Front Lines - Convergence Week 7

Convergence #7 by Jeff King, Scott Lobdell, and Aaron Lopresti

Summary: On New-52 Earth, Telos’ world continues to push it’s way into our reality.  A being called the Great Oracle is watching and this is freaking him out.  He can usually see past, present, and future, but this is blocking his vision.  Telos’ world is causing all kinds of temporal and antimatter energy readings on New-52 Earth.  Superman orders the other heroes and villains gathered to watch this retreat.  Batman insists Superman should retreat too, but Superman goes to ask the Oracle who is going on.  He asks “how can we save everyone?”  Oracle answers, “You cannot.”

Meanwhile, on Telos’ world, heroes are fighting heroes as those loyal to Deimos fight those who refuse to serve him.  Nightwing and Telos arrive on the scene.  Deimos attacks Telos.  Heroes on both side realize that Deimos is vulnerable to Telos.

Back on New-52, the fight is causing visions of the multiverse to pop into people’s heads.

As Deimos is weakened by Telos, Parallax arrives to go after Deimos.  He is tired of being trapped on this world.  Yolanda tells Grayson that Deimos wants everyone to die…that is where he draws his powers from.  All the heroes on both sides start to stand against Deimos…though they are basically all just standing back and letting Telos do all the work.  Telos connection to this world is giving him a lot of power.  Telos wants Deimos to tell him who Telos was before Brainiac wiped his memories.  Before he can answer, Parallax destroys Deimos.  With Deimos dead, all the power he absorbed from the Time Hunters has been released.  All of reality is being torn apart.

Short Review:  Leonardi’s two page spread of all the heroes fighting was incredible.  This is one of the best pieces of comic art I’ve seen in a while.  So many of the world’s represented during Convergence showed up.  And then he follows up with an epic image of the various Superman and Supergirls throughout history.  While I really enjoyed the story here, the art alone would have made this a great comic.

My only real complaint here is that Telos is doing all the work.  New 52 heroes are basically standing slackjawed as Telos’ world is coming through.  Down on the ground, all the heroes are standing around while Deimos and Telos fight.  Except for Parallaex, who ends up breaking reality…AGAIN!  Dammit Hal, how many times are you going to pull this crap on us???

With one issue to go, I’m still not sure where this series is heading.  I’ve enjoyed it for the most part, especially as the series has progressed past feeling like a Secret Wars knockoff.  It’s been a tight, easy to follow series with a lot of fan service.  Convergence is definitely one of my favorite DC events.

As much work as it’s been, I am sort of sad that next week will be my last week writing about Convergence.  Between myself, Mike Weaver, and Grey, we will have done 90 reviews for Convergence (9 core issues, 80 tie ins, and Divergence).  And we’re still not quite burned out.  At least after next week, we are only dealing with Secret Wars by itself.

Score: 4.0/5

Convergence: Adventures of Superman #2 by Marv Wolfman and Roberto Viacova

Summary: Superman and Supergirl are being overwhelmed by the Kryptonians trapped in the Phantom Zone.  Lucius Fox is able to signal them that he can use the Phantom Zone Projector to get them back home, but they have to hurry.  Superman shoves Supergirl through the portal, but stays behind to make sure the other Kryptonians can't escape.  Supergirl is able to use one of Batman's grappling guns to pull Superman out.

Meanwhile, Kamandi the animal people of his world are plotting to wipe out all of humankind.  He tries to stop them, and he's soon joined by Superman and Supergirl.  The leader of the animals decides it's time to use the ultimate weapon.  They manage to subdue Superman.  When he wakes up, he finds himself strapped to a stolen nuke.  Supergirl arrives and frees Superman.  Superman disables the nuke while Supergirl defeats the apes.

Short Review:  I think they went a little too far with Supergirl obsessing over having to keep Superman safe so he can save the multiverse.  This is Superman..did he really need help escaping being tied to a nuke?  It was cool to see Kamandi, but he sort of felt out of place is this issue with Superman and Supergirl doing all the heavy lifting.  I really liked the first issue of this one, but it didn't quite come together as good as I had hoped.

Score: 3.0/5

Convergence: Batman and the Outsiders #2 by Marc Andreyko and Carlos D' Anda

Summary: OMAC is attacking Gotham.  The Outsiders are trying to stop him.  OMAC is no longer connected to Brother Eye.  Instead, he's being controlled by a being called Godmother.  OMAC is trying to resist her.  The Outsiders work together and win the day.  Metamorpho reflects grimly on the time under the dome where he was human again.  And that's the end.

