- Title: Earth 2 Annual #1
- Comic Vine: link
- Writer: James Robinson
- Artist: CAFU
I haven’t given Earth-2 much thought since its first couple of issues, but as the series’ first annual promised a new Batman I decided to give it a shot. Despite the cover featuring the new Batman, most of the comic actually centers around Al Pratt and his role of a soldier for the World Army since an atomic accident game him the power to grow big and hit enemies with an atomic-powered punch.
The story moves around too much for my taste as we go from Pratt’s exposure to various flash-forwards of his career dealing with the agents of Apokolips. Despite taking up 80% of the comic it’s actually less interesting than the introduction of the new Batman (whose identity isn’t revealed here), and various other storylines touched on involving Hawkgirl, and Big Barda and Mister Miracle.
For those like me who haven’t been keeping up with the events of Earth-2, the annual does a fairly good job of getting you up to speed and teasing you with reasons to think about picking up the title. Given it’s emphasis on Pratt’s story I’m not sure it’s worth picking up on its own but it has me considering paying a little more attention to what is happening in the monthly title. Hit-and-Miss.
[DC, $4.99]