Comic review - JLA: Earth 2

The second review I wrote for the aforementioned comic shop.

JLA: Earth 2
DC Comics
Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely

The Justice League responds to a routine distress call, but soon discovers that all passengers on board a crashing plane are dead of indeterminate cause, with their hearts on the right-hand side of their bodies and banknotes bearing the face of Benedict Arnold in their wallets. If that wasn't enough, the aeroplane tailfin bears the burning cross insignia of 'KKK Southern' airlines. "Anybody else hearing that little 'X-Files' whistle on this one?", as The Flash puts it.

Yes, it's a classic alternate Earth tale, not seen in official DC continuity since the seminal mid-'80s crossover [and company housekeeping] event Crisis On Infinite Earths. The theme of alternate universes has been consistent in Morrison's costumed superhero work since early in his career, notably in the 2000AD superhero series, Zenith, but his fascination with the cluttered pre-Crisis DC Universe is clearly demonstrated in the Doom Patrol spin-off mini-series Flex Mentallo, wherein superheroes escape a world-destroying catastrophe by becoming fictional comic characters in our - real - universe. The Crisis itself featured in the closing chapters of his 26-issue run on Animal Man, featuring cameo appearances from some of DC's more forgettable pre-Crisis characters, now languishing in a limbo world that exists outside official continuity, and an honourable mention ought also to go to Sunburst, a third-rate Crisis casualty that Morrison surreptitiously resurrected to appear briefly in Doom Patrol #26, being soundly thrashed by a typically wacky DP adversary.

The original Crime Syndicate first appeared in the pages of Justice League Of America in 1964, an evil mirror image of the League from the alternate Earth-3 [this is precisely why DC instigated the Crisis in the first place], who used their superpowers to commit crime rather than to prevent it. They intermittently returned to plague the League over the next two decades, until their abrupt collective demise in the first issue of Crisis On Infinite Earths.

Morrison's updated Crime Syndicate of Amerika - Ultraman, Superwoman, Owlman, Johnny Quick and Power Ring - come from a parallel anti-matter universe, where the overriding morality tends towards evil, corruption is lauded and personal advancement is always obtained at the expense of others. This Syndicate is far more menacing than their somewhat goofy Silver Age forebears, its members apt to maim or kill without compunction. They drink, take drugs, argue, threaten each other and exploit their godlike powers for personal gain. The Latin motto inscribed on their meeting table, 'CUI BONO' - literally 'who profits' - is a phrase employed in criminal investigations to determine probable cause of a crime; the answer, of course, is that they invariably do. This alternate Earth's only good superbeing - and constant thorn in the Syndicate's side - is Alexander Luthor. While his pre-Crisis precursor sported a skintight gold bodysuit and pillar-box red curly mullet, Morrison does away with such dubious mid-'80s stylings and has a thankfully bald Luthor, replete with classic purple-and-green battle suit. In a neat twist on parallel Earth naming conventions, it's also worth noting that "Earth 2" is only ever referred to by the anti-matter Luthor, to describe the matter world of the Justice League.

The League itself is the seven-strong line-up of DC's heavyweights that Grant Morrison had previously worked on for the monthly JLA relaunch in the late 1990s - Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter and Aquaman. By holding the core League members up against their polar opposites, he further elaborates on their powerful iconic appeal, as well as ensuring that they question their self-appointed roles as mankind's guardians within the framework of the story. Batman, in particular, voices doubts over the moral implications of interfering in the affairs of another world, but once he has embarked on his anti-matter sojourn, he invests himself more personally in the adventure than his teammates, and undergoes a significant cathartic experience as a result.

Frank Quitely provides his usual stratospheric standard of intricate linework, depicting a wealth of neo-Silver Age Morrisonian concepts - an army of Brainiac drones, the Crime Syndicate's suitably furnished trophy room and a giant Kryptonite ape, to name but a few - and this self-contained story benefits from the continuity of a single talented artist in the way that Morrison's patchy JLA run couldn't. Laura DePuy's vibrant digital colours perfectly complement Quitely's precise illustrations and make this an unbeatable package for fans of the costumed hero tale.