The Pull List – The Wrong Earth #1
What happens when a campy do-gooding superhero crosses over into their gritty, violent parallel universe? The Wrong Earth tells the story of the Dragonflyman, a masked vigilante hero that protects Fortune City. By day, he is the mild-mannered, Wall Street exec, Ricard Fame. But at night, he is the crime-fighting, winged Dragonflyman. He is assisted by his young ward, the Stringer. Together, they fight to protect Fortune City from evil and help the police save the day. On his latest adventure, Dragonflyman and Stringer are caught in a trap by Dragonflyman’s nemesis, Number One. Breaking free and fighting Number One’s goons, Dragonflyman accidentally enters a portal to another universe, leaving behind his homeworld of Earth-Alpha. At the same time, in the Earth-Omega universe, a brutal Dragonflyman is fighting Number One that leads the pair entering the same portal, transferring them to Earth-Alpha. Each hero and villain is shocked by the sudden switch and now face the changes in the alternate world.
Issue one of The Wrong Earth is an exciting introduction to get acquainted to the characters and concepts. It’s a great nod to a certain bat and boy wonder, with great references to the silly 1966’s Batman TV show and Frank Miller’s All-Star Batman comic, the one that created the infamous, “Cause I’m the goddamn Batman”. The creative team of Tom Peyer, Jamal Igle, Juan Castro, Andy Trop and Rob Steen deliver a comic that appeals to comic fans that read all things superheroes. There is an additional mini-comic about the Stringer that is inspired by classic newsprint comics like Mickey Mouse and Hot Stuff. Paul Constant and Frank Cammuso present Stringer in The Fairground Horror, where the boy hero takes a break at Fortune City’s fairground. Here he visits a fortune teller, Crone, but only finds misfortune.
The story is a fun parody of the floppy costume heroes of the Golden Age of Comic heroes and the gritty reboot era comics of the 2000’s. Longtime comic fans will easily recognize the references and parody material of The Wrong Earth and it doesn’t feel like a cheap knockoff. The characters and the world have some depth, even if their names and the situations are a tad silly. But that’s what makes the story so easy to comprehend and enjoy.
Comic fans that are looking to branch out from the traditional comic publishers should check out The Wrong Earth from the new Ahoy Comics, a new comic book magazine publisher. Each issue is filled with a full-length comic story with extra content like one shot panels, interviews, and editorials. It’s something new to find in the comic shops and helps spread the word in the the comic book community. The Wrong Earth and other content from Ahoy Comics hit comic shops this early September.