Friday, May 8, 2015

Convergence: The Titans #2 Review and *SPOILERS*

Written By: Fabian Nicieza
Art By: Ron Wagner, Jose Marzan Jr., Chris Sotomayor
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: May 6, 2015


Daddy Daughter Day


*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

Holy shit was I a fan of the first issue of this tie-in.  Seeing how Roy has taken his daughter's death and everything else that has happened to him...... including being trapped in a dome and turning all of those things into a positive by giving up super heroics and working with displaced families and kids was really enjoyable to see.  That's right, even though it's called "The Titans", the first issue was pretty much just a Roy Harper story and I loved the hell out of it.  But just when you think you're out, they pull you back in and in Roy's case, the dome disappearing and The Extremists showing up on the scene was the thing that pulled him back to being Arsenal.  As we finished the last issue we saw Roy, Starfire and Donna Troy going up against this Angor group and Roy was given a choice by Dreamslayer.  Either fight and die or kill his two friends and have his daughter back....... That's right, Dreamslayer plucked Lian out of time and offered her up to her father if he only chooses to betray his friends and as the issue ended, it looked like Roy decided that friends were overrated.  Let's check out this issue and see how the Titans will overcome The Extremists and if Roy can still consider himself a superhero.

Explain It!:

Our issue begins with a giant load being lifted off my mind because I've been stressing for a month now thinking that Roy went and murdered his friends, but here I see it was a giant ruse where Roy shot right next to Donna and Starfire, causing girders around Dreamslayer to collapse enough to distract him while Roy grabbed his daughter and ran for the hills.  It was pretty easy to get away too because before Roy suited up to join Donna and Kori in the fight, he called in Cyborg and Beast Boy who should be itching for a fight since they've spent the last year down and out.......... Cyborg was trapped inside his non working cyborg body and apparently Beast Boy was stuck as a green pigeon...... That seems like powers to me but I spent all of last month bitching about "the rules" so I'm just going to go with it this month.


So the Titans are fighting The Extremists and Roy makes it back to his bunker with his daughter and after having confirmation that Lian is in fact Lian by hearing her say something that only she would say.......... Everything goes to shit.  Dreamslayer followed Roy back to his bunker and because he didn't follow the agreement, Dreamslayer "poofs" Lian away and forces Roy to actually make a decision about what Dreamslayer proposed to him last issue.  Kill your friends and get your daughter or just simply die.  This leads to us seeing what Roy spent the majority of the Wayne grant he got when the dome appeared, when we see him push a button and cannons throughout Gotham come out of hiding.  At first I was completely thrown off guard when Roy targeted his friends and fired on them, especially since at the beginning of the book where the narrative says that he'd never attack his friends, but it all turns out alright when Roy decides "screw this guy" and starts firing on The Extremists, who then make like an banana and split.


In the end, Dreamslayer tries to get Roy to play ball with his sick scenario and conjures up Lian again, but Roy isn't having any of it and activates a EMP within his bunker, frying everything electrical inside and displacing Dreamslayer's teleportation field, causing him to vanish.  With the Extremists on the move, our Titans get ready to pursue, but they tell Roy that this isn't his fight anymore now that he has his daughter back.  It's a really nice ending even though this means the last of our time with the Pre-Flashpoint Roy Harper............ but surprisingly, it's not the end of our story with the Pre-Flashpoint Titans as we find out that their story continues in next week's Convergence #6.


That's it for this issue of Convergence: The Titans and even though it didn't have the same personal vibe that the first issue had because of all the fighting that needed to happen here, this was still an excellent issue and was able to maintain a touch of what I loved so much in the last issue..... Just not nearly as impactful.  These are still the Titans we know and love though and seeing them all together here should be enough to satiate fans.  Like last month, this issue's art was just fantastic and the colors popped right off the page...... Yeah, I know that sounds cliche, but it's the truth and even though Convergence has been a mixed bag for me so far, I know that I'm going to miss these characters when the event is over.

Bits and Pieces:

Roy Harper takes center stage again as we find out what he's willing to do to get his daughter back and even though we lose a little of what made the last issue so personal and emotional due to the fighting that needs to take place here, it does sport excellent art and a surprise about where this story is going at the end, this is definitely a Pre-Flashpoint Convergence book you should pick up.

7.5/10

13 comments:

  1. I think you nailed it again here: a real solid issue that had slightly less impact than the first. Still, when they tell Roy to stay with his kid, a tear rolled down my cheek. Either that, or it was blood. I'm not very well. Of all the issues I read this week, this one seemed to blend with the preview seamlessly because it was about Roy and Jason Todd! So it made a nice sort of package (pause)

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    1. plus, you and Eric may need to get a room

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    2. wow have you ever seen anyone more jealous in your life

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    3. Damn, a dude walks away for a couple of hours to watch John Candy bang Ally Sheedy and all hell breaks loose. Thanks Reggie, but you gotta make this right. Tell Jim that he still has street cred...... He just needs to hear it from you.

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    4. Hey Jim, would you like some peanut butter...

      ...with that jelly?

      No need to fuss and feud, fellas. You know I think very little of both of you. Here, as a peace offering I give you a download of the D.O.C.'s first album, No One Can Do It Better, which arguably has the best opening track to any rap album, ever:

      http://www.mediafire.com/download/bhjav25jca4aa1n/No_One_Can_Do_It_Better.zip

      Street cred achieved!

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    5. I love the D.O.C.! I always loved the beginning of the Funky Enough video...Easy E thinks he's so cool in that car (and in fact, he was that cool!)...wish he didn't get hurt because he was so good.

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  2. ...as for the comic...

    The RED HOOD/ARSENAL story was fun as shit. For me, the worst part of Lobdell's ...OUTLAWS was Starfire. This is mostly due to the fact that she has been one of my least favorite comic characters since George Perez drew her (aka forever). Still, she always felt out of place in the OUTLAWS. I'm looking forward to the book going on without her.
    Jason Todd has become a favorite of mine and I have really enjoyed the buddy-cop relationship between Red Hood and Arsenal ever since the opening pages of OUTLAWS.

    Anyway...fun.

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    1. I might be the only one but.......... I was really hoping Crux would have joined the team after the way he seemed to be chumming up to Jason and Roy in the final issues of Outlaws

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  3. That Dreamslayer is a real dope, letting Roy fake him out twice like that.

    I just wonder what's worse, finding out you're adopted, or that you were swiped from your dad and given to an alternate universe version of him by a super-villain? Somewhere there's a Roy Harper who's crying harder than Tom Peyer after you gave him a 1 for the Atom issue and no one else reviewed it so it stayed a 1 on Comic Book Round Up.

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    Replies
    1. it's so odd that nobody but Eric reviewed the Atom, isn't it? The first issue wasn't good, but everyone (but Eric) just bailed on it. That was the lowest score Eric has ever given...because he didn't have to review any Ann Nocenti books like I did!!!

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    2. also...I actually thought you wrote, "The Dreamslayer is real dope" and while I love when people talk like an 80's rapper, I was going to say that Dreamslayer was a complete idiot. So...we both agree!

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