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Earth 2
Earth 2, Vol. 3: Battle Cry
New York Times Best-selling author James Robinson and artist Nicola Scott return to Earth 2 in this third volume of the ongoing series!
The wonders of Earth 2, Green Lantern, Hawkgirl, Flash, Atom Smasher, The Sandman, Mr. Terrific and Dr. Fate, take on the forces of Steppenwolf and the Hunger Dogs of Apokolips when all hope is lost. Now a new Batman enters the fray, but is he enough to turn the tide and prevent Darkseid from taking control of Earth 2?
Collects EARTH 2 #13-16, EARTH 2 ANNUAL #1 and EARTH 2 #15.1: DESAAD.
The wonders of Earth 2, Green Lantern, Hawkgirl, Flash, Atom Smasher, The Sandman, Mr. Terrific and Dr. Fate, take on the forces of Steppenwolf and the Hunger Dogs of Apokolips when all hope is lost. Now a new Batman enters the fray, but is he enough to turn the tide and prevent Darkseid from taking control of Earth 2?
Collects EARTH 2 #13-16, EARTH 2 ANNUAL #1 and EARTH 2 #15.1: DESAAD.
138 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 15, 2014
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595 people want to read
About the author
James Robinson
1,265 books236 followersJames Dale Robinson is a British writer of American comic books and screenplays.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 97 reviews
April 15, 2015
Not just a book about a super-team but indeed a whole world!
I got these in its single comic book issues but I am choosing this edition to be able to make a better overall review of the whole story arc. This TPB contains: Earth-2 issues #13 to #16, plus #15.1 and Annual #1.
Creative Team:
Writers: James Robinson and Paul Levitz (only issue # 15.1)
Illustrators: Nicola Scott, Yildray Cinar (issues #13 & 15.1), Cafu & Julius Gopez (only Annual)
A WHOLE WORLD
And there lies the path to madness, kid, but we can talk about that later.
Maybe it’s too evident due the title, but certainly at the beginning of this comic book, Earth-2, seemed to be a book about the equivalent of the Justice League but in a parallel dimension, in the famed Earth-2 in its New52 version.
However, the selection of naming the comic book as Earth-2 was a precise decision, since it’s not about this “Wonders” team with Green Lantern (Alan Scott), The Flash (Jay Garrick) and Dr. Fate (Khalid Ben-Hassin), but indeed an entire world! The whole Earth-2!
Since, now the events in this story arc is around the Earth-2’s world showing developments by multiple characters: The “Wonders” new team; The World Army (even showing apart missions by different special agents like Captain Atom (Al Pratt), Captain Steel (Henry Haywood Jr), The Sandmen (Wesley Dodds & Company), Red Arrow, etc…; Mr. Miracle and Barda; Hawkgirl (Kendra Muñoz-Saunders); Steppenwolf and his combined Apokoliptikan and Earth’s forces; Desaad (also marooned in this parallel dimension but unknown to the public); and even a new and mysterious Batman!!!
So, the book just getting bigger and bigger, and now it’s not only about a single super-team and a current threat, but multiple players with non-clear alignments and multiple threats, each with their own agendas.
WAR IS CHAOS
…The World Army’s Invasion of Dherain began at 10:17 AM… and by little over 60 minutes later it was patently clear... ...that the World Army lost.
In the middle of several storylines, in the book there is the rising of a war, the effort by the World Army (along with its special agents and the new “Wonders” team) to put a stop to the plans of Steppenwolf, last public remaing presence of Darkseid’s forces in Earth-2.
However, the World Army didn’t do its homework to study and analize the military options at the hands of Steppenwolf and soon enough the World Army will see that it was a naive mistake to underestimate the war capabilities of Steppenwolf’s forces.
But war is chaos and always there are surprises...
...and I didn’t say that they would be good surprises!
The odds have just went to hell!!!
