Convergence: Week One

Round one of DC’s super-arc, Convergence, pits five cities from different worlds and different time lines against each other. The five cities are Flashpoint and Pre-Flashpoint Gotham City, Follywood, California from Captain Carrot’s universe, El Inferno (western motif Justice League) and the city of New York City of the planet Angor. Of the five, the El Inferno world only got a brief cameo in Speed Force. Of the first round, my favorite was amazingly Harley Quinn and my least favorite was The Question and Batgirl. What follows is a rundown of my take on them. There may be a few spoilers, but I tried to keep vague.

Convergence: Justice League #1

(Tieri, Cifuentes, Kubina)

The story centers on a group of Pre-Flashpoint female heroes, Supergirl, Jad, Mera, Zatanna, Vixen, Jesse Quick and even Congorilla. At first it seemed a bit of the same gimmick that Marvels doing with their Secret Wars: A Force, but the interaction and visually pleasant artwork of VIncente Cifuentes (some of the better of the first series) made it worth the read. This is one of the series that didn’t just call a showdown. Instead, they actually wrote a story. Bringing in the Flashpoint Aquaman to a Pre-Flashpoint Gotham equipped with its own living Mera really sets the drama. The second part should be fun.

Convergence: Batgirl #1

(Kwitney, leonardi, Pennington, Buccellato)

Once again we are wisked away to Pre-Flashpoint Gotham with an interesting threesome; Stephanie Brown (Batgirl), Cassandra Cain (the Black bat) and Tim Drake (Red Robin). We leave behind all of the controversy and confusing angst and move into a whole new set of unnerving lack of confidence. Why must Batgirl lately be the underdog or a total noob? Considering that was the gist of the story, it was written well. The art was ok but if she ends up squaring off with who I think she is, Kwitney better do some amazing writing. Here’s a hint: He made a splash page half way through.

Convergence: Harley Quinn #1

(Pugh, Winslade, Dell, Chuckry)

This was a real surprise. I like the character of Harley Quinn alright, but have never gotten into any of her comics. The story was written well and the artwork was well suited. I came to care for Harley; hope that she could actually find happiness in the crazy DC universe. But, poor Harley just can’t be left alone. With the dome up, she seemed to finding peace. Once the dome is down, all bets are off. Add in some ‘Buttinski’ Batman villains, Ivy and Catwoman, mix in a near omnipotent villain who decides she is this cities champion and just let nature take its course. This is one match up I’m really looking forward to. I mean, who doesn’t want to see a full on crazy Harley Quinn go head to head with Captain Carrot!?

Convergence: Speed Force #1

(Bedard, Gummett, Parsons, Beredo)

One of the many comebacks that has been most anticipated since the axe of the New 52, Wally West returns and is quickly welcome. But he doesn’t come alone. He brings his own little Speed Force in his kids, Iris and Jai. Spending a year without their powers wasn’t pleasant, but, once the dome drops, he wastes no time exploring the new world. With a great cameo by Flashback from the world of Captain Carrot, things start getting interesting all the way to the Amazon invasion from the Flashpoint universe. Yep, you guessed it; Wonder Woman is ready for battle. The story was well paced and introduced me to aside of the Flash I was totally uninitiated in. Good story and artwork all around.

Convergence: Superman #1

(Jurgens, Weeks, Anderson)

This was another surprising edition to the first round of Convergence comics. I’m not a huge Superman fan, but this one drew me in. Seeing Clark Kent continue being the hero without his powers is refreshing. And his relationship with Lois (Pre-Flashpoint) is touching and brings a surprising spin on the situation. Bringing in the Flashpoint Justice League to take on Superman brings a real challenge and creating a meeting Lois is not ready for. This is one of those well written stories that didn’t come off like Contest of Champions or something. It all made sense. Unlike others that simple stated, I’ve been chosen and set up the fight, this one was intelligent and I really look forward to issue two.

Convergence: The Question #1

(Rucka, Hamner, McCaig)

This was one story that I neither followed well nor liked the art that much. The relationship she had with Two Face really kept my interest and the thought that we may see TWO Two Faces in the next issue, may make it worth the read. Still not sure at all what any of this will lead to a showdown at all. I’m sure it will, but they left it sort of vague.

Convergence: Teen Titans #1

(Nicieza, Wagner, Marzan, Sotomayor)

It was good to get back to Pre-Flashpoint Teen Titans. I was still a bit out of the loop, but the trinity of Starfire, Diana Troy and Roy Harper was a welcome sight. The story was another well written lead in to a match up. The enemy this time? The Extremists from Angor, a team of supervillains built on Marvel templates like Doctor Doom, Magneto, Doc Ock and the sort much like Marvel developed the Squadron Supreme after the JLA. But unlike the Squadron, this group never got a great lot of traction. The showdown looks a bit lopsided. It makes one wonder if we will see other Titans in issue two. The twist at the end was brilliant and made total sense. Well, worth a read. The look of the comic was good too.

All in all a good start. I will have Week Two up in the next couple of days with Week Three up by the end of the week!