It’s finally the fight between the good guys and those with questionable alignments we’ve been waiting for, as Convergence speeds to its conclusion.
CONVERGENCE #8
Writer: Jeff King and Scott Lobdell
Artist: Aaron Lopresti
Inker: Mark Morales
Colorist: Peter Steigerwald
Editor: Marie Javins
Publisher: DC Comics
Cover Price: $3.99
Previously in Convergence: With Deimos in charge, the heroes are taking the battle to him. But low and behold, Demios has gathered the not so good characters from the multiple timelines to side with him! What a villain!
OH HAL JORDAN, WILL YOU NEVER LEARN?
With Telos and Dick Grayson teaming up to fight Deimos, the revelation that Deimos only wants everyone to die to absorb their power is a real eye opener for everyone on both sides of the fight. Though many of the “bads” like Kingdom Come Superman, and Flashpoint Wonder Woman, may not have been completely turned to the side of right, the constant fighting we have been subjected to during this entire event simmers down. When Telos finally turns the tables on Deimos, it becomes a very cool moment in the series – a amnesiac being with the power to control the entire planet has a lot of pathos behind it, and for the first time in two months, I actually found myself invested in the characters and what happens to them.
Then stupid Hal Jordan ruins it all.
Rather, Parallax, at the moment when the battle is about to turn to the side of light, ruins it by killing Deimos with his powers. This in turn, releases all the chronal energies Deimos as absorbed, and everyone on both sides of the incursion point begins to suffer the consequences of having their timelines come to an end. The irony is that Hal’s speech is so reflective of his own selfish needs that lead to him becoming Parallax, that his speech to Deimos comes off as laughable and hollow.
Knowing that the New 52 is being dropped from DC’s publicity, and 24 new titles are kicking off next month, the finality of what is going on is starting to set in. Readers have had a chance to get that one last story, that one final moment before it all comes to an end, and this issue finally has the gravity the series has needed. It’s just too bad this is the second to last issue.
Way to go, Hal.
Since Scott Lobdell has been officially added to the series, the story telling has gotten much stronger. While Jeff King’s background has been in television, and he has written for many big shows, comics are different. The guidance/collaboration Lobdell brings to the series, should have been there all along to help the series flow a lot better. The events of Convergence #7 really should have been the story we read in Convergence #5.
THE ART
The art in this issue kind of stunned me at times. There are pages featuring a full body reveal of characters that is simply stunning. Aaron Lopresti and Mark Morales’s work really shines in this issue, and the art here may just be my favorite of the entire series. With a universe ending event going on, the double page spreads and non-traditional comic layout mixing double page spreads with smaller panels overlaid on top, with no gutter works wonderfully.
BOTTOM LINE: YUP. THIS IS WHAT I WANTED A MONTH AND A HALF AGO
Convergence is going to be one of those series that could have been so good. The last couple of issues really move the story forward a lot more than the issues before them. Though many of the “snatched from the timeline” elements of the story still don’t align correctly, at least DC is trying something different. The art is my favorite part of the issue, and the Wonder Woman/Shazam images are worth the cover price alone.
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