TITLE: Convergence #3
AUTHOR: Jeff King
PENCILLER: Stephen Segovia. Cover by Ivan Reis.
PUBLISHER: DC Comics
PRICE: $3.99
RELEASED: April 22, 2015

By Rob Siebert
Editor, Fanboy Wonder

Need to catch up on Convergence? Check out issues #0, #1, and #2.

My patience with the main Convergence title is wearing thin, and the nostalgia appeal is losing its luster. This book needs to up the intrigue, and fast.

The heroes of Earth-2 have met the ominous Deimos, who claims to hold the key to freeing them from Telos’ reign of terror. Meanwhile, the Kryptonian city of Kandor has refused to participate in Telos’ perverse tournament. It’s a decision that will cost them dearly. Another costly decision? The Batman of Earth-2’s decision to return to the group after travelling to the pre-New 52 version of Gotham City. He’s been followed by a number of familiar, villainous faces. In the end, blood will be spilled.

Like last issue, Convergence #3 pulls a Batman trick out of the hat by hauling a bunch of pre-New 52 Batman villains into the picture. All things considered, most of the pre-New 52 Batman villains aren’t that different from the old ones. I imagine that’s why Doctor Hurt, one of the primary foes from Grant Morrison’s run on Batman, is heavily spotlighted here. A certain clown prince also makes an appearance, in a nod to The Killing Joke that could have severe ramifications on the plot going forward.

This scene is interesting, but it falls under the category of “Gratuitous Bat-Appearances.” Much like the Batcave scene from issue #2, it feels like Jeff King is shoving a bunch of Batman stuff at us to keep us interested, because the primary storyline, despite it’s cosmic implications, isn’t as interesting as it should be. I’m curious to see how much Batman imagery pops up as Convergence continues, particularly as it relates to Earth-2 Dick Grayson and alternate versions of his wife Barbara Gordon.

Nightwing and Flamebird popped up in this issue, and showed us what happens to the cities that choose not to fight. This was a cool idea, which King played out using a pair of classic DC characters. Unfortunately, Telos’ generic, hokey villain dialogue waters down the proceedings a bit. At times he comes off more as a bratty kid than an intergalactic war monger.

I picked a few gems to illustrate my point…

– “You will do as I command. You have no choice.”
– “Opposing me gets you nothing but death!”
– “Let this be a lesson…to those foolish enough to challenge me.”

Lame. Is Brainiac back yet?

Oh, and Deimos takes the rest of the Earth-2 heroes to Skartaris, which again, I had to Google to understand it’s relevance. I imagine many other readers (the ones who are still paying attention, that is), did the same thing.

Maybe Convergence is secretly a big ploy to get readers to miss the New 52 universe, which so many of us who loved the pre-2011 continuity have complained about so much. If that’s the case, I’ll give DC credit: Their plan worked. While this story has it’s share of intrigue, I’m ready to go back to my regularly scheduled programming. The New 52 universe is flawed as hell, but at least I’m invested in what’s going on. This story has a bunch of characters I only kinda/sorta know, and is based around a multiverse full of worlds I mostly don’t care about. Call me callous if you must, but I really don’t care if the Tangent Comics universe, or the DC One Million universe survives all this stuff.

Plus, the entire purpose of the New 52 reboot was to invite new readers into the fold. Now DC has halted most of those books entirely for two consecutive months to tell a big story about alternate universes that haven’t been around in over three years. From where I sit, that’s a baffling move. It would be different if they’d put at least one New 52 character in there for us to follow (Superman seems like the obvious choice). Instead we have these Earth-2 heroes and a lame duck villain.

You’d think an event that bends time, space, and reality to its will would be a little more interesting than this.

Image 1 from dccomics.com. Image 2 from insidepulse.com. Image 3 from uproxx.com.

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