Convergence: Blue Beetle #2 (July 2015)

Tags

Andromeda, Apparition, Blue Beagle, Blue Beetle, Brainiac 5, Bronze Age Captain Atom, Captain Atom, Catspaw, Chameleon, Chip Kidd, Colossal Boy, Computo, Cosmic Boy, Dave McCaig, Dick Giordano, Element Lad, Ferro, George Pérez, Inferno, Invisible Kid, Karate Kid, Kid Quantum, Leviathan, Live Wire, Saida Temofonte, Saturn Girl, Scott Lobdell, Sensor, Spark, Star Boy, The Question, Timber Wolf, Ultra Boy, Wildfire, Yishan Li

“Legion of Doom!”

• Writer:  Scott Lobdell
• Pencils & Inks:  Yishan Li
• Colors:  Dave McCaig
• Letters:  Saida Temofonte
• Cover Artists:  Chip Kidd, George Pérez, Dick Giordano

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(You’ve been warned.)

So this is the exciting conclusion to the Earth-4 heroes’ Convergence adventure.  It was better that Cap’s last “battle” in Convergence: Justice League International #2.  This time around he was a little more than just a punching bag.  And I really like the dynamic between Blue Beetle, the Question, and Captain Atom.  I would totally read an Earth-4 series with these three as the primary characters.

This issue opens with a quick reintroduction of the characters.  And I immediately have something to pick at.

Captain Atom is identified as “Nathaniel Adams.” Now, the Charlton Captain Atom’s name was Allen Adam, but I didn’t so much mind the retconning of him to Nathaniel.  After all, the Nathaniel Adam version of the character was my favorite.  But “Adams?”  It was revealed in the last issue that his last name was “Adam!”  See the panel below from Convergence: Blue Beetle #1:

I would love to be DC Comics’ “Captain Atom Fact Checker.”  Heck, I’d do it for free.  I enjoyed this issue and would really like to see more, but that was a little sloppy.  I know it could be worse.  These things happen.  The superhero Breach was once referred to as “Major Adams” (he was originally conceived as a reboot of Captain Atom).

On a downtown Hub City rooftop, the Legion of Super-Heroes descends from the sky to meet with Blue Beetle, the Question, and Captain Atom.  The three Hub City heroes climb atop Beetle’s Bug to meet with them.  The Legionnaires do not come out swinging though.  Cosmic Boy introduces them politely and asks which of the three is their leader.

After naming himself leader, Blue Beetle demands that the Legion surrender.  Cosmic Boy declines, saying he has no fear that the three Hub City heroes can take the Legionnaires.

Beetle electrifies the hull of the Bug to slow down the Legion while he, Cap and the Question jump inside.  Onboard, Tracy reveals that she has hacked into the Legion’s flight rings and has gathered tons of data on them.  Cap says he’s uncomfortable with a civilian like Ted Kord having this kind of tech but the Question shuts him up.

The Bug lurches, knocking them all off their feet.  Colossal Boy has grown to the size of one of the neighboring buildings and is shaking the ship.  Andromeda tries to stop him, but the Bug vanishes from Colossal Boy’s hands, teleporting about a mile away to another rooftop.  Their arrival is observed by a stray dog.

I’m wondering, did Blue Beetle always have this advanced tech?  I know he’s supposed to be super smart, but I don’t recall his ship teleporting. And if he had the technology to teleport objects, why did he even need the Bug?

Beetle tells his partners to keep the Legionnaires of his back for six minutes while he cooks something up.

The Legionnaires continue to search Hub City for its three heroes.  They seem split on the task at hand.  No one really wants a fight, but Telos has warned them that the losers’ cities will be destroyed and to not fight is to lose.  Brainiac 5 is confident the Legion can take on the other heroes.  He says only Captain Atom has real “powers,” and he is essentially raw energy.  Of course, Brainiac is wrong, and soon learns it when Cap blinds the Legion with some sort of light blast (new power?) and plows into them.

