Written by Daniel H. Wilson, Marguerite Bennett, & Mike Johnson
Art by Scott McDaniel, Eddy Barrows & Eber Reffeira, Eduardo Pansica & Marc Deering, Jorge Jimenez, Robson Rocha & Guillermo Ortego & Tyler Kirkham
Published by DC Comics
Rolling into its second half, Earth 2: World’s End #14 does something rather unexpected. It gets better. That’s not to say this issue is good by any stretch of the imagination. It’s a product of the same flaws that plagued all the previous issues: continuity hiccups, characters magically granted new abilities, bizarre logic, and one of the most baffling art management decisions of the last year, but this issue does actually improve on some of World’s End’s short comings.
What makes this issue stand out most off all is an improvement in art styles. While the much dreaded block of pencilers and inkers still looms heavy, this time around all the styles are much more grounded and consistent. The terrible team behind the Hawkgirl and Flash segments is absent ,and now they aren’t stuck looking like knock-off action figures left out in the sun too long. Sadly, whoever’s responsible for this upgrade must go uncredited due to World’s End’s lack of proper page-by-page accreditation. Another thing that is an improvement is that stories are beginning to connect. Though very much their own stories, characters are communicating between different plotlines which gives a greater scale for all the action unfolding.
Unfortunately, that’s all in terms of things World’s End has done right. The Superman/Batman family plot line continues to go nowhere, the Avatar vs. Furies battle is still a boring tug-of-war game where everyone keeps piling on pointless abilities they suddenly acquire, and the Dick Grayson story has amounted to nothing. The best thing that can be said about Dick Grayson’s arc at this point is the character of Ted Grant, the pre-New 52 Wildcat. While he does very little here, Ted Grant gives the audience the satisfaction of seeing Dick Grayson beaten up for the last thirteen issues where he’s done anything but advance his own plot.
Still suffering from the terrible pacing and art decisions, Earth 2: World’s End #14 at least dulls the pain by raising the standard ever so slightly. However, this does not in any way redeem this series or make it a good issue.
