Comic Book / Earth 2

The new generation of Wonders.^note From left to right, top to bottom: Power Girl, Green Lantern, Batman, Superman, Huntress, and The Flash.

Mercury: I am a dying god, and the task ahead needs living heroes.
Jay Garrick: Wait! Heroes to fight something even greater than Apokolips? How... how can we? Mercury... sir. Earth simply doesn't have any. Back in the war, we had Superman, Wonder Woman, and Batman too, our "Trinity of Wonders". Now... the Age of Wonders is over.
Mercury: Then let a new age begin.

Earth 2 is a series from DC Comics starting in 2012 as part of the New 52. It reboots the DC Multiverse's Earth-2 world, the one based on characters from The Golden Age of Comic Books. In the new version of this universe, the Power Trio of Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman have died protecting the Earth from the Gods of Apokolips, while sidekicks Robin and Supergirl have vanished without a trace. Earth is left without costumed heroes, but Jay Garrick, Alan Scott, Kendra Munoz-Saunders (Hawkgirl), and Khalid Ben-Hassin (Dr. Fate), represent a new generation of heroes. A dimension-hopping Mister Terrific (Michael Holt) is also in the mix, tangling with an evil version of Terry Sloan, the Golden Age Mister Terrific.

The series began with scripts by James Robinson (Starman) and art by Nicola Scott (Birds of Prey). After finishing issue #16, James Robinson announced that he was leaving the comic. He was replaced by Tom Taylor of Injustice: Gods Among Us fame.

Earth 2: World's End began on October 8, 2014 as a weekly series running alongside Earth 2 that featured writers Tom Taylor, Paul Levitz, Daniel H. Wilson, Marguerite Bennet, and Mike Johnson, as well as artists Eddy Barrows, Jorge Jimenez, Stephen Segovia, Paulo Siqueira, and Tyler Kirkham. World's End focused on the second Apokoliptian Invasion as the World Army and the native Earth 2 heroes fought off Darkseid's forces from trying to reclaim the world.

Earth 2: Society reverted to a monthly schedule, and focused on the team rebuilding a broken world as a result of Convergence. Its final issue was, fittingly, #22. Interestingly, this was long after the announcement and foreshadowing of the return of the Justice Society of America in the mainstream DCU.

No relation to the TV series of the same name Earth 2.

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Earth 2 provides examples of:

Earth 2 and Earth 2: World's End

• Aborted Arc: At one point, Captain Steel, a.k.a. Henry Heywood, Jr., journeys into the planet, and emerges having had a Not So Stoic moment about the "Red Lantern", who he said had to never be released from the planet's core or the planet itself would die. This is never brought up again, and the Avatar of the Red, Yolanda Montez, is revealed to be the Great Beast of the Tower of Fate instead before World's End's Foregone Conclusion.
• Adaptation Dye-Job: Joan Garrick goes from blonde to redhead.
• Adaptation Name Change: A few minor examples: Themyscira is instead called Amazonia, and the collective term for Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman is "Ternion" instead of "Trinity".
• Adaptational Nationality: Wesley Dodds is Canadian, rather than American, to emphasise the international nature of the Sandmen organisation.
• Adaptational Sexuality: Alan Scott is gay in this version of Earth-2. See Composite Character.
• Adaptational Villainy:
  • Fury, Wonder Woman's daughter, is made a villain here at first, revealed to be Brainwashed and Crazy
  • Terry Sloan, pre-New 52 Mr. Terrific, is an out-and-out villain here.
  • During the events of World's End, Barda betrays the World Army and Mr. Miracle to lead Darkseid's furies.
• Affirmative-Action Legacy: Val-Zod, a black Kryptonian, takes up the mantle of a fallen Superman.
• Always a Bigger Fish: "Earth 2" starts out with an invasion by Apokolips, and then a god comes and warns of an even greater danger.
• An Arm and a Leg: Captain Steel and The Atom lose an arm. Connor Hawke had lost an arm in the past and was replaced with a cybernetic version.
• Another Side, Another Story: The title Huntress/Power Girl: World's Finest, released at the same time, provides some backstory for the Earth-2 heroines and their relationship with their respective families. When the title is renamed Superman/Batman: World's Finest, for the title's last arc, it also gives more backstory for Batman and Superman of this universe.
• Anti-Villain: Terry Sloan. Shown in issue #0 to be a Type III, a Well-Intentioned Extremist.

• The Ark: Project Beyond, which was funded by the most powerful and wealthy individuals of Earth, serves as this so that they could escape in case of a planetary emergency such as a second Apokolips invasion. Too bad for them that Superman's clone stopped the ship and ripped it apart before they went too far.