Cap blasts Cosmic Boy with a burst of energy.  Andromeda goes after Cap, but is knocked back by Chameleon (who seems to be bouncing off buildings for some reason).  Invisible Kid takes Cap from behind and grabs him as Ferro and Star Boy swoop in.

Back on the Bug, Beetle is reading up on a group of Legionnaires, hoping he has found the right ones for his plan.  Tracy tries to shoo away the stray dog (who has now boarded the ship), but Beetle decides to adopt him.

The Question takes on Brainiac 5 (no longer blinded) and seems to defeat him with a riddle.  Karate Kid asks the Question what he’s done to Brainiac.  I wonder, am I the only one who sees a missed opportunity here?  Karate Kid ends up fighting Earth-4 Charlton characters, but Judomaster is not among them?  How coold would that have been?  I mean, it seems like a no-brainer to me.

And just what the heck did the Question do to Brainiac 5?

Saturn Girl, Sensor, and Computo board the Bug.  Their Legion flight rings led them to Beetle’s hiding place.  Beetle tells them he needs the three of them for his plan.  They say it is crazy, but is it crazy enough to work?

Outside, Cap is facing off against Cosmic Boy, Andromeda, and Colossal Boy.  It looks as if this battle will soon be over for Captain Atom.

Just then, Hub City is hit by an earthquake.  In a matter of seconds the city is decimated.  All the heroes are seriously bummed out by this unexpected turn of events.

The Hub City heroes and the Legionnaires board the Bug, where they make a shocking discovery.  Looking outside the Bug’s windows, Hub City appears standing tall and suffering no damage.  Beetle reveals that he, Saturn Girl, Sensor, and Computo used their powers to make Hub City appear destroyed to the outside world.  This way Telos thinks he got his winner and the heroes can focus on teaming up to defeat him.

I really enjoyed this comic.  After the let-down of Convergence: Justice League International #2, I was not expecting much from this issue.  I was pleasantly surprised.  Not only did Captain Atom have a nice juicy role, but Blue Beetle got to show off his brains.  And the Question was there.

Okay, so the Question didn’t do much, but I like seeing him in action with Cap and Beetle.

I liked this story. It was clever and cute (particularly Blue Beagle).  And I really like Yishan Li’s style.  I wish this was an ongoing series.  I give this issue an A.

(All characters and images belong to DC Comics and I am not making any profit off this blog.)

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Convergence: Blue Beetle #1 (June 2015)

Tags

Blue Beetle, Booster Gold, Bronze Age Captain Atom, Captain Atom, Chip Kidd, David McCaig, Dick Giordano, Doctor Spectro, George Pérez, Nightshade, Saida Temofonte, Scott Lobdell, The Ghost, The Madmen, The Question, Yishan Li

“Convergence”

• Writer:  Scott Lobdell
• Pencils & Inks:  Yishan Li
• Colors: David McCaig
• Letters: Saida Temofonte
• Cover Artists:  George Perez, Dick Giordano, Chip Kidd

>>>SPOILERS<<< >>>SPOILERS<<< >>>SPOILERS<<< >>>SPOILERS<<< >>>SPOILERS<<< >>>SPOILERS<<<

(You’ve been warned.)

This is what I’ve been waiting for.  The Bronze Age (and “original”) Captain Atom returns in this Convergence tie-in.  Cameos aside, this version of Cap hasn’t seen this much action since Americomics Special: Sentinels of Justice #1 in 1983 (yes, Cap was a prominent character in Multiversity: Pax Americana #1, but he was not sporting the white hair, red tights, and silver arms designed by Steve Ditko in 1967).  And even this Captain Atom isn’t exactly the Bronze Age Cap (but close enough).  While I thoroughly enjoyed his return to the printed page, I’m wondering why this issue was a Blue Beetle and not called something else (Sentinels of Justice, perhaps).  Blue Beetle isn’t really the focus of the book.  There’s as much Captain Atom and the Question in this as there is Blue Beetle.  But that minor complaint does not make me enjoy this issue any less.  I was happy with it from start to finish and am extremely pleased to see Captain Atom in any form.

