Well if you were mad about DC getting rid of previous continuities, kiss that goodbye because Convergence has come to your rescue! I mean, wow. For an "okay" issue it really packs a major punch. Like "Future's End" it leaves you wondering if the whole event was made just to set up a book coming out in June, but unlike Future's End this does have an impact on the rest of the DCU. Like, the entire DCU.
Up until this point, "Convergence" has been a pretty decent event. Some heroes fighting heroes but it was mostly to serve as a gateway for writers to craft small stories about various heroes in various timelines. The Future's End cyborgs fighting the Earth 2 survivors, the members of Kingdom Come rallying around Zero Hour heroes. It was a big coming together of heroes that you'd never think you'd see in the regular continuity. Elseworlds--stories that exist outside of the regular continuity and can be read just for fun--became relevant as their heroes were fighting for their own survival. Who would have thought you would (maybe, didn't happen) see the Injustice Yellow Lantern Hal Jordan square off with someone like Parallax Hal Jordan...wow, now I want to see that happen!
Convergence 2!
The only thing that bugs me, something that many event comics as of late fall prey to, is that it isn't entirely open for someone to just jump into. The miniseries that it spawned? Perfect for new readers. You get to see the old Titans, character Pre-Crisis, and everything in between. The actual book itself? Eh, not so much. It starts with the Earth-2 heroes escaping from their dying world, which nobody knows about unless they read one of three books that nobody was really reading to begin with. The book, in the early-goings, relied on people knowing what'd been going on so far and why certain things had to happen as they did.
When the villain changed from Telos to Deimos, then things opened up a bit and things also got more intense. Deimos had control over all the multiverses except for the main Prime Earth (the main one) because of events in Future's End where Brainiac was beaten and it was cool and that's a discussion for another day.
Thus, we have our final issue. Deimos has been slain by Parallax, all the other villains have been defeated, and now Deimos's time powers are ripping the multiverses apart, affecting even our universe save for Superman and Supergirl who watch in horror as Telos (the planet, not the character...yeah, I know) pushes more and more into Prime Earth territory.
We open with Parallax being, well, Parallax as he stands tall and is proud of being a really dumb person.
Ha! Get it, Dr. Fate says "sealed our fate!"
The other heroes assemble because we want to see them one more time and because it looks cool to see heroes from all over standing together again.
It's here we learn that Parallax has essentially screwed them all, despite saying he can fix it. Reminds me of being a kid and some other kid would freak out when they broke something, trying to put the pieces back together shrieking, "I CAN FIX IT DON'T TELL MY MOM THOUGH!"
Before he gets the chance, the seemingly immortal Telos (seriously, this dude has died like ten times throughout the series) arises and stops Parallax from doing anything, preventing him from trying to gather all the Lantern rings and make himself stronger. Because, you know, that worked well last time, right Zero Hour characters?
Telos says that the end has begun until Booster Gold, Waverider, and Goldstar--Time Masters--arrive because of friendship, plus Waverider thinks he knows how he can save them all: summoning Brainiac because reasons!
To his defense, Brainiac has yet to explain himself as to how he mashed all the worlds together. And if he did, I probably forgot, because it was bogged down by loads of exposition in previous issues. Sorry for wanting a fun story, not a fun telling.
The various Supermen attack but are easily repelled by Mega Brainiac (the real Brainiac, the one defeated in "Futures End") and then he says he'll kill them all...only to retract that and try to throw a pity party because he feels pain and loss and has failed or something like that. See, I can't really take this whole emotional stuff seriously. Brainaic has the physique of the Colossal Titan and the brains of HAL-9000--perhaps a little less--and here he is trying to say that he finally feels emotion.
With Telos, though, it works better. He was human only to be morphed by Brainiac. He retains very little of his memory and serves Brainiac loyally with the hopes that he will find his world and things will be balanced out once more.
Sorry son, daddy's having an identity crisis. Just don't mind wipe me, okay?
However, in an interesting twist that elevates the book from "okay why's Brainiac here" to "...go on, please..." we learn that Brainiac was once, well, Brainiac; thing is, with each multiversal change (aka with each reboot) the original Brainiac continued to morph, continued to grow. He wanted to evolve but was constantly in a flux where he would continue to change, resulting in the large Mega Brainiac we have now. Thus, he has all the energy of the various multiversal changes he's experienced and has, basically, transcended all of time and space within the DCU.