• Back from the Dead:
  • Superman, at first, before he is revealed to be a clone.
    • Played straight when he is revealed to be alive, just depowered and fueling one of Apokolips' ships.
  • The second Batman aka Thomas Wayne was believed to be dead for years before the series, only to return on the cusp of the second invasion.
  • Sam, Alan's lover from Issue #2, is revealed to have been reincarnated as an Avatar of the White.

• Barbie Doll Anatomy: Mercury, who crash-lands Naked on Arrival with his parts lacking.
• Big Bad Ensemble: Between General Steppenwolf and Terry Sloan
  • After Steppenwolf is taken out of the equation by Brutaal, it becomes Terry Sloan and Darkseid.
• Big Bad Wannabe: Steppenwolf as of issue #16. He proclaims himself The Starscream in lieu of any interference from Darkseid, and is immediately killed by Brutaal before he can even finish his sentence proclaiming this.
• Blessed with Suck:
  • Hawkgirl's wings are biological and irremovable.
    Hawkgirl: I agreed to do a gig for the World Army — insane adventure that resulted in my getting these damned wings.
    Alan Scott: "Damned"? You're a Wonder now. Some would say you've been blessed.
    Hawkgirl: Then have them try going to a bar or a movie with these on their back, they might think differently.
  • Every time Khalid dons the helm of Nabuu to become Dr. Fate, he gains incredible supernatural forces and can wield immense magical power. But every time he does, he risks being overtaken by Nabuu. And when he isn't wearing it, he's prone to random bouts of lunacy.
• Bloodless Carnage: Grundy doesn't bleed no matter how many times he's torn apart. Justified because he's an undead being.
• Brain Uploading: In issue 17, Red Tornado has Lois Lane's mind uploaded onto her by General Lane, essentially bringing Lois Back from the Dead.
• Brainwashed and Crazy:
  • Michael Holt, AKA Mr. Terrific in issue 7. and again for most of the Kryptonian Arc, along with Mr. Miracle and Terry Sloan
  • Averted with Superman when it's revealed that Brutaal is an evil clone made by Darkseid, not the original.
  • Huntress, Batman's daughter is turned into one of Apokolips' Furies by DeSaad once Famine dies.
  • Eventually, it's revealed that Fury was this the whole time.
• Bury Your Gays: Alan Scott's boyfriend Sam Zhao dies in a train crash, though he later turns out to have been made the avatar of the White and is revived as a air entity.
• The Bus Came Back: After disappearing in issue #16, Hawkgirl reappears in issue #19 to rescue Batman II and Sato from the parademons.
• Canon Foreigner: Marella/ "Aquawoman". Word of God from Nicola Scott is she's not based on any preexisting characters.
• The Captain: Wesley Dodds for the Sandmen.
• Chainmail Bikini: Fury's armor keeps her midriff, thighs and upper arms exposed.
• Chekhov's Gunman: The rambling homeless man Jay encounters in issue 2? It's Khalid.
• The Chessmaster: Amar Khan and Terry Sloan, who are locked in a silent duel of subterfuge and sabotage against one another.
• Childhood Friend Romance: Kara and Val-Zod
• The Chosen Many:
  • Inverted with Alan Scott and Al Pratt. Alan is aged down, which eliminates his son, Obsidian, one of the more prominent gay characters in the DC universe. Robinson decides to make up for it by simply incorporating that into Alan's character. Al Pratt also is a combination of both his Golden Age character, as well as Damage and Atom Smasher, two of his successors in the modern JSA.
  • Also inverted with Robin. In this continuity, Helena Wayne is the only Robin. Compare with the mainstream DCU.
• Clone Degeneration:
  • Issue 26 reveals that the evil Superman is actually a clone when it starts crumbling to dust.
  • Once Superman pumps his tainted blood into them, this happens to Desaad's clone army pretty quickly.
• Colorful Theme Naming:
  • Various projects by the World Army are named "Red x". This includes the Wonder archer Red Arrow, the high-tech submarine Red Torpedo, and the wind-controlling automaton Red Tornado.
  • Carries into the "Black Basement", which is a World Army holding facility for Earth-2 Terrors
• Composite Character:
  • Green Lantern is Alan Scott, but he's gay like his pre-New 52 son Obsidian. The writer even stated that he made Scott gay in this universe because he felt bad about getting rid of one of DC's few gay characters.
  • The Atom is Al Pratt, but with his godson Atom-Smasher's size-changing powers and a costume more similar to his son Damage.
  • Helena Wayne is a mixture of her Pre-Crisis self, being Batman and Catwoman's daughter, and Pre-Crisis Dick Grayson, acting as her father's sidekick and the first Robin.
  • Red Tornado is an android (like the Silver Age Red Tornado) and female (like the Golden Age Red Tornado). Also, she is the Lois Lane of this earth.
  • Red Arrow is named Connor Hawke (originally Green Arrow II) but features the appearance, alias, and prosthetic arm of Roy Harper.
  • Batman II a.k.a. Thomas Wayne is a mix of his counterpart from Flashpoint and Hourman, becoming Batman after outliving his son like the former and using Miraclo to enhance his fighting ability like the latter.
