Review: Convergence Flashpoint Book 1

 

Description:

A CONVERGENCE tie-in graphic novel!
Once, there were infinite Earths. Then there came a Crisis…a Zero Hour…a Flashpoint. Worlds lived. Worlds died. But some worlds must now fight for their future—in the Convergence!
The evil alien intelligence known as Brainiac has stolen 50 doomed cities from throughout time and space and sealed them behind impenetrable domes. Now, after a year, the domes will come down—and the heroes and villains of 50 dead worlds must battle to be the last one standing!
In this volume:
SUPERMAN: The Man of Steel must battle the Batman and Kal-El of the Flashpoint universe to protect the most important thing of all: his baby with Lois Lane!
THE QUESTION: Renee Montoya joins forces with an ex and an enemy—Batwoman and Two-Face—against Flashpoint’s Harvey Dent!
JUSTICE LEAGUE: The women of the Justice League face off against the brutal determination of Flashpoint’s Aquaman!
BATGIRL: Three legendary students of the Bat—Stephanie Brown, Cassandra Cain and Tim Drake—must put aside their differences to defeat Flashpoint’s Catman and Gorilla Grodd!
NIGHTWING/ORACLE: Two of comics’ greatest couples collide as a reunited Dick Grayson and Barbara Gordon fight for their lives against Flashpoint’s Hawkman and Hawkwoman!
The dark denizens of the Flashpoint Universe take their battle to the heroes whose world their own wiped out in CONVERGENCE: FLASHPOINT BOOK ONE!

Collects: Convergence: Superman #1-2, Convergence: The Question #1-2, Convergence: Justice League #1-2, Convergence: Batgirl #1-2, Convergence: Nightwing/Oracle #1-2

Authors: Various
Artists: Various
Published By: DC Comics
Published When: Oct. 27 2015
Parental Rating: Teen

Review:

Babies. Love and Romance. Marriage. Every one of these five collected Convergence stories features one or more of those elements in the plot. It is an unusual collection for that reason alone. As always, let’s look at each of the five collected tales in turn.

Superman

Gotham again. Why does Gotham play such a central role in the Convergence stories? A repeated motif in the dozens of 2-part tales that take place around the main Convergence series is that heroes from elsewhere happen to be visiting Gotham, and happen to be caught there when the dome encloses the city.

The plot motif raises questions about who exactly is defending a given Gotham? Are these all separate Gothams? They do not appear to be – if a Gotham is from a different Earth or Universe, the reader usually is told of that fact. If these are all the same city, on the same Earth, what happens if one guest champion wins and another loses - does the city survive or get destroyed?

More pressing at the moment: why is this Superman tale set in Gotham? Superman belongs in Metropolis. The main Convergence series shows that Brainiac and Telos have dozens of different Metropolis cities for Superman to choose from. So why does Dan Jurgens opt to put this story in Gotham? The city plays no role in the tale that would be inappropriate for Metropolis. There are no crossovers with or cameos by Gotham heroes. Why on all Earths does Superman need to be in Gotham here?

Bracketing out that glaring unanswered plot point, this is a very good Superman story. Clark and his wife Lois were both trapped by the dome and, a few months into their confinement, they conceived and are now expecting the birth of their first child. They are excited, but both still dedicated to his efforts to bring peace and justice. Except it needs to be done as a non-powered vigilante. I wonder if Batman offered any training to the newly powerless hero?

The dome disappears just in time to save vigilante-Clark from a thug's flame-thrower, and he quickly moves from battling petty villains to fighting the mighty heroes (Captain Marvel, Abin Sur, Cyborg, Batman) of the Flashpoint universe.

Superman must have been pulling his punches in that confrontation, however. For when Lois is kidnapped and subsequently goes into labor, Superman will move heaven and earth to find and help her. He goes from on the ropes to mighty conqueror in a blink when she is in danger.

It's a sweet story, handled with sensitivity and grace. And with unexpected depth to the Flashpoint heroes who, despite a one-dimensional focus on winning the battle initially, eventually realize the goodness of Superman and stand down in their attack.

The art by Lee Weeks and Norm Rapmund is dynamic and engaging throughout, and reaches its peak in the terrific full-page sequence of Lois in labor and giving birth. It is handled with appropriate care and sensitivity. It probably should have focused a little more on Lois and less on Clark, but it gracefully slides in the awkwardness of Thomas Wayne and his struggle to contribute to the moment, all done top to bottom in a wordless sequence.

The Question

The Renee Montoya version of The Question is the enigmatic star of this story. The two questions I'm left with, however, are: in what multiverse is Two-Face vs Harvey Dent the appropriate choice of battle champions to decide the fate of these cities? And how much better would this story be if some elements had been cut?

The battle of cities apparently hinges on Flashpoint's Harvey Dent vs Earth’s Two-Face, a supremely odd choice, if Telos is indeed behind it. One question on which the narrative is cleverly silent is whether or not this whole conflict is in fact the doing of Telos, or is it merely part of the mental health issues of Two-Face. If the latter, this is a human drama playing out within the overarching Convergence story, without necessarily having city-destroying implications.

Such times of ambiguity and uncertainty are when The Question comics are always at their best, when they leave the reader with profound but unanswered questions.

However, there is too much going on in this story. Strong and growing relationships between well-developed characters will always make for a more compelling narrative, and author Greg Rucka was clearly striving for a certain level of depth and complexity. But with connections between Renee and Two-Face, Renee and Huntress, Renee and Batwoman, Huntress and Batwoman, and finally Renee and her father, there are too many interesting relationships competing for the limited page and plot space. As a result, they all come up short.

Cully Hamner's art is fine, if uninspired. Two-face is gruesome, and the split personality and division of the halves is well done. The viewer’s perspective seldom changes, which gives a somewhat static and repetitive feel to the pages.

Justice League

This was an interesting idea that tripped on its plot and art holes and ultimately disappointed.

For the second time in the first three tales in this collection, a baby is born and a hero becomes a parent. This time it's Jessie Quick, interrupting her own baby shower by going into labor, just moments before the dome came down. The baby is born, mom and son are fine, but all the super-humans are left powerless.

A year later, when the dome lifts, she and her Justice League girlfriends, also trapped by the mid-baby-shower labor and dome issues, must face the battle-tested and harsh Aquaman of the Flashpoint universe.

However, their confrontation is more fit for some context other than the Convergence. It is not clear how or why the fates of cities would hang in the balance, per the Convergence theme, given that all combatants are visitors from elsewhere, trapped by the dome's descent. Even Aquaman, who admits to being in Gotham harbor preparing an attack when he and his warriors were trapped.

Wait a minute – which Gotham harbor? Aquaman emerged into this one, but must have been preparing to attack the Flashpoint one, right? Then how did he wind up in these waters? Was he content to stay battle-ready but not attack, for a whole year? Was Atlantis also under a dome somewhere? How much water was transported to Telos' world, that he can draw on some ferocious underwater creatures? Author Frank Tieri never explores or even acknowledges such questions.

