Convergence: Superman #2 (2015)

Convergence: Superman #2 (July, 2015)
Writer/Artist - Dan Jurgens
Ink Art - Norm Rapmund
Letters - Tom Napolitano
Color - Brad Anderson
Assistant Editor - Brittany Holzherr
Editor - Marie Javins
Cover Price: $3.99

Sometimes I feel a bit weird about covering "key" issues.  I never think I can add anything that hasn't already been said.  Today we're going to discuss a wonderful issue... and one that features the first appearance of our current post-Rebirth Superboy, Jonathan Kent.

Let's get right down to it...

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We open with Batman receiving some intel regarding the goings on toward the end of the previous chapter.  His monitors display the fight between his teammates and this new mysterious Kryptonian (and his compatriot in the flying car).  He again considers that this man may hail from Barry Allen's universe... the one in which his son Bruce still lives.

On the battlefield, Superman regains the upper hand.  He again suggests a peaceful resolution... however, the Flashpointers remain wary.  They cite the disembodied voice that delivered THE SPEECH.  One city lives... one dies.  And so, they lay into the Man of Steel.  While Captain Thunder pummels Superman, he hears Lois' cry for help over his earpiece.  Now... there isn't anything or anyone on any planet that can stop him.

Superman smashes Captain Thunder's head into the dirt.  Abin Sur and Cyborg take up the slack and begin to unload... that is, until Jimmy Olsen finally makes himself useful by nailing them with a Whiz Wagon wallop of a blast.

Jimmy gives Superman the thumbs up... and, perhaps I'm reading a bit deep, but seems to hint at knowing Superman and Clark Kent are the same fella.  He's like, if Lois should be about to give birth... she might want her husband with her... wink wink.  Eh, who knows... Either way, Superman heads toward the Gotham he's called home for the past year.

How much do you know, Olsen?

At the Batcave, Subject-1 arrives with a ready-to-pop Lois Lane.  Batman is surprised that El sussed out all of his secrets... but, ya know... Kryptonian.  No secrets here, pal.  We get a bit of expositional information about the Project: Superman miniseries... reaffirming that Lois Lane was very important to Subject-1.  Wayne is a bit put off... he's not sure how bringing in a pre-Flashpointer might effect the "rules" of the Convergence game.

Superman arrives at his and Lois' apartment... and sees that his wife set up the webcam to record what had occurred there earlier.  Also, she is still in possession of the earpiece, which makes her a bit easier to track.  Abin Sur arrives, however, comes in peace.  He suggests that Superman is not his enemy, and proceeds to fill him in on Subject-1's Lois Lane-fixation.  

He also provides the origin for the Flashpoint Batman... we already know that this ain't Bruce, but Thomas.  Superman understands what this likely means.  El brought her to Thomas because he's a doctor... and, ya know... it might just be time.

Superman makes haste, and arrives at the Batcave pretty quick.  On his way in he spears Subject-1 into a wall... which is pretty cool.  Superman and Batman make it clear right off the bat that they have no reason to fight... he even suggests Lois deliver here in the Batcave, as it would keep them safer from an irate Captain Thunder.  Hospitality notwithstanding, Thomas refuses to deliver the baby.  He's given up such things since losing his son.

It's up to Clark to deliver his own child... and it takes almost two whole hours.

At 5:18, Lois Lane-Kent gave birth to a bouncing baby boy.  The new parents bounce a few baby-names off one another, and settle on a name that pays tribute to both of their fathers.  Welcome to the Universe Jonathan Samuel Kent.

We close out with the Super-family expressing their love for one another... which, for all we knew... was going to be the last time we ever saw them.

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I absolutely loved and hated this issue the first time I read it.  It was bar-none the greatest Superman story I'd read in... probably over a decade.  After almost four years of the New-52... and several years of weird stories which spanned from Superman books without Superman in them... to a Superman who decided he was going to walk across the country, this was an unexpected and absolute pleasure.

This was a Superman I could actually recognize.  Not an attitudinal, brash, collared Superman... but the one that I can imagine looking up to.  This is "the symbol"... the hero all other heroes being in awe of... which is never a feeling I got from the New-52 iteration.

