Khalid Ben-Hussin

April 6, 2013

Comics Review – Earth 2 #11

Earth 2 #11

A common science fiction question is asking what if? What if alternate and parallel universes could exist, which spiraled out of decisions we could have made differently?

  In one of these parallel places is an Earth different to our own. That’s the premise of Earth 2 – A world where the superheroes of the DC universe are different people with familiar code names. The audience is reminded again that we are reading a story about multiple Earths by the villain Steppenwolf. He’s looking for an escaped prisoner on Earth 2. But more on that later.

Last issue, another villain named Wotan talked too much. This time, he talks less, but Wotan’s origin story blockades the start of the issue, which slows the narrative pace to halt. Fortunately, Nicola Scott’s art is impressive for these scenes

James Robinson shows us that that Wotan is driven by a desire for power – he wants to be everyone’s boss, and take orders from no one.

Two heroes, The Flash and Khalid, were on a quest inside the Tower of Fate in the previous issue.

Inside the tower, The Flash looks impressive as he holds back a giant red demon, which allows his new friend Khalid to find the legendary Helmet of Nabu. After donning the helmet, he transforms into Dr.Fate, who arrives, in a spectacular light show, with gold and blue runes made of sparking magic floating around him as he levitates in mid air.

Khalid was scared to wear the helmet.

He feared the incredible power he would gain by becoming Dr. Fate. The Flash inspires him to face his fear with a show of bravery. I re-read these scenes carefully, and the decisions made by the characters make sense, and a little inspiring to read.

The Art of Earth 2 #11

Nicola Scott’s monsters look fearsome. She draws several of them here: a giant stone Sphinx – the Sphinx in fact, back when it was newly constructed – springs to life and attacks Wotan in ancient Egypt (the origin story). A giant red demon fights The Flash, and the page is skilfully painted with scarlet blurs of the hero and the beast fighting at high speed. Trevor Scott’s inking efforts are effective. He gives the beast weight and size with heavy black ink.

Colourists Alex Sinclair and Pete Pantazis deliver shining gold, since Dr.Fate is fond of wearing gold armor. As the hero makes his appearance, his armor shines, and the black of his costume is the same shade of blue as the night sky. It’s even peppered with specks of starlight.

Setting and physical places are becoming essential to the Earth 2 comic.

The Heroes are dwarfed by giant, stone chess pieces as they walk across black and white tiles the width of houses.

We also see Gotham city on Earth 2. It is a ruin, and the city streets are chaos as a giant blue ape fights a giant, red lobster. A thunderstorm rages behind them.

The makes a point of communicating character development. As Khalid faces his fear and becomes Dr.Fate, he shines a bright light on the red Demon. it becomes indistinct, blurred, and faded. The sharp inks and pencils that define it are washed out. The bright red colour fades. By accepting his role as Dr. Fate, Khalid has literally overcome his demons.

A bit more on Earth 2 #11.

If it wasn’t for Jay Garrick showing him support, and leading by example, Dr.Fate would not have appeared.

This comic is about a super hero team called the Justice Society. They are a team with a strong set of values. For example, leading by example, and doing your best to support people who need a hand. It’s not just about attacking criminals. The Flash definitely embodies these values in this comic.

About that escaped prisoner – This is a *Spoiler Alert*

Steppenwolf arrogantly declares he will capture the greatest escape artist in the DC universe, both old and new. He want’s fury to catch Scott Free: Mister Miracle. This character makes his first appearance in the new DC universe. He and Big Barda don’t have any dialog, but it’s great to see them back.

Earth 2 #11 is published by DC Comics

March 9, 2013

Comics Review – Earth 2 #10.

If not for some solid art, and the scenes of Alan Scott picking through awkward social hoops – meeting Mr. Zhao, the father of his deceased and sadly missed boyfriend Sam Zhao – and waging an emotion fueled assault on what resembles a Yakuza casino, James Robinson’s and Nicola Scott’s Earth 2 would have been a dialog-heavy let down and a drudge to read. This comic is thankfully bringing the world of Earth #2 back to a high standard of storytelling.

Earth 2 #10

Wotan is a new villain, who establishes a sense of villainy by threatening the mother of super fast super hero The Flash – Jay Garrick. Jay does not ordinarily fight crime with his mother. Mrs. Garrick was abducted by Wotan. She is a hostage. Wotan’s goal is to coerce Jay and occult researcher, Khalid Ben-Hussin, into retrieving a powerful magic artefact called the Helmet of Nabu from the eldritch Tower of Fate.

Wotan has an interesting appearance: a villain seemingly created through the amalgamation of The Avengers villain Loki (played by Tom Hiddleston), and the Wicked Witch of the West from the Wizard of Oz. Wotan talks far too much. Panels are cluttered with Wotan’s monologue , and no character may interrupt Wotan for long.

The most frustrating part of this comic is that the heroes are either too emotional to deal with Wotan, or too inexperienced: this means that there is no one capable of making Wotan stop talking, and that’s the real problem.

I mentioned an artefact called the Helmet of Nabu. This is a gold helmet worn by golden age hero Doctor Fate. It seems Khalid has been selected to become the new Doctor Fate.

I thought that having access to this power, Khalid would choose to stop Wotan from pushing around young super heroes and their mothers. Unfortunately, the character drags his feet as he fears his immense powers, and the pace of the first half of the comic suffers as a result.

Khalid’s anxiety and fear has dropped him into a depression. Considering he is an expert in occult studies and ancient Lore, the question to ask is why would he shirk the power of a wizard? He is thrown into the tower of fate with Jay, eventually, and the art in the following pages makes up for the excessive emotions.

Panel arrangement rules change as Nicola Scott plays with time and space across the page. Scott has captured the meaninglessness of time and space inside the tower, as it spirals and tricks the eye like the M.C. Esher painting Relativity. Playing with unusual spaces and warped time works well, and is wonderful art.

The Green Lantern returns, and makes ammends with a character he wronged in the past – he admits he was wrong and apologies, showing key character development. Finally, we are shown that Khalid has some personal demons to overcome. Earth 2 #10 is a step back in the right direction.

Earth 2 #10 is published by DC Comics