I got these in its single comic book issues but I am choosing this edition to be able to make a better overall review of the whole story arc. This TPB contains: Earth-2 issues #13 to #16, plus #15.1 and Annual #1.
Creative Team:
Writers: James Robinson and Paul Levitz (only issue # 15.1)
Illustrators: Nicola Scott, Yildray Cinar (issues #13 & 15.1), Cafu & Julius Gopez (only Annual)
A WHOLE WORLD
And there lies the path to madness, kid, but we can talk about that later.
Maybe it’s too evident due the title, but certainly at the beginning of this comic book, Earth-2, seemed to be a book about the equivalent of the Justice League but in a parallel dimension, in the famed Earth-2 in its New52 version.
However, the selection of naming the comic book as Earth-2 was a precise decision, since it’s not about this “Wonders” team with Green Lantern (Alan Scott), The Flash (Jay Garrick) and Dr. Fate (Khalid Ben-Hassin), but indeed an entire world! The whole Earth-2!
Since, now the events in this story arc is around the Earth-2’s world showing developments by multiple characters: The “Wonders” new team; The World Army (even showing apart missions by different special agents like Captain Atom (Al Pratt), Captain Steel (Henry Haywood Jr), The Sandmen (Wesley Dodds & Company), Red Arrow, etc…; Mr. Miracle and Barda; Hawkgirl (Kendra Muñoz-Saunders); Steppenwolf and his combined Apokoliptikan and Earth’s forces; Desaad (also marooned in this parallel dimension but unknown to the public); and even a new and mysterious Batman!!!
So, the book just getting bigger and bigger, and now it’s not only about a single super-team and a current threat, but multiple players with non-clear alignments and multiple threats, each with their own agendas.
WAR IS CHAOS
…The World Army’s Invasion of Dherain began at 10:17 AM… and by little over 60 minutes later it was patently clear... ...that the World Army lost.
In the middle of several storylines, in the book there is the rising of a war, the effort by the World Army (along with its special agents and the new “Wonders” team) to put a stop to the plans of Steppenwolf, last public remaing presence of Darkseid’s forces in Earth-2.
However, the World Army didn’t do its homework to study and analize the military options at the hands of Steppenwolf and soon enough the World Army will see that it was a naive mistake to underestimate the war capabilities of Steppenwolf’s forces.
But war is chaos and always there are surprises...
...and I didn’t say that they would be good surprises!
The odds have just went to hell!!!
May 17, 2014
3.5 stars
If you've seen the cover, then I'm not spoiling anything by telling you that there's a new Batman in town. But Bruce is dead, and Robin (Huntress) got sucked onto our Earth...so who is it?
Yeah, well you're not going to find out by reading this.
Sorry, I guess that's a mystery to be solved in a different volume.
This one is all about battling Darkseid's #1 lackey, Steppenwolf. And while you do see Green Lantern, Flash, Hawkgirl, and Dr. Fate in this one, they aren't' the main focus of the story. In fact, no one is really the lead character. It's a mish-mosh of fights mingled with tidbits of different plot threads.
And, honestly, none of it WOWED me. It all felt like disconnected filler that may eventually advance the story somehow in the future.
But the end?
Now that was awesome !
If the next volume focuses on more of Brutaal's story, then I do believe Earth 2 will go back to being one of my Must-Have titles.
If you've seen the cover, then I'm not spoiling anything by telling you that there's a new Batman in town. But Bruce is dead, and Robin (Huntress) got sucked onto our Earth...so who is it?
Yeah, well you're not going to find out by reading this.
Sorry, I guess that's a mystery to be solved in a different volume.
This one is all about battling Darkseid's #1 lackey, Steppenwolf. And while you do see Green Lantern, Flash, Hawkgirl, and Dr. Fate in this one, they aren't' the main focus of the story. In fact, no one is really the lead character. It's a mish-mosh of fights mingled with tidbits of different plot threads.