  • Hank Heywood Jr./Captain Steel has elements of the pre-Flashpoint Hank Heywood Sr./Commander Steel (a military supersoldier), Hank Heywood III/Steel (given his cyborg implants by a somewhat crazy Hank Heywood Sr.), and Nathan Heywood/Citizen Steel (bonded with a mysterious metal).
• Conflict Ball: Green Lantern refusing the Flash and Hawkgirl's offer to form a new Trinity after the events of the first arc. Nobody ever said Alan Scott lacked an ego.
• Continuity Reboot: Of the Earth 2 universe.
• Covers Always Lie: Issue 7 is titled "Flight to the Death!", showing Green Lantern and Hawkgirl fighting hand-to-hand on the cover. In the story, all they have is an argument over Alan not joining the team.
• Crapsack World: Earth-2 is in a pretty terrible state. Darkseid's first invasion did a lot more damage than it did in the main universe, with three of the world's most inspirational superheroes dying in the process and several Apokolips-esque fire pits cropping up around the globe. All of the new generation of heroes have some tragic element to their backstories, ranging from dead mentors and lovers to just being told by everyone that they're a failure. And it just gets worse when Superman shows back up...
  • Averted before the invasion, though. Prime Earth/Earth-2 crossovers have shown that Earth-2 was idyllic compared to Prime Earth; for example, Earth-2's Batman and Superman lived long enough to have families. However, this Lighter and Softer environment made Earth-2's heroes soft as well, and Batman/Superman states that Earth-2 suffered so much damage because it wasn't willing to take the necessary risks or make sacrifices to survive Darkseid. It did, however, have a secret cryogenics prison where criminals (like the Joker), unwelcome Wonders (like Aquawoman) or other "troublemakers" (like Jimmy Olsen) were thrown into with seemingly no due process.
• Cryo-Prison: Arkham Asylum has become a vast cryo-storage unit for villains. Which doesn't stop Batman II from putting a couple of bullets in the frozen Joker just to be on the safe side.
• Curb-Stomp Battle:
  • In issue 15, it's the Flash, Green Lantern, Doctor Fate, the Atom, Red Arrow, and the Sandmen vs. the Hunger Dogs of Apokolips. The Hunger Dogs pulverize the Wonders, but leave most of them alive. Some of the Sandmen aren't so lucky.
  • Issue 16 has Green Lantern fighting Steppenwolf on even ground until Brutaal steps in. They literally stomp Green Lantern within an inch of his life.
  • In issue 17, Dr. Fate tries to fight Brutaal, thinking his magic will give him an advantage. It doesn't and Brutaal/Superman's clone actually cracks the Helmet of Fate. Luckily, the Flash rescues Fate before he's killed.
• Darker and Edgier: Everything post-Robinson definitely qualifies.
  • Batman II, Thomas Wayne, who forgoes non-lethal methods and even has a red and black costume.
• Dawn of an Era: Five years after the "Age of Wonders" ended, new superheroes started to appear.
• Death by Adaptation:
  • Part of the premise is that a new generation of heroes rises after Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman perished fighting the forces of Apokolips. Superman gets a couple of hope spots of surviving, but they are respectively dashed by Brutaal turning out to be a clone who dies crumbling to dust and the real Superman not making it after he's finally rescued because of the injuries he's received from his genetics being harvested to create clones of him.
  • Khalid's deceased guardian, Kent Nelson, was the original Doctor Fate pre-New 52.
  • In World's End, Lobo dies with the rest of the Czarnians, with the last survivor of that species instead being a woman who becomes the Four Furies of Apokolips member Pestilence.
• Decapitation Presentation: Steppenwolf in issue #8 shows the people of Dherain the head of its king to make them surrender.
• Desperately Looking for a Purpose in Life: Jay, a loser who is barely passing college classes. Conveniently, it lands in his backyard.
• Depending on the Artist: Due to the many illustrators working on Earth 2: World's End, there are a lot of contradictions. Often within the same issue.
  • Dick and Barbara's son is either named Johnny or Tommy, and his hair has changed from red to black.
  • Huntress' appearance as a Fury. She's depicted as a DeSaad-like creature, to completely normal except for additional wings and armor, to somewhere in between.
• Dies Differently in Adaptation: Thomas Wayne turns out to have survived the shooting that usually killed him alongside his wife Martha and subsequently continues his son's legacy as the second Batman after Bruce died fighting the Parademons, with Convergence ultimately killing Thomas off by having him blow himself up to defend his world's Dick Grayson from the main universe Batman's rogues gallery.
• Differently Powered Individual: Superheroes are commonly called "Wonders"—according to Word of God, this is due to Wonder Woman being the first public superhero (as opposed to Superman being first, leading to the term "superhero"). Jay calls the Hunger Dogs "Terrors", but it's so far unclear if this is an established term for "supervillain" or just something Jay made up on the spot.