This is actually really, really cool, and an ingenious way for things to all connect. Brainiac has, technically, existed in each timeline, and each multiverse, in one way or another. Be it physically or connected through something else--take Brother Eye for example--he would have gained so much temporal energy that he would have been able to create not only his own planet, but extract various pieces from those planets and place them on Telos. Why'd he want them to do battle? So the marketing team could have something to advertise, I don't know. This reminds me of "Madoka Magica," where a certain character transcends reality, creating something stronger and stronger each time and tightening the line of fate with each advancement, resulting in destruction. Here, the exact same thing has happened, and only the one who has created this string can undo it.
Wishing to revert to a smaller, more manageable size, he asks for the help of the heroes, and with their help, he'll be able to sever Telos from the planet and reset the multiverse, sending everyone back to their original timelines. Back in Prime Earth, Superman and Supergirl watch on as things don't really look so good.
Brainiac begins the process but finds that things aren't that simple, since there was one event that has boggled minds ever since it happened.
That's right! The events of "Crisis on Infinite Earths" is stopping Brainiac from placing all the heroes back onto their planets. Because of what happened there, Brainiac states that those events have to change, something different must occur.
In another interesting twist, one that makes me want to read a comic of these events, Parallax Hal Jordan steps up and suggests he go back to that time too, so that he may be able to save Barry and Supergirl from their fates. Lois also decides to go back with Superman, since they need to do things together and family and crap. Brainiac claims that should they do this, everything will revert back to the ways of how it was before they got here.
Thus, they charge in to save the multiverse!
And...it works. Not only does it work, but all previous timelines are back in continuity. Everything that had been previously wiped clean for the New 52 is gone. Other Elseworlds are back to being out of continuity, but now they have some tether to the other worlds and knowledge that they exist, which may prove interesting in coming stories.
Basically, the Convergence worked. At first it seemed it was just going to converge all the timelines onto one planet, but no. It converged the continuity, fixing it so all those years of continuity are now back. "Flashpoint" has become just a simple Flash storyline now (which was what it should always have been anyway) and now New 52 haters on the continuity are now gone.
Thank. God.
But wait! The Earth-2 heroes had their planet destroyed by Darkseid, what the heck is going to happen to them?
Brianiac seemingly lays waste to them as Telos begins to protect them, and Telos acted just in time. The five remaining Earth-2 heroes survive, thanks to Telos, and in a huge coincidence, this universe has the same make-up of their previous Earth-2 universe. WOW, that's a lot to buy comic. Though I suppose Telos, being Brianiac's creation and all, did pick a universe that previously existed and planted it there just as the universes were realigning themselves.
The world also begins to sprout green as Green Lantern Alan Scott works his powers, then Telos appears because, uh, science!
He doesn't tell them his real name (though I really want to know) then splits, leaving it open-ended if he'll ever come back. I imagine he will. While he isn't directly connected to the planet anymore, he stills knows they exist and has the closest connection to them than anyone else.
I'm just left to wonder how the oceans miraculously reappeared? Oh well.
Scott shoots a huge beam of energy into the sky around the planet. Back in our main universe, Superman and Supergirl watch as the planet blinks back to where it belongs, Superman remarking they'll see it again, while Scott's beam sends a message to the refugees of Earth-2 to ditch the storyline they were headed for and come over to a new comic, one coming out next week!
Thus, the comic comes to a close as the refugees celebrate the life of their heroes and the New 52 no longer existing.
This was actually a much better issue than I was expecting, and it carried a ton of things that will probably be discussed for a long time. I mean, you've got the Mega Brainiac twist, the end of the New 52, and the possible collision of Prime Earth and Earth-2 (hopefully not involving Brother Eye, though that is still a possibility four years down the line).
As usual, the art here was just great. The coloring in this series has been constantly brilliant and everything is easy to follow. The bright colors here also stand out, I suppose for a reason, and all the characters look different, including the dual ones. No Superman or Batman looks the same, and credit goes to the various artists on the team for making them stand out from their counterparts. Brainiac also looked cooler than he had in "Future's End," just a little extra thing to note.
Overall, while "Convergence" did begin a bit shaky with some promise, it ended on a high-note. It's got one of the biggest shakeups in recent DC Comics history and has changed the lore of a very prominent villain. Not only that, but now we've got a new comic to look forward to as Earth-2 begins to rebuild. Huzzah!
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