Control.
The long awaited (not) 3rd parter to the First
Contact arc (which ended so long ago in World’s Finest #21 that World’s Finest
#22 is already out) has arrived and sadly it doesn’t enrich what turned out to
be a very underwhelming four-parter.
While Superman tries to rein in his powers with Huntress’
help, Power Girl and Batman fight against the genetically bred guards of
Gamorra.
Going into this issue having read the conclusion is a mixed
feeling. Pak had a big mountain to go across and sadly it seems he couldn’t
even begin to climb it.
Jae’s artwork is his usual good, with non existent
backgrounds saved only by some great art, though Power Girl and Kaizen left a
lot to be desired in their designs.
The difference in artwork will be severe when this is
collected, given the vast gulf between this book’s art and World’s Finest. Not
that either of them were exactly exemplary.
SPOILERS FOLLOW………….
We first see Hiro in Gotham
getting a call from Superman for a ‘delivery’ to New Gamorra.
Meanwhile, Clark and Helena have ‘infiltrated’ the place,
giving hope of seeing Clark Kent
in his elements instead of Superman, but that quickly dissipates as Supes goes
down in pain and reveals his kryptonite necklace.
This leads to a short sequence where the Guards try to take
the necklace off while Helena
tries to thwart them. Sadly, Helena
fails and the next couple of pages are spent in trying to get a berserk power
mad Superman to calm down, which he does when he places Huntress in mortal
peril (mountain coming down on her).
In her inner monologue, Helena gives some good insight into why this
Superman is different from hers with a very good anecdote. More of this and
less of Gamorra would have helped salvage this arc.
Elsewhere, in Kaizen Gamorra’s lab, the Guard of Gamorra
takes on Power Girl, while Batman’s presentation is really heavy handed and a
little extreme. Pak really loses control of the story as it becomes a series of
‘who’s thinking what’ instead of letting us focus on what’s going on.
Both Batman and Superman start to remember their
counterparts on Earth 2, in a foggy way that is actually suited to the
situation.
As Toymaster’s delivery arrives revealing a new armor, the
portal is activated by Kaizen, reducing most of his Guard to rubble.
Superman enters and tries to contain the portal, but in
doing so, destroys it. Along with the nanites in his body that were making his
power levels spike. Well, a little dues ex machina goes a long way.
As the various participants recover, Huntress and Power Girl
reach a decision – they’re going back to a mostly destroyed Earth 2.
SPOILERS END……………….
Well, that didn’t salvage this arc, but sadly it never
seemed likely. You can read the review of the finale here.
Personally, I’m a fan of interuniverse team-ups and the
tragedies of Earth 2 could have been rich fodder, but the introduction of a
villain like Kaizen, who’s strictly one-note, and overuse of the inner
monologues failed this arc.
So, I give it 4.5 out of 10.
+Some haunting artwork by Jae Lee
+A well written anecdote to reveal a facet of the Earth 2
Superman
-Non-existent backgrounds, again.
-Overuse of inner monologues
-Erratic designs for Karen
-Some bad character work
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