Earth 2 #21 Review and *SPOILERS*

Written By: Tom Taylor
Art By: Nicola Scott, Trevor Scott
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: March 5, 2014

Oh The Horror!  The Horror!

When we last saw our heroes of Earth 2, they just got done escaping the ass whooping given to them by the Darkseid loving Superman.  The Batcave seems to be one of the last safe places on Earth, and Batman's plan to use a new Kryptonian (Val) as a secret weapon against Superman was shut down when we learned that Val is agoraphobic.  In the end we see him get a healthy dose of sunlight, so maybe we'll have a Kryptonian brouhaha after all.  So for the bad news.  Now that most of the heroes have been defeated or retreated, Superman scours the globe of all things good and decent, and destroys all things with religious significance.  Because we all know that Darkseid is the one true god.  Well that was a downer, hopefully our heroes can turn things around.  Let's find out.

Explain It!:

This issue starts with Superman taking out the remaining heroes that didn't have the common sense to hide.  You see off in Moscow land, Atom, and Sandman are trying to teleport surviving World Army soldiers to safety.  Not on Superman's watch.  The Atom grows to a gigantic size like he does, but Superman ain't got no time for that.  He heat visions Atom's arm off, and to add insult to injury, Superman picks up the loose arm and beats Atom across the face with it.  So as you could understand Atom is down, and Sandman teleports away to the World Army double secret base.

Where is that you might ask.  Calm down, all you had to do was ask.  Amazonia (I almost wrote Themyscira) the secret island home of the amazons of Earth 2.  Commander Khan is trying to deal with a debilitating wound, and running the dwindling World Army, as you can understand he's a little haggard.  So who you gonna call?  No not them, he calls Atlantis and to his shock and surprise Aqua Woman answers the video phone.  If you remember she was locked up by the World Army before Batman set her free, and she just returned home.  Now she's kind of pissed that the World Army is calling asking for favors.  Some naughty words might have been spoken, but before that could happen Jimmy Olsen hacked the conversation from the Batcave and wants to ask Commander Khan for help because the remaining heroes have a plan to take down Superman.  I guess we'll find out next issue.

If you're anything like me you've been wondering where the hell have Terry Sloan, Mister Terrific, and Mister Miracle been.  Well you don't have to wonder anymore.  Right now they're having their mind controlled by one of Steppenwolf's former hounds; Bedlam.  He's using them to create a way to transport the earth to Apokolips, because Darkseid's home world is dying and he wants Earth 2 as his own.  But during the mind control Bedlam gleams a secret that Terry Sloan's been hiding.  There's another Kryptonian.  So Bedlam tattles to Superman who doesn't seem amused.  

Now here's the part about the horror the horror.  The world's government had a backup plan in case Darkseid ever attacked again called Project Beyond.  This project was an escape plan for the world leaders, royalty, and captains of industry.  Deep underground a monorail would take them to a World Ark.  A spaceship that would transport them away from a lost cause world like Earth.  In the scene we see all these people fighting each other and running to get inside, even up to the point where the doors close, the engines ignite and all the Kirk Cameron's left behind are burned instantaneously.  So that's the horror, the other part of the horror is before the World Ark can escape the atmosphere, Superman plans on making an example out of them.  He takes the ship and tears it in half letting all the occupants fall to their deaths.  See the horror?  Well that's it for this month, so sit back and muse on the horrors of Earth 2, and prepare yourself for what might come next.  See you next time.

Bits and Pieces:

This was an intense issue.  We step back from the heroes trying to save the day, and focus on how bad things have gotten, and are still getting.  It's a bit shocking, and even though we've been dealing with it for months now seeing Superman do these things continues to blow my mind.  There is so much going on, and somehow Taylor keeps things interesting on all fronts.  The only complaint I have is that this month the color doesn't seem as vibrant as it's been, and weakens the artwork.  Now I hate myself a bit for saying anything negative about Scott's work, so like I said it's the color.  So if you want a title that wows you month after month, go out and pick up Earth 2.  I'm not kidding.

9/10