Short Review:  This issue was basically one long fight against OMAC and Godmother.  It was really well done, especially since the issue still managed to provide a lot of characterization.  This was a really cool team, and I had forgotten how much I enjoyed them.  I really hope they stick around in some capacity.  I can't say this enough, Convergence keeps making me nostalgic for the good old days of DC

Score: 4.0/5

Convergence: Green Lantern Corps #2 by David Gallagher and Steve Ellis

Summary: Hal and John Stewart and fighting some massive creature calling itself the Anti-God.  Guy Gardner races cross the wasteland between the domed cities on a motorcycle with a dragon in pursuit.  Guy manages to take out the dragon with a baseball bat.  Guy needs to rest.  He dreams of being attacked by General Zod and Sinestro.  He wakes up to find beings watching him...Hercules, Jennifer Monroe, and a dog named Basil have tied him up.  He tells them his story.  They come from a place called Durville, which had been evacuated because of the Anti-God.  Guy convinces them that he needs to go fight the Anti-God.  He even arm wrestles Hercules to win his invincible armor.  Guy arrives in time to rescue Hal and John Stewart.  Hal lets Guy recharge his ring and they go off to stop the Anti-God.  Guy manages to take Anti-God into space and blow him up using a matter/anti-matter explosion  Hal thanks Guy, and Guy punches him in the face for Hal's past actions.  Hal admits he deserved that, and they decide to work together to stop Telos.

Short Review:  This issue didn't make any effort to explain who Hercules, Jennifer Monroe, or Anti-God were, but it didn't seem to matter all that much for the story they were telling here.  The dome vs dome battle was almost an afterthought here.  The creative team seems to have a HUGE love for Guy Gardner.  It was almost like Morrison writing Batman during JLA.  Guy beat a dragon with a baseball bat, defeated Hercules in an arm wrestling contest, and then basically single handedly defeated Anti-God.  They didn't need to bother doing Green Lantern Corps...Guy Gardner was all you need. 

Score: 3.5/5

Convergence: Hawkman #2 by Jeff Parker and Tim Truman

Summary: The Hawks head out to the battlefield. They are ambushed by heavily armed bats.  The Hawks are able to drive them back, but they keept increasing their numbers  The bats manage to draw the Hawks low enough for an army of ratmen to fire on them.  They are knocked out and tied to a missile to be fired at Gotham.   A chemical weapon that will turn all of Gotham into mutants.  Hawkgirl cuts them loose.  The missile is still fired, but it's taken down by the Shadows who seem to have followed the Hawks.  Working together, the Shadows and Hawks stop the rats and bats.

Short Review:  Man, where was the editorial control over this issue?  Knock out heroes.  Tie them to missiles to fire at Gotham.  The female version of the male hero saves the day.  This is pretty much the same story we read in Adventures of Superman.  Apparently that is the only strategy they know how to use on Kamandi's world.  This just felt repetitive, which is a real shame because this seemed like a good story otherwise.  I liked seeing the Shadows join the heroes.  That was a nice touch.

Score: 3.5/5

Justice League of America #2 by Fabian Nicieza and CrissCross

Summary: Justice League Detroit have lost their three strongest members (Aquaman, Martian Manhunter, and Zatanna).  The others emerge from the rubble to face off against their more powerful enemies, Tangent Secret Six.  The fight is basically narrated by Vicki Vale and Sue Digby.  Both sides are being very careful not to injure civilians in the battle, though Tangent Joker seems okay if a few cops get banged up.  Elongated Man tries to reason with Tangent Atom, but Atom feels responsible for protecting every life in his city.  The Justice League is forced to retreat.  Ralph manages to rally his team, while Sue works with Gotham City Police to revive Aquaman, Martian Manhunter, and Zatanna.  It is an ugly fight, but the Justice League manages to hold off the Secret Six for two hours, enough time for their heavy hitters to join the fight and give them the win.

Short Review:  I loved the doubt we saw from both sides.  Nicieza did a great job making all the characters feel human, but still heroic. This was probably my favorite week 7 comic.  I am a sucker for D-List characters winning the day and the respect of civilians who look down on them.  The narration by Sue and Vicki Vale throughout this issue was also a brilliant touch.

Score: 4.5/5

Convergence: Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes #2 by Stuart Moore, Peter Gross, and Mark Farmer

Summary: The Atomic Knights get a weapon from an abandoned CDC lab.  Meanwhile, Superboy remembers watching his father kill a wounded chicken...for its own good.

The Atomic Knights demand the Legion surrender or else they will destroy the entire city.  The Atomic Knights blame superheroes for not saving their home city of Durvale when it was destroyed in a nuclear war.  One of the Knights tries to sneak into Legion HQ, but he finds Brainiac 5 waiting for him.  Even though they have a number and power advantage, the Legion find themselves out of practice and losing the fight.  The Legion manages to rally so the Atomic Knights threaten to unleash the bioweapon.  The Knights are willing to sacrifice themselves to save Durvale.  Superboy talks to their leader and tries to convince him this is wrong.  Many of the knights agree with Superboy.  Brainiac figures out that the earthquakes being felt throughout the Convergence issues is some kind of transition going on in Telos world.  The two groups of heroes seem to have found mutual ground...though Superboy thinks once more about his father having to kill that wounded chicken.

Short Review:  This issue was probably the biggest improvement over the first issue of any of the Convergence second issues.  I liked a lot of this issue, though the strained and repeated analogy of the need to kill a wounded animal was a little much.  This was actually the best Legion story I've read in far too long.  DC should take some pointers from this for their next attempt to bring back Legion.  Long Live the Legion.

