CONVERGENCE - FLASH #2

[ FLASH MY COUPONS ] 

The universe is a vast and complicated organism, comprising of endings, beginnings, as well as a pretty decent pair of super-fast running shoes. Well, how else am I going to keep up with Dan Abnett and Federico Dallocchio, in May, 2015? DC Comics have given them a head start, and I'm going to need all the help I can get. BANG! Zippp!

To QUOTE Vince Lombardi: 'Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence'.

THE STORY:

'So the two of us are now expected to fight, are we?', says the Superman from Earth-9 to the Flash from Earth-Prime. 'Yes. I believe that is what we have to do', replies the Flash.

'But why?' exclaims Superman, 'Why should the two of us fight it out? When in actuality we're both true heroes of our respective domains, doing what we must to save our cities from some sort of external entity, vile beyond human comprehension'. 'Beats me!', says the Flash. And he does, in a manner of speaking, until these two heroes finally come to the realisation that sometimes a winner needs to lose if he wants to win.

Hey! Don't blame me. That's what it says at the end of this comic book, pal. Don't shoot the messenger, shoot the idiot who came up with this crap to begin with.

Not an end. Not for now.

THE GOOD:

I thought one of the most intriguing aspects of this adventure was in that initial section where the Flash and Superman tried to analyse the dire situation they were placed in. From my point of view, their dissection of the actual plot of Convergence was very engrossing to follow. And I especially liked the way they both had some fun with their analyses, primarily centered towards Telo's motivations, almost as if the writer of this piece, Dan Abnett, was getting his revenge for being given such a half-assed assignment to pen.

On very similar lines I also liked the way the tale ended as well. What with Superman's sudden realisation that Barry is a pivotal character, and in many ways his final fate in Crisis on Infinite Earths, epitomized every other crisis driven event from then on in.  

The artwork was good too. Not brilliant. Yet I have to give Federico Dallocchio his dues for choreographing a pretty decent fight scene that was fairly straight forward to follow, as well as a lengthy dialogue exchange that was a lot more than just two talking heads.

THE BAD:

The only thing I found at fault with this issue was that its narrative structure was one part talking, one part fighting, and more or less, there was nothing much to it in relation to the bigger picture.

Of course, I do mean this with all due respect: As I did like reading the discourse between Barry and Supes before following their battle. It's just that at the end of the day this tale accomplished absolutely nothing. A fight was fought. Two people talked. Aires were viewed. And that was about it really. Nothing more. Nothing less.  

THE MUSIC:

Throughout this story Superman kept on saying to Barry that he's a lot more powerful than he is, and boasted that if it ever came to it, he would be able to beat him in a fair fight. And so, with that in mind, how could I not musically match up this tale with the Twisted Sister song, 'I Will Win'?

THE COMPARISON:
It looks as though the two heroes who starred in this comic book came up with this month's comparison before me. Because in it, both Superman and the Flash clearly compared the situation they were facing with an episode of 'Star Trek'. You know. One of those episodes that didn't make much sense, Ha!

THE CONCLUSION:

At the end of this adventure Barry finally understands something which will help him out in years to come. So, just for fun -- never -- can you hazard a guess at what that something is out of the following eight options.  

1. Never piss off a man who's more powerful than you.
2. Red is a dangerous colour to wear in front of someone who hates red, who has a gun, and a axe, and a death ray, and a nuclear bomb.
3. Running fast is a very good trick, but what's even better is the power to control the entire universe.
4. Gun's don't kill people, people kill people.
5. Try to keep your spirits up by getting pissed on a gallon of spirits.
6. Always try to run in straight lines, especially if the path ahead is fairly straight.
7. Love only conquers all, yet only if love is comprised of a gun, and a axe, and a death ray, and a nuclear bomb.
8. If you want to scratch your nuts, never do it in public, with your pants down, and with two hungry dogs dribbling by your feet.

Nuff said.