The art of Vicente Cifuentes contributes even more inconsistencies and confusions, especially in part 2 as the Justice League women take the battle underwater to Aquaman's realm, to rescue their Mera. Any comic story with air-breathers going under water or into space must be taken with a spoonful of creative-license. But in this one, sometimes the water's influence is remembered and shown, while other times it is not.

Jess Quick's respirator keeps appearing and disappearing from one panel to the next. But at least she had one, no one else did. Conversations happen easily. Supergirl brings her flowing cape, Zatanna her fishnet stockings and high heels into the ocean, questionable and impractical fashion choices for an undersea battle. The cape would become dead weight and a liability, the heels would hamper any efforts to propel and generate motion with feet. Hair looks air-normal, never floating or wet, although when Aquaman is stabbed, his blood floats and swirls through the water.

Offsetting the glaring issues in story and art are a handful of gems as these strong women use their speed, strength and smarts to win the day. Vixen's powers get her close enough to rescue Mera, but then nearly get her killed. Mera's seductiveness and intelligence ultimately save the day in a twist.

But in the end, this was a story with such promise that ultimately belly-flopped through its many holes.

Batgirl

The imagery of this story stands out from the rest of the collection. Rick Leonardi and Mark Pennington give us lines that are cleaner, and panels that are simpler and less cluttered, with brighter colors tending toward the reds and oranges of an exotic wilderness landscape over the concrete and shadows of urban settings, or the dark murky depths of a harbor or ocean. It makes for a pleasant contrast to the other stories in the book, and helps us to overlook the occasional time when a face is missing its nose.

In Alisa Kwitney’s story, the Stephanie Brown Batgirl has not donned the tights in a year, yet is informed – several hours or days in advance – that she will be the Gotham City Champion. This gives Cassandra Cain (Black Bat) and Tim Drake (Robin) time to help her scrape some of the rust off her combat skills.

When the time comes, they are transported to the battlefield, with minimal warning, by a collection of sticky silver balls. Except they have no opponent once they arrive. They eventually meet and battle Gorilla Grodd and Catman from the Flashpoint universe, in a bizarre, multi-sided confrontation.

Convergence-related oddities aside, it's the relationships that give this story its strength. The bonds of affection, love, friendship and commitment to one another between Stephanie, Cassandra and Tim come through on every page, and serve as the fabric of this otherwise strange tapestry.

I also loved the nod to the mental state of weirdness affecting Gotham, in a 1-page confrontation between a civilian Stephanie and a looming, costumed villain who jumps at her and her co-worker from a dark alley. She talks him down, almost scoldingly, and tosses over her shoulder as she leaves, "You know, there's a group for folks like you, Friday mornings at the Lutheran church on Eighth." Hilarious! Could she have known that he was put up to it by Tim? Unlikely. It’s a great verbal take-down, one of many small moments in this story that raise it above the ordinary.

Nightwing / Oracle

This is overall a fun story, but it is in many ways a strange outlier in the Convergence universe.

Author Gail Simone tells the story using dual narrators, and which one is talking at a given moment is signaled to the reader by the color of the narrative boxes in the panels. Green for Barbara Gordon / Oracle, blue for Dick Grayson / Nightwing.

As our protagonists interact, we see the intensity of both their work and their relationship. And it leads to an exciting, if underplayed, moment: a marriage proposal! Which (spoiler alert) Barbara shockingly turns down.

Simone cleverly disguises the Nightwing / Starfire encounter – is he cheating on Barbara? It sure looks that way at the time, but go back and read their dialog more carefully. Its ambiguity, in light of the full context, is clearly not an affair but two friends supporting one another. Nicely done by Gail Simone!

Except we hit a continuity conflict. Over in Convergence: New Teen Titans it seems Nightwing has married Starfire during their year-long imprisonment in the dome. Neither story names the Earth or Universe, although the different Nightwing costumes – the deep-V cut revealing lots of chest in New Teen Titans, and the tumbler’s armor of this tale, hint at different eras. Either that or a polygamous or divorced hero. Surely different eras of the same city.

Then there are breaks with the whole Convergence motif. The opposing champions, Hawkman and Hawkwoman, are apparently into round two of their battles; four pages show them defeating a Wild-West version of the Justice League. Does this confirm the existence of byes in the Convergence bracket of city play-downs?

The Hawks are also followed by observer-drones, tasked with observing and presumably enforcing the rules of the game. Except when the Hawks try to evade the core principle, bartering to allow Earth-1 Gotham to live, provided they become its rulers, the observer-drones do nothing. So clearly observers only, not referees or enforcers. No observer-drones appear or are needed in other Convergence tales; Telos is always ready to jump in and declare the winner or the end of the competition.

The art is well-done, conveying the intensity of the Hawks and of Nightwing and Oracle. The story demands that the images convey a range of moods and emotions beyond violence and anger – love and joy, disappointment, doubt, even depression in Mister Freeze. And the images of Jan Duursma and Dan Parsons do manage these shifts, although strongly biased toward the stronger, angrier scenes. And the choice of replacing the lace of the wedding dress with a pattern of circuitry is a nice touch!

These five stories were overall lots of fun, with great developments and twists in several characters. But the glaring inconsistencies and plot holes in several stories cause me to drop it down to 3.5 capes out of 5.

ISBN-10: 1401258352
ISBN-13: 978-1401258351
Language: English
Pages: 272 pages

Review: Convergence Zero Hour book 1

 

Description:

A CONVERGENCE tie-in graphic novel, starring heroes from ZERO HOUR and KINGDOM COME!

Once, there were infinite Earths. Then there came a Crisis…a Zero Hour…a Flashpoint. Worlds lived. Worlds died. But some worlds must now fight for their future—in the Convergence!

The evil alien intelligence known as Brainiac has stolen 50 doomed cities from throughout time and space and sealed them behind impenetrable domes. Now, after a year, the domes will come down—and the heroes and villains of 50 dead worlds must battle to be the last one standing!

In this volume:

JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL: It’s no laughing matter as Blue Beetle and Booster Gold lead the team against heavy-hitting heroes from the grim world of Kingdom Come!

CATWOMAN: Selina Kyle must defend Gotham City against a Dark Knight like no other—the Kingdom Come Batman!

SUPERBOY: The wisecracking Teen of Steel is Metropolis’s only hope against three of Kingdom Come’s greatest warriors: Red Robin, The Flash and Superman himself!

GREEN ARROW: The Emerald Archer and his son Connor Hawke must join forces against familiar faces—the Black Canaries of Kingdom Come!

SUICIDE SQUAD: Bane and Cyborg Superman, two of the Dark Knight and the Man of Steel’s deadliest foes, spearhead an invasion of Kingdom Come’s Green Lantern stronghold!

The heroes and villains of ’90s DC Universe battle against one of the greatest Elseworlds tales ever told in CONVERGENCE: ZERO HOUR VOL. 1!

Collects: Convergence: Catwoman #1-2, Convergence: Superboy #1-2, Convergence: Green Arrow #1-2, Convergence: Suicide Squad #1-2, Convergence: Justice League International #1-2
Authors: Various
Artists: Various
Published By: DC Comics
Published When: Oct. 13 2015
Parental Rating: Teen

Review:

Heroes from the Zero Hour era vs heroes from the Kingdom Come universe. This should be thrilling! What sets this collection apart from all others is how many stories finish with definite winners and losers among the champions. Are we in for mass municipal destruction? Or is something else going on in Convergence? This TPB collects some of the best stories in all of Convergence, and I give it 4 out of 5 capes.

