I'll have to get the last issue of Earth X I'm missing eventually, then track down the TPBs only when they're REALLY cheap.
I really liked Earth X. Originally, I was disappointed that Alex Ross didn't do the interiors (that would have taken FOREVER), but I've come to like John Paul Leon's art after his New X-Men fill-in (he would have been a better permanent fill-in instead of Kordey) and his Further Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix. It always annoyed me that he didn't do interiors for that one Action Comics issue where Clark returns to Smallville for his high school reunion (he drew a very nice cover, though).
I've realized that Earth X takes many of the concepts brought up in Kingdom Come to an extreme. Where the future in the DC Universe is the result of a cluttering of superheroes to the point where they become the superhero equivalent of Pokemon, Earth X ups the ante by making everyone a mutant. Instead of frightening new "heroes" battling each other out of boredom and striking fear into the hearts of the public, we have those same types of characters taking over the country and carrying out a cross-country systematic genocide tour, much like the Rolling Stones with a lust for murder rathern than crass commercialism.
DC's heroes are altered, but still recognizable. Batman is still Batman, except he's completely paralyzed. Superman is a depressed recluse. Orion has replaced his father as ruler of Apokalips. Meanwhile, in the Marvel Universe, everything is twisted into barely-recognizable shapes. Spider-Man is an old fart with no desire to swing around on pretend web, leaving the job to his Symbiote-bearing daughter. Jean Grey and Wolverine are unhappilly married, leaving Cyclops to lead a bunch of freakish X-kids on his own. Daredevil is a flaming Ghost Rideresqe motorcyle stunt exhibitionist, an EVIL Kenevel if you will. Captain America is a scarred bald man doing an impression of Larry Flynt.
Instead of Normal McKay and The Spectre, you have Uatu and X-51: The Machine Man, not to mention their pet astronaut dog, John Jameson, providing us the exposition to explain what the hell happened to everyone.
Wow, I think I just got myself pumped up for rereading it. I must grab these once I visit my parents' house.
