How would a Silver Age superhero navigate a Modern Era comic-book world? Tom Peyer and Jamal Igle expand on this thought experiment in their limited series: The Wrong Earth (2018), the book that launched AHOY Comics. When searching for fun and well-done tales about alternate worlds, look no further than the story of Dragonfly(man). Marvel and DC have plenty of stories about parallel worlds, and many of them are great, but Wrong Earth is today's cutting edge comic about the multiverse. It is sequential art at its best.
Peyer conjures two parallel worlds, connected by interdimensional mirrors. The chaste slapstick hero, Dragonflyman supplants a more corrupt unsmiling version of himself, Dragonfly. Both have to figure out how best to navigate worlds, that from their perspectives, are absurd. What is most impressive is Wrong Earth does not end up a skin-deep spoof just poking fun at comic book tropes, but a captivating story that's also a sophisticated look at the evolution of an entire genre.
The story begins with two worlds: Earth-Alpha, home to the masked crime fighter, Dragonflyman, and Earth-Omega, where the disguised vigilante, Dragonfly resides. Earth-Alpha's Dragonflyman and his sidekick, Stinger, invoke the predictable cat and mouse games akin to the campy 1966 Batman television series. On the other hand, Earth-Omega is akin to Frank Miller's chaotic and violent world seen in The Dark Knight Returns. Both heroes and villains are muderers in a system overrun with corruption.
Both worlds harbor the same major villains, Number One and Deuce. Where Earth-Alpha's Number One is a catty vaudevillian nuisance, Earth-Omega's Number One is a hard-core psychopathic killer. Deuce is the most complicated villain with captivating character development throughout the series. Stinger is sidekick to both Dragonflyman and Dragonfly, but he tragically committed suicide on Earth-Omega. Dragonflyman is deputized on Earth-Alpha and has the trust of the police force and government. Dragonfly, conversely, is wanted by powerful people who are able to bribe the authorities into helping pursue him.
Dragonfly's rogue gallery is full of goofy characters who trap him and his sidekick, Stinger, in not-so-inescapable scenarios like a "mirror-oven." These villains are always beatable with a quick application of some pocket-sized solution like "double-strength, long-lasting explosion repellant." Earth-Alpha is theater with everyone, including the villains, playing their part to elevate the hero. Earth-Omega, although presented as the hell of reality is also theater, presenting the familiar scenes of Modern Era comics.
Placing the dewey-eyed G-rated Dragonflyman into the deadly serious Earth-Omega confronts notions about what makes a superhero and their universe great. Thrusting the hostile and disillusioned Dragonfly into mild-mannered Earth-Alpha is a stark reminder of the value of being virtuous. In his pitch for the limited series, Peyer describes this as being like "the Dark Circle Black Hood forced to live within the Comics Code."
Both versions of the superhero are used to turn the archetype on its head which is why the use of mirrors in the story is brilliant. The Wrong Earth creates a major moment of reflection, and without both heroes present the tale would be seriously lacking. It is the literal duality of the characters that makes this story exciting as is their respective reactions to one another's worlds.
The Wrong Earth is satire in the most stylish sense of the word. This is a subversive project meant to challenge the superhero mythos and the sensibilities of its audience. It questions the industry's notion that comic book evolution should mirror human development, maturing from its childish camp to a more mature realism. To paraphrase Mark Millar, The Wrong Earth is essential reading for superhero lovers, but readers resistant to superhero fiction will also enjoy it immensely.