A Convergence #3 Review – A Villain Who Shouldn’t Speak

04/29/201504/29/2015Rob Siebert Leave a comment

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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A Convergence #2 Review – The Disappearing Knight Light

04/17/2015Rob Siebert 1 Comment

TITLE: Convergence #2
AUTHOR: Jeff King
PENCILLERS: Carlo Pagulayan. Cover by Ivan Reis.
PUBLISHER: DC Comics
PRICE: $4.99
RELEASED: April 15, 2015

By Rob Siebert
Editor, Fanboy Wonder

***WARNING: Spoilers ahead for Convergence #2.***

Business started to pick up for Convergence in this issue. While certain problems remain, and this issue saw a pretty bad consistency error, Convergence does finally manage to give us a decent emotional tether via Earth-2 Dick Grayson.

As worlds continue to collide via Telos’ “perverse tournament,” our heroes from Earth-2 take a stand and fight back. But how does Dick Grayson fit into that plan? And by the end of the issue, our heroes have found a new ally…or have they?

The scene that kicks off Convergence #2 is probably the one we should have gotten when the story began. Via flashback, we see Dick Grayson and his son Tommy desperately trying to get off Earth-2 during Darkseid’s invasion. Dick loses everything, including his wife Barbara Gordon, before being plucked from his world and tossed into the events of Convergence #1. This scene set the stakes of Convergence really well. We see Dick’s desperation to survive, and to see that his son survives. Later in the issue, King and Pagulayan amp things up emotionally by having Dick see the pre-New 52 Gotham version of Barbara. Finally, Convergence gets injected with a sense of epic tragedy and impending doom, as opposed to different versions of characters simply being drawn next to each other.

Actually, had the scene with Dick on Earth-2 swapped places with the Injustice scene in issue #1, the latter scene would have been much more impactful. The story at large would have been much more impactful. What a missed opportunity…

This issue sees the return of pre-New 52 Batman, which was a big moment for yours truly, as that’s the Batman I grew up with. He’s got his Batman Incorporated costume on, complete with what I call the “Knight Light” on his chest. Unfortunately, as the issue progresses, Pagulayan seems to forget about the light. When we first see Bruce, he has it. Then the light disappears in favor of the more commonly used Bat-insignia. Then it returns for a splash page shot of Bruce standing alone. I can only assume this is a mistake, and a rather obvious one, at that.

We end up watching a conversation between Earth-2 Batman and Knight Light Batman, where the dialogue is kept from the reader. I can only assume the pay off for that is down the line, and will end up being about how Dick Grayson is some kind of savior. It’s frustrating. But hopefully they’ll go somewhere with it.

So at the end, the rest of the Earth-2 heroes rescue a character named Deimos from a bunch of Telos’ drones. I’m not sure if this was supposed to be a big reveal or not. It certainly wasn’t for yours truly. Regrettably, this was one of the few times I had to Wikipedia a character’s name. As one might have gathered by his appearance, he’s a villain. I can’t say I’m overly intrigued by his appearance at this point, but obviously we’re only meeting him now.

Still conspicuous by his absence in Convergence is New 52 Superman, or anyone from the New 52 for that matter. Like the conversation between our Batmen, I can only assume there’s a payoff for that #0 issue coming, especially considering how much Superman imagery we’ve seen in this story. Regardless of what DC is doing behind the scenes (they’re moving their offices to California), seeing them take such a hard break from everything they’re been building since late 2011 is very surreal. The New 52 heroes will indeed join the main series at some point, and their continuity will indeed survive after Convergence. Thus, it’s all the more confusing that we haven’t heard word one from any of them yet, specifically Superman.

Still, Convergence #1 is indeed an improvement over its two predecessors. I now have a reason to care about something in this book. But thus far, Convergence proper is far from worth the cumulative $15 we’ve put down for it.

Images from insidepulse.com.

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A Convergence #1 Review – Mortal Kombat!!!

04/09/201504/17/2015Rob Siebert 2 Comments

TITLE: Convergence #1
AUTHORS: Jeff King, Scott Lobdell
PENCILLER: Carlo Pagulayan. Cover by Tony Daniel.
PUBLISHER: DC Comics
PRICE: $4.99
RELEASED: April 8, 2015

By Rob Siebert
Editor, Fanboy Wonder

***WARNING: Spoilers ahead for Convergence #1,***

So Convergence is basically Mortal Kombat with more characters. Like, a lot more characters.

As we learned in Convergence #0, Telos, who is apparently an apprentice of Brainiac, is pitting the heroes from his master’s various domed cities from across the DC multiverse against each other. The losers will see their realities perish, while the winners continue on. In the end, one city and it’s heroes will remain. A line in the issue literally describes it as: “A perverse tournament.” And as the chaos is starting to unfold, the issue actually ends with the words, “It has begun.”

Yup. Sounds like Mortal Kombat to me. Only the scope is larger, and there are more capes.

We open with the Injustice: Gods Among Us universe apparently suffering from the effects of Telos’ actions, in a scene that has a curious ending. Um, is this game supposed to have a sequel? Just wondering…

We then go to the Earth-2 cast, as they land on the same planet we saw New 52 Superman on last issue. Their world has apparently been destroyed, and they’re bickering. DC has apparently been building to Convergence with these characters for quite some time with the Earth-2: World’s End weekly series. I can only assume this scene is somewhat meaningful to readers who’ve been following that book. As someone who hasn’t, this scene falls a little flat. Still, the characters are themselves are intriguing. At the very least, readers with no Earth-2 knowledge get introduced to alternate versions of Superman, Batman, etc.

