Secret pasts revealed, old heroes lost, a new hero rises, and somebody gets their heart torn out! These exploits and more, brought to you by the newest installment of Convergence.
The majority of this issue focused on The Warlord characters, and that got me to thinking: the Warlord and Deimos are the primary protagonist and antagonist of The Warlord series; they are essentially that title’s Batman and Joker or Superman and Lex Luthor. I never read Warlord, but I became immensely curious as to whether or not these two ever had a satisfying final confrontation within the pages of their own book. If not, is this even the kind of final showdown that fans of the series would have had envisioned for this pair? Are they even aware of the fact that their heroes are engaged in a final struggle with one another within the pages of Convergence? It seems to me that a certain amount of grandeur is lost upon the current readership because we have no history with these characters. While the events do draw some level of sympathy, imagine how much more involved we would be, had we read dozens of adventures featuring these characters. As it stands, the impact isn’t as large as I think it should have been.
I’m obviously going with the assumption that the majority of us aren’t too familiar with the world of Warlord, but I think I can safely speak for the fans of that series by likening it to events from my own beloved franchise. Two issues ago we saw a slew of pre52 villains get unceremoniously taken out. It upset me and from the comment section I gathered there were a fair number of you who were also upset by this turn of events. While there may not be as many Warlord fans out there to be as vocal as the Batman ones, I’d like to think that this issue did a similar disservice to that series, and I wanted to take a moment to recognize that.
Is it just me or does Brainiac’s occupation chamber seem vaguely similar to H.R.Giger’s Space Jockey chamber from Alien. Not only that, but in Aliens, the xenomorphs hid in the walls. Tell me that doesn’t look like an alien up there on the ceiling of Brainiac’s chamber.
Aside from my incessant grumbling, this issue did have plenty or worthwhile material. We get to see Deimos single handedly decimate the Earth 2/Warlord heroes…and maybe even a villain. We get further insights into Telos that are turning him into a far more interesting character than I had originally anticipated. I’m actually rooting for the guy now. And we get an ending that sets up a battle royale for next week’s issue: Deimos calls an end to the competition, but more than likely this will start a new conflict that involves every single character on the planet forming an alliance to kick his butt. And from what we see him do in this issue, they will probably need that many people in order to take him out.
The artist for this particular issue took me by surprise. I had not bothered to take note of who it was before I began reading. I kept thinking about how whoever the artist was, they were doing a very descent impression of Andy Kubert’s work and were definitely going to get some deserved recognition within my review. Then I made it to the last page and saw from the credits that it was indeed… Andy Kubert. Don’t get me wrong, the art in this issue is good, but it isn’t Andy Kubert good. The simple fact that I thought it was someone else was evidence enough for me that he wasn’t giving it his all. Don’t think that I am saying this just to hate on him. I like Andy Kubert, but I have definitely seen him do better. It might also have something to do with the inker, although, I’m not entirely sure. All I know is, it isn’t what I am used to seeing when I look at Andy Kubert’s work.
Just some random questions and comments:
- I didn’t recognize anything from the flashback detailing Telos’ history. Is this something from ancient DC history I’m not aware of or is it original material created for Convergence? If anybody recognizes it or has a clue about the identity of Telos, fell free to share in the comments below.
- Seeing as how Crisis on Infinite Earths was a story designed to streamline the DC universe and get rid of excess baggage, perhaps that is exactly what Convergence is too. With all the death going on, it is hard not to see it that way. DC is cleaning house!
Interesting Facts:
- The event that Deimos is referring to is from Crisis on Infinite Earths (1985). The specific section that is relevant to his comment, involves the Anti-Monitor taking control of the Red Tornado and sending him after a group of heroes. In the ensuing battle, Ted Grant (Wildcat) gets the bones in both of his legs shattered. Seeing as how he cannot continue superheroing, his god-daughter (Yolanda Montez) becomes the new Wildcat.
Recommended if…
- You want to bid a fond farewell to the cast of The Warlord.
- You’re a fan of Andy Kubert. Yeah…he penciled this issue!
Overall:
This issue boils down to not much more than a series of fight scenes with a quick aside to introduce Telos’ backstory. If all you want is action, then you can’t go wrong with this issue, but the intellectuals among us might find it somewhat lacking. In my opinion, the insight that we gain into Telos just shot him to the head of the line as the most interesting element to come out of Convergence thus far. I can’t wait to see how his story plays out.
SCORE: 7 / 10
