The Good
Last month we got the trippy first issue of Grant Morrison's MULTIVERSITY. As a threat to the entire Multiverse has been discovered, we get a chance to visit other worlds. With this current issue, it's a continuation to the story but also serves as its own self-contained one-shot.
The story mainly focuses on two world's at war. With the barrier between the different Earths weakening, we see some of the citizens from two Earths. Surprisingly, the specific Earths aren't mentioned in the issue. For those that want to know, the solicits tells us it's the heroes from Earth-20 against villains from Earth-40. It's always fascinating to see different versions of familiar characters. This lets us see characters such as Doctor Fate, Abin Sur, Vandal Savage, Parallax, Lady Shiva, and more.
There's a great feel to the characters from Earth-20 and you get a sense of the scope of the dangers they're facing. Often when we come across new or different characters, it can be a little difficult to get fully invested in just a one-shot. You need to care about the characters and Morrison does make that happen. We're obviously thrown into the middle of a story but we get enough information, without it beating us over the head, to get a grasp of the situation.
Chris Sprouse's art is perfect for the world we see here. You immediately feel the pulp super-hero vibe. Seeing the designs makes you wish you could see more of these characters. Perhaps we will in some of the other one-shots, if they survive the war here.
The Bad
Because of the format of these issues, this doesn't quite follow last month's MULTIVERSITY issue. The idea is for each to be separate and tell their own stories while still contributing to the overall story. You're left wanting to see more of a continuation from that issue. There's also being thrown into the world, trying to get acquainted with everyone, and fast-forwarding a bit to an epic war against worlds.
The Verdict
Pack your bags because Grant Morrison and Chris Sprouse are ready to take you to a different Earth. With the story of MULTIVERSITY continuing, we pay visit to Earth-20 and get to see the heroes of this world. The introductions are brief as some of DC's big villains from Earth-40 have managed to crossover and both worlds are in the midst of a full scale war. The pros and cons of this issue is that it is pretty much a self-contained story. You can dive right in without fully needing to know what happened before. The downside is we don't get an immediate continuation from last month's MULTIVERSITY book and we can't be sure if we'll see any of these characters in the next. Morrison excels at fleshing out new and familiar characters and you can't help but wonder what he'll give us next. It's a grand adventure that leaves you hungry for more.