  • Averted with Mr. Terrific, who regularly calls the cast "superheroes". Justified because he's from the mainstream DC Universe.
• Does This Remind You of Anything?: When Terry Sloan destroys the parts of the world that are infected with Anti-Life, the world looks just like Apokolips.
• Dogged Nice Guy: Jay comes off largely as this.
• The Dragon: Fury is Steppenwolf's right hand woman.
• Dynamic Entry:
  • The Atom's definitely counts; jumping from a plane and landing on Grundy.
  • The Atom gets another one when he smashes into Jay's mother's house.
  The Atom: *smash!* Knock knock!
• Eldritch Abomination: Marella summons Azathoth Avatar of the Blue to help her fight Apokolips.
• End of an Age: After Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman died stopping the parademon invasion, the world considers the "Age of Wonders" to be over.
• Evil Costume Switch:
  • Huntress gets one upon her conversion into a Fury.
• Evil Counterpart:
  • Terry Sloan (the original Mr. Terrific in old DC continuity) for Michael Holt (the modern Mr. Terrific). His resemblance to a pre-hair loss Lex Luthor probably isn't an accident.
  • Alan Scott, the champion of the Green, has one in Grundy, the man of Grey.
• Evil Knockoff: Brutaal, who is a clone of Superman.
• Evil Overlord: Steppenwolf, after he beheads King Marov of Dherain and takes over his country.
• Extremely Short Timespan: Excluding the prologue, the events in Earth 2 take place over a few days.
• Face–Heel Turn: Years after his apparent death in the parademon invasion, Superman returns, but is now a devout follower of Darkseid and wants to take over the world in his name. Subverted in that it wasn't actually Superman, but a clone.
  • Barda, who betrays Mr. Miracle to lead the Furies' attack on Earth
• Facial Horror: Doctor Fate hits Begulier with a spell that eradicates most of her head; leaving only the skull. She still thinks she's beautiful.
• Fantastic Racism: In Earth 2: Futures End, people from Earth-2 aren't given basic rights, and even get arrested just for being from another universe. They are referred to as "dupes" or "drybacks" by the citizens of Prime Earth.
• Fat Bastard: One of the Furies of Apokolips introduced in World's End is Famine, a recruit from Warworld who is an extremely corpulent alien woman who likes to eat other sentient beings.
• A Father to His Men: Al Pratt, the Atom.
• Faux Affably Evil: Wotan. He even lampshades it.
  Wotan: I may have polite airs, good lady, but do not mistake them for a polite heart.
• Female Gaze: Nicola Scott seems... rather fond of giving the readers glorious shots◊ of Jay Garrick◊'s well formed hindquarters◊
  • Alan Scott's skin-tight Green Lantern costume is realistically drawn◊, as is Jay's Flash costume◊.
• Fembot: Red Tornado. She later gets a woman's consciousness uploaded into her.
• The Final Temptation: The Grey attempts to lure Alan into submission by using an apparition of Sam.
• First-Episode Twist: Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman dying in issue one to make way for the true premise of the series.
• The First Superheroes: Wonder Woman is the first superhero to make a public appearance (unlike the main universe). As such, the heroes are called "Wonders", instead of "Supers".
• Foreshadowing:
  • Tons of it. Robinson particularly loves hinting at upcoming characters in background details and aside mentions in character dialogue.
  • In issue #17, after Doctor Fate gets thrashed by Superman, he starts babbling again. Writer Tom Taylor mentions in an interview that Fate's babbling has details about things to come. Visit the analysis page for more info.
  Doctor Fate: Crumbles! The space door opens! Crumbles... the Queen! It Crumbles. Green! Crumbles. Speed broken! The child, resurrected hope. Angel in the slaughter. They come from the fires! The alien. Crumbles green. It crumbles! Crumbles!
• Four Lines, All Waiting: Earth 2: Worlds End is guilty of this to a ridiculous degree. Issue #8 has visited no fewer than nine different plotlines in the span of 22 pages!
• Giant Foot of Stomping: The Atom does this to Grundy, but it doesn't keep him down for long.
• Godzilla Threshold: With the heroes rapidly losing the battle against Brutaal/ Superman's clone, Batman II infiltrates the World Army's stasis prison to get additional help.
• Good Scars, Evil Scars: Terry Sloan has minor scarring on his face. Issue #0 reveals this is due to shrapnel from a grenade.
• Greater-Scope Villain: Apokolips as a whole.
• Grievous Harm with a Body: Superman's clone whacks Atom with Atom's own dismembered arm.
• Healing Factor: Grundy has an impressive one; even reforming after having his head punched to a pulp by Green Lantern.
  • The Flash has one too, able to recover after being tortured by Beguiler and having his leg broken by Brutaal.
• Heartbroken Badass: Alan Scott becomes this as Green Lantern shortly following the death of his lover Sam.
• Heel–Face Turn: Fury joins the forces against Darkseid once Mr. Miracle reveals that Steppenwolf had brainwashed her and murdered her mother, Wonder Woman.
