CONVERGENCE Week Four

CONVERGENCE #4: Telos stands over Dick Grayson, who finds himself mourning Thomas Wayne. Telos explains he is here to save as long as the Earth 2 heroes help themselves by joining the Convergence. He wraps Grayson and the dead in  a coating that he says will give him stability, considering Grayson’s spine was shattered by the joker’s bullet last issue.  The two go off together and watch more cities fight and worlds fall. In the center of the world, Deimos tells the other Earth 2 heroes that the Warlord is really the bad guy here and he is holding the Time Masters captive. He convinces them to attack the Warlord’s army, while he slips away. The team begins to believe that they have been tricked and Green Lantern sends Yolanda to find him. Meanwhile, Shakira tells the Time masters to agree to fight on the side of The Warlord and she will free them. Deimos has arrived, because his power is stronger than Yolanda’s connection to The Red. He quickly defeats Shakira and begins to siphon off the energy from the Time Masters. The Earth 2 heroes arrive to find both Yolanda and Shakira unconscious. Deimos refers to them as the “original heroes reborn” but also says they are “the first, and now the last”. While Travis and Tara realize that they need to join the fray and save their friends, Telos and Dick arrive below the surface, just as Deimos calls upon Brainiac with a promise to free him.

Is it just me or does anyone else happen to see a problem with a book that has SEVEN INKERS working on it? Jeff King and Stephen Segovia gives us the fourth full length tale where we still don’t really know who the true villain is. I’m pretty sure Brainiac stole the cities and created Telos. Somewhere along the ways, Telos is given the job of setting these heroes against each other to create a New World. But I’m starting to think that it’s not REALLY Brainiac’s idea and all of this is coming from Deimos’ wanting to destroy the Warlord and his timeline. After all, Brainiac has always been about collecting things. But what do I know? If I could write this stuff, I’D be in the funny pages business too!

CONVERGENCE: ACTION COMICS #1:  We begin with a retired, and married, Clark Kent being met by a fan in the park seeing an autograph and wondering why Clark revealed his identity. Obviously, without powers, being Superman and having a secret identity doesn’t much matter. Meanwhile, in Moscow, the Russian Superman, Wonder Woman, Lex Luthor, and Joseph Stalin discuss how the people are losing faith and somehow something must be done to restore that faith. Lex has invented an invisible jet and Superman warns him that he should stop trying to anger Stalin. At the same time, the former Power Girl comes home from the gym and bemoans the fact that she is getting fat and suffering with all the other things most normals do. We see the day when she lost her powers and fell through a skylight that left her with plenty of scars. A casual dinner that night at Kara’s results in Lois walking out of the conversation which included the dome. Just then, a voice tells everyone in both cities that the dome will be removed and that champions from all of the cities must fight for the survival of their cities.

So, here’s a title that gave Power Girl more face time than Superman, unless you count the Russian Superman. Justin Gray provides the story and Claude St. Aubin illustrates it and the best part of all that is that Power Girl looks hot! This issue did little to propel us to the next chapter, which I hope has more of a definitive conclusion to it.

CONVERGENCE: BLUE BEETLE #1: Here we are on Earth-4, in Hub City, where Vic Sage is reporting about protesters known as the Madmen who are having a standoff with the military. It doesn’t take long before Captain Nathaniel Adam orders his men to fire rocket launchers, killing all the protesters. Later, Sage, in his guise as The Question, criticizes Adam and also tells him that Ted Kord needs him. Kord is working on a device to crack the dome and, during a test, he can’t get a crack but the Pre-Flashpoint Booster Gold shows up long enough to give him and Dr. Spectro their powers back. Disappearing soon after he arrives, having been frustrated by the heroes’ attack on him, their powers leave with it. Blue Beetle arrives just as Telos bursts from the ground telling everyone in the city that the dome will be removed and that champions from all of the cities must fight for the survival of their cities. The dome begins to dissolve and that means they climb into Blue Beetle’s bug and fly off to see what is outside the city.

If you have ever read WATCHMAN or any of the old Charlton superhero comics, then you will not only get the joke, but also smile with satisfaction about the homage to them both. Scott Lobdell has truly found his niche here as this is one of the best pieces I have seen from in since the NEW 52 began. Yishan Li’s art is nice and tight and makes me wonder why I haven’t seen his work before. Based on this alone, I have become a fan! My biggest complaint is this is supposed to be a battle between Earth-4 and the Legion from the 31st Century Metropolis and we never get that. This better result in a big payoff next issue!

