

If not the most eagerly anticipated of DC Comics' "New 52" second wave titles launching in May, Earth 2 is definitely the most mysterious. It bears the name of DC's popular Silver Age alternate earth, where the heroes of The Golden Age grew old in real time after DC stopped publishing their original adventures, a world that was off-limits for about 20 years after 1986's Crisis On Infinite Earths before reappearing in various forms in recent years. After the New 52boot, in which DC once again reset their continuity and rejiggered their cosmology, fans have little idea what to expect from New 52 Earth 2, although DC started giving more clues this week in the form of Jim Lee's costume design for Batman and Kevin Maguire's design for Robin.Earth Two's Batman previously appeared in the Ivan Reis-drawn variant cover for the first issue, which the publisher released with their solicitations for the book, fighting Parademons alongside a Superman and Wonder Woman.



All three were in different costumes, and Batman's look seemed to suggest it might be Dick Grayson under the cowl, given that he was fighting with the stick-like weapons Grayson often employed as Nightwing, and the design of his tunic echoed that of Nightwing's costume.

In the newly released design sketch by Jim Lee, we see Batman again bearing a stick-and wearing little holster's for them on his thighs, but the upcoming book's editor Pat McCallum teased the indentity of the character thusly, "Yeah, there is a Wayne under the mask."



The best guess for Earth Two Batman's identity is now probably the current "Earth One" Robin Damian Wayne, all grown up, as Bruce Wayne would be a senior citizen on Earth Two (he has a grown daughter in The Huntress, after all). McCallum also mentions that this Batman will kill his enemies and that "EARTH 2 is about to become a very bad place to be a bad guy." Ruthless crime-fighting and lethal force is something Damian Wayne has resorted to in the past... and in a past alternate future (Comics!).

Today DC released their next Earth Two character design, a Robin by Worlds' Finest artist Kevin Maguire:



Today's tease was accompanied by a few quotes from Earth Two writer James Robinson, confirming that it is indeed The Huntress Helena Wayne in the image, if the fact that her costume blends the current Huntress costume with Tim Drake's Robin costume wasn't enough of a clue (or the fact that we got a glimpse of Helena as Robin on a previously released cover for Worlds' Finest #1)

What else to we know about Earth Two, at this point? Only that Powergirl and The Huntress have come to the New 52iverse from there, PG was apparently Supergirl just as Huntress used to be Robin and what DC's original announcement said about the upcoming book:

Earth 2 - Writer: James Robinson. Artist: Nicola Scott. The greatest heroes on a parallel Earth, the Justice Society combats threats that will set them on a collision course with other worlds.

We'll update you with more Earth 2 character designs as DC releases them. In the mean time, what do you guys think of the new Dynamic Duo's costumes?

[Via The Source]