Review: CONVERGENCE: JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #1

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CONVERGENCE: JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #1
Written by Fabian Nicieza
Art by ChrisCross and SnakeBite
Published by DC Comics
Release Date: April 22, 2015

Fair warning: I am an 80s comics baby. This week is officially my heaven. Proceed accordingly.

A year has passed under the dome. The heroes are scattered, including the famed Justice League of America. Only thing is, what you thought of as the Justice League was already gone, disbanded at the end of another world crisis. In its place is a ragtag set of heroes that you might never have heard of.

Elongated Man. Vixen. Vibe. Zatanna. The Manhunter from Mars. Gypsy. Steel.

Oh, and Aquaman. Him you’ve heard of. The irony is, thirty years later, this is still the team I have some of the fondest memories of, but this issue didn’t live up to those childhood memories. It exceeded them.

Fabian Nicieza has crafted a reintroduction to the wayward heroes of Earth-1, the legacy of the Silver and Bronze ages of DC Comics, that elevates them to the level they never quite reached back in the day. Their “Big Three”, as described by narrator and long lost adorable heroine Sue Dibny, come off as so majestic and accomplished that it’s suddenly easy to forget they were considered also-rans. Aquaman has a physical prowess that certainly lives up to our current expectations. Zatanna is engulfed in magic in a way we haven’t quite seen before. And the Martian Manhunter pretty much does it all, in a way we are used to today, but was still developing circa 1984.

That is not to say that Nicieza doesn’t focus his attention on the lesser-powered characters, and in fact, puts Sue and her super-stretchable husband at the center of the entire narrative. Their kiss opening the series is like a love letter for so many fans of even later years, that I might argue that page of dialogue is worth the price of admission alone. Vibe is not nearly as annoying as he was stereotypically portrayed once upon a time, and Gypsy is just as interesting as she was under the original creative team’s pen. If anything, I’m excited to see Steel and Vixen get their moments in the coming part 2.

I would doubtfully be as enamored with the entire issue, however, if it wasn’t also for the exceptional work contributed by artists ChrisCross and SnakeBite. ChrisCross’s robust figures and sensational page layouts keep the action flowing in what could otherwise be a bit of talking heads for the majority of the issue. But make no mistake, once the Secret Six arrives from their city plucked from the Tangent Universe, the artist is given his real chance to shine. All the characters are beautifully rendered, with my favorite moment of all being the Joker breaking the panel construction and practically jumping off the page.

ChrisCross’s facial expressions are so compelling for the most part, with only one or two seeming a little “off”, as if Zatanna suddenly had sucked the juice out of a lemon. SnakeBite’s colors leap off the page, given an extra edge to both Zatanna and Vibe’s powers that help display their potential for greatness. But the looks between Ralph and Sue — those are the winning moments. It’s easy to forget just how great some of these characters can be when we’ve spent nearly thirty years laughing at their inadequacies. That is very hard to do with a master like ChrisCross delivering them on the page.

To be honest, Convergence: Justice League of America was the title going into this week I had the biggest doubts about. Could any creative team treat these characters with respect, knowing — quite frankly — most fans wouldn’t? I clearly had nothing to worry about. Providing the book of the week in my estimation, Nicieza and company have done this team proud and given us a true representation of what it means to be a Justice League after all. I could read about their exploits for years if given the chance. Here’s hoping I am.

The Verdict: 9.5/10

 

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