CONVERGENCE: BOOSTER GOLD #1: In Gotham, 2462, the New 52 Booster Gold steals a Time Bubble and zips into the past where he meets Rip Hunter, who mentions that this isn’t the Booster he was looking for. Apparently, the other Booster is Rip’s father from another universe. Rip shows him that they are on Castle Deimos in Skartaris, explaining that Deimos is holding every time-traveler throughout time and space captive.  It seems that the New 52 Booster told Deimos about Vanishing Point in an effort to save Michelle, THIS Rip Hunter’s Aunt. They venture into the basement of the castle and frees the Pre-Flashpoint Booster Gold and Michelle. Rip explains that his Booster is dying from having absorbed so much chronal energy, which explains why he has been bouncing from city to city(as we have seen in FUTURE’S END: BOOSTER GOLD and also CONVERGENCE: BLUE BEETLE #1). The two Booster’s share some pleasantries before the Pre-Flashpoint Booster disappears again. Deimos and his lizard men show up battling Machiste, causing Deimos to want the time-travelers captured. The time-travelers leave and make their way into the 31st Century Metropolis, where they begin to battle with the Legion. Pre-Flashpoint Booster disappears again while New 52 Booster gets knocked out by Superboy. When he wakes up, his best buddy Blue Beetle is alive and here to give him a hand.

Okay, so Dan Jurgens and Alvaro Martinez Bueno have hit this sucker out of the park! And while this probably should have been worked into the first batch of books, I can still deal with it here as it explains a bunch of things. I remember saying that FUTURE’S END: BOOSTER GOLD would be the key book when this came about and it appears I was right. Of course, you might need a little background and I recommend finding the TIME MASTERS: VANISHING POINT mini-series, which puts a lot of the story regarding the Vanishing Point and the Linear Men's search for Batman following FINAL CRISIS. Bueno turns in an amazing art job and Jurgen script is great! What you have here is both a prequel to CONVERGENCE and an epilogue to FLASHPOINT. Now wrap your mind around that!

CONVERGENCE: CRIME SYNDICATE #1: Over on Earth-3, in Metropolis, Superwoman has been captured and is about to executed in the electric chair when the remaining members of the Crime Syndicate attempt to break her out. The Rogue Hunters arrive and the two teams battle, with the Top being shot and Lois being exectued before they can save her. At the same time, the Justice League from 83rd century Metropolis are in hiding from the Luthorians who are after them and Atom is killed in the process. As expected, Superman and Batman come to blows regarding their differing ideologies.  Just then, a voice tells everyone that the dome will be removed and that champions from all of the cities must fight for the survival of their cities. With their powers restored, the two teams are transported to a place called The Battleground, where Ultraman makes the first move and kills Superman.

Well, with only one issue in, and we’ve already had casualties on both sides of the fence. First Superwoman for the Crime Syndicate and then Superman and The Atom for the Justice League. Although Brian Buccallato never states it, I am guessing that this Crime Syndicate is either from Earth-1 or Earth-2, Pre Crisis days. They are definitely NOT the Crime Syndicate from Grant Morrison’s JLA:Earth 2 graphic novel nor are they the NEW 52 version that plagued that universe in the “Forever Evil” story. Either way, this was fun to read and I truly enjoyed Phil Winslade’s dynamic art which so fit in with the period it was trying to create.

CONVERGENCE: DETECTIVE COMICS #1: We begin on Earth-30 where, in Moscow, it is National Superman Day and this is the day the dome came down. Meanwhile, on Earth-2, Helena Wayne and Dick Grayson are driving through Pre-Crisis Metropolis when the dome comes down on them. Back in Russia, Superman, the now powerless great hero of Russia, has to continually lie to keep the dwindling morale of the people afloat. One of his best pieces of propaganda is telling them that he erected the dome to protect Russia from an impending alien invasion. In Metropolis, Helena and Dick continue to fight the never-ending battle against crime. Just then, a voice tells everyone in both cities that the dome will be removed and that champions from all of the cities must fight for the survival of their cities. Suddenly, Huntress and Robin are transported to Russia, where they encounter Superman. Dick meets with him and they both agree there is no need to battle. But Huntress has other plans and flees in the Batmobile. When Superman tries to stop her escape, she detonates the car, presumably killing the two of them.

