The utility gauntlets are off! The tensions between campy Dragonflyman and his gritty counterpart, Dragonfly, come to a furious boil! It's a rift that can only be settled with fists, gadgets, and—in Dragonfly's case—lethal weapons! EXTRA: illustrated prose, AHOY-style!
The Wrong Earth: Night and Day #4
Story by
Tom Peyer
Art by
Juan Castro, Jamal Igle, Andy Troy
Letters: Rob Steen
Cover by
Jamal Igle
Publisher
AHOY Comics
Price
3.99 (USD)
Release Date
May 5, 2021
Score:
★★★★☆ (4/5)
When the world was debating between Batfleck, Battison, and Bale, Ahoy Comics' 'The Wrong Earth: Night and Day' asked the question "why settle for one caped crusader when you can have two?" After the campy Dragonflyman and his gritty counterpart, Dragonfly switch universes for a year they must now begrudgingly work together but their personalities and methods clash. Issue four sees the escalation of those conflicts with the boy wonder Stinger caught in the middle. Tom Peyer and Jamal Igle continue with one of the most entertaining comics in stores now.
This confrontation has been brewing for a while now we just didn't know who was going to snap first. Bringing up Stinger has been a sore subject for Dragonflyman but it hasn't stopped Dragonfly from questioning him about his weird indifference to his return. It all comes to a head as the cover reveals. With the master mind (or is he?) Number One behind the pollution exported to different universes in custody you'd think the Dragonflys would be more congenial. Instead, there's some obvious resentments and ill will bubbling at the surface.
It's these types of twists in the working relationship of these heroes from different worlds that constantly provides deeper character moments. On the surface, it's cool and it's a funny that they're such an odd couple, a sort of Adam West Batman versus Ben Affleck Batman type of thing but it's their respective convictions and integrity that anchor each of them making them more human than caricatures. Peyer respects these characters too much to make them cartoonish or a parody of themselves. It's more an homage to these archetypes than ridicule.
The opening scenet with Lady Dragonflyman talking to a bank president and the mayor is an amusing bit of satire. The constant condescension and misogyny coming from their comments is straight out of the '50s. The irony of course is that Lady Dragonflyman is a goddam superhero and they're dolts.
I don't know if there's a better trio of artists working on a title right now than Igle, Andy Troy, and Juan Castro. The art on the series has been so clean and vibrant. Nothing is ever muddled or choreographed poorly. The action is kinetic but smooth. The colors are rich and with so many Dragonflys in this issue there's a lot of glorious green textures to feast on. But nothing says emotion without saying a word like pin-point accurate facial expressions and these characters have them in bunches. Igle conveys exactly what they're feeling. Letterer Rob Steen has his work cut out with so many sound effects but it adds a little appropriate amount of Batman TV series pow!
'The Wrong Earth: Night and Day' keeps bringing the drama and the action. When this arc is done it's going to make a great trade. The polar opposite of vigilantes get real in this one and it's the perfect escalation given the story. This series is for fans who love comics and just want to indulge in classic comic book tropes unapologetically. 'The Wrong Earth' is smart, fun, and entertaining.
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