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Review: Convergence Titans #2

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convergence-titans002One of the common themes among Convergence is to give back little pieces to comic fans of what they lost with the onset of the new 52.  Some of these are unfinished stories, and some are characters who have not yet reappeared.  Among the most prominent of these is Lian, the daughter of Roy Harper, who had a fan following during her brief tenure in comics.  Among one of the more controversial decisions by writers in recent years was to kill her off, leading to insanity of her father, but she nonetheless remained at the top of most lists of characters that fans wanted back.

The Titans of the Convergence world are squared off against the Extremists, a group of Villains who had for a time been the main enemies of Justice League Europe, all of whom were facsimiles of major Marvel villains.  The world of Convergence is one which seems to be poorly conceived, with the pre-new 52 heroes being spared beneath a series of domes controlled by Brainiac.  With only a select group capable of surviving heroes must face heroes in order to battle for their own existence, even though the exact mechanics of this system is not yet understood.  The previous issue saw the return of the Titans, or at least a part thereof which featured Donna Troy, Starfire and Roy Harper.  The latter two have seen some success in the pages of Red Hood and the Outlaws, although this series is being rebooted post-Convergence.  Donna Troy only recently reappeared in the pages of Wonder Woman, and her reception there has raised only more controversy.  Here as they battle the Extremists the true battle is underway for the fate of Lian, far from a certainty as even in this continuity she has died.

This issue ends up being an ode to the love of a father for his daughter, and the extent to which he will go to get her back from the dead.  The remainder of the issue is a relatively humdrum effort with a lot of what we have seen before in comics.  The Extremists are out of the 1980s, and the storytelling and action seems to follow along accordingly.  For those that have wanted to see a return of Lian, this might be as good as they are going to get for a while, though with the end of Convergence still up in the air, it remains to be seen exactly how that will play out.  This short two issue Convergence series existed primarily for that purpose and if this comic is to have any value, then it will be to determine the exact fate of this prematurely killed character.

Story: Fabian Nicieza  Art: Ron Wagner 
Story: 7.5  Art: 7.5   Overall: 7.5  Recommendation: Read

Review: Convergence Titans #1

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titans001Of all the characters to receive a makeover in the new 52, it is perhaps the original Teen Titans that have fared the worst.  The team was replaced almost completely with newer versions of older characters, and those older characters were left behind in part in the old continuity.  This Convergence title focuses on three DC heroes that have been trapped in Gotham City under the superpower nullifying dome – Donna Troy, Starfire and Arsenal.  The choice of these three is interesting as their histories are full of some controversy already.  Donna Troy had her origin story told and retold numerous times since the post-Crisis Wonder Woman was introduced, to the point that her own character’s history is confusing.  Starfire didn’t live as much controversy until she was introduced in the new 52 as a purely sexual creature (though the writers have backed off from that since) and her fans yearned for a return to the pre-Flashpoint version of the character.  It is perhaps Roy Harper who was the most controversial though, as fans had found a favorite in his daughter Lian, and when it was revealed that she had never existed in the new 52, they got the opposite of what they wanted.

This story focuses mostly on that of Roy, still trying to deal with the death of his daughter.  The heroes have moved on since the imposition of the dome, although Roy is ready for the return of something vile.  They get this return when the Extremists show up on Gotham’s doorstep after being gone for so long.  The Extremists are an interesting footnote in DC history.  They formed one of the main villain groups which fought the Justice League and Justice League Europe, but the group of villains were all loose facsimiles of Marvel villains (Doctor Doom, Doctor Octopus, Magneto, Sabretooth and Dormammu).  Thus while other heroes or anti-heroes from this same Gotham are facing other foes (such as the Zoo Crew) this group of heroes is facing villains from not only a different place, but also kind of from a different company.

The main problem with this (and many other Convergence titles) is that it is hard to see exactly where it is going.  At the same time the concept is not really gripping, and doesn’t really draw the reader in to its world.  It is still interesting to see where this can go, but this interpretation of the cherished and missed characters feels like they have forgotten what made them popular to begin with.  It is after all likely that every single group of characters will prevail against the somewhat random selection of foes it has to face, most of whom are not relevant to modern readers, even those from before Flashpoint.  Therefore this kind of feels like a fluffy but also mostly fun interlude before we find out what exactly is going to happen to these other characters

Story: Fabian Nicieza  Art: Ron Wagner 
Story: 7.7  Art: 7.7   Overall: 7.7  Recommendation: Read

Review: Wonder Woman #40

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ww040There has been little that has not been contentious about the run of this new creative team on this title since they took over, or even before they took over.  Some challenged Meredith Finch for her lack of experience as a writer.  Others saw problems with David Finch’s explanation of the Amazon princess as something other than a feminist.  The criticism of the series didn’t relent once it was actually released with the new team at the helm, but while some of this criticism is due, much of it is not, as people are comparing what is essentially a return to the monthly norm against Azzarello’s thought provoking run on the title.

Where this series potentially had the best chance to regain some readers while also maintaining interest for those already on board, was through the reintroduction of Donna Troy.  While the timing seems a bit odd considering that Convergence in this same month could give the conditions for reintroducing this character from her pre-Flashpoint days, she was instead reintroduced a few months previously.  The reintroduction was a gran enough gesture to return Wonder Woman to a bit of normality, but with the sometimes maddening focus put on Wonder Woman’s different roles in this series, between superhero, queen and goddess, the return of Donna could have acted as an anchor to the series which was wavering.  It is therefore a bit of a disappointment in this series that Donna Troy is continually used as a deux ex machina on an issue by issue basis, and finally when she is allowed to cut loose here that it is completely out of character from her past.

Perhaps the creative team has something else in mind for where the character is heading, or some other big reveal about Donna Troy or how she could be presented as a hero and not a villain, but at the moment the direction of this series remains confusing.  The potential is there for this series to succeed with this creative team, only it would appear that the wrong pieces are being used at the wrong time.  Instead this needs a back-to-basics approach and to focus on what makes this character popular to begin with.  With the onset of Convergence, it allows for a bit of a break hopefully and to refocus the series to get back on the desired track, as it started out well with this team, but has been gradually declining in its coherence since then.

Story: Meredith Finch Art: David Finch
Story: 7.0 Art: 7.0 Overall: 7.0 Recommendation: Pass