COMIC BOOK REVIEW: Convergence #8 – RESET!

Let’s put this way, Convergence ends with a mere whimper. Once teased as a “love letter” to the pre-New 52 readers/fans, the whole Convergence event was supposed to end virtually all DC Universes, with the absolute exception of the New 52 Universe, you know.

From the issue zero up to the fourth chapter, we glimpsed some of the destruction of the universes as objectively clearly stated by Telos, the summation of all Brainiacs (with the “s”) in the beginning while the real/true Brainiac was all those times in the New 52 Multiverse. Thus, issues #0-4 fulfilled somehow that objective. But in issue five, the plot changed. Telos transformed from the heel to somewhat a major supporting cast. A chameleon emerged and threw the wrench to the whole “fight-to-the-death” gladiatorial brouhaha. Making things more interesting, the much maligned Parallax (or fear-possessed Hal Jordan of the 1990s) entered the fray and made things more complicated/intriguing than ever. More twisting was that Telos ended up obtaining something subjectively: EMOTIONS, particularly sympathy, empathy and even compassion!

Basically, the fifth up to the seventh chapter presented the so-called “significant” turn of events, a paradigm shift of villainy and the emotional signature. I mentioned the last one for that is the KEY FACTOR of turning the tides around, most particularly the salvation of the entire DC Multiversity. Yes, ALL. OF. THE. UNIVERSES. No more, no less. Jeff King and Scott Lobdell are credited as “writers”, but look out the “special thanks” list. The name “Geoff Johns” is clearly specified. We are familiar of Johns’ love of good storytelling and the comprehension of the emotional spectrums in the superhero genre. I would be unsurprised at all if ever Johns made the major polishing in scriptwriting, paneling breakdowns and the dialogues that were consistently either plaguing or hounding the overall narrative quality of the DC event. Perhaps, this is the LAST issue. Why not make this the BEST of all chapters? As seen here, the flow was more refined than most previous issues (and let’s face it, King and Lobdell’s storytelling in the medium is not something to brag with).

So why subject this event a “whimper” treatment? After all is said and done, it ends with the press of the RESET button Just like that. Brainiac suddenly possessed this INTERNALIZATION moment (or reflective, if you insist) then what he created/destroyed, he completely did the old hat trick! How “creative” and “innovative” was that, eh DC? Furthermore, to steal the glory that is “MULTIVERSITY”, this “Last Stand” (is that already cliché?) chapter wanted to make Convergence event the most “mega-event” moment in 2015. How? By making the entire Grant Morrison-event “just” another DC event by referencing or highlighting it as one of the “cancerous” moments, as exposed by Brainiac himself. Hence, Convergence trumps Multiversity—DUH!

Originally solicited as a Carlo Pagulayan-Stephen Segovia tandem (with Jason Paz as inks), perhaps due to the scope and scale of this finale, Eduardo Pansica and Ethan Van Sciver entered the fray to fill-in some, say, difficult pages. Understandably, Segovia’s illustrations are the least prominent among the four. The heavy shading stood high even so with the inkers around. Some of his minute detailed works were either erroneously glaring (no Bat-insignia) and awkward (the left hand of Brainiac). But for the record, Steph’s illustrations are generally finest yet. He at least pulled off the sequential paneling department.

Admittedly, Convergence #8 brought the superhero elements of hope, optimism, realization and humanism in the end of the existential moment. It is true that the story delivered that is almost a given in a highly optimistic approach to somehow placate both pre and New 52 DC readers and/or fans that the concept of MULTIVERSE remains intact, never to be unified (a little spat on the classic Crisis on Infinite Earths mega-event or the “First Crisis”). It is the way of executing the climatic part got me scratching my head for it basically shows how hastily (if not lazily) this event was conceptualized, formatted, executed and delivered to supposedly to greater effects, but came up a dud instead. The overall art department is very decent actually despite having four artists and five inkers around. Colorist Peter Steigerwald remained the consistent force throughout the series though I sensed some awkwardness in colors in Segovia’s drawings.

To sum up, Convergence #8 was a saving grace for a hyped comic mainstream event. Well-intentioned but the supposed best part was the thing that could downplay future comic events. If Marvel’s Secret Wars tell us something, this Marvel event has YET to disappoint overall. And that’s the bottom line!