• Henshin Hero: Green Lantern and the Flash can magically shift in and out of their costumes at will.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Batman goes into one of the parademon towers to plant a computer virus that will kill all the parademons. However, the tower has a fail-safe that will self-destruct if tampered, something Batman knew would happen. He gives a tearful goodbye to Robin (his daughter Helena) as he plants the virus.
• Heroic Spirit: Green Lantern needs to be focused in order to create constructs. While fighting Grundy he's unable to create constructs because he was still fazed by the death of his lover, Sam. When The Grey tries to tempt him with an apparition of Sam, Green Lantern fights it off and becomes focused enough to create constructs.
• Heroines Of Another Story: Helena Wayne and Kara would become the main characters of Huntress/Power Girl: Worlds' Finest before moving back into the main series.
• History Repeats: Just with his previous version pre-New 52, Alan Scott survives a train crash and is given the powers of a green-coloured source (in this, he is the champion of The Green).
• Homeworld Evacuation: In issue #21, Superman's clone stops a space ark carrying the world's most wealthy and powerful individuals from leaving the Earth and rips the ship apart, sending the passengers plummeting to their deaths, with the caption reading, "And the one percent trickle down."
  • Happens again, more successfully, after the resistance against Apokolips falls.
• Hope Spot: In issue 16, the wonders get a second wind and fight to save as much lives as they can. Green Lantern even goes toe-to-toe with Steppenwolf. However, Brutaal comes to Steppenwolf's aid and they both beat the stuffing out of Green Lantern. Then Brutaal usurps Steppenwolf for defying Darkseid and starts preparing Earth for another Apokolips invasion.
• Human Popsicle/People Jars: The World Army's Black Basement holding facility is where the world's most dangerous criminals and other liabilities are put in pods and frozen in stasis. This includes Marella / "Aquawoman", the Joker, and Jimmy Olsen.
• I'm a Doctor, Not a Placeholder: One of the soldiers of Dherain in casual conversation with another solider in issue #8.
  Soldier 1: How long do you think until we get the order?
  Soldier 2: I'm a soldier, not a sideshow mind reader. How should I know?
• Inconsistent Spelling: Khan's name has caused a bit of confusion, since it has flipped between all combinations of Amir/Amar Khan/Kahn. Word of God states that it was supposed to be "Amar", and the other is a typo, and the script appears to have settled on Khan.
• In the Back: Steppenwolf kills Wonder Woman from behind by impaling her with his spear.
• Inspector Javert: The Atom becomes this to Hawkgirl and The Flash
• I Work Alone: After they defeat Grundy, Green Lantern thanks the Flash and Hawkgirl for their help, but declines their offer for forming a team. He later reconsiders their offer.
• Joker Immunity: Averted. The Joker turns up in this continuity at the start of the "Dark Age" arc inside one of the stasis chambers at the Arkham Base. After Batman II frees Aquawoman and Jimmy Olsen from the base, he chooses to shoot the Joker dead instead of releasing him.
• Jumped at the Call: Jay wastes no time becoming a hero once he gets his powers.
• Karmic Death: The 1 percent of Earth's population that decided to depart from their planet on a privately-funded space ark, only to be intercepted and killed by Superman's clone. Even the ones that didn't get on board the ship before it launched were incinerated by the rocket boosters.
• Killed Mid-Sentence: Superman is blown up by an army of parademons while yelling that he will kill Steppenwolf for killing Wonder Woman.
• Last of Their Kind:
  • Wonder Woman believed she was the last amazon, after her sisters and mother were wiped out by parademons. While she's fighting off the parademon invasion, Steppenwolf appears and kills her. However, issue 8 reveals another surviving amazon: Fury, Wonder Woman's daughter. Unlike Wonder Woman, she is evil; having been raised by her adopted father, Steppenwolf.
  • Subverted with Superman and Power Girl in issue #19, where the heroes find another member of their species.
• Let's You and Him Fight:
  • A variation. Hawkgirl initiates it to gauge Jay's power level. Hawkgirl won.
  • Again when The Atom shows up. They each resolve themselves rather quickly.
• Legacy Character:
  • Earth 2 Annual #1 revealed a second Batman is currently active. His identity is later revealed to be Bruce Wayne's father Thomas, but he wears red and black, uses a wrist-mounted gun in his arsenal, and is willing to kill enemies.
  • Val-Zod becomes the second Superman in issue 24. Crosses with Affirmative-Action Legacy because he's also a black Kryptonian.
• Live-Action Adaptation: Steppenwolf and his story as featured in the comic clearly provided the material used in Justice League (2017).
• Love Hurts: Both Alan and Jay in different situations, with Jay coping with some Heartbreak and Buzz Beer.
