Get caught up with Convergence:
Wrapping up our announcement of DC’s Convergence titles, Newsarama has posted the week 4 titles. They are a wide representation of DC’s Pre-Crisis universe.
JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA
Writer: Dan Abnett
Artists: Tom Derenick and Trevor Scott
Colorist: Monica Kubina
Older and in full retirement under the dome, members of the Justice Society get the chance to regain their youths to stave off forces from the Qward Universe. But the promise of youth comes with a deadly price.
Skitch Commentary: I am definitely glad that they are going more old school with a lot of the week 4 titles. Still would have liked something a little more Silver or Golden Age, but this is definitely a reasonable compromise.
This is basically the 80’s/early 90’s take on the Justice Society, and I really enjoyed that book and Infinity Inc. Most people point to the Robinson/Johns JSA book (and rightfully so), but I do think the short lived Justice Society of America series from this time period are horribly underrated.
INFINITY INC.
Writer: Jerry Ordway
Artist: Ben Caldwell
Colorist: Jordie Bellaire
The young heroes of Infinity Inc. must choose between the path set for them by their parents or the one they’ve set for themselves as they face post-apocalyptic Jonah Hex.
Skitch Commentary: Infinity Inc was the JSA legacy team that time seems to have forgotten. DC seems to love to recycle old titles, but you don’t see Infinity Inc all that much. I also love that they are bringing back post-apocalyptic Hex. That was definitely a very experimental era of comics, and while a lot of it was hit and miss, I really enjoyed it.
DETECTIVE COMICS
Writer: Len Wein
Artists: Denys Cowan and Bill Sienkiewicz
Colorist: Felix Serrano
Helena Wayne and Dick Grayson fight side by side in memory of Bruce Wayne as they decide who will become the next Batman.
Skitch Commentary: One of the best things to come out of New 52 was restoring Huntress to being Batman and Catwoman’s child. Post-Crisis Huntress never really seemed to have much of a point, so I definitely like this version far better. Denys Cowan and Bill Sienkiewicz are a real odd combination on art. Definitely looking forward to this one.
ACTION COMICS
Writer: Justin Gray
Artists: Claude St-Aubin and Sean Parsons
Colorist: Lovern Kindzierski
Superman teams up with Power Girl, but can they stop a nuclear strike from Lex Luthor and Stalin of Red Son Moscow?
Skitch Commentary: Superman Vs Red Son? I’ve always been real curious to see that. I really like the blended universe stories that Convergence seems to be promising.
WORLD’S FINEST COMICS
Writer: Paul Levitz
Artists: Jim Fern and Joe Rubinstein with cartoons by Shannon Wheeler
Colorist: Paul Mounts
The Seven Soldiers of Victory regroup to defend their city against the Qward invasion, while cartoonist Scribbly Jibbet transcribes their adventures.
Skitch Commentary: This seems to be kind of strange, almost more old school Marvel than DC. I wonder if this will tie into the evil comic featured in Multiversity.
CRIME SYNDICATE
Writer: Brian Buccellato
Artist: Phil Winslade
Colorist: Lovern Kindzierski
The Crime Syndicate’s absolute control of their city is challenged when the dome comes down and changes everything. Now, Superwoman is on death row while the rest of the team fights One Million Universe’s Batman and Superman!
Skitch Commentary: Another awesome mashup. Take the Earth 2 Crime Syndicate and throw them up against One Million. Though One Million Superman was pretty much the Super Saiyan version, so this probably won’t be much of a fight…
BLUE BEETLE
Writer: Scott Lobdell
Artist: Yishan Li
Colorist: Dave McCaig
Hub City is on the brink of collapse and anarchy! But its heroes—Blue Beetle, Captain Atom, and Question—find inspiration and strength from the most unlikely source.
Skitch Commentary: After reading Multiversity: Pax Americana, I would love to see more “serious” stories featuring the Charlton Comics characters like Beetle and Question. That said, Lobdell has produced some of the worst comics of the New 52, so my enthusiasm is going to be tempered.
SHAZAM
Writer: Jeff Parker
Artist: Evan “Doc” Shaner
Colorist: Jordie Bellaire
It’s Shazam versus Steampunk, as the world of Gotham By Gaslight takes on the Captain Marvel family and friends.
Skitch Commentary: Shazam Vs Steampunk…Whoever came up with that deserves a huge raise. Definitely a weird and inspired idea. And Parker and Shaner should be a great creative team to tell this story!
PLASTIC MAN AND THE FREEDOM FIGHTERS
Writer: Simon Oliver
Artist: John McCrea
Colorist: John Kalisz
Plastic Man and the Freedom Fighters are on the gallows in a New York taken over by Nazis, when robot super-heroes attack from Futures End and enemies become allies.
Skitch Commentary: Omac attack from Future’s End. I think this is the first “New 52” element to show up in a Convergence solicit. I don’t know too much about the Freedom Fighters, but I like Plastic Man a lot.
BOOSTER GOLD
Writer: Dan Jurgens
Artists: Alvaro Martinez and Raul Fernandez
Colorist: Chris Sotomayor
Trapped with Rip Hunter and other time travelers, Booster and his future self must work together to get out of prison and off the planet.
Skitch Commentary: TWO BOOSTERS? DAN JURGENS?? This is basically the best possible title they could have announced to wrap everything up. Definitely will be at the top of my must-read list for Convergence.
Overall thoughts: I thought Week 3 was kind of weak, but week 4 came back swinging. I am a bit of a broken record, but I still would have liked to see a lot more Golden and Silver Age characters, but I do think this batch holds a lot of appeal to your main DC audience, so it probably is a must better choice to to these titles.
All in all, Convergence seems to be covering a lot of ground in DC history, and the mashups seem to be creative and should produce some terrific stories. I am definitely looking forward to seeing how this all plays out in April!
