The Four Color Media Monitor

Newsarama interviewed James Robinson about his redo of Earth 2, and all I can think reading this is that he's continued his loss of talent:

Newsarama: James, it feels like this is less a reinvention of the old Earth 2 and more like a reinvention of the DCU in general, but just on a different Earth. Is that the right interpretation?

James Robinson: Well, this book is definitely a reboot in the vein of Grant Morrison's Action Comics or Geoff Johns with the new origin of the Justice League. It's one of those books. It isn't a soft reboot, like Green Lantern or Batman.

Nrama: What's the world like? From the teases we've seen about Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman, it feels like this world is darker. Is that the correct assumption we should make from some of the images and descriptions we've seen?

Robinson: It isn't darker. It's just taken a different turn based on key events unfolding differently than on [the main DCU Earth]. And as the series progresses, you're going to see that, while it isn't a completely different world that's so alien to us that we can't recognize it, or even a world with a gimmick, kind of like the old Earth X where it hadn't won the war. Those kinds of things, which are very easy and pat to put down.

I'm familiar with the Earth X concept seen in the early 1970s in Justice League of America's crossover with Earth 2 ("Crisis on Earth-X"), but back then, even if Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters hadn't won the war against the Nazis yet, they finally did thanks to the League and Society's accidental journey to that dimension, and knowing what the MO of DC's captors today go by, it's unfortunately probable that whatever war takes place in this new rendition will be continuing with no clear sign of victory in sight. And after what they announced they'll be doing with Batman on Earth 2, that's enough to tell that Robinson's claim this world isn't darker isn't to be taken at face value.

Also, if the book is done with the kind of approach used in Morrison and Johns' own books, then it's clear that either way, this won't be very appealing.

There's also one more thing told that serves as enough to know why the current DC isn't worth wasting time on:

Nrama: OK. Well, there's a lot of speculation that the "lost" characters from Teen Titans might show up on Earth 2. Is there any hope for fans of characters like Donna Troy and Wally West that they might show up on Earth 2?

Robinson: From what I gather, based on the panel interviews that Dan [DiDio] gave recently, I believe that DC has plans for those characters. I'm not sure what the plans are for Wally West and Donna Troy, to be honest with you, if there are any at all. I have no idea.

It's clear already that Wally for starters has been basically shafted, and I won't be surprised if Donna's ended up with the same fate. I also don't see the point of supporting publishers who throw out such popular characters so shamelessly and do everything possible to sweep them under the rug.

And as I said before, Robinson has clearly no appeal left. He was the one who went along willingly with the storyline that killed off Lian Harper, and has never admitted he's been complecent in an atrocious move to drive away many fans, so there's really no point in bothering about his current offerings if he's going to be so cavalier.

Labels: dc comics, dreadful writers