• Mage Tower: The Tower of Fate. Its interior is extremely complex and weird.
• Military Superhero: The World Army has a few: The Atom, Wesley Dodds and his Sandmen, Captain Steel and Red Tornado. Hawkgirl was one of them, but has gone AWOL. The World Council HQ security guards in Guardian uniforms might count as well.
• Monumental Damage: Grundy reveals himself to the world by destroying the Capitol building in Washington, DC.
• Naked on Arrival: Mercury is this when he crashes on Earth to give Jay Garrick Flash powers, though he seems to be lacking parts.
• No-Sell:
  • The Atom's atomic energy makes him immune to Alan's Green energy.
  • In issue #19, two World Army guards fire a huge Wave-Motion Gun at Aquawoman. Not even her clothes are damaged.
• Not That Kind of Doctor: Khalid is a doctor of archaeology. When he dons the Helmet of Fate, he chooses Dr. Fate as his codename.
• Nuke 'em:
  • The World Council seems to favor this action in regards to possible threats, under the advisement of Terry Sloan.
  • Sloan also solves the problem of large parts of the world being under Apokolips mind control by simply blowing them all up. As Amar Khan states, he's remarkably consistent in his love of this option.
• Photographic Memory: Jimmy Olsen is a master hacker that remembers everything he sees. He was imprisoned by the World Army for hacking into their systems, but when the parademon invasion happens again, he is released along with Marella to help stop the invasion.
• Poorly Disguised Pilot: Supergirl and Robin (Helena Wayne) both dive into a wormhole at the end of the parademon battle, serving as a set-up for Huntress/Power Girl: Worlds' Finest, which features the pair being stranded on Prime Earth and taking on new superhero mantles.
• Pretty Boy: Wotan. He was originally a woman, but he cast an reincarnation spell on himself; switching sexes every time he was reborn. He's been reborn so many times, he became androgynous as a result.
• Punctuated! For! Emphasis!: Wotan: "Do. Not. Mess. With. ME!"
• Quirky Miniboss Squad: Steppenwolf's Hunger Dogs: Brutaal, Beguiler, and Bedlam.
  • though it turns out they are a much larger threat than Steppenwolf.
• Race Lift: In order to diversify the cast.
  • Kendra was changed from half-white, half-Hispanic to Latina.
  • Doctor Fate's host has been changed from the white Kent Nelson to the Egyptian Khalid Ben-Hassin.
  • Captain Steel is a Philippine-born Filipino, whereas the original Commander Steel was a white American.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: Superman has permanently glowing red eyes upon his return
• Refusal of the Call: Khalid is initially terrified to put on the Helmet of Fate because while it gives him powerful magic abilities, it also possesses his body. He later accepts his destiny after having been inspired by the Flash's bravery.
• Ret-Canon: After Doomsday Clock brought back Alan Scott, the Green Lantern 80th Anniversary 100-Page Super Spectacular retconned that he was gay, too, much like his counterpart here.
• The Reveal: In Earth-2's Future's End tie-in issue, Michael Holt realises Terry Sloane isn't from Earth-2, and might not even be human.
• Right Man in the Wrong Place: This has been the standard so far for the origins of the heroes.
• Sealed Evil in a Can:
  • Green Lantern defeats Grundy by putting him in a place where there is no life for him to corrupt. Namely, the Moon.
  • The Red Lantern. If she escapes from the Earth's core, the world is doomed.
• "Shaggy Dog" Story: Ultimately, as Worlds' End series reveal the new heroes accomplish pretty much nothing, their world is destroyed.
• Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism: James Robinson's original intention with the series. His intention was "Golden Age with Modern sensibilities", which would have landed straight into the idealistic side. However, once Superman and Apokolips become integral parts of the plot, things get very cynical very fast.
• Smash the Symbol: Issue 20 features the parademons destroying places of worship all over the world. A building labeled "SCIENTOL--" (the panel cuts off the rest) is included in the destruction. Rather conspicuously, this panel is the one that features a line from Superman calling Earth's religions "fictions".
• The Starscream: Issue 16, Brutaal usurps Steppenwolf as the Big Bad when he cuts him in half because Steppenwolf would rather take Earth for himself instead of Darkseid. He then reveals himself to be Superman, who was thought to have died years ago and starts preparing the Earth for Apokolips. Then it was later revealed that he was a clone of Superman.
• Straight Gay: Alan Scott.
• Super-Empowering:
  • Jay Garrick is given the speed of a god by Mercury.
  • Alan Scott is given the power of Earth's energy by the Green.
  • As it turns out, Sam Zhao was made an Avatar of the White immediately after the train crash that took his life and heavily injured Alan, mere moments before Alan was made Avatar of the Green. Later still, it was revealed to have been done in large part to ease Alan into his ultimate role as last Champion of Earth.