Catwoman

Catwoman has worn a variety of outfits over the years, and that history of changing fashion helps to place this story. From the cover and the first full-page spread we meet a Catwoman clad in head-to-toe form-fitting purple with thigh-high black boots. This sets the story’s protagonist as ‘90s-era Catwoman, a post-Crisis, pre-Flashpoint, Zero-Hour era setting.

As in many of the Convergence tales, a plot sleight-of-hand drops her into a different city – she is in Metropolis, looking to pull a job, when the dome isolates the city. She becomes a defender of the marginalized, a vigilante guarding the people of one of the poorer trapped districts. This brings her into conflict with Intergang as they seek to control the city’s pharmaceutical trade, both legal and non.

The lifting of the dome brings her champion opponent sweeping in, Batman from the Kingdom Come universe and Earth-22. His swift appearance begs the question if he had advance notice of the conflict to come, or perhaps one of the mysterious sudden transportation we meet in other Convergence tales, including Green Arrow in this collection.

Justin Gray’s story is great fun, especially the interplay between ‘90s Catwoman and an older, more hardened Earth-22 Batman. She credits him for the inspiration to turn vigilante-hero, and ultimately saves Batman from bullets that would have evaded his bat-armor.

The art is evocative, playful, and remarkably consistent in even small details. One example: Catwoman rescues Sally the scientist in part one, and as they make their getaway Sally loses the shoe off her right foot. All six times across two issues when Sally’s feet are shown, she is always missing her right shoe. Getting it right every time illustrates the attention to detail Ron Randall brings to this story.

The collection also include two awesome covers by Claire Wendling. Using muted hues and eye-catching, stylized poses, she sets the tone for the tale, especially the second cover with the Cat vs Bat confrontation.

Green Arrow

This tale contains another instance of the displaced-hero motif that appears in so many of these Convergence stories. This time Green Arrow was in Metropolis on an undefined search, when he is trapped with all other citizens. As one with no superhuman powers to lose, he grabs a motorcycle and his bow and quiver and continues his heroic deeds.

He eventually encounters Connor Hawke, with the big revelation that they are father and son, and he does not take well to the revelation. But there is no time to process the surprise, as the dome disappears minutes after learning of the connection. And scant minutes after that, both disappear and are transported to an empty city, to battle their opponents, Dinah and Livy, the former and current Black Canaries of Kingdom Come.

Parking the questions of how a visiting Green Arrow and defender-of-the-oppressed monastic son Connor would be deemed the Champions chosen to defend Metropolis, it is a very enjoyable confrontation concept: Father and son vs Mother and daughter, with the added bonus that in Kingdom Come Oliver Queen is the father of the daughter, too.

Author Christy Marx gives the four lots of interesting and natural dialog, as they wrestle with the surprises, confusion and emotions of their first meeting.

She also gives us a story with a definite winner and loser in the Convervence showdowns. A conclusive victor / vanquished result is rare in most Convergence stories, but unexpectedly happens in four of the five in this collection.

The art team of Rags Morales and Claude St-Aubin keep the visuals interesting, even as much of the story in both parts 1 and 2 unfold in conversation. They also handle the confrontations and fights well, but it’s their work in the chatty parts that stands out.

Justice League International

Given Ted Kord’s “regular” life, as a brilliant inventor, and a successful and filthy-rich head of a large company bearing his name, he seems a natural fit to play a leadership role with the Justice League. However, given his alter-ego life, as a goofball hero using acrobatics and clever inventions rather than superhuman powers and abilities to fight crime as Blue Beetle, his playfulness and lack of seriousness pulls him away from serious consideration for leadership.

Yet here he is, leading this crew, and having them mostly follow his lead, both before their powers return and after, as they battle a crew of powerful heroes from the Kingdom Come universe.

Author Ron Marz gives space to both sides of Kord in this tale. There’s plenty of wisecracks coming from Blue Beetle, and the final panels end with a JLI-classic slapstick humor and “Bwahahaha!” laugh. But there are also moments of reflection, of wrestling with choices and how best to communicate with his team. No one will use these pages as a manual for effective leadership, but his skills in that area are evident.

Kingdom Come’s Wonder Woman calls the result in advance, and her band of heroes hand the JLI crew a sound beating. Nothing permanent, just incapacitating them, at worst leaving them unconscious. The JLI returns to base, beaten, fearing for their city, yet resolved to take the fight to Telos at the first opportunity.

Mike Manley’s art gives a decent nod to the styles of the early-90s JLI books in the characters, and his layout work really stands out; the constantly shifting point-of-view and creative panel flow gives the whole story a dynamic feel, even during the times of reflective conversation or truce parlays.

The whole package, from the visuals to the humor to the character development, from the camaraderie and courage to the definite winners and losers, make this a strong and enjoyable entry into the Convergence series.

Suicide Squad

What would Telos do if both sides lose? Would both cities be destroyed? How would he have to restructure the playdowns of his competition? In a typical bracket-style playdown structure, there will be one winner and one loser. It is hard to conceive of a March Madness game or a chess tournament where both competitors in the same game are eliminated.

Yet that is what happens here. And unfortunately the concept is more interesting than the story itself. Amanda Waller as suicide-bomber is difficult to imagine, yet it is a decision she takes at the climax of this story, with several apparent consequences. It appears to eliminate the champions from both cities. It also would bring an end to the Suicide Squad, at least as run by her. Yet Suicide Squad clearly survived the Zero Hour and Convergence era events. I guess she was, after all, just reporting to her higher-ups.

Now that I potentially spoiled Frank Tieri’s story for you, let me point out that this was a mega-battle, with the Squad double or triple its usual size, and a correspondingly large number of Kingdom Come opponents. It is worth the read just to see the occasional one or two panel cameos.

Tom Mandrake’s art left me cold. It was dark and over-penciled. Every page was in need of several more minutes of work with an eraser to try and reduce the amount of gratuitous lines on ever face and every body and background.

Superboy

Adults often watch the silly decisions teens take and wonder, would they survive “in the wild”? The teenaged Superboy in this story causes the same head-scratching among the adults in the room, including the team of scientists monitoring him, as well as the Superman of Earth-22, and us, the readers.

Author Fabian Nicieza draws several such moments to our attention as the story unfolds. Multiple times, as the battle rages between Superboy and Superman, and as Kingdom Come’s Flash and Robin do their best to save the innocent by-standers of Metropolis, observers make comments about the need to move the battle to less-populated areas, or calculate the likelihood of the total destruction of the city Superboy purports to protect, or question his choices in real time.

The key moment comes, however, when Lois Lane becomes collateral damage to an impetuous attack by Superboy. Such injury to a loved-one finally brings sense and some self-control to the mighty teen, leading to his surrender.

The art team of Karl Moline and Jose Marzan Jr strike a good balance between the wide-angled views needed by the super-fights – fitting in the jet-planes being smashed together by the Supers, for example – with tight close-ups that show the remorse or frustration or other teen struggles on the face of Superboy.

