Each Friday, we'll be letting a different DC.com writer share what they'll be reading over the weekend and why you might want to check it out. Here's this week's suggestion for a perfect Weekend Escape!
 

Lex Luthor. The Joker. The Reverse-Flash. The very best supervillains embody everything that our heroes are not. But there’s a particular group of supervillains who take this notion even farther, standing as dark, twisted doppelgangers of the DC Universe’s greatest superheroes. Just as we have Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman, the unfortunate souls who reside on Earth 2 live in fear of Ultraman, Owlman and Superwoman. They resemble their heroic counterparts physically, but this horrifying Crime Syndicate represents ideals that the Justice League stands thoroughly against. So what happens when they meet in a rarely discussed graphic novel from the creative team behind All-Star Superman?
 

THE PREMISE:

In JLA: Earth 2, the Justice League receives a distress signal from none other than Lex Luthor. However, this isn’t the Luthor they’re accustomed to. Rather, this Lex has traveled from another world in search of saviors to stand against a team of powerful tyrants who are the equal and opposite of the Justice League in every way. On his world of Earth 2, the fearsome Crime Syndicate reigns supreme, superhumans who resemble the Justice League we’re familiar with, but who rule through cruelty, fear and corruption.

Luthor’s pleas for help are debated amongst the League, and with some hesitation from Batman, they agree to devote their efforts to toppling the Crime Syndicate of Earth 2. But while they’re gone, our Earth is left vulnerable to these super-powered beings from another reality who do not have the planet’s best interests at heart. Can the Justice League defeat their alternate universe foes in time to save both worlds?
 

LET’S TALK TALENT:

JLA: Earth 2 is brought to us by the powerhouse team of Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely. First published in 2000, this original graphic novel came out as Morrison was writing JLA in a run which reinvented the Justice League of America for the 21^st century. Morrison goes beyond simple “good guys” and “bad guys” in their story, positing that our world revolves around a completely different balance of scales. If good always triumphs over evil in our world, is it even possible for evil to be defeated on the other side? And what does that mean for our world when the Crime Syndicate comes crashing down, wreaking super-powered havoc on a vulnerable populace? The concept of evil opposites is taken to a wonderfully trippy extreme by Morrison here, setting the stage for their later work within the DCU.

Equal to the challenge of illustrating Morrison’s often complex ideas is maestro Frank Quitely, whose renditions of the League and the Syndicate reflect both a classic and inventively fresh style. The Crime Syndicate may be designed to look like the Justice League, but their costumes strike a darker, more intimidating effect. Their looks are encapsulated in black, armor and leather, putting the traditional Justice League in sharp relief as saviors who could never resist fighting to liberate a war-torn world.
 

A FEW REASONS TO READ:

• In learning more about what differentiates our two worlds, we get backstories for much of the Crime Syndicate. Fascinating revelations await when you learn which members of the Wayne family died on this new world, and which reporter for the Daily Planet serves as a Crime Syndicate member’s secret identity!
   
• Quitely’s artwork soars in this large-scale story, as he illustrates both a new world ruled by fear and our world, ripe for the pickings as the Crime Syndicate attacks. He truly delivers when it comes to demonstrating the terror of super-powered beings who have decided to use their abilities in the wrong way, and it’s equally thrilling when the Justice League step up to the plate to stop them in the face of such vast carnage.
   
• Beyond the Crime Syndicate, we see other elements of Earth 2 that stand in opposite to ours. How do average people on the streets treat each other? What’s considered normal behavior by the masses? If the Justice League can truly save their planet, would Earth 2’s populace even be willing to go along?
   

WHY IT’S WORTH YOUR TIME:

Tales of good versus evil are common in the world of superhero comics, but in JLA: Earth 2, Morrison and Quitely have put together a story about balance and how it must be struck for people to thrive. JLA: Earth 2 is a thought-provoking, compelling comic that will have you rethinking the very concept of opposites, using the large canvas of the DC Universe to accomplish its goals. In the process, it reminds us of how valuable true heroism is when it’s not easy and the importance of our commonalities and differences when those traits are thrust into different environments. With the Absolute universe generating so much conversation these days with its reconsideration of DC’s heroes and its darker alternate Earth, the time seemed perfect to revisit this earlier attempt at similar exploration. And at less than 100 pages, it’s the perfect length for a Weekend Escape!

JLA: Earth 2 by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely will soon be reprinted as a deluxe edition graphic novel. Look for it in bookstores, comic shops, libraries and digital retailers. It can also be read in full on DC UNIVERSE INFINITE.

Donovan Morgan Grant writes about comics, graphic novels and superhero history for DC.com. Follow him on Bluesky at @donomark and X at @donoDMG1.

NOTE: The views and opinions expressed in this feature are solely those of Donovan Morgan Grant and do not necessarily reflect those of DC or Warner Bros. Discovery, nor should they be read as confirmation or denial of future DC plans.