I can never recommend Alex Ross’ other brainchild, Earth X, enough.
An underrated gem and and a spiritual sequel to DC’s Kingdom Come, it is as layered and as compelling a read as its sister book. The artwork by John Paul Leon is not as detailed – but that is, in fact, the point; we are reading through a narrative that has been denied meaning and detail by allowing it to become bloated and gangrenous, much in the vein of 90’s comic landscape. The narrative by Jim Krueger celebrates what makes Marvel Comics what it is by ramping up its base concepts to eleven; while DC is a celebration of metaphorical gods among us, people to look up to, Marvel is about people who you can relate to, people who are human before being gods. While Kingdom Come ends with the “gods” stripping themselves of their role, Earth X continues on this vein – what happens to a world without heroes, without gods? In fact, what is a world where we are all “equal”?
It is a deep examination of what it means to be a hero and what is the role of fiction and the narrative; it does get a bit heady sometimes and complicated when you read it with an eye at a peeling off of layers, but at heart, it is a jab at the mistreatment of fiction and a re-elevation thereof, a rediscovery of what is the purpose of a God in a world full of gods, a supernarrative in a world full of elevated narratives, a superhero in a world of heroes, metaphorically speaking. It is also a narrative against the abuse of icons over profit, over allowing narratives to become bloated shadows of themselves for the gain of others. Which is ironic as unfortunately the follow-ups – Paradise X and Universe X – albeit not terrible, venture dangerously close to becoming this. A denial of a meaningful end and elevation of the narrative.
I have not even tried to read the latest prequel, Marvels X, for the same reason.
However, if you read this alone, it will be worth your while just the same. #crowcomicreviews