One of their best moments was also showing his power returning, with brilliant focus first on his eye then on the skeletons of everyone else in the park as his x-ray vision suddenly returns.

Superboy’s ultimate surrender brings this final tale in this collection to a similar conclusion – a clear victor and vanquished in the battle of champions caused by Telos. All of which raise the question, what will Telos do with the results? Are we moving to round two of the competition? While no reference is made, obviously this story and the others collected here need the reader to continue with the main Convergence story-line.

ISBN-10: 1401258395
ISBN-13: 978-1401258399
Language: English
Pages: 272 pages

Review: Convergence Crisis book 2

Description:

A CONVERGENCE tie-in graphic novel!
Once, there were infinite Earths. Then there came a Crisis…a Zero Hour…a Flashpoint. Worlds lived. Worlds died. But some worlds must now fight for their future—in the Convergence!
The evil alien intelligence known as Brainiac has stolen 50 doomed cities from places throughout time and space and sealed them behind impenetrable domes. Now, after a year, the domes will come down—and the heroes and villains of 50 dead worlds must battle to be the last one standing!
In this volume:
WONDER WOMAN: Diana Prince must defend Gotham City against vampire versions of Batman’s arch-enemies Poison Ivy, Catwoman and the Joker himself, from the world of Red Rain!
SWAMP THING: Sealed away from the power of the Green for a year, Alec Holland must regain his strength and defeat the Darkest Knight of all, vampire Batman!
THE FLASH: Barry Allen, the key to the Crisis itself, must race to defeat the godlike tyrant of the Tangent Universe—Superman!
NEW TEEN TITANS: The greatest Titans team in the history of the Multiverse squares off against the Tangent Universe’s deadly Doom Patrol!
JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA: It’s up to the Elongated Man to lead the second-string heroes of the Detroit Justice League and repel the invasion of the Tangent Universe’s Secret Six!
The most iconic heroes of the CRISIS era fight the twisted heroes of two of the most popular Elseworlds universes in CONVERGENCE: CRISIS VOL. 2!

Collects: Convergence: Wonder Woman #1-2, Convergence: Swamp Thing #1-2, Convergence: The Flash #1-2, Convergence: New Teen Titans #1-2, Convergence: Justice League of America #1-2
Authors: Various
Artists: Various
Published By: DC Comics
Published When: Oct. 20 2015
Parental Rating: Teen

Review:

This collection brings together Convergence stories focused on DC heroes from the era of the classic Crisis on Infinite Earths in the mid-1980s. There is some great story-telling, the art is striking, occasionally frightening, and delightful. A strong collection, deserving of 4 capes out of 5.

Wonder Woman

The first tale in this collection pits Wonder Woman against invading vampires, in particular vampire versions of Joker and Poison Ivy, and a werewolf Catwoman. Like many modern vampire stories, this tale by Larry Hama is a blend of both the twisted and the sexy.

The twisted side comes out in the mix of violence, both presumed and real. There is the threat of violence coming from the neighborhood thugs, who could cause trouble if and when they feel like it. And there is the real violence in Wonder Woman's grotesque battle against an ever-growing number of blood-sucking vampires. It is truly horrific to see the battle continuing as the undead keep getting back up and coming at her again, bearing increasing amounts of physical damage from her previous blows: Joker with his badly twisted head, Ivy with her protruding eye-ball.

The art is also sexy throughout. Artists Joshua Middleton (part 1) and Aaron Lopresti with Matt Banning (part 2) convey both the twistedness and the sexiness cleverly in their renderings.

Poison Ivy is portrayed as an alluring temptress along the lines of modern vamps. And while there is never any actual nudity, clearly the were-cat Catwoman is naked, and it is only cleverly placed limbs and shadows that keep this story in a Teen rating, and not an Adult one.

Even for our hero Wonder Woman we see several glimpses of panties, and her civilian clothes become very tattered before she rips them off completely, to don her Wonder Woman garb.

A solid story with well-handled art, this is an excellent opening tale for this collection.

Swamp Thing

Many of these Convergence stories contrive the plot’s setup to position a visiting hero as a city’s champion. Often for reasons that are unclear. Why would the authors need to have Superman as Gotham’s champion, while Batman serves as that of Metropolis? Why not leave each in their own city?

This Swamp Thing story is at once both the most contrived and yet the most sensible. As a hero whose home base is far removed from a major urban center, it makes a great deal of sense that a bizarre plot explanation is needed for him to be trapped in a domed city.

Cutting off Swamp Thing from the Green does more than mute his powers – it severs the link which sustains his very life. Much of this tale is dedicated to his struggle for survival and the lengths to which Abigail goes to provide enough sustenance for him to survive.

Swamp Thing stories are always a mix of love and horror, with a strong dash of the tragic, and this one is no exception. In the hands of Len Wein, the co-creator of these characters, this story exudes much of the best of Swamp Thing’s tales. The speech cadence, as slow as watching plants grow, brings a different experience than the typical super-powered hyper-kinetic action thriller. And we feel, throughout, the bonds of affection helping our protagonists through their challenges and threats.

The horror side comes to dominate the second half of this tale, as Swamp Thing confronts the vampire Batman of Earth-43. But when Batman sees Swamp Thing’s ability to slay the vampire hordes, they team up, working together to purge Gotham of the vampiric scourge and its queen. With that mission accomplished, vampire Batman sacrifices himself to drive the final nail into his possessed city.

Kelley Jones does great work in portraying the increasing gauntness brought on by Swamp Thing’s suffering, and of the gore-soaked cruelty and ferociousness of the vampires in the city.

Overall, a surprising and strong entry in the Convergence canon.

Justice League of America

What’s it like to be the backup, the second-stringer, the junior-varsity? That B-list status is the lived reality of most of the JLA team members highlighted in this story.

Narrated by Sue Dibney, wife of the Elongated Man, this tale sees the Secret Six from the Tangent universe quickly and successfully take the strongest and most powerful members of the JLA – Aquaman, Zatanna and Martian Manhunter – out of the fight almost immediately. That forces Elongated Man, Vibe, Vixen, Steel and Gypsy to step up, despite being outnumbered and out-gunned. Can they hold their own, at least long enough for Sue Dibney to create and execute the plan to save them all?

Fabian Nicieza and Chriscross bring us this fun Detroit-based story – and it’s a relief to get another city besides the omnipresent Gotham and Metropolis involved. The colors are mostly dark and shadowy, an unusual choice given that the story itself is light and entertaining.

New Teen Titans

Super-teams often have many more men than women. Think of the classic Justice League or Avengers rosters, with just one or maybe two women among the men, almost a token presence. Not so the New Teen Titans, which have always tended to be much more evenly balanced.

So balanced, in fact, that in their year of captivity under the dome, they start hooking up, “all paired off” as Wonder Girl puts it in the opening splash-page. Nightwing and Starfire have married. It does nothing to curb her righteous fury, as she threatens to kill multiple times in this tale, and even comes to regret one time when she does not kill her opponent. Jericho and Kole maybe sort-of get together; Changeling and Cyborg double-down on their bromance.