• Survivor Guilt: The Atom.
• Take Over the World: Steppenwolf's master plan after he takes over the country of Dherain.
• There Is Another
  • The Amazons are supposedly extinct thanks to Apokolips, but in issue 8, we're introduced to Fury, Wonder Woman's daughter.
  • Issue 19 reveals that another Kryptonian named Val is being held by the World Army under Arkham. Issue 20 reveals that there were four capsules launched from Krypton. Since we only know of Superman, Supergirl/Power Girl, and Val, that means another Kryptonian is out there somewhere.
• Time Skip: Right at the end of the first issue the series skips forward five years, introducing us to the first of the new age of heroes: Jay Garrick and Alan Scott.
• Too Fast to Stop: The Flash hasn't quite gotten the hang of braking when running at full speed.
• Took A Level In Bad Ass: When the Flash first got his powers, he couldn't use them very well and as a result, Hawkgirl told him to stay out of the fight with Grundy and rescue civilians instead. When the Atom appears and takes out Hawkgirl and Green Lantern, Flash decides to step up and topples the giant Atom with superfast blows.
• Tragic Keepsake: The engagement ring Alan was going to propose to Sam with. It becomes his Green Lantern ring.
• Trailers Always Spoil:
  • Fans were able to figure out that Superman had never died and had turned villain the moment the cover art to #16 was released. The art style does a good job of obscuring most identifying features, but the spit curl was still there...
  • Batman II's identity had been known for months prior to the official reveal in the second Annual thanks to a tweet from DC about action figures (note: spoiler link).
• Tron Lines: The Boom Tube generator room is full of these.
• Twilight of the Supers: Issue #1 shows that the superheroes of Earth 2, called "Wonders", are comprised of Wonder Woman, Batman, Superman (who are the "Ternion"), Mr. 8 and Catwoman, alongside Robin (Batman's daughter) and Supergirl (Superman's cousin). The Ternion falls in battle against Apokolips forces, and Robin and Supergirl disappear through a portal. Thus, as Jay Garrick tells Hermes in issue #2, the previous "Age of Wonders" is over. The plot then kickstarts as a new generation starts to rise.
• Undying Loyalty: Brutaal, not to Steppenwolf, but to Darkseid. When Steppenwolf defies Darkseid, Brutaal kills him and takes over as the main threat.
• Unrelated in the Adaptation: A counterpart to the original Alan Scott's son Todd Rice/Obsidian shows up in Earth 2: World's End, but is clearly not the son of this continuity's Alan Scott due to the latter being gay and too young to be the father of a young adult man.
• Use Your Head: Brutaal is revealed to be Superman's clone when he face-butts Val-Zod during a fight and causes his own face to crack.
• Walking Wasteland: Grundy, the Avatar of the Grey, who wishes to rid the Earth of life.
• Wall of Weapons: Kendra's cabin has a wall lined with a variety of weapons. She also installed a firing range in her cabin to practice with them.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: Terry Sloan, or at least he claims to be one.
  • Batman II is one as well.
• Wham Episode: To those unfamiliar with the premise of Earth 2, the first issue will sure seem like one given the deaths of Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman.
  • issue 16, where Brutaal kills Steppenwolf, and is revealed to be Superman
• What the Hell, Hero?: Amar Khan's reaction to the World Army Council calling in Terry Sloan.
• With Great Power Comes Great Insanity: When Khalid's not wearing the Helmet of Fate, he occasionally has temporary bouts of insanity.
• Wizard Duel: Between Doctor Fate and Wotan. Doctor Fate wins by sending Wotan to another dimension.
• World-Healing Wave: Downplayed: Grundy's presence absolutely devastates the Earth's flora. After defeating him, Green Lantern gives some of his energy back to the Earth; similar to a booster shot. Nothing happens at first, but when Green Lantern leaves, everything slowly starts coming back to life.
• You Can't Go Home Again: Steppenwolf has been trapped on Earth for five years because he can't make another boom tube back to Apokolips. He decides to make the best of it and plans to take over the world.
  • Also Helena Wayne and Kara Kent, Earth 2's Robin and Supergirl. They spend five years trapped on Earth Prime, and establish new identities as Huntress and Powergirl respectively.
  • Apokolips absorbs the Earth at the end of World's End, forcing the remainder of the human race to seek safety in a spaceship drifting aimlessly in hopes of finding a planet that they can live on.
• Younger and Hipper: Prior to the New 52 reboot, the main gimmick of the surviving JSA was that members were elder statesmen who had been in their prime during WW2. Now they're young men and women beginning their super-hero careers in the modern day. It still maintains the themes of legacy that the old JSA had, with the twist that now the main characters inherit the legacy of the previous Trinity, instead of the other way around.
  • Averted, strangely enough, with Ted Grant.

