Review by Win Wiacek

The second volume of tales from Earth #9 of the new DC universe collects the remaining four tales from 1997, the remainder published in Volume 1, and one from the sequel series from 1998. These alternate versions of the Joker, Nightwing, Secret Six, Doom Patrol and, inevitably, Batman all occur on an Earth where the Cuban Missile Crisis led to a nuclear exchange which changed the world and permanently entrenched the Cold War between the Soviets and the West.

The Joker is a mysterious madcap girl who seems determined to bedevil beat cop John Keel as he tries to do his job in the futuristic madhouse that is New Atlantis, built on the irradiated skeleton of Atlanta. ‘Laugh ‘till it Hurts’ is written by Karl Kesel, drawn by Matt Haley and provides a dark mystery to contrast the outlandish crime-busting hi-jinks of the Joker.

Nightwing is the codename for a band of rogue mystics planning to expose and defeat a US government agency using magic to achieve its ends – and naturally has its own agenda to fulfil. ‘The Most Dangerous Man in the World’ is by long-time creative collaborators John Ostrander and Jan Duursema (sample art).

The Secret Six is the inevitable star team-book, scripted by Chuck Dixon and illustrated by Tom Grummett. ‘Bad Moon’ sees newcomers The Spectre (a teen who can phase out of reality) and the artificial shape-changer Plastic Man unite with the Atom, the Flash, Joker and Manhunter to prevent a madman from merging with and controlling all water on Earth. The Doom Patrol are four enhanced individuals who travel back from 2030 AD to prevent the end of the World. ‘Saving Time’ by Dan Jurgens and Sean Chen, is a formulaic chronal escapade with the misunderstood heroes discovering that they may be the trigger for the events they have come to prevent.

The volume closes with the lacklustre ‘Covenant of Iron’ as Jurgens and Klaus Janson reinterpret Batman as an empty suit of armour animated by the willpower of Sir William, a cursed and lovelorn knight who survived the fall of Camelot, imprisoned in the ethereal Castle of the Bat.

As the middle of a trilogy of volumes it’s perhaps unwise to judge this book on its own merits, but this is a mediocre selection to avoid without first reading its predecessor, and perhaps not at all. Volume 3 follows.