Yeah, this was a ball to read. Why? First off, you let Len Wein write it. And then, you let Denys Cowan pencil it. But the kicker was when the powers that be led Bill Sienkeiwicz ink it. This so brings me back to an earlier, classic time in comics of the latter half of the 20th century. I cannot wait for part two!

CONVERGENCE: INFINITY INC #1: We begin the tale with Green Lantern’s daughter Jade performing in a version of Shakespeare’s ‘The Tempest’ before a small crowd that includes her former Infinity Inc. teammates. It’s ben a hard year under the dome and no one remembers this team. All anyone remembers is the classic team of the Justice Society of America. Fury is now a part of the police force, Brainwave Jr. is an alcoholic and Jade is pursuing an acting career. Jade gets attacked  by a gang of would-be thugs and fights back, disabling them before Lyta and the police arrive. As each member struggles with their day to day lives, and their attempts to break free of the dome, a voice tells everyone that the dome will be removed and that champions from all of the cities must fight for the survival of their cities. Their powers restored, the team suits up and flies off to face their opposition. The opposition, which just happens to be the futuristic Jonah hex and his crew, blows the ship out of the sky and prepares to take out any survivors.

Right off the bat, I find myself not thrilled with all of this as we have to deal with the WORST VERSION of Jonah Hex that DC ever decided to create. The “Atlanta Georgia Future Hex” was so bad that even die-hard Sci-Fi fans turned their noses to it. Let’s but it this way: I used to find the book in the four for a dollar bins at comic shows and even THEN I wouldn’t buy it! But now, we have the baby JSA having to battle for their lives against them. I love Jerry Ordway’s writing almost as much as I love his art. Unfortunately, Ben Caldwell is drawing it and his style doesn’t appeal to me. And Ordway can only do some much with this group, although I do really like his use of characterization to bring out the personalities in the Infinity Inc. team.

CONVERGENCE: JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA #1: The classic Justice Society of America is in Pre-Crisis Earth-2 metropolis and prepared to make their last stand. Flashback five hours earlier when an aged Jay Garrick visits his friend Kent Nelson in the hospital. Kent is also aged and comatose, as he has been for the last year. Later, he goes to visit Carter Hall and his son Hector, who is tending to a rooftop garden and saying how much Infinity Inc. is dying to get back in the game. Carter gets a call from Alan Scott and they race to the hospital to discover that Kent is awake, muttering “one last time”. Just then, a voice tells everyone that the dome will be removed and that champions from all of the cities must fight for the survival of their cities. The city is immediately attacked by a construct from the Qward Anti-Matter Universe. Kent convinces them they can fight this but it will take them sacrificing their life and their death will come sooner than later. The four agree and the original Green Lantern, Flash, Hawkman and Dr. fate are back in action!

Thanks you Dan Abnett and Tom Derenick for this lovely piece of work. I know most folkd would complain that nothing happens here, so it must be an episode of SEINFELD. But it shows four men who have given their all for their Earth and are prepared to give their last breath for it. And , even though I am from the era of the Earth-1 DC Universe, I have such a warm place in my heart for these characters that it’s ridiculous. These were the ORIGINAL DC HEROES, from a simpler but also tumultuous time. They were the heroes of my parents and my aunts and uncles. They WERE the GREATEST HEROES EVER. So, if this will all end with their end, so be it. Somehow, I want a pocket universe to form and let these great heroes live again. And why not? Marvel is rumored to be creating a pocket universe for their X-franchise…

CONVERGENCE: PLASTIC MAN AND THE FREEDOM FIGHTERS #1:  Welcome to New York City on Earth-X. The great heroes, Plastic Man, Doll Man, The Human Bomb, The Ray, Phantom Lady and Black Condor, have all been captured and  defeated on a Nazi occupied Earth-X. Before the dome covered the city, Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters fought the good fight against the Nazis, specifically the Silver Ghost. But in the middle of their greatest battle against the Ghost, the dome covered the city and everyone lost their powers. Riots ensued and the Nazis easily captured New York City. Even Woozy Winks went to the side of the enemy, turning his former friend Plastic Man in. One year later, and a voice tells everyone that the dome will be removed and that champions from all of the cities must fight for the survival of their cities. With that, everyone gets their powers back, including the Silver Ghost. It appears that it will be the Freedom Fighters against the Nazis against the Future’s End cyborgs.