Earth 2: Society (spoilers for Earth 2 and World's End will be untagged)

• Above Good and Evil: Alan Scott views himself as this, after becoming one with the Multiversal Green.
• Badass Long Coat: the third Batman, Dick Grayson, sports on in favor of the more traditional cape.
• Batman Grabs a Gun: Huntress suggests that she and Red Arrow do this against the Sandmen. He is not amused.
• Binary Suns: Earth-2 orbits two suns, one yellow and one red.
• The Captain: Commander Sato, leader of the World Army on Earth-2.
• Child Soldiers: The Ultra-Humanite's army consists of orphaned children he took in and aged to adolescence.
• Cool Starship:
  • Over-Watch One definitely qualifies, being a massive Watchtower-esque ship that housed the remnants of humanity during the time it spent in space.
  • The Generation ships inside also count. Each one crashed to Earth-2 during Planetfall thanks to Terry Sloan and those that survived became the beginnings of new cities like New Gotham and Neotropolis.
• Composite Character:
  • Earth-2's Dick Grayson takes this to an extreme level. First, he was trained by Ted Grant, better known as Wildcat. Then during the events of Convergence, he is crippled from the waist-down, not unlike most versions of Barbara Gordon who is his deceased wife in this universe. Furthermore, he is taken under the wing of a man in a bat-suit and is inspired to continue his one-man war against crime. So confusingly enough, he's a composite character composed of a version of himself.
  • Jimmy Olsen becomes evil and adopts the persona of Doctor Impossible, who was originally an Evil Counterpart to Mister Miracle who appeared at the start of Brad Meltzer's run on Justice League of America.
• Earn Your Happy Ending: After the destruction of Earth, the deaths of millions of civilians and many wonders, and learning that Telos has no natural resources, Fury is forced to reset the universe with The Pandora Casket. After freeing this new universe from the control of Ultra-Humanite, the surviving Wonders finally get the happy ending they've been fighting for all this time.
• Handicapped Badass: Left paralyzed from the waist down from the events of Convergence, Dick Grayson is very much this, thanks in part to his Terrific exo-skeleton.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Dick Grayson gives his life to free Green Lantern from Ultra Humanite's mind-control. Subverted in the final issue, when it's revealed that Dick managed to survive and recover by the end of the six month time skip.
• Karma Houdini Warranty: After getting away with his actions in the previous two volumes, Society begins with Terry Sloan getting killed.
• Leaning on the Fourth Wall: Ultra-Humanite's rant in issue 16 sure sounds as awful lot like criticism of DC's handling of Earth-2.
  Ultra Humanite: Earth 2 is a joke. Barren and useless. Theatrical scenery with no substance. You should have left the world-building to someone with the genius for it.
• Legacy Character:
  • Earth-2's Superman is Val-Zod, a Black Kryptonian who took up the mantle of the fallen Superman back in the original series.
  • The new Batman is Dick Grayson, who follows in the footsteps of Thomas Wayne after his death in Convergence.
    • Effectively making him a Legacy Character of a Legacy Character
  • In the finale, Helena Wayne finally takes up the mantle of Batman, taking Dick Grayson's son, John, as her Robin.
• Series Continuity Error: The final series has a few noticeable continuity discrepancies, such as the god that gave Jay Garrick's super speed being misidentified as Apollo rather than Mercury and Alan Scott's ring indicated to be an Oan power ring that chose him to be the Green Lantern as well as Sinestro being mentioned as one of the supervillains that menaced the Earth during the Age of Wonders in complete disregard to Alan's origin of being chosen as the champion of the Green and having a ring because he used Sam Zhao's engagement ring to focus his powers, in addition to no indication that the Green Lantern Corps existed in this continuity.
• Time Skip: Society begins by skipping ahead one year after planetfall. The series finale also takes place six months after the previous issue.
• Title Drop: The world that the survivors of the Apokoliptian invasion? You might know it as Telos, but the rest of the world calls it Earth-2.
• World-Healing Wave: Empowered by the Multiversal Green, Alan Scott brings the ruined world of Telos back to liveable conditions, making it an "earth twin."

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