Earth 2 #20

Earth 2 continues to be ravaged by the forces of Darkseid led by his new chief disciple Superman, while this destruction continues earths main hope Batman, Hawkgirl, Aquawoman and Agent Santo are making their getaway while been pursued by Parademons. Its a pursuit that doesn't last long as Aquawoman shows her real power giving the rest of the heroes time to get to the safety of the Batcave, but not before she bids them farewell and pledges her elegance against the forces of Darkseid before returning to the oceans.

Once at the Batcave which is becoming rather crowded thanks to the people Hawkgirl had previously rescued, a less than patient Batman is trying unsuccessfully to convince Val the young Kryptonian they rescued last issue to join their cause. It has to be said that the Earth 2 Batman seems to be just as patient as the main earth Batman, its good to see that some things are constant no mater what universe there in.

 In the end its down to the Red Tornado (Lois Lane) to calm things down and talk to Val who has a fear of open spaces, which is not helpful as he needs the sun to charge him up. In the end Red Lois (I like that better than Red Tornado) shares her fears which help Val to overcome his and he stands in the sun for the first time.

As far as action goes this isn't the most action packed book but there is some great conversational interaction between Red Lois and young Val, which held my attention as much as any action splash pages I have read and seen. The artwork which is shared between Barry Kitson and Robson Rocha is good solid superhero artwork, filled with the stances and poses we all love to see our heroes make (well I do). There are a lot of tight head and shoulder shots as conversations between the heroes are shared, which help to convey the claustrophobic feel of the Batcave to the reader. I normally find having two artists in one book can be a bit jarring, and it can affect my enjoyment of the book fortunately on this issue I didn't find that to be the case.

One of the joys of this book for me is seeing and reading the differences between the two worlds heroes, with Aquawoman been a great addition to the book not only looking good but able to wield great power as well. Having Lois Lane as Red Tornado is a stroke of genius and makes Lois more interesting than she's ever been, she also seems more human than her other world counterpart which makes her more of an interesting character in my honest opinion.
 
When it was announced that James Robinson was leaving this book I had real fears for it, after all he had crafted a universe in one book that was more interesting than the main DC universe which spans 52ish books. Well new writer Tom Taylor hasn't missed a beat since taking over, and I can only see him improving on the solid foundations built by Robinson in the issues to come. His only limitations I can see is that he will have too many heroes for one book, and it surly cant be long before we get a second Earth 2 book to tell the tales that need to be told.