Convergence #8 Review: The Happy But Messy Ending

Once the high concept of Convergence was revealed, it became a bittersweet one for fans of any DC continuity other than the current one pretty quickly. If all of the previous worlds and times were engaged in a fight to the death, surely that meant that the majority of people were going to be disappointed when it finished, right?

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Amazingly, you can read Convergence #8 and still not be completely sure of the answer. Major comic book sites are reporting that it restores previous versions of some beloved DC characters, but with all due respect to all the other writers out there, I didn’t take it that way at all. That uncertainty is the most notable of this final issue’s weak points, but there are others as well. One plot point that appears incredibly important happens off-panel, and it would have been really interesting to see it play out. The happy ending granted to a certain group of heroes also feels a little too convenient, even if there’s every possibility it could turn out to be more complicated than it appears.

To be fair, writers Jeff King and Scott Lobdell are juggling an almost impossible number of balls by this point in the story, and it’s to their credit that they manage to work in anything that doesn’t strictly service the plot. If you like Brainiac, the Barry Allen Flash, the pre-Crisis Supergirl or Waverider (come on, he has to have some fans out there), there are moments that will make you smile here.

The finale made me less bothered by the events of the final two issues, where the overall story made an abrupt turn. I wonder if anyone will even remember who the villains were in this one, but it’ll hardly be the first DC event with a forgettable Big Bad (ahem, Extant). There’s also absolutely zero chance that readers without an extensive knowledge of DC history will get the many references to previous crossovers, yet Convergence was always marketed as something of a love letter to the past, so that’s not a huge deal.

I’d also love to give equal time to the art, but it’s such a grab bag here that it’s hard to even wrap your head around it. Four pencillers and five inkers teamed up on this one issue, so to say the results are mixed is pretty much a given. But hey, more Carlo Pagulyan (Pinoys represent!) and Ethan Van Sciver is always good, and the Andy Kubert cover is a keeper.

It’s no secret that Convergence was done in part to fill the time DC spent moving from New York to California, making the success bar really low when it’s all said and done. While I wasn’t crazy about the majority of the tie-ins I read, I was entertained by this main series more often than not. That counts for something.

SPOILERS PAST THIS POINT!

Parallax has killed Deimos, but now all of reality is fracturing. I hate it when that happens.

True to form for Hal Jordan in this phase of his life, he thinks he can fix everything, but Telos isn’t as sure. Fortunately, another option arrives in the form of Waverider, Booster Gold and Goldstar. They want to get Brainiac to help, though the heroes who fought against him earlier in the series (the Earth 2 gang in particular) aren’t so fond of him. Several pages are used to explain Brainiac’s tale of woe, which earns him compassion from Telos, as they’ve both been through some of the same stuff.

After a brief check on the regular versions of Superman and Supergirl, we see Brainiac attempting to drain the excess temporal energy released when Deimos was destroyed, which should allow him to return everyone to their proper times. The first Crisis is the sticking point, one that can’t be avoided. The Flash and Supergirl from that time need to be sent back and die, basically. A married Superman with his son and Lois volunteer to go with them, as does Parallax, in the hopes that they can save the multiverse and perhaps spare Kara and Barry from their fates.

Do we see this? Nope. Telos simply says it was successful, and we get a pair of two-page spreads that show us worlds that are what I’d call the spiritual successors to some of the pre-Crisis multiverse Earths. If you aren’t a longtime DC fan, your eyes likely just glazed over.

Telos has to wipe out the remnants of the cities on the planet’s surface, I guess counting on the fact that the Earth 2 Green Lantern will be able to protect his friends (he does). Wouldn’t you know it, plant life starts to spring up, with Alan Scott explaining that the Green was simply suppressed by Brainiac. Not only that, but Telos transported the whole planet to the Earth 2 universe, so the survivors of the destroyed Earth 2 get a new home … at least until Darkseid figures out where this one is!

Next: Previously ... Convergence #7 Review

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