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