And, honestly, none of it WOWED me. It all felt like disconnected filler that may eventually advance the story somehow in the future.
But the end?
Now that was awesome !
If the next volume focuses on more of Brutaal's story, then I do believe Earth 2 will go back to being one of my Must-Have titles.
November 1, 2025
Really good series and love the art!
July 1, 2015
This really could have been so much better, if it had been allowed to be anything at all. Instead, it's a bunch of disjointed fight scenes that become meaningless in their repetition. The one storyline that I actually care about, Hawkgirl solving the mystery of Sam's murder, is given relatively short shrift. It's really kind of terrible that so little headway is made on that story in this entire volume. But... It has one hell of an ending. The rest of the book was kind of boring, but that really made me sit up and take notice.
July 21, 2018
The third volume of the Earth 2 storyline continues.
Things are getting interesting as a new Batman has appeared-who is he? Menawhile The World Army and the Wonders decide to bring the fight to Steppenwolf and invade his country. In the resultant conflict we find out who Brutaal really is. (Stupid name, interesting reveal).
A few new characters are introduced. I liked their version of Desaad. So far the story and the artwork have been excellent quality. This is one of the better D.C. titles I've run across. So I am going to stick with this series for now.
Things are getting interesting as a new Batman has appeared-who is he? Menawhile The World Army and the Wonders decide to bring the fight to Steppenwolf and invade his country. In the resultant conflict we find out who Brutaal really is. (Stupid name, interesting reveal).
A few new characters are introduced. I liked their version of Desaad. So far the story and the artwork have been excellent quality. This is one of the better D.C. titles I've run across. So I am going to stick with this series for now.
January 30, 2015
This volume of Earth-2 wasn't nearly as good as the first two. It seemed very disjointed, like the writer was trying to put too much into the story and didn't have enough space. For example, a Batman is back, but it never explains how. Mister Miracle and Barda are here, too, but no back story whatsoever. And instead of moving the story along towards a conclusion, several more threads are introduced, including a shocking cliffhanger. Makes me wonder if volume 4 is going to wrap any of this up.
March 1, 2015
Robinson's Earth 2 has long had a pair of problems: it's too decompressed and it's too fragmented. These problems don't go together well, because they result in an overall story where pretty much nothing is happening because each fragment of the story only gets a tiny bit of movement. That's sort of still going on here, in a Hawkgirl story that doesn't go anywhere, but fortunately the rest of the comic has reached a big climax which helps it to recover some of its momentum.
With that said, I was somewhat surprised by this comic's sharp right-hand turn. In the first two volumes, it had very much been Ultimate JSA, but here it seems to moving more toward a sort of post-apocalyptic super worldview of the type seen in comics like Injustice: Gods Among Us and Kingdom Come. It's not a bad direction, but it's a surprise, with the result that this comic is less and less about the JSA and more and more about ... apocalyptic showdowns.
Sadly, this book doesn't have an ending, as is too often the case in Nu52 volumes. However, it was quite an enjoyable read getting there.
I was pretty unhappy to hear that Robinson was forced off the title after this issue; it's, in fact, what made me decide to read it from the library instead of buying it myself. But Tom Taylor seems like the perfect person to take over given his own work on ... Injustice: Gods Among Us. As long as this one can remain fresh and different from his other work.
With that said, I was somewhat surprised by this comic's sharp right-hand turn. In the first two volumes, it had very much been Ultimate JSA, but here it seems to moving more toward a sort of post-apocalyptic super worldview of the type seen in comics like Injustice: Gods Among Us and Kingdom Come. It's not a bad direction, but it's a surprise, with the result that this comic is less and less about the JSA and more and more about ... apocalyptic showdowns.
Sadly, this book doesn't have an ending, as is too often the case in Nu52 volumes. However, it was quite an enjoyable read getting there.
