When different universes collide, can superheroes cope while fighting villainy?
Creative Staff:
Story: Tom Peyer
Art: Jamal Igle, Juan Castro
Colorist: Andy Troy
Letters: Rob Steen
What They Say:
On one world, Dragonflyman and his sidekick Stinger enjoy a life of adventure. On another Earth, the Dragonfly hunts criminal parasites like a lethal exterminator. But what happens when these two heroes change places?
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
One of the more popular conventions of storytelling is Through the Looking Glass. The Alice in Wonderland set up where somebody enters into an alternate reality and is met with different characters always pops up in various mediums. For instance, one theme is two people entering two different worlds in which they have to adapt towards the environments and ways in the world. Tom Peyer takes up this particular mantle for superheroes in Wrong Earth and makes it work.
Dragonflyman is your stereotypical superhero. Like many superheroes, he must go and combat villains and must save the city. However, there exists two Dragonflyman superheroes, one in Earth Alpha where his sidekick Stinger is and another where he is the solo hero. Both Earths exists but have stark differences and these Earths start to collide when characters come from one Earth to the other. How will Dragonflyman from one Earth be able to cope with the other earth and stop villainy?
Having two different distinct two universes and flashing back between both of them is executed well in this first issue. While being stereotypical the fact that they stick with Alpha Earth first and then go to a mega-Earth does make sense. Instead of trying to emphasize the more murky and hardcore violent nature of Omega Earth, the author at least wants to give a sense of hope and happiness in Earth Alpha before the fatalistic drop of Earth Omega. It makes for an emotional impact when a character from Earth Omega does something so extreme to a character in Earth Alpha that you completely shatters the minds of people on Earth Alpha.
This trick also works because of the mannerism of the characters, where one side will act cynical while the other acts whimsical. A sense of immersion comes from these acts of characters where even a bad guy comes out disfavoring of a character’s action from the opposite universe. Peyer’s emphasis of characters matching the universe works well to ensure the integrity of the immersion.
The art style for Wrong Earth fits the comic book parallel worlds fine. The action scenes for the Campy Earth Alpha match its hilarious and old-school heroic style. That’s completely different from the grittiness of the more fatalistic Earth Omega that the main character goes through. It feels as if they’re both separate but have a unifying theme. Jamal Igle takes great care to show subtleties in the Earths pronounced without taking it to the extreme. Juan Castro, Andy Troy, and Rob Steen all do great work with coloring, inking, and lettering to emphasize these points as well.
Wrong Earths Does a good job setting up the premise. The series sets up characters distinctly with mannerisms and personas that make them stand out. We know the stakes of the characters as well as the consequences of both main characters in their different perspective Worlds. The art style conveys these particular consequences as well as makes it interesting to read. Peyer certainly created a good entry point into what may be an interesting series.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: AHOY Comics
Release Date:September 12th, 2018
MSRP: $3.99