We get some decent action, followed by a big monologue from Telos, where he announces his plan to the various domes. Carlo Pagulayan does a nice job with the art here, and I like the hexagonal imagery that’s used to represent the domes. But what he’s saying comes off a little hokey. At one point he even drops names of specific stories…

“Some of you came to me at a time of infinite crisis. Others were brought here in the final moments of their zero hour. Whether it was a flashpoint for a time that never was – or of kingdoms that will never come…”

It’s truly amazing just how big a crisis this is for these infinite earths. We might see the death of Superman, or even a tombstone that says Batman: R.I.P. Also, Blackest Night. *barf*

One thing I will commend Convergence for is the way it’s playing up Superman as the centerpiece to the DCU. The final page shows us a bunch of Supermen (Kingdom Come Superman, Red Son Superman, etc.) flying toward the reader. However, curiously absent from the issue at large is New 52 Superman. While I wasn’t a fan of how Convergence connected with Superman: Doomed, putting Superman at the center of issue #0 was a smart idea, because everybody knows who he is. Not following up with DC’s canonical Superman in this issue is an odd creative choice. Couldn’t we have cut a little bit so we could at least see a quick shot of him? Is the New 52verse even affected by what Telos is doing at this point? I’m confused…

The impression I have based on this issue is that Convergence proper is meant to be little more than the book that ties the various spin-offs together, and little more. This is mostly exposition, with very little substance. Carlos Pagulayan’s art is nice to look at. But in terms of characters we’re supposed to follow and root for, we’ve now jumped from New 52 Superman, to the Injustice characters, to the Earth-2 characters. It’s fine to have a story that spans multiple realities. But who’s guiding us through those realities? Tell me that, and you’ll have more of my attention.

Images from newsarama.com.

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A Convergence #0 Review – Cosmic Conversation

04/03/2015Rob Siebert 2 Comments

TITLE: Convergence #0
AUTHORS: Dan Jurgens, Jeff King
PENCILLER: Ethan Van Sciver
PUBLISHER: DC Comics
PRICE: $4.99
RELEASED: April 1, 2015

By Rob Siebert
Editor, Fanboy Wonder

***WARNING: Spoilers ahead for Convergence #0.***

Ready for some cosmic conversation, featuring Superman and pretty much every version of Brainiac that’s ever existed? I know I wasn’t. Come to think of it, I really had no idea what to expect when I picked Convergence #0 up, except for maybe a general prologue for the weekly Convergence event series, which begins next week. We did indeed get a prologue. But didn’t expect this much…dust. And rocks. And sand. And talking. Lots of talking.

Convergence #0 takes place during the Superman: Doomed story arc, as Superman and Brainiac are trapped in a black hole outside of time and space. At this point, Brainiac has seen the scope of the multiverse, and has watched other versions of Superman die numerous times, most notably against Doomsday in The Death of Superman. (“His death would inform your transformation into the Doomsday monster.”) He has thus captured various cities from various timelines across the DC Multiverse, and his holding them captive under various domes. He tells Superman all of this, with the promise that although Superman will forget everything he’s just been shown, he’ll return to Brainiac when the time is right.

At the end they reveal the real villain for Convergence: Telos. We don’t know much about him at this point. But we do see him lowering one of the domes, as he talks about allowing certain cities to return to the universe, and that only the strong will survive. Via an appendix, DC is nice enough to give us an inventory of all Brainiac’s stored cities. No matter how long you’ve been around the DC Universe, chances are there’s something here for you.

As for Convergence #0, there’s some obviously important information here. I just wish they’d thought of a way to get it to us in a more creative way than just Brainiac telling Superman everything. Not to mention a way that didn’t harken back to Superman: Doomed. For readers that opted out of Doomed (*raises hand*), we start this issue in a confusing place. Readers starting here also don’t know why Superman is mysteriously growing a 5 o’clock shadow as the issue progresses. If we’re trying to bring back readers that were turned off by the New 52, or simply haven’t read a DC comic book in awhile, we’re giving them an awkward start.

All this being said, Ethan Van Sciver is still an all star. Having him on this issue certainly gives it an epic feel, akin to his work on Green Lantern: Rebirth and The Flash: Rebirth. I can’t complain at all about his renderings of Superman and Brainiac, past and present. And there’s a great two-page spread of Brainiac (one of them, anyway) bending this weird reality to his will, and showing Superman some of the city’s he’s collected. It’s certainly enough to make you wish Van Sciver was sticking around. Sadly, he’s not.

The main Convergence series is still very much worth checking out if you’re interested in where the DCU is heading in 2015. And obviously we’re in for some cool time-bending stories. But from a writing standpoint, this didn’t wet my appetite as much as it wanted to.

Image 1 from infinitecomix.com. Image 2 from comicsbeat.com.

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Tag Telos (DC Comics)

A Convergence #3 Review – A Villain Who Shouldn’t Speak

A Convergence #2 Review – The Disappearing Knight Light

A Convergence #1 Review – Mortal Kombat!!!

A Convergence #0 Review – Cosmic Conversation