The world building continues.
Earth 2's new wonders whom are made up of Green Lantern, Hawkgirl, The Flash, and Atom have defeated Grundy and saved the world from total annihilation, which brings about the return of Wonder's (superheroes) to the world. While the citizens seem to be grateful of this, the Earth's government whom is supported by The World Army are rather skeptical and are taking steps against them. -summary
Collecting Earth 2 issues 7 - 12, #0 and DC Universe Presents # 0, James Robinson continues his Earth 2 run by immediately picking up where he left off with the original story. He moves forward in fleshing out this new alternate world; in other words, this volume is nothing more of a world builder that mainly sets up for future events.
The plot is scattered as Robinson's focus seems to be on several angles. The character Terry Sloan that was introduced in the previous volume whom wanted to nuke DC in order to kill Grundy receives an ample amount of background and personality building. To include, his feud with the World Army commander named Kahn, receives some type of development planting the seeds of a rivalry here, with Kahn attempting to expose Sloan as a madman. There are other and more interesting developments taking place such as the occupying of a country involving Steppenwolf, the Apokolips warrior whom lead the attack on Earth five years earlier. I will say at the moment his purpose in the story aroused my interest immediately on just how dead set on conquest he is; his ruthlessness and strategic personality makes him a decent enough bad guy, and the fact he's flanked by a formidable enforcer whom will be able to viciously battle the Wonder's later on raises even more interest.
The story finds its footing eventually when Dr. Fate is finally introduced, and once again I enjoy another different take on a New 52 character. Robinson's writing is decent at best as he adds some new ideas to older characters, and further raises interest in building this alternate world. However at the same time, he has flaws that are just so noticeable. His narrative is way too wordy and it seems that everything needs to be explained. I found his character interactions tedious at times, and like the previous volume he reaches in other territory to carry his story and plot. There are a few all too obvious borrowed elements from Marvel and even a small bite nibbled from Tomb Raider. Some of these things aren't exactly bad but they're just so in your face.
Artwork duties are divided amongst Nicola Scott, Yildiray Cinar, Tomas Girello and others and it kind of shows, especially in the facial designs. I think the final issues taking place in The Tower of Fate arc look the best; the magical combat portions are colorful and imaginative. There are some nice other worldly backgrounds during the meeting with villain Wotan, plus the character designs look really nice with Dr. Fate standing out the best. He looks really awesome with the Egyptian features meshing with his older look. This book does pretty well delivering some stylish and detailed artwork.
Overall, my feelings for this volume are mixed at best; there's an ample amount of world building and the future looks bright for this run. It would have been a lot better had Robinson shortened his dialog in areas. In any case, this is a decent enough follow up to the first volume and at the moment my interest is still piqued. Recommended if you enjoyed the first volume at all.
Pros: Stylish artwork and the future is looking good
Cons: Robinson's narrative can be too wordy and unengaging