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CONVERGENCE #3

[ KANDOR FOR SALE
The universe is a vast and complicated organism, comprising of endings, beginnings, as well as death, potatoes, Stephen Segovia, aardvarks, kidney beans, Dave McKean, spam, Jeff King, and anything else to do with the internet. No. Not DC Comics. And definitely not in April, 2015!!

To QUOTE Woody Allen: 'Never think of death as an end. Think of it as a more economical way of cutting down on your expenses'.

THE STORY:
I say, I say, I say. What's the difference between Frankenstein's monster and this very issue of Convergence? The difference is, there is no difference, except for the smell. Sorry about that. It must have been the beans I ate earlier.

Burp!

You see, on the whole, this is one of those issues where heroes die, heroes live, heroes learn, and heroes do their darndest to figure out what Telos is actually playing at. I mean, enslaving cities and then forcing them to beat each other senseless for the sake of preservation, man-oh-man, that's not nice at all, is it? And while I'm on the subject of being nice, please note, it's never nice to enslave time-lords, kill Kryptonian's, or even make the ultimate sacrifice in front of a character who'll most probably be dead soon.

Got that? Good. Now go to your room and read the bible. Preferably the joker's bible,  Ha!

THE GOOD:
Now how can I explain what I liked about this issue without spoiling it for you in the process? Well, I don't think I can. Not as much as I'd like to, anyway. Still. I've got to try my best. So to start off with, I'd like to say that this instalment had a very shocking and daring quality to it, and managed to convey a number of token scenes which (in very real terms) surprised, amazed, and excited me more than I thought they would.

Again, without me spoiling anything, there was one very revealing scene where we got to see the incarcerated time-displaced heroes (Wow! Holy Travis Morgan!). Then there was another scene which kind of defined Telos' role to the heroes of Earth 2 (Thank you last issues special guest-star). And on top of that, there were two more scenes where a number of characters died -- one a major hero no less -- which I felt gave this issue that shocking quality in both scope and in tone.

I would also like to mention the very earthy looking artwork provided by Stephen Segovia. From my point of view this was the best he's ever produced for DC since his stint on Dark Wolverine or Red Hood and the Outlaws. His characters faces were expressive and animated, and complemented his work on their bodies and his backdrops.  

THE BAD:
My only slight gripe with this adventure was how the overall narrative had a rather philandering structure. Essentially, it kind of zigzagged all over the place with no real direction. One minute the story was centred on the heroes of Earth 2 fighting to stay alive. The next minute it was centred on the Kandorians who were trying to do the same thing. And the minute after that, ouch, there's Thomas and Dick, who... err... how can I put this? Have a tough time keeping their own blood in their body's!

Also, something else about this story I wasn't too keen on, was time and again, hearing the heroes bloody moan and gripe about how ill they are. OK. We get the picture now heroes. You're feeling bad. Very bad. But come off it. Hearing it every couple of pages doesn't help anyone, does it?

THE MUSIC:
So far there's been one central theme running throughout this current Convergence mini-series, and to me, this theme has to do with someone wanting to get out of somewhere else. Or in musical terms, The Animals, and their song, 'We Gotta Get Out Of This Place'. Hint-Hint!




THE COMPARISON:
No. Don't worry. If you've read my silly summation up above, I promise you I won't compare this comic book to Frankenstein's monster. Oh no. What I'll do instead is compare it to the one and only, Boston Brand, AKA Deadman, mainly because this hero and this comic are all about staying alive despite being dead at the same time.

Ha! And I bet you thought I was going to be obvious!

THE CONCLUSION:
Previously, I subtly tried to explain a part of the story where a hero tragically passed away, fighting against a number of villains who popped up out of the blue. And in my eyes, when a hero of this standing ultimately bites the bullet, it's only a matter of time before his comrades follow him into the hereafter.

Go on. You wait and see when this cross-over ends. And you'll see for yourself if I'm right or not. I think I am. Not one hundred percent. But more like ninety percent correct. Depending on the breaks. More or less. And I say this because I've read a lot of cross-over events, and heroes dying always signal other heroes dying sometime thereafter.

So go on. Pick up Crisis On Infinite Earths and see Kara dying an issue before Barry. Pick up Final Crisis and see Orion dying a couple of issues before Bruce. Or pick up Zero Hour and see Waverider dying an issue or two before the JSA.

Oh! Wait a minute! That gives me another idea. Waverider and The JSA? Can they be far behind when a certain helmet wearing villain appeared in this very issue? Especially since what I've said before (without really saying it) also makes other factors fairly apparent!

Out with the new, and in with the old, anyone? Fingers crossed. Nuff said.

CONVERGENCE #3 CONVERGENCE #3 Reviewed by David Andrews on May 06, 2015 Rating: 5
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