Review: Defenders of the Earth #2 (of 8)

The second issue of this Defenders of the Earth mini-series sees more dysfunction than a horde of Ming the Merciless’ army of Ice Men, as we get see more of what’s happened to four that became eight, well, you know the rest!

After the first issue’s revelation of the changes within Flash Gordon, we now see LJ and Lothor, Mandrake, the Phantom, Jeda and more Kshin and Rick. Each pairing has theri own troubles with the obvious question, without a common enemy, just who or what the disparate team defending the Earth from?

Dan DiDio has taken that old school JSA or Fantastic Four method of splitting them and therefore the readers attention as he tries to get all the pieces in place ready for the second. Considering that most books have a three act structures, it is obvious that eight issues doesn’t split three ways equally. This means that, down the line, there could be some pacing issues. That is a consideration for a later day. Story wise, DiDio lays more breadcrumbs accentuating the character tropes from the show. Lother is angrier, Mandrake is annoyingly suave and The Phantom, well more of him in the next issue perhaps. DiDio tries to make the book relevant with dialogue dissecting mobile/cell phone usage and challenging the gender gap! Its a brave attempt for sure, but there are better example of this type of story and please remember, that anyone buying this book is a fan of the show, I assume then that they want to see the show in comic book form.

The art is provided by Jim Califiore who tries to capture the style and vibe of the show and does reasonably well with their outifts! That’s how you can tell who is who. Faces are indistinct, which ironically actually suits the uneven animation style of the show, and some of the poses seem a little manufactured. Using smaller panels per page may seem like a necessary requirement due to the dialogue but it does give me an uneven experience; lets the character breathe in their own book! The colors are suplied by Juancho who goes for the bright aspect for the most part, though tries to bring the darkness with the Ghosts Who Walk. Letterer Carlos M. Mangual does a steller job with the amount of dialogue in the book.

I really wanted to like this book, coming back for a second look. Thanks to the uneven storytelling and art, I don’t think I will be jetting into battle, rather I will be leaving this book faster than light!

Writing – 2.5 Stars
Art – 2.5 Stars
Colors – 3 Stars

Overall – 2,.5 Stars

Written by; Dan DiDio
Art by; Jim Califiore
Colors by; Juancho
Letters by; Carlos M. Mangual
Published by; Mad Cave Studios

Author Profile

Johnny "The Machine" Hughes

I am a long time comic book fan, being first introduced to Batman in the mid to late 70's. This led to a appreciation of classic artists like Neal Adams and Jim Aparo. Moving through the decades that followed, I have a working knowledge of a huge raft of characters with a fondness for old school characters like JSA and The Shadow

Currently reading a slew of Bat Books, enjoying a mini Marvel revival, and the host of The Definative Crusade and Outside the Panels whilst also appearing on No-Prize Podcast on the Undercover Capes Podcast Network