earth-2 #19
Writer: Tom Taylor
Penciler: Nicola Scott and Robson Rocha

The Dark Age, Part 3


Going to give some spoiler room here for those whom aren't regular readers of Earth-2.

















- Commencing Spoilers-




The newest arc in the Earth-2 saga continues featuring the revealed Brutale, Superman and his rampage on behalf of Darkseid. As the invading parademons and the furies rampage, the World Army and it's wonders are regrouping. Fate has been injured, and Arrow is holding things together on the ground. Meanwhile,  within the Arkham facility, the impromptu team of the new Batman, the newly awakened female Red Tornado (Lois Lane), Major Sato, Marella the Atlantean Queen,  and the rescued super-brain Jimmy Olsen are scouring the sublevels for the next piece of the puzzle.

The interesting thing with this series aside from a really fresh take on the Golden Age heroes and their World War era continuity is their attention to the really obscure bits of DC lore. And as a long-time comic fan, that detail work is refreshing. Sloan's hidden secret turns out to be another Kryptonian, one from the not-often mentioned island of Vathlo, which isn't referred to quite often, but lurks about in the memories of sharp creators. A dark-skinned subset of Kryptonians, whom remained apart from the main Kryptonian empire, although relations were quite strong between them, eventually immigrating to Kandor prior to the destruction of the planet.

The end half of the issue has our heroes departing in a very typical style, with a teaser of what looks to be a reconstituting Solomon Grundy. Between that, the capture of two of the Earth's brightest,  and Superman's rampage on Washington DC, things are looking even worse for our heroes.

The Round Up

To sum it up, the art is as strong as ever, there's no repeated panels, the dialogue is strong, and the story remains quite engaging. Being this deep in an arc, I must say it's for the best to get some familiarity with the backstory before launching into Earth-2 haphazardly, else you will get lost. That being said, I'm quite excited for where the future will be going for this ongoing. I'm only crossing my fingers that there will be no crossovers with the regular New 52 earth aside from World's Finest with Huntress and Power Girl being a part of that earth. I don't think either's ready for a crossover of those proportions at this time, and would only be detrimental to the development of both Earths.

Recommendation: Pick it up in the trade paperback.