The Tower - Earth 2 #1
The Price of Victory
⋅ Writers: James Robinson ⋅ Pencilers: Nicola Scott ⋅
If the original Earth-2, not to be confused for this much more contemporary Earth 2, used the fact that it was an alternative Earth to make a few cosmetic changes this as a concept goes in all in!
The conceit of this other Earth is that this universe Darkseid, or according to other material there is only ever one of him, has invaded Earth with his army of Parademons. We don't see this invasion, only the final battle to draw this invading force away with what appears to be the last heroes on this version.
Obviously being DC it's the fabled Trinity, Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman, but we also get Kara (as Supergirl still, she doesn't become Power Girl till on Earth-Prime) and Helena (as Robin). Most of the issue is with this final, apocalyptic battle that everyone here seems to know its the last desperate stand against the Parademons. Batman plans to plant a virus on these towers that act as control towers for the Parademons Boom Tubes (which in a neat touch they don't know to call them that). Each tower is meant to take over from the last but the virus will be transmitted to the next destroying that one before being transmitted in a cascade of destruction.
Meanwhile, Superman and Wonder Woman have to hold off the horde of Parademons to give Batman enough time to carry out this task, and you get the feeling that they all know it's a suicide mission. In a nice touch, each of their costumes is just different enough to stand out but close enough you can tell who they are meant to be.
Wonder Woman is the first to fall, after a plot-important message from Mercury that the Roman Gods have fallen (in another neat touch all the deities mentioned are Roman rather than Greek of "our" Earth). Not long after this she's stabbed through the back by a Steppenwolf, who in one of the few sour notes isn't really set up well her coasting on the fact we should know just who he is, so really doesn't come across as a big a threat as the comic thinks he should be.
Superman doesn't even get that fancy a send-off, instead just swarmed by Parademons, which is enough to get Kara to abandon her mission, protecting soldiers delivering an atomic bomb to one of these towers out in Papua New Guinea. As she leaves the squad is swamped by Parademons and their fate is left up in the air.
Meanwhile, Batman has been well, Batmanning up this tower being helped by Helena in the Batwing, as we find out the plan as it unfolds. Bruce is of course Bruce, but we do get hints that he cares and is proud of his daughter. This is before the final devastating reveal that the tower defences will destroy the tower as the virus is introduced and it was always a suicide mission for Batman.
The plan works and the Parademons fall from the sky, but Kara and Helena don't get a chance to celebrate or mourn the loss of their family members as they rush to follow a fleeing Steppenwolf through another Boom Tube. The one that led them to the Earth-Prime. If you follow the date this is really where Power Girl and Huntress's story start, in the so-called second phase of the New 52 books, this book coming out just before the World Finests' book. Though because of a bit of shuffling around due to unfortunate real-world events I'm covering it just a smidge after.
Whilst we're done with the story of Huntress and Power Girl here, for quite a few issues, the story isn't however as we meet some of the characters that will be important for this book. The first is Alan Scott, who's been narrating the story as a fifth anniversary "celebration" of the success of the mission. He owns Galatic Broadcasting Company one of the biggest media companies on this Earth and is travelling to China on a business trip.
Finally, we meet Jay Garrick who's at a bit of a loose end after graduating, his girlfriend leaving him for new opportunities on the West Coast. Having a beer and contemplating his life he notices a shooting star, only for it to crash near him, being the returned form of Mercury...
When the bold experiment that was New 52 began I was one of those that tried out most of the relaunched issues, but only a few of them did I follow right to the end. One was Superwoman, which I may one day talk about here, the other was World's Finest and the last was this Earth 2! In fact, this was the first time I had come across an Earth Two, and enjoyed that they actually took the time to make this Earth so distinct from the original DC Earth. Now I might have thought differently at the time had I been a fan of the original Earth-2 but thankfully over time I've learned to separate my various medias from each other so I can appreciate them as their own thing.
So yeah I really like this comics and whilst we won't be coming back here for a while it's worth looking up the series if your so inclined!
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