Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Read: Earth 2 #2

Issue: Earth 2 #2
Title: "Age Of Wonders"
Published Date: Jun 2012
Generation: New 52 Hawkgirl (To Be Revised, see Note)
Retcon Status: In Continuity

Summary: Still trying to measure exactly how fast he can run thanks to the gift of the dying god Mercury, Jay Garrick starts sprinting.  He finds that the world starts to blur around him as he goes faster and faster, but he is faced with a problem: how to stop.  He skids to a halt, plowing a huge trench in a grassy knoll.  He is immediately addressed by a winged female figure, armed with a crossbow, who tells him that he sure took a long time in arriving.

Review: Obviously more happens in the issue than just this.  I know comics are decompressed but that would be ridiculous!  This little sequence, however, does give us our first glimpse of the new Hawkgirl.  Nicola Scott renders her quite nicely -- out heroine is athletic without being angular, and shapely without being voluptuous.  Her general pose and appearance gives me the impression of an archangel, ready to do battle.  The helmet is sleek and impressive, definitely evoking the classic Hawkgirl helmet but clearly it's own design.  Her crossbow is novel, as it seems to have a barrel... does it fire shells instead of shafts?  I really like the combat knife tucked into her boot as well.  Note the treads on the bottom of said boot -- we saw a similar type of tread earlier in the issue on the new Flash, so clearly Scott likes this style of footwear, heh.  

Trevor Scott's inks also do wonders for this image.  I like the "blackout" effect on the wings, especially since previous images have them shown them to be an angelic white color.  

We should know more about Hawkgirl next issue, but for now, this will have to whet our appetites!

As for the issue overall, I liked it.  There is an intriguing little glimpse into the world of Earth 2 at the beginning, as we meet Terry Morse, only he is quite different than I remember the original Mr. Terrific ever being.  There is a great sequence with Jay Garrick and Mercury, which ends with Garrick becoming a "Wonder" like the fallen heroes Suprman, Wonder Woman, and Batman were known.  And of course we get some more with Alan Scott, including the already spoiled reveal of his orientation, about which I really don't care.  Very interested in seeing what happens to him after the cliffhanger of this issue, and to learn more about Hawkgirl and Flash.

Note: The Generation Tag for the new Earth 2 Hawkgirl will be revised once we know her secret identity.  I am assuming it is going to be Kendra, but we do not know for sure at this point.

Image: Page from Earth 2 #2, 2012, Nicola Scott.

1 comment:

Mr P said...

I enjoyed this issue a lot. I'm really intrigued to find out more about this new Earth 2 and the new "age of wonders" that seems to be unfolding. Hawkgirl got such a great enigmatic entrance, I'd be especially curious to find out more about her, even if I wasn't a fan of previous versions of the character.

I hope we get to see Michael Holt alive and well soon, he'd be a nice addition to what is (hopefully) forming into a new version of the JSA.