I was pretty unhappy to hear that Robinson was forced off the title after this issue; it's, in fact, what made me decide to read it from the library instead of buying it myself. But Tom Taylor seems like the perfect person to take over given his own work on ... Injustice: Gods Among Us. As long as this one can remain fresh and different from his other work.
January 22, 2016
Finally! this book was lacking in the first half. Once the war came it got far more interesting. Listen, I love dialog, more than fighting, but some of the exposition in this series in insane. It makes me bored to read the same shit over and over again. However, the ending reveal to lead to the next arc, which is bringing superman back and evil is what got me excited. So off to the next volume!
April 21, 2014
Lovely art, dull story. War, war, war. (As Scarlet said.)
I'll read the next volume to see what Tom Taylor does with it, but this book is a drag with this volume.
I'll read the next volume to see what Tom Taylor does with it, but this book is a drag with this volume.
January 2, 2016
Love this series. The surprises just keep coming.
April 8, 2017
Our heroes at War! Although with little depth and substance, still a fun read.
July 7, 2017
Slight, though I remain a fan of these talented creators.
Neither Nicola Scott nor James Robinson can rescue this.
Neither Nicola Scott nor James Robinson can rescue this.
June 5, 2015
I've really been enjoying the universe-building "Earth 2" series, until this volume. It just seems like someone chopped a story up into a thousand little pieces, threw it up in the air, and wherever the pieces landed, that was the going to be the order of events. There is absolutely no flow to this book whatsoever. It jumps around from scene to scene shifting points of view and narrators every other page, which is a common thing in suspenseful, tension-filled graphic novels.... however, that is two things that this book is completely without: suspense and tension.
The artwork carries the majority of this collection, but even the sequential art suffers when a story is this cut up and dicey.
There is a lot of set-up in this volume too; however, (other than the major cliffhanger) it doesn't read like set-up as much as it reads like loose-ends. So many characters just appear from nowhere without a backstory that it is difficult to understand the cause and effect of what they are currently doing on panel, and when a little bit of backstory is given, it is written so poorly that it is hard to decipher the important information.
Idk. I'll keep moving ahead with this series and hope that this volume was just an accidental misstep.
2.5/5
The artwork carries the majority of this collection, but even the sequential art suffers when a story is this cut up and dicey.
There is a lot of set-up in this volume too; however, (other than the major cliffhanger) it doesn't read like set-up as much as it reads like loose-ends. So many characters just appear from nowhere without a backstory that it is difficult to understand the cause and effect of what they are currently doing on panel, and when a little bit of backstory is given, it is written so poorly that it is hard to decipher the important information.
Idk. I'll keep moving ahead with this series and hope that this volume was just an accidental misstep.
2.5/5
December 24, 2019
A likeable story on Earth 2, with battle and adventure. On the minus side, it only creeps the plot forward a little, and bounces around between too many POVs in too many places. Also contains creepy filler stories, apparently supporting Villains Month or whatever that year's DC event was.
Features young versions of Jay Garrick Flash and Alan Scott Green Lantern, the JSA Atom, Hawkgirl, and special guest stars...
Features young versions of Jay Garrick Flash and Alan Scott Green Lantern, the JSA Atom, Hawkgirl, and special guest stars...
July 22, 2014
Typically I really like James Robinson but there's something about this series that I just consider boring.
May 8, 2017
At the midpoint in the series and it is still going strong with a good solid plot and story. Very good art overall. This is a very good alternate history for your favorite DC heroes. recommended
July 18, 2015
It took me a long time to finish this one. Mostly because I had to wait forever for this to become available at my library, and I had forgotten some stuff. So I was finding myself confused and bored quite a bit, mostly just skimming for the last 30 pages or so. I was disappointed for the most part and pretty much just didn't like it. Also, didn't Earth 2's Batman die in the first volume? Who the eff was that guy (or girl)???!!! And where did Big Barda and Mr. Miracle suddenly come from??? So confused, just gonna go sit in my corner...
January 18, 2015
Average read although I like this Batman,and the Superman twist surprise near the ending.
