Weekly Comic Review for 5/27/15

I rushed to read this prior to Phoenix Comicon so I could prepare for my “Crisis to Convergence” panel but haven’t had time to touch them since. So, here I go…

Convergence #8 of 8 – We’re finally at the last issue. Deimos is dead and Telos returns. With him returns Brainiac and his stories of the multiverse. Brainiac returns the remaining worlds to their homes. A few changes are made though, like when Parallax decides to go back with the crew for the Crisis to help them out. Supposedly, everything is restored and they show each world with old versions in the background and the current in the front. Some are minor changes mostly reflecting recent looks, like the Earth 2 from the recent series (which shows the pre-Crisis Earth 2 crew as the background ghosts and the current look of the Crime Syndicate vs. the old cheesy versions (like Owlman’s owl cowl). The old Earth 1 definitely gets a new look. The background characters show people like Tempest (who died during Blackest Night) and Bloodwynd (who was really just Martian Manhunter) along with Kyle Rayner, Impulse, Mister Miracle, and such. In the front is a Batman with a trenchcoat and a capeless Superman who even has a V-notched neck on the suit like the New 52 version among Kyle, the Flash, Bloodwynd, and some female archer. The heroes of Earth 2 are given the battle planet as a new Earth for everyone back in their reality. Honestly, it doesn’t seem like anything has changed at all. It was just a fill-in storyline and chance to reuse old characters (or old versions at least) that hadn’t been touched in years to decades and a chance for a whole new set of #1 issues. It was fun, but I think they got up people’s hopes for a positive change at DC.

Convergence: Blue Beetle #2 of 2 – The heroes of Earth 4 (Charlton) are sorely out-powered by the Legionnaires. While Captain Atom and Question (where are the others anyway?) hold off what they can, Beetle takes off to rig up a surprise. When Saturn Girl, Computo, and Sensor show up, he gets them to help save his city but make it look like they lost. Not smart if he hadn’t known the worlds weren’t getting destroyed any more really.

Divergence back-up story: Black Canary (OK. The art SUCKS. The band is named Black Canary, not Dinah. It looks like this was one of the big changes they are making to ruin things more. I originally added this #1 to my pull list but I’m going to have to change that. I’m taking this preview as a warning NOT to read the book.)

Convergence: Booster Gold #2 of 2 – Booster finds Blue Beetle but the chronal sickness is getting worse. The rest of the time travelers are left facing the Legion and Superboy. They escape and meet up with Beetle and Booster, who is on the verge of dying now. They use a chronal field to try to save him and end up turning Booster into the new Waverider. This leads into the finale in Convergence.

Divergence back-up story: Earth 2: Society (Well, the team is back together but things seem a little weird. Kara loses her powers in the light and Dick is the new Batman. I think the other characters, including Red Arrow, are going to be around. I wonder if, given the name, they will start calling themselves the Justice Society finally.)

Convergence: Crime Syndicate #2 of 2 – The Crime Syndicate/Justice Legion Alpha battle is pretty fun. Given it’s truly a hero vs. villain battle, it works out a lot better with no one holding back. The interesting thing comes when Superwoman shows up. Somehow, even after death, her immortality kicks in and brings her back to life. She and Wonder Woman battle and the final panel shows someone coming out of a pit but between the smoke and ripped costume, it’s hard to tell who it was which is a really cool way to end it, leaving you wondering.

Divergence back-up story: Cyborg (Looks like they are trying to give Victor a much more human look now. Guess we’ll see how it goes.)

Convergence: Infinity Inc. #2 of 2 – The battle with Hex is not really all that exciting. I wasn’t impressed with how Brainwave Jr. (That really was a stupid name even for back then.) just pops back into things in the middle of battle with no real cue. The teams agree on a stalemate, save the bystanders and go their own way. The team gets back to the base to find the 4 JSAers there and they name them the new JSA. Star Spangled Kid decides to rename the team JSA-Infinity though. What a way to ruin a good moment. I used to like Infinity Inc back in the day but this mini-series was a disappointment.

Divergence back-up story: Batgirl (The jokethis title seems to be becoming leaves me with less and less respect for the New 52 Barbara Gordon as time goes on. I want Oracle back!)

Convergence: Justice Society of America #2 of 2 – The 4 rejuvenated heroes fight off a single Qwardian robot that reminds me of the one in the Incredibles. Of course, they win and then get old again and go home. It’s nice to see the old JSA but this story had very little interesting to it.

Divergence back-up story: Superman/Wonder WOman

Convergence: Plastic Man and the Freedom Fighters #2 of 2 – After rehashing Plastic Man’s origin, we get back to the team fighting the Nazi’s and Brother Eye’s cyborgs. Silver Ghost (who looks like a Nazi version of Moon Knight) teams up with the Freedom Fighters to fight the cyborgs. As you would expect, he has his own goal which don’t exclude betraying Plastic Man. The good guys win though and the cyborgs are beaten when the home control area is destroyed.

Divergence back-up story: Harley Quinn. Looks like this is just picking up where it left off. Looking forward to it.)

Convergence: Shazam #2 of 2 – Gotham by Gaslight Batman teams up with Captain Marvel as they fight against their teamed up bad guys instead of each other. The rest of the Faucet team (including Tawney) all join in in your usual cheesy Shazam battle. And, as usual in the end, the little worm known as Mr. Mind is behind it all.

Divergence back-up story: Constantine the Hellblazer

Convergence: World’s Finest #2 of 2 – The race turns into just a fight between the Shining Knight and a Qwardian. Lame. Vigilante and Crimson Avenger are left to fight an army of Qwardians. Needless to say, they get killed. Even Sir Justin’s horse Victory gets killed. Only the knightand the cartoonist survive and Telos is very disappointed in Sir Justin too. What a dismal story, especially for a title called “World’s Finest”.

Divergence back-up story: We are Robin (I think I actually want to check out at least the first issue of this one.)

A whole week of Convergence titles. At least it’s finally over. I’m not impressed with where the whole thing led. Some of the mini-series ended up down right boring. There were a few standouts though. My top 3 recommendations this week go to Convergence, Convergence: Booster Gold, and Convergence: Crime Syndicate. The last one is one the I really enjoyed tho.

Well, time to see what happens from here on in.