But this pairing off also creates intra-team tensions, which weakens them when Telos forces them to battle the Doom Patrol from the Tangent Universe, and their singular focus on Cyborg in particular due to his power source.

Marv Wolfman, who brought the New Teen Titans to such heights in the 1980s, slips easily into telling their stories again. Art team Nicola Scott and Marc Deering inject the proceedings with passion and emotion, with bursts of saturated colors and hues making this as visually appealing as it was to read.

The Flash

This tale is a delight on so many levels.

First, the visuals are stunning. Federico Dallocchio uses unusually large and especially wide panels, often just three or four per page. More often than not, they are “widescreen”, a stack of page-wide panels that bring the action off the page in panorama. With panel interstices black instead of white, an ominous green sky, and pops of the Flash’s red and yellow, this is a visual explosion, beautifully done.

Next, this is classic Barry Allen, one of the most memorable heroes of the pre-Crisis era, whose legacy of heroism and bravery was forever cemented by his sacrifice during the original Crisis on Infinite Earths series. And author Dan Abnett is unapologetic in setting this now powerless and even slow Barry Allen into that pre-Speed-force mythology.

Then there is the confrontation with the Superman of the Tangent universe, an all-powerful being, both physically and mentally. A Zen-like character, with wisdom, insight, and godlike powers. His perception of the uniqueness of this Barry Allen is the pivot on which this whole tale turns, and once he has discerned the truth, his moral choice is clear. And he makes his own self-sacrifice, to enable Barry Allen's in his future Crisis moment, with only the barest of self-regard, all done for the greater good.

A complex story, beautifully told and rendered, a delight for the eyes and touching to the heart. One of my favorite Convergence tales.

ISBN-10: 1401258344
ISBN-13: 978-1401258344
Language: English
Pages: 272 pages

Review: Convergence Crisis book 1

 

Description:

A CONVERGENCE tie-in graphic novel!

Once, there were infinite Earths. Then there came a Crisis…a Zero Hour…a Flashpoint. Worlds lived. Worlds died. But some worlds must now fight for their future—in the Convergence!

The evil alien intelligence known as Brainiac has stolen 50 doomed cities from places throughout time and space and sealed them behind impenetrable domes. Now, after a year, the domes will come down—and the heroes and villains of 50 dead worlds must battle to be the last one standing!

In this volume:

BATMAN AND THE OUTSIDERS: The Dark Knight and his army of allies face the rage of the One Man Army Corps, OMAC!

THE ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN: The Man of Steel and his mighty cousin Supergirl combat the criminals of the Phantom Zone and the sentient apes from the world of Kamandi, the Last Boy on Earth!

SUPERBOY AND THE LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES: Stranded in the future, young Kal-El and his high-flying friends must save Metropolis from the invasion of the Atomic Knights!

GREEN LANTERN CORPS: Hal Jordan, John Stewart and Guy Gardner must overcome their differences to defeat the mad gods of the Great Disaster!

HAWKMAN: Katar Hol and Hawkwoman soar into battle against some of Kamandi’s deadliest foes!

The CRISIS era’s most memorable characters wage war against the classic creations of Jack Kirby, the King of Comics himself, in CONVERGENCE: CRISIS BOOK ONE!

Collects: Convergence: Superboy and the Legion of Superheroes #1-2, Convergence: Batman and the Outsiders #1-2, Convergence: Green Lantern Corps #1-2, Convergence: Adventures of Superman #1-2, Convergence: Hawkman #1-2
Authors: Various
Artists: Various
Published By: DC Comics
Published When: Oct. 20 2015
Parental Rating: Teen

Review:

This collection of Convergence stories could become a case study in the arrogance of genius superheroes. Across these various tales, Braniac 5, Hal Jordan, Bruce Wayne and Superman are all trying to figure out the dome – what is it, where did it come from, how can we get out? Only Superman appears to be involving the larger scientific community in the analysis and experiments. As usual, my review will cover each two-part tale separately. These tales are often disappointing, but for the sake of Supergirl’s vision and Metamorpho’s tragic transformation I’ll raise the score for the whole collection to 3 capes out of 5.

Superboy and the Legion of Superheroes

This is a sweet story, one in which Superboy grows up a little. Stuart Moore weaves into the tale many elements of Superboy's internal duality. He comes from an alien planet but lives now on Earth. His time is from the past but here he is in the far future. He wrestles with childhood memories and childish emotions (especially poignant is his whisper at one point, that "I miss my dog") vs the weight of responsibility that has been given to him by the Legion. The leadership role does ring a bit false, that they would award to this obviously youthful and still maturing hero such a significant leadership role. If the Legion team were truly as egalitarian as they say in their core philosophy, his leadership would be earned, not accorded by dint of his future-to-him history.

The art in the first chapter is annoyingly amateurish. Eyes and hairstyles show influences from the world of Manga; the figures look very basic, drawn over-simply; proportions are frequently out of whack. In one panel, Colossal Boy is said to be stuck at 12 feet tall, but if that's true then the Invisible Kid right beside him must be 9 feet tall. And the relative height of Lightning Lass and Superboy changes from one panel to the next, from nearly equal in one to her barely reaching his shoulder in another.

The artistic combination of Mark Farmer and Gus Storm in part 1 switches to Mark Farmer and Peter Gross in part 2, and the result is more solid and consistent visuals.

Batman and the Outsiders

The 1980s-era stories of Batman and the Outsiders always struck me as odd. The Batman stories of the time were portraying him increasingly as a dark, dangerous loner. Gathering a group of Outsiders and leading them as in this series seemed in such contrast with Batman’s solo books that they were impossible to reconcile.

In this story, as well, the dark knight, the solo crime-fighting vigilante is willingly leading a band of B-level heroes into battle. But then the strength of this Mark Andreyko story is in the touching relationships and the drama between them on a human level.

Geo-Force and Black Lightning need to learn to cope with the real world, and how they can make it a better place, despite the dome-induced loss of powers. Katana and Halo have some sweet interactions. But the plight of Metamorpho towers above them all.

The year-long suppression of super-powers under the dome meant that Metamorpho became Rex again. He was able to have a normal life with his romantic partner. And a year into their time together, they were only growing closer together, their love for one another stronger.

Which makes the scene all the more poignant when the dome is lifted and his toxic form returns during an intimate moment with her. It leads to a burn on her and an emotional scar on him, a moving sequence that is mixed in with the other powers and battles of the story.

The team works together to battle OMAC and the mutant throngs that follow in his wake for the attack. The battle rages throughout the second part of the story, in all its destructive force, and artist Carlos D’Anda keeps the pages filled with the intensity of the combatants and the size of the resulting destruction. That aspect of the story is unremarkable, and pales in comparison with the heart-wrenching pathos of Rex-turned-Metamorpho and the beauty with which his story unfolds within the larger drama.

Green Lantern Corps

Guy Gardner was always one of the most annoying heroes in my books, back in the Justice League International days in particular. His leadership and courage in the Injustice comics were the first turn toward likability in my eyes. In this Convergence tale, he is the central character, and while he exudes all of the machismo and arrogance I’ve come to expect from Guy Gardner, his fearlessness is on full display. Whether confronting impossible odds against a powerful enemy, or wrestling with his inner demons with the help of his therapist, this is as close to a likable Guy Gardner as I have ever met.

