Review: The Wrong Earth

STORY

The idea behind this book is simply brilliant! Imagine taking the 60’s tv show Batman and Joker and have them switch universes with the Christopher Nolan Batman and Joler and you’ve got the premise of The Wrong Earth in a nutshell. In this comic there exist two parallel Earth’s, the Alpha and the Omega Earths. In the Alpha Universe we have the crimefighting duo of Dragonfly Man and his kid sidekick Stinger. Its a universe not without its dangers certainly, his nemesis the master criminal Number One certainly likes his death traps and they are lethal but this world crime fighting is a romp and crime itself is a caper. The colors are bright, the dialogue is eloquent and presumably the good guys always win in the end. Meanwhile on Earth Omega Dragonfly wages a solo war on crime in a city overrun by corruption and terrorized by psychopaths like Number One. Here Dragonfly is an anti-hero who is quite brutal in his methods of dealing with the criminal element plaguing his city, brutal enough to main and perhaps even kill.

This idea is just delightful and is handled in spectacular fashion by the creators. Peyer perfectly captures the dynamic of each version of Batman being homaged here, so much so that when I’m reading the parts set on Earth Alpha I hear Adam West and Bert Ward speaking the dialogue of this particular dynamic duo. He just nails it, I can even hear the music and sound effects for the BAMS and POWS in my head as the melees commence and are punctuated by overlarge sound effects on the page. Its gets me right in my nostalgia and I’m loving it right up until the moment we shift focus to Earth Omega. Omega is grim, dark and gritty and Dragonfly is not a vigilante to be triffled with as he dispatches justice to the villains of this Earth. His Number One is every bit the Psychopath the modern Joker is, demonstrating apathy, cruelty and homicidal behavior with no remorse at all.

After the introduction to both settings and the major players in each the fun really starts when the Dragonflys and Number Ones switch universes thanks to perfect timing and cosmic coincidence using a mirror portal device at the exact same moment. Alpha Dragonfly Man has no idea that he’s in a world where he is not the most admired hero ever and is in fact on the wrong side of cops and criminals like. Nore is Earth Alpha prepared for the shocking brutality of someone like Omega Number One, as I would imagine it has never had to deal with gang violence, terrorism or drug cartels. This is such a good idea that I’m surprised that its never happened before, but better late than never.

ART

Jamal does a fine job of making sure each world is distinctly represented. Alpha page panels are mostly bordered by white gutters and many of them overlap one anther in a style reminiscent of the 90s and particularly Image Comics. Meanwhile Omega panels are nearly always bound by black gutters with no overlap. The heroes of Alpha are a bit doughy, while not unfit they like the extreme definition of their Omega counterparts (again a nice nod to both the 60s show and modern representations of Batman).

Alpha colors are bright and cheerful, everything existing in a world nearly devoid of shadows while Omega might as well be a noir film with its dramatic lighting and heavy use of black to further set the tone for its very gritty setting.

FINAL THOUGHTS

This was a great first issue a series that both honors and deconstructs comics from two different eras at the same time. Highly recommended! 5 out of 5

REVIEW: The Wrong Earth 1
Writer:Â Tom Peyer
Art:Â Jamal Ingle
Inks: Juan Castro
Colors:Â Andy Troy