Just as it has the past three Tuesdays, DC has announced another set of “Convergence” tie-ins, this time featuring pre-Crisis heroes from a variety of Earths. Newsarama had the exclusive on the five Earth 2 titles (“Justice Society of America,” “Action Comics,” “Infinity Inc,” “Detective Comics,” and “World’s Finest Comics”), while Entertainment Weekly handled the Earth 3 (“Crime Syndicate”), Earth 4 (“Blue Beetle”), Earth S (“Shazam”), Earth X (“Plastic Man and the Freedom Fighters”), and the elusive “multiple Earths” book (“Booster Gold”).
Some of the creative teams are downright awe-inspiring, like Jeff Parker and Doc Shaner on “Shazam,” or Len Wein, Denys Cowan and Bill Sienkiewicz on “Detective Comics,” but others are sorely disappointing, such as having Scott Lobdell tackle the Charlton Earth 4 characters just a few months after Grant Morrison handled them. The art, much like last week’s titles, doesn’t, in most cases, accurately reflect the look of the era. Again, whether this is intentional or not remains to be seen, but some of these books appear to be at least somewhat stylistically representative, if not accurate.
The antagonists for this round are also the most diverse, drawing from everything from “Gotham by Gaslight,” the Qward and “Red Son” Universe, a post-apocalyptic Jonah Hex, and even “Futures End” robots.
Of most interest, however, is a relatively throwaway line in Newsarama’s coverage.
Multiple worlds from multiple eras of DC’s multiverse will come together on Brainiac’s Blood Moon to fight for their relevance.
If the worlds are fighting for their relevance, will the winning worlds “survive” and get their own books? If so, the stakes for this just got much, much higher.
And good lord, please let there be an ongoing Parker/Shaner “Shazam” book. Would asking for it to be called “Captain Marvel” be too much? Probably? Ok, I’ll pipe down.
Check out all the solicitations and images below.
JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA
Writer: Dan Abnett
Artists: Tom Derenick and Trevor Scott
Colorist: Monica Kubina
Older and in full retirement under the dome, members of the Justice Society get the chance to regain their youths to stave off forces from the Qward Universe. But the promise of youth comes with a deadly price.
INFINITY INC.
Writer: Jerry Ordway
Artist: Ben Caldwell
Colorist: Jordie Bellaire
The young heroes of Infinity Inc. must choose between the path set for them by their parents or the one they’ve set for themselves as they face post-apocalyptic Jonah Hex.
DETECTIVE COMICS
Writer: Len Wein
Artists: Denys Cowan and Bill Sienkiewicz
Colorist: Felix Serrano
Helena Wayne and Dick Grayson fight side by side in memory of Bruce Wayne as they decide who will become the next Batman.
ACTION COMICS
Writer: Justin Gray
Artists: Claude St-Aubin and Sean Parsons
Colorist: Lovern Kindzierski
Superman teams up with Power Girl, but can they stop a nuclear strike from Lex Luthor and Stalin of Red Son Moscow?
WORLD’S FINEST COMICS
Writer: Paul Levitz
Artists: Jim Fern and Joe Rubinstein with cartoons by Shannon Wheeler
Colorist: Paul Mounts
The Seven Soldiers of Victory regroup to defend their city against the Qward invasion, while cartoonist Scribbly Jibbet transcribes their adventures.
CRIME SYNDICATE
Writer: Brian Buccellato
Artist: Phil Winslade
Colorist: Lovern Kindzierski
The Crime Syndicate’s absolute control of their city is challenged when the dome comes down and changes everything. Now, Superwoman is on death row while the rest of the team fights One Million Universe’s Batman and Superman!
BLUE BEETLE
Writer: Scott Lobdell
Artist: Yishan Li
Colorist: Dave McCaig
Hub City is on the brink of collapse and anarchy! But its heroes—Blue Beetle, Captain Atom, and Question—find inspiration and strength from the most unlikely source.
SHAZAM
Writer: Jeff Parker
Continued below
Artist: Evan “Doc” Shaner
Colorist: Jordie Bellaire
It’s Shazam versus Steampunk, as the world of Gotham By Gaslight takes on the Captain Marvel family and friends.
PLASTIC MAN AND THE FREEDOM FIGHTERS
Writer: Simon Oliver
Artist: John McCrea
Colorist: John Kalisz
Plastic Man and the Freedom Fighters are on the gallows in a New York taken over by Nazis, when robot super-heroes attack from Futures End and enemies become allies.
BOOSTER GOLD
Writer: Dan Jurgens
Artists: Alvaro Martinez and Raul Fernandez
Colorist: Chris Sotomayor
Trapped with Rip Hunter and other time travelers, Booster and his future self must work together to get out of prison and off the planet.