He is a fascinating and complicated (if not particularly nuanced) character in this 2-part tale. His core is ultimately that of a hero, but the exterior is, as ever, a brawny act-first thug with serious grudge. The grudge may, however, have some merit and he trades therapy for fisticuffs to work through it.

In the meantime, he teams with John Stewart and Hal Jordan to conquer some terrifying foes from the Durvale and Earth-AD universe, a battle that is ultimately mostly backdrop for Guy’s journey.

The artistic credits go to “story-tellers” David Gallaher and Steve Ellis with Ande Parks doing the inks. They concentrate more on the human part of the story, body language and facial elements, appropriately matching the visuals to the narrative emphasis.

Adventures of Superman

The strength of this tale is in Supergirl's introspective narration. It almost makes up for some gaping flaws in the plot.

Metropolis is trapped, as in all Convergence tales, under the dome. Elsewhere it renders the heroes powerless, a fact barely acknowledged in this one. In fact, their loss of powers adds to the absurd and ludicrous scenario. With the help of science, Superman and Supergirl plan to enter the Phantom Zone, somehow get back out of it, somewhere outside the dome, then return and help their city from the outside.

I know, I know. Comics laws of science are not the same as for our reality, we must suspend such thinking in order to believe in super-powerful beings who can fly, transit the vastness of space, freeze with their breath, have laser eyes, and more. But this proposed solution to their Dome problem really stretches that suspension of disbelief!

The first problem is the very large assumption that stepping through a portal from domed Metropolis into the Phantom Zone will somehow restore their powers. Then, if they do manage to get into and then back out of the Phantom Zone, they will still have no idea where in all of space-time is the Dome and their city. Yet they are confident that they will be able to find it and rescue it. Such naivete or arrogance! I expect better writing from Marv Wolfman, this is well short of his best work.

But our heroes do get out of the dome and into the Phantom Zone, and they do have their powers return. And they encounter a gang of denizens and prisoners of the Zone. This leads to a seemingly endless series of panels and pages, depicting gray-clad prisoners pummeling Superman. Artist Roberto Viacava may have done this section on auto-pilot, they are so many and so repetitive.

Fortunately, Supergirl manages to evade them, long enough to receive visions of her future. Since the Convergence is bringing together many realities and times, she stumbles into a nexus of future paths, and this pre-Crisis version of Supergirl discovers that a brave but tragic sacrifice and death lies in her future.

This is where the story-telling gets stronger at last. Through the rest of the story, Supergirl is distracted to varying degrees by this revelation. Her emotional reaction and her need to wrestle with the glimpse of her own future death made for moving reading, and ultimately saved an otherwise forgettable Superman tale.

Hawkman

The 40 different Convergence two-part tales in these collections show occasional glimpses of different aspects of what life might look like if an urban center was trapped and completely cut off for an entire year. This tale focuses on elements of social unrest – if a city of several million were really cut off for a whole year, under mysterious circumstances, would society fall apart? Our Covid pandemic has shown how unlikely it is for people to all get along, or to have patience, or endure shortages, or even to agree to leave things to the experts.

Fortunately, Hawkman and Hawkwoman are visiting Metropolis and get trapped by the dome. Since their powers are mechanical and technological in nature, they can still use their gear to help quell conflicts. And since, it turns out, this particular unrest was manipulated by a secret society of Thanagarian refugees, the presence of the Hawks is even more fortunate.

But of course, in a Convergence story, their opponents are not a local terror cell, but rather some of the sentient animals of the world of Kamandi. Their battle moves outside the city, where they face vast hordes of man-bats and militaristic rats.

Our author Jeff Parker and artists Tim Truman and Enrique Alcatena keep the second half of the story moving at a brisk pace, after a somewhat plodding first section. It ends with mystical visions granted to the Hawks, as they move quickly past the horrific implications of what they have seen, and rededicate themselves to one another, no matter what the future brings.

ISBN-10: 1401258085
ISBN-13: 978-1401258085
Language: English
Pages: 272 pages

Review: Convergence Infinite Earths book 2

 

Description:

A CONVERGENCE tie-in graphic novel, starring heroes from CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS!

Once, there were infinite Earths. Then there came a Crisis…a Zero Hour…a Flashpoint. Worlds lived. Worlds died. But some worlds must now fight for their future—in the Convergence!

The evil alien intelligence known as Brainiac has stolen 50 domed cities from throughout time and space and sealed them behind impenetrable domes. Now, after a year, the domes will come down—and the heroes and villains of 50 dead worlds must battle to be the last one standing!

In this volume:

SHAZAM: It’s Shazam vs. steampunk as the Captain Marvel family faces an invasion by the world of Gotham by Gaslight!

BOOSTER GOLD: When time-displaced heroes collide! Booster, Rip Hunter and the Time Masters face off against Superboy & the Legion of Super-Heroes with the entire Convergence hanging in the balance!

BLUE BEETLE: The heroes of Hub City—Blue Beetle, Captain Atom and the Question—stand watch against an entire army of Legionnaires!

CRIME SYNDICATE: The evil equivalents of the world’s most powerful heroes rule their city with an iron fist—until the mind-blowing super-beings of DC One Million arrive to topple their tyranny!

PLASTIC MAN AND THE FREEDOM FIGHTERS: In a world where World War II ended in America’s defeat, the few heroes left standing are about to fall before the Nazi regime—until the killer cyborg superheroes of Futures End attack!

Superheroes from the Multiverse’s most unique worlds and far-flung eras battle some of its most ruthless villains in CONVERGENCE: INFINITE EARTHS BOOK 2!

Collects: Convergence: Shazam #1-2, Convergence: Booster Gold #1-2, Convergence: Blue Beetle #1-2, Convergence: Crime Syndicate #1-2, Convergence: Plastic Man and the Freedom Fighters #1-2
Authors: Various
Artists: Various
Published By: DC Comics
Published When: Nov. 3 2015
Parental Rating: Teen

Review:

Overall this is an odd collection of Convergence stories. Two of the tales, the Blue Beetle and Booster Gold ones, tie into the larger story told in the main Convergence arc, although no narrative cues like "continued in Convergence #8" are provided for the reader, who is left hanging at the end.

The other three stories are very different from one another in almost every way. They are grouped solely under the umbrella of tales about worlds and characters from the "Infinite Earths" era of DC Comics. I review each of the collected tales briefly below.

Shazam

This story is a nice nod to another era of comic books. The images and the contents of the story both collaborate to bridge the gap to a previous generation.

Jeff Parker’s story brings Captain Marvel, Mary Marvel and Captain Marvel Jr through a series of conflicts. First they must face some of the classic Shazam villains like King Kull, Mister Atom, Ibac and Dr Sivana. Then, before that conflict is fully resolved, it extends to include Batman and other characters from the DC Steampunk world. Bulletman, Bulletgirl, Tawny and other favorites of DC's Earth-S also make an appearance and contribute to the effort.

