Earth 2 Annual #2 Review
“Origin”
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Tom Taylor
Pencils: Robson Rocha
Inks: Scott Hanna
Colors: Pete Pantazis
Letters: Dezi Sienty
Cover: Rags Morales & Brad Anderson
Review by Scott Keys
Ever since Tom Taylor (Injustice) took over Earth 2, it has steadily risen to the top of the read pile for me. When it was announced that Earth 2 Annual #2 would feature the new Batman’s origin, I couldn’t have been happier! How was it, you might ask? Here, let me tell you…
Awesome! Absolutely awesome! Taylor tells a tale of how the second Earth 2 Batman came to be, and sheds some more light on Bruce’s days in the cape and cowl as well. It opens with the usual Crime Alley robbery that left Bruce an orphan, and then flashes forward to Joe Chill in the morgue. Bruce, of course, notices that his injuries match some other recent deaths of criminals with links to the Falcone crime family. Bruce pays Francesco Falcone a visit to get some answers, and after telling Batman of his time and friendship with his parents, a masked man shows up to take Falcone out. A fight ensues, and Batman places a tracer on the assailant. This allows him to follow the man to his hideout to get some answers. That man turned out to be none other than Thomas Wayne, Bruce’s dad! But he died, right? Come to find out, he faked his death and left Bruce an orphan to “protect” him from the Falcone’s. Of course, Bruce wants nothing to do with his father now, and Thomas has been slowly taking out those that wronged him, finishing his quest with Francesco, his former friend. This was told by Thomas to let his new allies know where he’s coming from (honoring his son’s sacrifice by taking Miralco for strength), just in case they don’t want to follow him now.
I liked the fact that Taylor was allowing the character to “tell his story” for this origin issue, and really liked the twist of Thomas being alive and honoring his son by continuing the “family business.” I also really enjoyed the the 70s sequences in the flashbacks, and the art team does a fantastic job of capturing that era, leisure suits and all! It was a bold move to have a senior citizen, long-thought dead Thomas come back to become the Batman, and even more bold to basically have him be a drug addict to do it! But, how else could an old-man fight crime? Go check out this great jumping on point and get in on the next great comic!
Art: 4.5 / 5
Story: 5 / 5
Overall: 4.5 / 5
Scott Keys is a father, Butler University grad, pharmacist, and full-time comic nerd. You can follow his adventures around the spinner-rack and his Incoherent Comic Book Ramblings on:
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