Review by Ian Keogh
With Collision following the continuity of Earth 2 becomes more complicated. Readers may be surprised by the sudden reappearance of Huntress and Power Girl, who disappeared in the opening volume. Five years later, as seen in Worlds’ Finest: Homeward Bound, they’re back. And while the war against the Parademons from Apokalips seemed to have been won in The Kryptonian, there have been consequences. These have spun out into Earth 2: World’s End, the events of which run concurrently with Collision. All clear?
Beating the Parademons for a second time was only the battle won, not the war. Darkseid is determined to reshape Earth to his means and that’s what occupies World’s End, while this, what had been the primary series, dots between those events, introducing new characters (or this universe’s variations on old ones), and shows how Earth has changed. The massive list of artists used isn’t as intrusive as it might be because they’re only illustrating snippets, the origin of a Female Fury, or Dick Grayson and Barbara Gordon’s experiences, which supply Andy Smith’s sample art. More of his professional superhero pages are present than work by anyone else, and while there’s no bad art, there’s equally no art that sticks in the memory. It does a job, but no more.
Much the same applies to the writing, where moments are nice, but the whole is average. Doctor Fate’s trip to Apokalips bucks that trend by spending an entire chapter focused on his experience, but too much of the remainder is explanation without much else. Based on his writing of earlier volumes, you’d expect more from Tom Taylor, but his contributions end with the second chapter, and are shared with Marguerite Bennett, who goes on to collaborate with the other writers. They adhere largely to the predictable, offering few bombshells, but do at least tidy up, filling in a some gaps concerning previously introduced characters such as Hawkgirl.
World’s End is the main meal, while the core Earth 2 title has become the side dish. It ends here.