Evan 'Doc' Shaner’s art is very evocative of the clean, simple style of the Golden Age drawings. He uses crisp lines and well-defined forms with basic poses and expressions. A nice collection bonus are Shaner's character sketches, allowing us to almost watch his process of drawing inspiration from the classic art while giving his own spin and style.

Blue Beetle

Scott Lobdell’s story has Blue Beetle joining fellow Hub City heroes Captain Atom and The Question, first in an effort to keep the peace in the midst of dome-related social chaos, then in conflict with the Legion of Super-Heroes.

The trio of heroes have historically very different moods from one another, in their respective stories, and the first chapter of this tale attempts to give each a little space. The Question wrestles with weighty metaphysical questions; Captain Atom projects harsh strength and an almost cruel justice; the Ted Kord Blue Beetle is rich, brilliant, and flippant, a lightweight hero with a light outlook.

By part two however, Beetle's schtick becomes dominant, and the confrontation of this trio, only one of whom has superhuman powers, against a dozen Legionnaires, skews toward the goofy.

A brief appearance by Booster Gold ties this tale directly into the next one in the collection, although with no narrative tie-in. Booster pops in for a panel or two, then gone. Fortunately, in the collected form, we can get more context by just turning a few pages.

Booster Gold

I've been a fan of Booster Gold from issue #1 i the mid-80s, so I always feel Booster Gold is in good hands when Dan Jurgens is the writer. Nearly 30 years after Jurgens created this character, he is still penning intriguing stories about a man and hero whose character has continued to grow and develop in fascinating ways.

As an added bonus, this tale includes two Boosters: One a younger, cheeky and irreverent Booster from an unnamed era and universe, and another from Earth Prime, but aged a couple decades past the era of the Ted Kord Blue Beetle with whom he interacts here. In fact in this tale Beetle winds up coming with Booster, as opposed to their brief exchange in Blue Beetle’s own story earlier in the collection.

The first challenge with this story is artistic: how to present two versions of the same character, panel after panel, and keep them both clearly distinct yet equally clearly the same? Variations on the blue and gold uniform help drive the differences, but Alvaro Martinez and Raul Fernandez also pull this off in facial aging, hair styles and other subtle clues.

Perhaps the larger challenge, however, is to make this story a compelling read that weaves together both the complex history of one of DC's minor characters, from 52 to Futures End to the present, on the one hand, with the larger role in the Convergence story-line that these characters are to play, on the other. After all, this is not a tale of city vs city, this is background and important side developments in the whole Convergence plot.

That second challenge is, perhaps, less successfully handled. There is a lot of talking in this two-parter. Jurgens uses endless dialog to cover this ground, using word balloons to bring up to speed any readers who are unfamiliar with the converging plot lines. Even for a longtime Booster fan, this became a bit much.

Where Jurgens, Martinez and Fernandez to their best job at pulling off this complex narration convergence is on pages 2 and 3 of part 2. As Booster Gold discovers to his joy that Ted Kord is alive, he gives the cryptic advice, "You shouldn't trust Max. Ever." While the background shows scenes from the dramatic moments in Infinite Crisis when Maxwell Lord shoots and kills Blue Beetle. That's how to convey a complex history in a beautiful and simple way! If only more of this story could have been as well-handled.

Crime Syndicate

This story has a symmetry that many other battles of cities and champions do not. The villains in the Crime Syndicate of Earth-3 are questionable choices as Champions, and become even more questionable as the story unfolds. They battle the Justice League of the 853rd century who, as hunted fugitives under their dome, also are not an obvious choice of champions for their city.

More symmetry: The Syndicate members (Owlman, Ultra-Man, Superwoman Johnny Quick and Power Ring) almost perfectly line up with their opponents, including Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Flash and, the least likely match, Aquaman. The numbers match. The powers mostly match. And, almost organically, they wind up pairing off against their natural counterparts.

Except that Owlman and Batman walk away from each other. Batman because he seeks the power source detected below the city. Owlman because he believes his love has been killed by his city and he has no interest in defending them. Let his city perish, as they did to his love.

Brian Buccellato tells a tale filled with tragedy and pathos. They mourn for themselves, they mourn for each other, for what they have lost, for poor choices made. Little surprise then that, even though one champion survives the battle in the end, it appears that both cities are doomed to elimination in the Convergence play-downs. Or are they?

Phil Winslade's art makes it easy to tell the matched teams apart, although the way their individual battles are rendered becomes repetitive in both viewpoint and framing.

Plastic Man and the Freedom Fighters

The Freedom Fighters team up with Silver Ghost and the Nazis to save their city? Convergence makes for strange partnerships, as they join forces to battle the robotic killer heroes of Futures End. As with the Crime Syndicate story in this same collection, we have champions who, before the dome fell, were fugitives and prisoners. It makes for better comics of course, but projects a cynicism and fickleness onto the dwellers of these cities.

For this two-parter Simon Oliver adopts the Film Noir narration style occasionally seen in Plastic Man comics. A good choice, as it lends a greater gravitas to an otherwise goofy character. A hero with a sidekick named Woozy Winks, a hero who has battled Dr Forklift and his trained hamsters, needs an injection of gravitas.

Despite the historic silliness of Plastic Man and the patriotic boosterism of the Freedom Fighters, this tale should be Teen-rated. John McCrea's art is at times unexpectedly graphic, from the bondage of the Freedom Fighters to the cruelty of the Silver Ghost and the gruesome cyborg flesh-and-metal integration of the killer bots, all overlaid with the dark dystopian setting, this is not a tale for young children.

For their so-so stories and odd choices of champions, I give this 3 capes out of 5.

ISBN-10: 1401258387
ISBN-13: 978-1401258382
Language: English
Pages: 272 pages

Review: Convergence Infinite Earths book 1

 Description:

A CONVERGENCE tie-in graphic novel, starring heroes from CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS—and RED SON!

Once, there were infinite Earths. Then there came a Crisis…a Zero Hour…a Flashpoint. Worlds lived. Worlds died. But some worlds must now fight for their future—in the Convergence!

The evil alien intelligence known as Brainiac has stolen 50 doomed cities from throughout time and space and sealed them behind impenetrable domes. Now, after a year, the domes will come down—and the heroes and villains of 50 dead worlds must battle to be the last one standing!

In this volume:

ACTION COMICS: The Superman and Power Girl of Earth-2 must stand together against the Wonder Woman of a different Earth entirely: the totalitarian world of Red Son!

DETECTIVE COMICS: Dick Grayson and Helena Wayne—Robin and the Huntress—battle for the Batman’s legacy against Red Son’s Soviet Superman…and each other!

JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA: Earth-2’s original heroes regain their youth to fight the antimatter universe’s Weaponers of Qward—but at what cost?

INFINITY INC.: To save their world, Earth-2’s young heroes must defeat a man who’s already survived the end of his own: the post-apocalyptic Jonah Hex!

WORLD’S FINEST: As the Seven Soldiers of Victory ride to war against the Weaponers of Qward, cartoonist Scribbly Jibbet must tell their tale…or die trying!

The heroes and villains of one of comics’ most beloved worlds—the pre-Crisis Earth-2—take on characters from the acclaimed Elseworlds tale RED SON and more in CONVERGENCE: INFINITE EARTHS BOOK 1!

