Review: Convergence- Zero Hour Book 2

Quick Summary

Pros: Each of the stories here has some fun action and heroics. The Supergirl and Green Lantern stories are memorable in their own way.

Cons: Most of the stories here are only average and the formula they use gets old after a while.

Overall: This is a book with plenty of fun action but not a lot to help define it as something unique. The stories told here are all engaging and a few of the stories even offer something worthwhile beyond that. However, when read back to back, patterns emerge among the stories and the general experience begins to dull. This book is ok for anyone but is most likely to appeal to readers who enjoy the book’s main characters.

Story

Convergence: Zero Hour Book 2 tells a variety of stories that succeed in generating fun levels of action and excitement but fail in standing out as something unique or memorable. Most of the interactions here are rather generic confrontations between heroes and other heroes that end up playing out in the same way. Each one, on its own, is exciting but the appeal starts to die down after a while. The main exception is that two of the stories play out in unique ways, with one offering wacky hijinks and the other offering a meaningful look at a classic character. These entertaining adventures help bolster the quality of this collection as a whole, pushing it just above mediocre. In the end, this isn’t a bad book but it also isn’t one many fans will be blown away with.

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Zero Hour Book 2 is filled with stories that involve action, suspense, and even a little tricky. It has heroes from the pre-Zero Hour age of comics go up against characters primarily pulled from the Wildstorm Universe. This creates a number of battles where the heroes are forced to utilize a more creative approach than normal in order to best their enemy. In general, the battles that take place here are exciting and fun to watch.

The problem here is that most of these encounters end up playing out the same way. The heroes discover their enemy, run into some sort of problem, defeat their enemy, and then everyone ends up teaming up in order to take down Telos. This formula, or a variation on it, plays out in the majority of this collection’s stories and was also used in Zero Hour Book 1 (Review). This makes the stories feel stale and unoriginal, especially since none of the stories here use the formula as well as the Superboy story from Book 1. They are still exciting and have fun moments, they simply aren’t as memorable as one would hope.

The only significant exception to this relatively mundane level of quality can be found in the Supergirl and the Green Lantern stories. The Supergirl story is a madcap adventure based in wacky humor with a few satisfying moments packed into the mix. Though this particular brand of humor may not appeal to every reader, it helps define this story as something unique and is also written in a way that complements these characters well. Meanwhile, the Green Lantern story revisits an incredibly interesting time in Hal Jordan’s life and really digs into the struggle between Hal’s will and the manipulative power of the Parallax entity. This examination is interesting on its own but is even more worthwhile for readers who remember this specific time in the Green Lantern saga. Both of these stories help enhance this collection as a whole but do not shine quite bright enough to cover for the lackluster stories that dominate the rest of this volume.

(spoilers end here)

Art

The artwork in Zero Hour Book 2 is alright for the most part but, like the story, does not have enough positives to allow it to stand out as something special. The highlights throughout this book include Timothy Green II’s stylize and expressive work on the Supergirl chapters, which wonderfully complement the wacky story being told, and Philip Tan’s gritty work on the first Batman chapter, which perfectly captures the vibe of that particular comic. However, there are also a few artistic problems that help diminish the appeal of the volumes positives. These problems include the transition between artists on the Batman chapters, which create an oddly fractured reading experience, and the general quality of the artwork on the Man of Steel chapters, which is just a bit lackluster in general. In the end, the positives and negatives come rather close to canceling each other out and create a book with visuals that are passable but not anything special.

Continuity

Convergence: Zero Hour Book 2 contains multiple tie-in stories that are designed to accompany the Convergence (Review) event. These tie-ins all take place around the events of Convergence #1, part of which is shown in each of these stories. Similar tie-ins can be found in Convergence: Zero Hour Book 1 (Review).

The larger narrative surrounding the stories contained here is told through the rest of the Convergence event.

This volume also makes references to other comic books, detailed below:

• The first reality seen here is a pre-Zero Hour version of Metropolis.
• The reality the heroes face in the Aquaman and Batman stories is the reality of the Wildstorm Universe.
• Batman broke his back in Batman #497, collected in Batman: Knightfall Vol. 1.
• The Zero Hour event is mentioned a few times here.
• The destruction of Coast City is mentioned a few times. This happened in Superman: Reign of the Supermen.
• Hal Jordan became Parallax in the Green Lantern: Emerald Twilight storyline.