Score: 3.5/5

Convergence: Swamp Thing #2 by Len Wein and Kelly Jones

Summary: Swamp Thing and Abigail Arcane are being attacked by vampires, which is kind of pointless for them.  Swamp Thing has no blood and can make garlic and wooden weapons at will.  Finally, his real opponent arrives...Vampire Batman.  Batman helps them dispatch the other vampires.  Swamp Thing says that on his world, Batman was a great hero.  Vampire Batman admits that since he became a vampire, he struggles to be a hero.  Abigal reminds them that they have to fight or both cities will be destroyed.  Batman decides they need to work together...but he doesn't care if his city dies.  BUT, before he can sacrifice his city, he asks Swamp Thing to help him kill as many vampires as possible.  They track down the Vampire Queen, and kill her.  All the vampires revert to human, except for Batman who was infected by Dracula himself.  Batman still sacrifices himself and his city anyway to save Swamp Thing's Gotham.

Short Review: This story has some huge logic flaws.  Batman gets Swamp Thing to help defeat the Vampire Queen and restore all Gothamites to normal...just to let them all die when he sacrifices himself.  Actually, in the end, when he sacrifices the city...it seems like he was the only vampire left at that point.  Gotham had been saved from the vampires...just to be destroyed by Telos.  I can't see any version of Batman being that willing to end all life in Gotham...especially after they went through so much trouble to stop the vampire curse.  I did like Swamp Thing's methods for killing vampires, but there were still so many flaws in this story I couldn't possibly enjoy it.

Score: 2.0/5

Convergence: The Flash #2 by Dan Abnett and Federic Dellocchio

Summary: Flash and Tangent Superman discuss their situation.  Superman's advanced powers and intellect have him believe he has worked out all the possibilities.  He would rather not fight, because he knows if they fight, Flash will lose.  Flash decides that Superman is just playing mind games with him and attacks Superman.  Superman is doing everything possible to avoid a fight.  He finally manages to convince Flash that he was telling the truth...but by then, Superman has realized that Flash is "unfixed, dislocated from the time stream."  He realizes that Flash can travel through realities at will, and in the future he will be needed to stop Crisis on Infinite Earths.  Superman yields to allow Flash to reach his destiny. 

Short Review:  I really enjoyed the character moments here.  Abnett did a great job exploring this Tangent version of Superman.  In this end, his sacrifice made a lot of sense, though the end result was a bit of an unexciting comic.  An issue towards the end of an epic crossover is probably not the best place for characters to decide "Hey, we really should talk this all out..."

Score: 3.5/5

Convergence: New Teen Titans #2 by Marv Wolfman and Nicola Scott

Summary: Nightwing teams up with Tangent Firehawk to save their worlds.  Her team, Doom Patrol, believes that they need to drain Cyborg's power cells in order to return to their time.  Doom Patrol arrives and manages to take Cyborg.  Starfire blames Nightwing because he keeps insisting that she can't kill the bad guys, which is why they were able to get away with Cyborg.  The Titans get a bead on Cyborg and they race to rescue him.  They fight. The Titans win Cyborg says they have to work together or else he'll blow everyone up.  They all agree that would be a bad thing.

Short Review:  I want to start by saying the cover of this  issue by Chip Kidd is gorgeous.  It was probably the best cover of any issue of Convergence. 

How many Convergence issue 2's ended with "We better work together, or else I'll kill us all?"  It is a huge cliche at this point.  This issue definitely requires the reader have some background on Tangent Doom Patrol and New Teen Titans.  Otherwise, too much of this story might be a little confusing,  I did enjoy this issue for the most part, but it just never quite felt as accessible as I would have liked it to be.  Many of the Convergence tie-ins worked hard to welcome new readers and still satisfy veteran readers.  This was skewed a little too much towards old readers.

Score: 3.0/5

Convergence: Wonder Woman #2 by Larry Hama and Aaron Lopesti

Summary: Vampire Joker just bit Wonder Woman's friend Etta.  Meanwhile, Steve Trevor is being overrun by Joker's flunkies.  Wonder Woman wants to help him, but Joker is able to use his speed and strength to stop her.  Finally she manages to get away just in time for a last minute save of Trevor.  But she's soon overwhelmed by numbers, and Poison Ivy and Catwoman manage to bring Trevor back to the Joker.  Wonder Woman doesn't have any weapons that will affect vampires, so she starts to rip them to pieces.  By the time she gets to Joker, Trevor has already been bitten.  The earthquake causes a cave in which seems to bury the turned Trevor and Etta.  Wonder Woman takes out Joker with a stake to the heart.

Short Review:  Wonder Woman's losses were huge here.  It was powerful to see how much a victory can cost someone.  I have trouble believing being a vampire could make Joker the equal of Wonder Woman, but I will accept that concession since I enjoyed this issue so much.  I'm usually not a big fan of Wonder Woman, but I still liked this one far more than I expected to.

Score: 4.0/5