Collects: Convergence: Action Comics #1-2, Convergence: Detective #1-2, Convergence: Justice Society of America #1-2, Convergence: Infinity Inc. #1-2, Convergence: World's Finest #1-2
Authors: See reviews of individual sections
Artists: See reviews of individual sections
Published By: DC Comics
Published When: Nov. 3 2015
Parental Rating: Teen

Review:

Continuing our series on the DC Comics Convergence cross-over series, this review looks at Infinite Earths Book 1.

Action Comics

It has been fascinating to read this story during the Omicron-variant wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. Several characters express their growing frustration at the enforced isolation of the dome that traps their city, and at the powers beyond their control and understanding that have caused a year-long disruption to their life.

As with all super-powered creatures under the domes, Power Girl's powers have disappeared. This loss of power has led her to need to work out to stay fit. She now has to watch her weight, do normal dental care, all the mundane personal-care chores. She must also endure the scars from her fall through a window when her powers were cut off mid-flight.

Superman, for his part, takes it all in stride that, in his powerless state, people are as enamored with his famous wife Lois as with him. Our perfect hero and gentleman bears neither her nor her fans any ill will, though. Of course.

The entire first half of this 2-issue story by Justin Gray revolves around the human relationships, the strain of isolation, the effects on the mental health of our protagonists. And our antagonists, as we also glimpse how Stalin and the Superman, Wonder Woman and Lex Luthor of the totalitarian Red Son world come to grips with their own imprisonment under the dome.

Part two pits them against one another. The key conflicts are between Power Girl and Wonder Woman of Red Son universe, and between Lex Luthor's drive for survival and the conscience of his wife Lois.

But um.. where is Red Son's Superman? He disappears without explanation. With the forced battle between champions, and the lives of their cities hanging in the balance, we are left with this confusing absence, one that none of the other characters feel inclined to explain. After a very strong and compelling first chapter, the second whimpers and falls flat.

Detective

This is perhaps my least favorite of all the Convergence 2-part tales. DC published 40 such stories, ostensibly pitting one dome-imprisoned city's champions against another's, in a promised huge elimination tournament.

This little microcosm of that larger picture suffers from a poor plot filled with large unanswered questions, and unpleasant, over-penciled art. Even the lettering got in the way of this reader's enjoyment.

Let's start with the plot. Len Wein is a giant in the world of superhero comics – creator of Swamp Thing and Wolverine, with popular runs on several other titles. This title is not one of his better efforts. On one side of this battle is the Soviet Superman of Earth-RSR and the Red Son universe. In the previous 2-part tale in this TPB collection, we saw Soviet Superman working with Soviet Wonder Woman, Stalin and Lex Luthor. Soviet Superman mysteriously disappeared from that story, no explanation given. Did he move over to this one? Seems unlikely, the political dynamic here is very different. Superman is the benevolent Soviet dictator, not Stalin. He works with his frenemy Piotr, to calm his populace by claiming credit for the dome and using special-FX trickery to hide his loss of powers.

An occasional tip of the hat to the story-telling is deserved: one of this tale’s strengths is the time it spends reflecting on the human reaction to the year-long imprisonment by an impenetrable alien dome. Compared to the Utopian reaction of the populace in some others, this one is more believable in describing shortages, growing desperation, and lying leaders covering their helplessness with false reassurances and misdirection. It feels much truer to our reality and the worldwide reactions to the Covid pandemic.

But back to those plot holes. Adult Robin and Huntress of Earth-2 are the defenders of that reality's Metropolis. Say what? They were summoned there (not New York as one might expect) for an emergency meeting by the JSA, yet no other superheroes of that Earth appear at any point in the 2 parts of this story.

Yet they must be the anointed heroes of this city because some magical, unexplained teleportation takes them, and no others. to Moscow to battle Soviet Superman. Something that does not happen in other city pairings (or very rarely), and gives one side a "home field advantage" not seen in other such tales. This plot device is never explained, it must just be something Telos does, for some unknown reason.

Once there, why are these two athletic, skilled combatants without "super" powers so intent on directly confronting Soviet Superman? Why are they so out of character that they are bent on killing to save their city, that is not actually theirs?

Another minor saving grace of this frustrating tale is the pressure Huntress places on Adult Robin to man up and don the cowl of the Batman to replace the deceased Bruce Wayne of that world. The great interplay and character development deserves another tip of the hat.

Sometimes the art can save a bad story. Not this time. I've enjoyed Bill Sienkiewicz's unique and moody art in the past, most notably in his 1990 Classics Illustrated rendition of Herman Melville's Moby Dick. But here the grittiness becomes an over-clutter of unnecessary lines and shadings.

Even the lettering contributes to the unpleasantness of this tale. Clever use of bolding helps the reader to hear the inflections and emphases in the dialog. Here, unfortunately, there are TOO many places where BOLD is used, ultimately INTERFERING with the otherwise straightforward TASK of reading THIS tale.

Justice Society of America

and

Infinity Inc.

These two stories go together, mostly. There's the usual Convergence super-heroic battles, with the aged JSA facing a mildly sentient war-bot from the Weaponers of Qward, while Infinity Inc. confronts the grotesque Jonah Hex and his band of powerful warriors.

What weaves these two tales together, though, is the generational conflict and fraying relationships between the two teams. In the JSA tale, artists Tom Derenick and Trevor Scott spend as much time drawing wrinkles and male-pattern bald spots as muscles and capes. The year of enforced powerlessness has not been kind to the aging stalwarts of the JSA. But Dr. Fate magics them back to their youthful vigor for one last time, one last battle to save the innocent people of their city.

The story Jerry Ordway tells of Infinity Inc, on the other hand, is replete with youthful angst, mounting frustrations at the intransigence of the older generation, and several layers of daddy issues.

These two tales converge at the end into a passing of the torch, an acknowledgment from their JSA elders that Infinity Inc. is, indeed, all grown up.

World's Finest

This is an odd outlier of a story. Paul Levitz and artists Jim Fern and Joe Rubinstein put a newspaper’s editorial cartoonist / reporter at the center of the action, helping to defend the city or die trying.

As unusual as the non-heroic choice for story focus is, the plot developments are even more outside the boundaries of the other Convergence tales. Here, Telos intervenes multiple times in the middle of the battle of the champions, in ways that other Convergence tales give no hints of. And while in others the heroes often work together in the hopes of sparing both cities, here apparently both cities and their rather forgettable champions are wiped out in the end.

As with a couple other tales in this collection, this tale also offers a slightly more realistic glimpse into what life would look like if a major urban center were suddenly severed from ties to places beyond its boundaries. Shortages, loneliness and despair, contradictory religious interpretations, only partially successful attempts at normalcy. I suspect the shortages in particular would be much worse than presented here – see how quickly store shelves emptied of bathroom tissue and fresh produce in Covid lockdowns, and the strains on social fabric they produced – but this tale's first half at least gives serious consideration to such realities.

I score this collection two and a half capes out of five.

ISBN-10: 1401258379
ISBN-13: 978-1401258375
Language: English
Pages: 272 pages