The issue opens with WHUB News reporter Vic Sage (aka the Question) reporting on a terrorist attack on the already-besieged Hub City.  One of the many cities domed and cut off by Telos, Hub City is at the mercy of the Madmen.  The Madmen – armed to the teeth – are facing off against the National Guard (led by Captain Nathaniel Adam).

Okay, so Irritating Minutia Point #1: This version of Captain Atom’s real name is Allen Atom, not Nathaniel Adam.  But they are essentially the same dude so I’ll let that one slide.

The Madmen open fire so Captain Adam’s men retaliate in kind.  However, they’ve brought some more heavy weapons than the Madmen.

Vic sends his crew to upload the story and approaches Captain Adam in the aftermath of the destruction.  The Madmen appear to have all been killed.  Donning his Question mask, Vic says he’s not pleased with Adam’s handling of the Madmen situation, but that isn’t what he wants to talk about.  He tells Adam that Ted Kord requires his help.  The two part ways, with Adam not very thrilled at the prospect of hanging out with Ted.

Later, in the rooftop lab of Ted Kord at the top of Kord Industries headquarters, Ted’s assistant Tracy questions Ted about his latest “nothing burger” invention and his need to put a door in the roof of the building.  Captain Adam enters (with his side-arm drawn!?!?!?) and Ted accosts him at once about the attack on the Madmen.

Ted reveals his new invention may free Hub City from the dome and wants Nate’s approval to try.  Thinking back on the pile of dead Madmen, Nate says he has no objection.  Ted pulls a lever and the machine fires a pink blast at the dome.  It appears to not even scratch the surface.  Ted collapses, sure he’s failed, but Tracy tells him to take a look at Nate.

Captain Atom has returned to full power.  As the two heroes bicker over whether or not Ted should be allowed to suit up as Blue Beetle, Cap notices a bunch of swirly colors in the sky.  Figuring he knows what this means, Captain Atom flies off to investigate.

Irritating Minutia Point #2:  There is clearly a door in the ceiling of the room they’re in.  Tracy questioned Ted about it earlier and Ted shot a pink ray at the dome through it.  Why did Cap burst through a wall to exit the room?  Is he just being an ass?  I do like that Yishan Li drew the little sparkles around Cap, though.  Haven’t seen those in a while.

Above the streets of Hub City, Cap finds Dr. Spectro blasting the dome with his colorful rays.  Cap automatically (and wrongly, of course) assumes Spectro is behind the dome and demands answers.  The two are interrupted by the bizarre appearance out of thin air of a costumed individual neither of them recognize.

It is Booster Gold, who does not exist in the Hub City Earth (Earth-4 for those of you keeping score).  Cap assumes Booster is in league with Spectro and gives him an atomic blast.  Blue Beetle, now in costume, hurries to the fight and arrives just as Booster fades away.  This scene has played out before.  We saw it from Booster’s perspective in Booster Gold: Futures End #1 in November 2014.

As soon as Booster vanishes, Cap loses his powers.  He drops from the sky and Blue Beetle scrambles to catch him.  Neither of them are concerned about Dr. Spectro, who also loses his powers and drops out of the sky.  The Question appears on the rooftop with them, but neither Blue Beetle or Captain Adam are interested in what he has to say.

Thinking Hub City is falling victim to an earthquake, the three heroes jump off the roof onto Beetle’s Bug (piloted by Tracy).  The building they were on transforms into Telo, who tells them they must fight the heroes of the other captive cities.  The dome drops, resulting in Captain Atom’s powers returning again.

The dome drops and the heroes brace themselves for what comes next (in Convergence: Blue Beetle #2).  To be continued.

We are treated with a brief history of the Charlton characters of Blue Beetle, Captain Atom, and the Question.

Yishan Li is a capable artist, perhaps not my favorite but by no means bad.  I give his art an A.  Scott Lobdell, I feel, did the best he could with what he had (basically this is just setting up the big fight with the Legionnaires next issue) so I give this issue an A for writing as well.

(All characters and images belong to DC Comics and I am not making any profit off these characters or images.)