“Captain Planet and the Planeteers” Issue 2 – Review

From writer David Pepose and artist Eman Casallos (with colors by Jorge Sutil), Captain Planet and the Planeteers issue 2 had our main cast meet each other for the first time ever in action-packed circumstances.

With the Planeteers being chosen by the Power Rings and Gaia telepathically asking them to rescue her in the debut chapter, the second issue of Captain Planet and the Planeteers continued to amp up the action while fleshing out the cast’s personalities and the lore behind the Power Rings.

It’s revealed that there have been two Champions of Earth since the beginning of life. We have the human vessel chosen every generation to possess the five Power Rings, and we have Captain Planet, the immortal Avatar, harnessing the primal forces of creation. The two have been working together through millennia to ensure humanity and the planet’s survival. However, things drastically changed with Gaia being kidnapped and the Elemental Power Rings selecting five individuals instead. The most important thing for the cast was to meet each other, and that’s what we saw occur in the latest chapter. But of course, trouble ensued.

I liked how Lucian Plunder has been depicted as a villain with a whole lot of agency. He’s aware of the Power Rings and has been planning to own them ASAP. Lucian’s been saying that he wants to use the rings for the good of humanity, but we all know he wants to keep them for himself and expand whatever “industrial advancements” blueprints he has in mind involving nuclear energy.

Kwame and Gi were the first to meet on their way to New York. Gi recognized Kwame from his football playing days. The two got along nicely, but before they could talk about being on the same mission, they got arrested by the police. Like I said, Lucian’s on top of things when it comes to getting the Power Rings. That’s what makes him a formidable villain for a bunch of young heroes who don’t fully realize what they have gotten themselves into.

While Kwame and Gi hit it off and worked together to escape police custody (with the help of some salad), things were different between Wheeler and Linka. The current wielder of the Wind Power Ring is revealed to be from a rich family with a rocky relationship with her father (a Russian oil magnate). I liked the conversation she had with the driver, which more or less had her rethink her privileged life while going about causing issues with her eco-activism. Her father’s name has helped her a whole lot with the police. Also, the narrative has an interesting take on whether Linka’s really into helping the planet or has decided to be all into activism as a way to rebel against her father. Due to Linka being one of my favorite characters from the original animated show, I’m so here for her character being explored in such a manner.

Getting out of the car at a protest against Lucian, Linka bumped into Wheeler, leading to the two getting into a heated situation, complete with using their Power Rings against each other. I’m not sure, but it looks like Wheeler’s ring is far more connected to his emotions compared to Kwame, Gi, and Linka. He seems to be the one with the least control over the ring, which tends to randomly shoot a fireball because of his heightened emotions.

Keeping with their dynamic from the OG animated series, we did see Wheeler complimenting Linka’s beauty and her being annoyed by his choice of words. Let’s see how their dynamic develops down the line.

Sensing Wheeler and Linka’s Power Rings helped Kwame and Gi track them down after escaping from the police. Kwame immediately taking the leader role and ordering Wheeler and Linka to stop made me laugh. Of course, Wheeler and Linka weren’t going to listen to Kwame yet. They barely knew each other. But yeah, it was still nice to see Kwame taking on the leadership position. From the OG animated series, Linka’s supposed to be his second-in-command. So, I’m looking forward to that happening soon.

Kwame vs Wheeler and Linka vs Gi got stopped by Ma-Ti telepathically connecting everyone. While Gaia was able to communicate with Wheeler, Kwame, Linka, and Gi, a mysterious dark entity seems to be in conversation with Ma-Ti. I’m very intrigued to learn more about what’s going on. I also like how Ma-Ti’s shown to be quite powerful. The animated version of the character went through an arc to realize that having the Heart Power Ring wasn’t a weakness. Ma-Ti’s powers weren’t as flashy as the rest of the Planeteers, but if you think about it, his ring is the most dangerous.

Before the Planeteers would form a plan to work together to find Gaia, Lucian sent a bunch of mech-armored minions, forcing the Planeteers to retreat. Kwame’s willingness to keep the minions occupied while the others fled to safety again showed his leadership qualities.

However, there was no need for the young heroes to admit defeat because Ma-Ti suggested they needed to combine their powers after the mysterious dark entity told him to share said plan. Who the heck is that dark entity, and why does he know so much about the Power Rings? I would like to know!

Combining their powers summoned Captain Planet to deal with the mech-armored minions. Due to how Captain Planet failed to keep Gaia safe in the debut issue, I liked seeing how determined he was to fix his mistake. Working with five young ring wielders was going to be different for Captain Planet after having spent millennia teaming up with a single human vessel. He’s determined not to let any harm befall the Planeteers. So, yeah, I’m looking forward to seeing him defeat the current handful of enemies.

I’m already excited about the third chapter because I want to see Captain Planet have a conversation with the Planeteers about how they can rescue Gaia from Lucian. And knowing Lucian, he’s going to have a plan to stop that from happening too easily.

Talking about the art, I do like how colorful this comic book is. However, and this is just my opinion, the facial expressions aren’t really doing it for me. As an example, in the panel with Linka countering Wheeler’s flames with her wind powers, she’s a bit too calm for my liking.

Having said that, Captain Planet and the Planeteers continues to be an enjoyable modern take on the classic characters that has the ingredients to appeal to new and original fans alike.

What did you think of Captain Planet and the Planeteers issue 2?

Let us know.

Author: Farid-ul-Haq

Farid has a Double Masters in Psychology and Biotechnology as well as an M.Phil in Molecular Genetics. He is the author of numerous books including Missing in Somerville, and The Game Master of Somerville. He gives us insight into comics, books, TV shows, anime/manga, video games, and movies.

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