So yeah... loved this.  But, also hated it.  Hated it for being so good... for being so, at the time... final.  I hated that we were leaving these amazing characters behind.  This ties such a beautiful bow on the post-Crisis Lois and Clark, that it really felt as though the final page was their "in amber" moment.  I do recall that Convergence ended with the Kents heading back to avert the Crisis on Infinite Earths... so, yeah... I think the smart money was on them never showing up again.

This story was so good... that it's hard for me to point out some bits and pieces, but I'm gonna anyway.  There is very little resolution here in regard to the Gotham vs. Gotham... which, if I'm being honest, I couldn't care less about.  Still worth a mention, though.  Does the pre-Flashpoint Gotham "die" because their "champion" left?  Who knows.  Maybe they mentioned it in the main Convergence miniseries... I don't recall, and I'm not interested enough to dig it out.

This is the issue where a I kind of feel like a veil was lifted for me.  It was with this story that I came to realize something that I should have known for the past couple of decades... that Dan Jurgens is the definitive Superman creator of my generation/lifetime.  So much of how I view Superman... hell, comics in general, I owe to the talents of Dan Jurgens.  I bought (and read) every single issue of the Convergence event... and I gotta say, since it made this two-parter possible, it was all worth it.

Like I said yesterday... this mini is highly recommended.  It is the story from which the Superman we read today stemmed.  If you haven't read it... you probably should.  I can't help but feel DC missed the mark by not including this in the Road to Rebirth-branded Superman: Lois and Clark trade paperback.  Still worth tracking down, though!

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Variant Cover:

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Convergence: Superman #1 (2015)

Convergence: Superman #1 (June, 2015)
"Superman Again"
Writer - Dan Jurgens
Art - Lee Weeks
Colorist - Brad Anderson
Lettering - Sal Cipriano
Assistant Editors - Brittany Holzherr & Michael Kraiger
Editor - Marie Javins
Cover Price: $3.99

Decided to spend another weekend in Convergence-land.  Had a pretty good time checking in with Batman and HIS Outsiders last week... figure I should revisit my absolute favorite Convergence tie-in.  I'm guessing this's anything but an unpopular opinion... but the return of the Real-Steel-Deal, was an absolute highlight of the whole endeavor.  I'd say it made the entire thing worthwhile... but what do I know?

Like I mentioned last weekend, I accidentally ordered my bundle with the lame-o Chip Kidd variants... so the cover above ain't mine.  The cover below... is.

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We're in Gotham City, and a masked vigilante stalks the night.  He watches a drug transaction from atop a building overlooking an alley.  I wonder how much drugs cost "under the dome"... gotta figure demand would go up as the supply goes down, right?  Anyhoo, our man checks in with his radio-mate, Lois Lane who reminds him that he's "not him".  He tells her he's "got this" and hops down to break up the deal.  As he does, we hear a single line from THE SPEECH.

The fight gets pretty ugly quick... one of the baddies pulls out a flamethrower and nails him... luckily, we've heard THE SPEECH... which means the dome is no more, and the super-set get their powers back, because... ya see, this vigilante is Superman.  Okay, not a huge shock... but there ya go.

He makes quick work of the would-be drug lords.  He then grabs a conveniently "in Gotham" Jimmy Olsen so we can get some exposition about "dome life" out of the way before returning "home" to his... very pregnant wife, Lois Lane.  They're both happy that their baby can be born in Metropolis.

After a minute of basking in the possibility that their lives will return to normal after a powerless year in "bat town", Lois plays Clark the recording she made of THE SPEECH.  They realize that they are no longer on Earth... and it looks as though Superman might just be in for a fight before long.  He leaves Gotham and flies into the unknown.

We shift scenes to Gotham City... well, another Gotham City, can't have too many, right?  This is the Gotham from Flashpoint... and we observe as Batman (Thomas Wayne) addresses Cyborg, El (from Project: Superman), Green Lantern (Abin Sur) and Captain Thunder (Captain Marvel/Shazam).  Batman spots a "flier" heading their way, and instructs his team to "take him out".

