Review: Earth 2 #0 - A Hero's Tale

Earth 2 issue 0 takes us back to the beginning as James Robinson returns focus to the events that preceded and led up to issue 1 and beyond

The story focuses on Terry Sloan, the original Mr Terrific and the man who captured Michael Holt during issue 2, as he provides the narration for himself and the original wonders (Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman to name a few) as they battle to defeat the armies of Stepphenwolf and Apokolips. Sloan's story describes the players on his side, and the casualties caused by the other-worldly invaders before moving towards his plan to gain victory, which most likely will not sit well with his super-powered allies.

Despite being difficult to get into at beginning, this issue did eventually grow on me as time went by, for which I am glad. While expecting this to be more of a focus on the Trinity and their differences and similarities to their Earth 1 counterparts, Robinson side-steps this by focusing more on the one character who, we know is still relevant to this world, Terry Sloan. The issue provides a deep insight in Sloan's personality, displaying him as a very cold and calculating individual whose ends always justify the means and is more than willing to sacrifice anyone to achieve his objectives. This makes the character a much more interesting foil for the noble "JSA" that Robinson is putting together during this series.

As for the art, all I can say is that Tomas Giorello's work here is gorgeous. Every panel, every set piece and even every character felt vibrant and epic, which given what is transpiring through this story, is absolutely deserved. While I would attribute regular artist Nicola Scott's work as a movie level produced tv series, Giorello's stuff is most definitely summer blockbuster stuff in a way. Not to reduce the talent of Scott's artwork, which is consistently awesome, but daammmnnn, this work here is good.

Overall,  this story was intriguing and beautiful to look at. If there is one downside to this book it's that Robinson leaves more questions that can only really be answered in another issue zero. That said, although book may not be essential to overall story, it does provide more depth to the series and is well worth reading.