June 25, 2015
This book was odd and confusing but man what an ending!
May 22, 2020
Kind of heavy on the battling and real light on character development but the Big Reveal sets the stage for what I’ve heard is a much improved 4th volume. I’m in.
July 26, 2020
Less time hoping in this one and that ending.... I am enjoying this a lot more than I thought I would, in all honesty. I do hope there is more on Robin/Huntress and Supergirl/Powergirl for sure. Why are Powergirl comics so hard to find????
The art continues to be really good as well. I like that they have not really changed artists, or if they have they are all of the same caliber. There are some places where it gets a little wordy, but over all its a really good book.
The art continues to be really good as well. I like that they have not really changed artists, or if they have they are all of the same caliber. There are some places where it gets a little wordy, but over all its a really good book.
July 13, 2017
5 stars
Enjoyed this comic. Interesting to see what the other worlds are like. Hope they will be able to stop Steppenwulf.
Can't wait to read Earth 2: The Dark Age!!!
Enjoyed this comic. Interesting to see what the other worlds are like. Hope they will be able to stop Steppenwulf.
Can't wait to read Earth 2: The Dark Age!!!
July 10, 2022
Not much to say about this one. Parts were good, parts were just blah. Middle of the road for me.
November 15, 2025
Origin and revelations
War is coming again to Earth 2, but before that the origins of charscters like the Atom and others. The main story moves forward slowly but there are a lot of "side quests" stories going on.
Last days of the last war people were changed, some disappeared, others were killed or made the ultimate sacrifice but some were abandoned. Lots of action be it a bit one sided but things are coming together and details are added to the Earth 2 universe.
This is a bit of a question and revelations book. However I think it is extremely well done. I am enjoying everything of this series.
War is coming again to Earth 2, but before that the origins of charscters like the Atom and others. The main story moves forward slowly but there are a lot of "side quests" stories going on.
Last days of the last war people were changed, some disappeared, others were killed or made the ultimate sacrifice but some were abandoned. Lots of action be it a bit one sided but things are coming together and details are added to the Earth 2 universe.
This is a bit of a question and revelations book. However I think it is extremely well done. I am enjoying everything of this series.
October 30, 2014
This is one of my personal favourite titles out of the new 52 lot. I love the drastic differences from earth prime, with technology being much more advanced, as well as the idea of the world army.
There is heaps more characters coming out of the woodwork in this book. If you've seen the cover you know that there is a new Batman roaming around, but you don't see much of him, well not yet anyway. Along with Batman we see Red Arrow, Red Tornado, Captain Steel, Mr Miracle, Big Barda and a sane Mr Terrific. Oh and Superman's in there too somewhere!
The are a few stories going on here so overall the progress on them are pretty slow, but not so much that it's not interesting. Hawkgirl is off finding Alan Scott's lover Sam's killer. Thought it was pretty weird how it was her rather than Green Lantern himself, but apparently the earth was drawing him to the nearing battle in Dherain. Speaking of which that battle was pretty fun to read as well as it was beautiful to look at. Now that the world armies wonders have met up with The Flash, Dr Fate and Green Lantern hopefully they work together. Mr Miracle and Big Barda story was cool, I'm really looking forward to seeing what happened to Gotham. I'm also looking forward to seeing Red Tornado in the next volume. Oh and I almost forgot about Captain Steel and the Red Lantern! Damn I'm looking forward to the next book and seeing where these stories go leading into the Earth 2: Worlds End series. The last issue with Desaad was a bit confusing, but I'm hoping it will all make sense later on. I haven't seen him since Worlds Finest, and that's not with fond memories. So is he on earth 1 or 2 if Huntress and Power Girl are trapped on earth 1? They were tying some stuff into why happened on Worlds Finest volume 1, but I didn't like that so I kind of didn't care about him in this. Seemed to me to be one story too many, but like I said if it comes out and builds on the story overall I'm happy.
