Convergence has come and gone, and while the event wasn’t not the most...even in terms of the quality of stories surrounding it, it was a gargantuan shift in DC’s staus quo, both in terms of content and what it’ll mean for the future. Perhaps the most shaken up were the denizens of the former Earth-2, which was obliterated by Apokolips’ encroachment in the wake of the Hunger Dogs’ attempt at the complete genocide of all of Earth’s inhabitants. Only 2 million made it off-planet and now they begin to pick up the pieces in EARTH 2: SOCIETY.
Here there be SPOILERS for EARTH 2: SOCIETY #1 AND Convergence.
Right off the bat we see that things have changed massively and not all for the better. While we get a flashback of Alan Scott (or something) helping return the escaping ships back to the new Earth that was left in the wake of Convergence coming to an end and Telos leaving what had been the staging ground for the many inter-dimensional battles, we also get the ever-ruthless Terry Sloane forcing crafts that weren’t made to re-enter an atmosphere...well..re-enter an atmosphere. The ever pragmatic Sloane chalks the ensuing casualties up to "acceptable losses."
We catch up with Dick Grayson in his new role as this Earth’s Batman as he hunts Sloane through the streets of a surprisingly well-built and developed city. Since everyone knows what Sloane’s done, he’s one of the most wanted men on the planet and Grayson winds up running into some stiff competition.
We get a lot of flashing back and forward, and that leads things still very up in the air as to who has survived (though it looks like most of the principle characters made it intact) and what the state of them is. We see Hawkgirl and at least one Sandman, so there’ll still be plenty of time to catch up with them.
What we don’t see is how a massive city went up so quickly as the stuff taking place in the present is only a couple of years later, though this can likely be written off as their technology being so much better than what we consider “modern.” It's fine to leave some questions up in the air as this is just a first issue, and it does a great job at introducing us both to a new status quo and giving a very, very cool take on a more sloppy, untrained caped crusader.
This issue is a really strong start to what feels like a bold, brave new direction for DC comics and especially for this, one of its most aimless series of the last year with a ton of untapped potential.
EARTH 2: SOCIETY #1 is now on sale.