I've been reading Earth 2 from James Robinson and it's an entertaining, fresh read. However as a fan of the Justice Society I can't help but think that something is lost in the modernization of the characters present in Earth 2. One of the biggest advantages of Earth 2 was the huge contrast between it and the "main" earth, whatever it gets called.
By placing Earth 2 in World War II you automatically get an interesting setting and the goofy Golden Age characters just work so much better in that enviroment. It feels like a new world and an interesting twist. We've seen these stories and redoing them again wouldn't be New. I get that. I'm all for updating the concept and tweaking it to get new outcomes. However ending with a dead Superman, a dead Batman and a dead Wonder Woman is hardly an improvement on Clark Kent the gray-haired Superman and the editor of the Daily Star. Having Batman be the police commissioner of Earth 2 is another nice plot that should get an update. As for Diana, well I liked having Hippolyta as Wonder Woman. Robinson's version might have Fury as the next WW or so I'm hoping.
In this instance modernization doesn't work as well though. It will only get worse when the crossovers start happening. You will essentially end up with two Justice Leagues (assuming a Society is formed). And we already have Justice League of America and Justice League Dark. A World War II Justice League would make things more interesting. It would make Earth 2 special. Now it feels like an alternate timeline instead of a parallel earth. I get that Jay Garrick and Barry Allen are different personas with different costumes and experiences but an older Jay would work as a bigger, better contrast when these two finally meet.
It's not like we would lose anything with these changes. I could see Robinson's stories play out the way they did even in a different setting. The biggest changes would be occuring in World's Finest and that title honestly hasn't been anything spectacular. Paul Levitz wrote some fantastic Justice Society stuff in the 70's. He could use help in World's Finest and what better way for more interesting stories than to have Helena and Kara drop from Earth 2's WWII to the present day of the prime earth.
It's too early to talk about reboots and I'm going to stick around with James Robinson's Earth 2. That said, I'll still jump in joy when and if the old school Earth 2 returns one day.
UPDATE: Since Robinson is off Earth 2 I wonder what the future of the book will be like. A shame we can't see Earth 1 and 2 meet with Robinson on board.
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