The only bad niggle I had with this, and it seems to be a pattern in this series, is that they focus heaps on one story at a time. Instead of changing story lines throughout, they stay on one situation for a while so you are left in suspense of what's happening elsewhere. But because there are so many stories happening you forget what's going on where.
Other than that small concern this series is still going strong. It's a pity the following collected volumes take so long to come out. It'll just mean I have to re-read the whole series again to remember what's going on, which isn't a bad thing when it's a good title.
There is heaps more characters coming out of the woodwork in this book. If you've seen the cover you know that there is a new Batman roaming around, but you don't see much of him, well not yet anyway. Along with Batman we see Red Arrow, Red Tornado, Captain Steel, Mr Miracle, Big Barda and a sane Mr Terrific. Oh and Superman's in there too somewhere!
The are a few stories going on here so overall the progress on them are pretty slow, but not so much that it's not interesting. Hawkgirl is off finding Alan Scott's lover Sam's killer. Thought it was pretty weird how it was her rather than Green Lantern himself, but apparently the earth was drawing him to the nearing battle in Dherain. Speaking of which that battle was pretty fun to read as well as it was beautiful to look at. Now that the world armies wonders have met up with The Flash, Dr Fate and Green Lantern hopefully they work together. Mr Miracle and Big Barda story was cool, I'm really looking forward to seeing what happened to Gotham. I'm also looking forward to seeing Red Tornado in the next volume. Oh and I almost forgot about Captain Steel and the Red Lantern! Damn I'm looking forward to the next book and seeing where these stories go leading into the Earth 2: Worlds End series. The last issue with Desaad was a bit confusing, but I'm hoping it will all make sense later on. I haven't seen him since Worlds Finest, and that's not with fond memories. So is he on earth 1 or 2 if Huntress and Power Girl are trapped on earth 1? They were tying some stuff into why happened on Worlds Finest volume 1, but I didn't like that so I kind of didn't care about him in this. Seemed to me to be one story too many, but like I said if it comes out and builds on the story overall I'm happy.
The only bad niggle I had with this, and it seems to be a pattern in this series, is that they focus heaps on one story at a time. Instead of changing story lines throughout, they stay on one situation for a while so you are left in suspense of what's happening elsewhere. But because there are so many stories happening you forget what's going on where.
Other than that small concern this series is still going strong. It's a pity the following collected volumes take so long to come out. It'll just mean I have to re-read the whole series again to remember what's going on, which isn't a bad thing when it's a good title.
June 21, 2015
I'm annoyed here - this collection kept giving me déjà vu - I'd already read some of these plot lines earlier only to have them expanded further in this collection. Which frustrated the heck out of me. I want progress, not more going around in circles explaining oh this is how the wonders all came to be in Dehrain.....get on with the plot!!!!!!!
I'll keep going, just so I get can get to the bottom of the Batman myth?????
I'll keep going, just so I get can get to the bottom of the Batman myth?????
July 5, 2021
Big battles are usually misses in comic books for me. Most of the interesting subplots don't seem to be going anywhere, and it feels like a lot of wheel-spinning.
Also, it would've been nice if Earth 2 #15.2: Solomon Grundy had been collected, and #15.1: Desaad would've worked better in a Worlds' Finest collection, since he's a more relevant character there.
Also, it would've been nice if Earth 2 #15.2: Solomon Grundy had been collected, and #15.1: Desaad would've worked better in a Worlds' Finest collection, since he's a more relevant character there.
June 3, 2014
Eh... it was ok. The story wasn't great and was a bit hard to follow with all the new characters introduced.
Might read the next volume, but not sure.
Might read the next volume, but not sure.
April 12, 2015
Oh yeah, this is getting good. This is getting crazy good.
August 3, 2015
The story is fragmenting and growing darker. It is still well written, but if I had started with this volume, I would not have read any of the rest of the series.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 97 reviews