Jimmy Olsen is meeting with Emil Hamilton, who was also, as luck would have it, in Gotham City when the dome went up.  They are at S.T.A.R. Labs, which is designed very much like the S.T.A.R. in Metropolis.  The Prof gives Jimmy a transportation device... more on that in a bit.

Superman continues his flight, but is knocked out of the sky by a blue blur... a very chatty blue blur, who rattles on about knowing that "she's alive".

Before Superman can compose himself, he is tackled by Captain Thunder.  The two enter into battle with Superman quickly getting the upper hand.  His celebration is short-lived, however, as (a conflicted) Abin Sur and Cyborg arrive on the scene.  Batman is watching, and comments that this Meta resembles Subject-1 (El).

The Flashpointers unload on Superman... all the while, Lois is in Clark's ear encouraging him to try reasoning with his attackers.  Superman promises the crew he's not there to hurt them... and they stand down, willing to hear him out.  Unfortunately, it is at this point that Jimmy Olsen arrives with his new whip... the Whiz Wagon, armed to the teeth with ballistics.

Well, the Flashpointers don't dig that... and so the fight starts up again.  We shift to Subject-1 who has arrived in the pre-Flashpoint Gotham... following the voice of the one person who was ever nice to him... Lois Lane.  Uh oh.

We rejoin Batman who is researching the "other" Gotham.  It isn't long before he realizes that this Gotham might just be the one from Barry Allen's world... the world where his son Bruce is still alive.

We wrap up at Lois and Clark's apartment... where Lois finds herself with a surprise guest... Subject-1.  I'm tellin' ya, this is one heckuva creepy scene... it's really quite excellent.

He just keeps approaching... saying he's there to take care of her... really creepy!  While this is going down, Superman is being beaten soundly by the Flashpoint heroes.

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Manoman... how nice was it to read this Superman again?  Such a bittersweet book.  I mean, back in the Spring-Summer of 2015, we never would have thought that the real-steel-deal would ever come back in a permanent kinda way.  I think many of us figured that this was where we would leave him.  We'll talk more about that tomorrow...

Here we sorta kinda sidestep the SPEECH, which is a good thing.  We do get to hear it, but it's not nearly as intrusive and interrupty as it usually is.  I'm cool with devoting a few panels, rather than having our hero stare blankly at the helix dome for a few pages while Telos delivers his spiel.  It was a nice touch that the issue basically opens with a powered-Superman.

I remember when this hit, one of the common complaints was the fact that Brainiac seems to need a countless amount of Gotham Cities... it really stinks that this Superman issue didn't get to take place in Metropolis.  Instead, we needed to excuse Lois, Jimmy, and even Emil Hamilton all being in Gotham during Dome Day... and somehow Batman not also being there.  Seems silly... I mean, I get it... Gotham's "cool", but c'mon.  Also, I didn't realize that the S.T.A.R. Labs building in Gotham is identical to the one in Metropolis... oh well.

The Flashpoint League, from yet another Gotham... eh, I can take them or leave them.  I think I associate them too much with the end of my DCU, that I have a real hard time accepting or caring about them.  That being said, I did like Thomas Wayne's callback to being visited by the Flash during the Flashpoint event proper.  I wasn't expecting that.  

Also, El from Project: Superman... that's a scary dude.  He was used perfectly here, and really brings with him a true sense of danger.  It can't be stated enough... the ending scene here was extremely creepy and very well done.  This was one of the very few Convergence tie-ins where I was actually engaged and looking forward to the conclusion.  Most of the rest were, sadly, just time-wasting fight scenes... this, however, was pretty damn riveting.  Especially with the idea that we were "saying goodbye" to these heroes... nothing was really off the table.  Not saying Lois would die... but, we had to wonder just how far Superman would go in order to protect his wife and unborn child.  Great stuff.

Overall... this is my favorite Convergence tie-in, and I'd bet many longtime DC Comics fans feel the same way.  If you're currently reading the Superman books, and you haven't read this yet... you should.  This two-part tale takes us into Superman: Lois and Clark... which takes us right into the current Rebirth landscape.  The story of Jon starts here... well, actually next issue... but you may as well read this one first.

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(Instead of the) Letters Page:

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Variant Cover:

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