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