Convergence #0

By Dan Jurgens, Jeff King, Ethan Van Sciver and Marcel Maiolo

This month DC gives us a tease to their big event that is coming with Convergence #0. It seems that both of the big comic companies are doing something similar with their line and are looking to condense the number of universes. Hopefully this will be the beginning of the next great event from DC comics.

Dan Jurgens and Jeff King deliver the set up issue for this event and they do just that. The issue itself is just a little slow overall though. The focus is on Brainiac and the New 52 Superman as he sees multiple cities from multiple worlds. Jurgens and King don’t do a bad job of setting the stage, but they didn’t really give us much to chew on. The issue is very wordy and isn’t initially reader friendly if you aren’t reading certain titles. From the opening page we are thrown into an exchange between Superman and Braniac that might leave you questioning what this is about. The last few pages did set up the event, but this was essentially a needless issue.

The art in this book is done by Ethan Van Sciver and Marcel Maiolo and it’s by far the best thing about the issue. Ethan Van Sciver’s pencils look wonderful from the first page to the last. We get to see a bit of a grizzled Superman as he is imprisoned in one of Brainiac’s tests, which is fun. Van Sciver has a style that just seems to fit with whatever title he is on. The page of Clark seeing himself die numerous times is by far the best of the book, but Van Sciver really puts a ton of effort into every page. The colors by Marcel Maiolo suit Van Sciver’s art nicely. You may be familiar with Maiolo’s work with Andrea Sorrentino’s pop art style, so it’s nice to see him lay down some regular colors here.

Convergence #0 doesn’t seem like it really needed to be made. It essentially set up the series in two pages, which probably could have been done in Future’s End or Earth 2. Dan Jurgens and Jeff King didn’t do a terrible job, but this is honestly an unnecessary book. The one redeeming quality comes from the art and colors by Ethan Van Sciver and Marcel Maiolo. If you find the price tag a little too steep, feel free to pass on this.