Convergence: Justice Society Of America #2 Review

All the heroes of the Convergence cities have spent the year without their powers.  For the Justice Society Of America, that also meant a year spent at their actual chronological ages.  Now, they’re back in action, one final (maaaaybe) time…  Your Major Spoilers review of Convergence: Justice Society Of America #2 awaits!

CONVERGENCE: JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA #2
Writer: Dan Abnett
Penciler: Tom Derenick
Inker: Trevor Scott
Colorist: Monica Kubina
Letterer: Dave Sharpe
Editor: Marie Javins
Publisher: DC Comics
Cover Price: $3.99

Previously in Convergence: Justice Society Of America: Kent Nelson, Jay Garrick, Carter Hall and Alan Scott were at the forefront of the original heroic age (at least on our world, there were a lot of costumed cowboys and pirates retconned into their history later.)  After a year, they’re once again empowered, and ready to face the Weaponers of the alien dimension of Qward, with no real expectations of survival…

FOUR AGAINST THE VOID

Rather than battling the actual Weaponers (who are busy murdering The Crimson Avenger and Vigilante across town), the remaining members of the Justice Society find themselves battling giant robot that reminds me a lot of Syndrome’s android from the end of ‘The Incredibles.’  Indeed, the whole issue has echoes of that story, as they manage to damage the beastie, realize it’s learning from their tactics, then regroup and use teamwork and strategy to bring it down.  It’s pretty awesome to see these heroes, in these incarnations (and most importantly, in these costumes) taking to the streets again, but there are some weird moments in the art for me.  As the JSAers realize that they’re enjoying their youth and vigor again, each hero gets what is described as ‘grins of satisfaction,’ but Derenick’s art makes them all look dangerously deranged.  They prevail against the monster, thanks to the power of swift and blinding violence, but as the issue ends, they’ve returned to their elderly selves and elderly lives, quietly setting out to enjoy some coffee together.

ONE LAST TIME

It’s not a bad ending, by any means, though it has a couple of kind of glaring flaws.  No real rationale for the JSA’s powers going away is given, and moreover, given the ending of Convergence #8, where at least some version of Jay Garrick is in action, and all the non-destroyed cities actually survive pretty much unharmed, having them retire doesn’t seem to follow.  Silver Scarab (of Infinity Inc., Hawkman’s son) appears briefly during the issue, and Hawkman leaves at the end of the book to tell his son that the job of protecting Metropolis falls to the younger generation, which I suppose is kind of inspiring, but again, doesn’t jibe with other tales.  Derenick’s art isn’t bad at all, save for the occasional inexplicable slasher smile, and he goes the extra mile to give the heroes their 70s/80s uniforms as accurately as possible, which the nitpicky nerd in me appreciates greatly.

THE BOTTOM LINE: KIND OF TOUCHING, BUT…

In short, it’s a story that works, so long as you’re ONLY reading this two-issue series and don’t care about the overarching plot or what happens next (which is a perfectly valid way to read the book, by the way), and it doesn’t have some nice moments for our four heroes.  (What happened to the REST of the Justice Society is unclear in these pages…)  Convergence: Justice Society Of America #2 may not break any records, but it’s a solid comic book issue, earning 3 out of 5 stars overall.  If we see more of this “original” Earth-2, it’ll be interesting to see how and/or if they use these veteran heroes…