Earth 2 Annual #1

There can only be one word to describe the return to the DC Universe of one it's beloved lost. A word that heralds the come back of the man, nay the ideal that was ripped away from us all those years ago in the backup feature in Adventure Comics. The character is, of course ... how could you miss it, the Earth 2 Batman! And the word is LAME! Yep, lame. Without going into a long description of how the Earth 2 concept has just completely fallen flat on it's face, let start with something easy. Like how the whole selling point of this book is the coming of the new Earth 2 Batman AND HE DOESN"T EVEN SHOW UP UNTIL 27 PAGES INTO THE BOOK! This should have been listed as the secret origin of the Earth 2 Atom (Not all bad. Nice touch by writer James Robinson naming one of the characters that finds the Atom "Terrill", a reference to the Golden Age Ray). Costume looking like the evil devil Batman character from Batman #666. Been there, done that. We also get Mister Miracle, Big Barda, some sort of Earth 2 version of Mr. Freeze, an obvious hint at a future Brainwave Jr. character, and crazy Apokoliptic Wonder Woman. But even as a starting point to be referenced in future issues of Earth 2, the clues are to vague to be of any use and what's more, really don't care. Earth 2 was a flawed concept from the start and trying to rescue it by changing it from former god-like entities passing their powers along to the next generation (Flash-issue #1) to a updated version of a New Gods book isn't helping at all. Between Hawkgirl's backround, Dr. Fate's, and the Flash's, this is turning into one of those messed up Thor stories where all the different belief systems gods show up. Power Girl and Huntress should stop looking for a way back to Earth Stupid. It ain't worth the effort!