I suppose it’s an unwavering eventuality.
The older I get, the less interested I am in the comic book industry’s various BIG-SUMMER-BLOCKBUSTER comic book series’. These titles are all marketed as “game changers” where some important character will inevitably die. But changing the game loses its meaning when it’s done every year. And dead characters come back to life all the time.
It’s an unwavering eventuality.
Still, I find that even when I’m not all that interested in a series like the one I’m about to recommend, there’s a bit of a sweet tooth in the back of my head that says “you need to feed me some summer blockbuster action!”
Well, sweet tooth, feed on the action and intrigue within the pages of Convergence #1!
Convergence #1
Written by: Scott Lobdell and Jeff King
Illustrated by: Jason Paz and Carlo Pagulayan
Published by: DC Comics
For every blockbuster crossover the comic book companies publish, I’m instantly reminded of the gold standard: the mid-eighties beauty of Crisis On Infinite Earths from DC Comics. World lived. Worlds died. And the DC Universe was never the same.
Which isn’t entirely true.
Crisis On Infinite Earths was meant to clean up DC Universe continuity and all of its many duplicate worlds and characters, within the confines of an engrossing landmark story. It did that. But three decades on (man, has it been that long?), that universe is as murky as it ever was – and a lot less interesting by my standards.
So, here the interesting thing about Convergence: anything goes.
Every iteration of the DC Universe, from any decade that you’ve ever read the company’s stories, is up for grabs. Red Son Superman? You got it! Renee Montoya as the Question? It’s here! Captain Carrot and the Zoo Crew? In continuity! Kingdom Come? It happened! The vampiric Batman from Red Rain? Yes! It’s all here in Convergence!
Convergence tells the story of world-collector Brainiac and all the various aspects of the DC Universe that he’s stored away. he now means to pit them against each other: a winner-take-all mentality. And looming in the background, pulling everyone’s strings, a new villain!
Sure, it can be more than a little confusing, but last week, the primer for this series, Convergence #0 was released in order to set the stage. Grabbing that will certainly set you off in the right direction.
Of course, DC Comics has also set up a nifty and handy web page guide to all things Convergence. Explore the affected worlds and get a list of all the Convergence tie-in comics. There’s even an interesting video where Dan DiDio, Editor-In-Chief of the publishing company, gives the goods on the story line.
You can find all that info right here. I’d suggest that if you’re more than a little confused by the legacy of the DC Comics publishing universe, that web page is a decent reference point.
Me? I’m looking for stories that tie into characters that I loved during that original Crisis On Infinite Earths – those early days of my wide-eyed comic book love affair.
So…economic cynicism be damned! It’s been a long winter – it’s time for the juicy summer blockbuster! Make the run to your local comic book shop and pick up Convergence #1 today!
