Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Reviews
Convergence #0
DC Comics
Jurgens, King, Van Sciver & Maiolo
The major event for DC Comics begins this week with the zero issue of Convergence. The five dollar book is basically a focused story about Superman and his interactions with many different incarnations of Brainiac. The comic book caters to a very small audience and feels extremely over-priced for under 30 pages of story and the general content of the comic book. It's difficult to see how the remaining eight parts are going to be worthy of the hype. I can't recommend this book unless you are a huge Superman fan or if you are committed to picking this up regardless of what the first issue has to say.
Convergence is billed as the collapse of all timelines and worlds in the history of DC. With this in mind, this comic book provides a look into that idea. The New 52 version of Superman is trapped outside of space and time and stumbles onto a ploy by a collection of Brainiacs where they seem to capture versions of Earth cities in this outside-the-universe-place. Superman tries to get some answers and is eventually sent home. Brainiac decides their (his) initial plan was all wrong. The thinking is that one city can go back while the others will not after some kind of battle of worlds. I'm not entirely sure I have the plot nailed but this is how I read this issue.
The comic book is not good. This variation of Superman is absolutely lifeless. Absent any sort of personality, the character reads as someone that can only ask questions and demand answers rather than using any part of his brain to figure things out. I lost count of the questions he asked north of ten. This leads to his go-to-move of punching things. If you like the New 52 version of Superman then you will feel right at home. If you are looking for charm or whit or charisma that Superman generally is associated with then you can forget it. Brainiac has the exact same personality except he doesn't ask questions, he just dodges them.
Compounding this comic book's contents is the story idea. Multiversity is being published right now. It has the same big idea of throwing all the universes into a pot together. Except it has Grant Morrison piloting it. This feels like the pitch for Multiversity that wasn't picked. I'm having a hard time understanding why this is being published at the same time as Multiversity beyond the fact that DC is shutting down for two months while they move to California. DC really knows how to confuse their fans.
The artwork saves this comic book. There are a couple of very creative pages that call on DC's rich history and are presented in a very clever way. There are also grand pages that include cities in bubbles on a large scale and other pages that depict entire city backdrops in great detail. Make no mistake: the artwork is very good.
Convergence is pretty much a way that DC will flush away the New 52 and introduce the new status quo. This opening comic makes this seem like it will be a very bumpy road. If you are looking to take a breather from DC then this might be the time to do it. Maybe check back in when the new books hit in June. If you like New 52 Superman then this is your comic book to pick up. If you are looking for a sensible start to a big event for five bucks then this might not be it. Maybe this issue would have been better served as a freebie.
1.5 out of 5 Geek Goggles