While I love where this book went and want more, it will only appeal to a very limited number of readers who fondly remember the FREEDOM FIGHTERS title from 1976. Or anyone who followed the UNCLE SAM AND THE FREEDOM FIGHTERS book that came later, Post-Crisis. But it’s the original one that counts the most for me. I was a big fan of the book, as it sent me in search of many of the old Quality Heroes who appeared here, specifically Phantom Lady, which exposed me to her early adventures, illustrated by the legendary Matt Baker. Simon Oliver and John McCrea combine to write a fun, yet dark tale of fascism in America. I want to see where the next issue leads us, with a potential triple threat match for the life of New York City.
 
CONVERGENCE: SHAZAM #1: This issue begins as Telos tells everyone that the dome will be removed and that champions from all of the cities must fight for the survival of their cities. This leads to great panic in Fawcett City, complete with a mad bomber who is quickly dispatched by Bulletman and Bulletgirl at the cost of his life. Billy, Freddie and Mary follow WHIZ boss Sterling Morris and Uncle Dudley into the subway to find they are actually Doctor Sivana and IBAC in disguise. Not to mention, the entire Monster Society of Evil is there too. IBAC accidentally says his name and changes back to Sterling Morris, which reveals that the magic is back. Leading to the return of Captain Marvel, Mary Marvel and Captain Marvel Jr. With the help of Tawny Tiger, they defeat the villains and make their way to the surface, along with thew real Uncle Dudley and Mr. Morris, to see that Fawcett City is under attack by Victorian airships from the Gotham City of the Gaslight Universe.

BUY THIS BOOK! Jeff Parker’s story is a beautiful tribute to the classic Captain Marvel…not SHAZAM…CAPTAIN MARVEL. And Even ‘Doc’ Shaner’s art is so C. C. Beck inspired that it is scary. This makes me want a revival comic. Hey DC: don’t give us a SHAZAM book, give us a CAPTAIN MARVEL series. You claim that good stories are going to be more important in the future than continuity. So give us a cheesy, fun book starring the Beg Red Cheese and his cast of characters, let Park and Shaner be the creative force and take my money PLEASE!

CONVERGENCE: WORLD’S FINEST COMICS #1:  Back in Metropolis, 1940, a young boy sees Superman and begins to draw. Flash to 1980 where journalist and artist Scribbly Jibbet still is fascinated by the exploits of the legendary Seven Soldiers of Victory. Five years later, and the Soldiers are trying to defend their city during the Crisis On Infinite Earths. Green Arrow and Speedy are killed during the battle and, suddenly, the dome appears. The Shining Knight immediately gets old and all the heroes lost their powers. A year passes and we get Jibbet’s story of life under the dome, complete with Stripesy’ death due to pneumonia. Then one day, after a year, as Jibbet is visiting Sir Justin and his horse Victory, Justin’s youth is restored, as a mysterious voice tells everyone that the dome will be removed and that champions from all of the cities must fight for the survival of their cities. Scribbly, Justin and Victory ride off to face their destiny against an unknown enemy.

Oh man: I TOTALLY have to hand it to Paul Levitz, Jim Fern, and Joe Rubinstein for this one! It’s Earth –2, it’s Pre-Crisis(mostly) and it takes the fictional character of Scribbly Jibbett, who was a star in ALL-AMERICAN COMICS back in the 1940s, grows him up and brings him back to life from comics’ oblivion. Jibbett was always known to be the legendary Sheldon Mayer who created his character to tell his semi-autobiographical stories. If you don't know Mayer's work, ’o some research. He worked on everything from the JSA to Sugar and Spike. Legend has it that he was responsible for pulling the original Superman summation out of the rejection pile and getting the character published. Anyway…end of history lesson. The book is dynamite, bringing back the legendary Seven Soldiers of Victory. We even get mini-cartoons throughout the book as drawn by TOO MUCH COFFEE MAN’s Shannon Wheeler. THIS is what a great comic is all about!