Review: Convergence- Zero Hour Book 1

Quick Summary

Pros: The stories here are exciting and fun. The different approaches used in each story make for a diverse read. There are some great moments from classic characters, including a few truly heartwarming ones.

Cons: Some of the stories here end up just being average.

Overall: This clash between universes is a fun ride with a group of characters who haven’t been seen for years. The stories here have action, suspense, and a level of diversity that keeps them interesting. Though some of these stories are just alright when it comes to quality, others contain fantastic moments that help push forward the positives in this book. Overall, readers who enjoy the early 90’s comic book landscape may get a real kick out of this particular collection.

Story

Convergence: Zero Hour Book 1 pits the pre-Zero Hour DC Universe against the Kingdom Come universe. The resulting battles are exciting and each one stands out as something slightly different than the one before it. A few of these stories are then enhanced by some heartwarming moments from individual characters, most of whom have been absent from the DC Universe for years. Not every story is universally appealing but the resulting combination of quality here helps turn this into a pretty solid collection.

(spoilers start here)

Zero Hour Book 1 is essentially comprised of five separate stories detailing altercations between the heroes of the pre-Zero Hour DC Universe and the characters from the Kingdom Come universe. Each one of these stories has exciting moments of action and a level of uncertainty that keeps things suspenseful. It is never quite clear which universe will end up getting the upper hand and how they will go about doing so. This allows for some welcome surprises that keep things interesting, like Amada Waller’s suicide run or Black Canary’s victory over Green Arrow.

Surprises like these can also be found in the way each story is approached. The basis for this comic is that characters from two universes are being forced to fight one another, yet these fights don’t always play out in the standardized way one would expect them to. In some cases, characters from one universe simply surrender to avoid bloodshed, in others, one character’s victory over the other is completely unintentional. Though these stories all share a common core, the way they play out is different enough to prevent the read from feeling stale at all.

The best part about Zero Hour Book 1 is the way in which it allows for heartwarming moments from characters readers have not seen in years. These moments include Blue Beetle getting a birthday surprise from Booster Gold and Superboy showing he has the mental fortitude to stop fighting in order to save lives. Seeing moments like these from classic characters is wonderful and is the most unique and positive aspect of this collection.

The downside to this collection is that not every story stands out as something spectacular on its own. The Catwoman adventure is entertaining but is not very memorable. Meanwhile, the Green Arrow adventure mixes up its message in a way that prevents it from achieving its full potential, as it starts out with a message against racism but drops this to tell the story of a newly fractured family. These stories aren’t bad by any means, they are simply more mediocre than the rest of the collection.

(spoilers end here)

Art

The artwork in Zero Hour Book 1 ends up more average than the story. Each of the individual adventures here are illustrated by a different artist but all of them do a solid job with their work. These adventures are all structured well and detailed in a way that avoids any major flaws. However, there aren’t many moments in this collection that stand out as something particularly unique or interesting. Most of the splash pages are borderline uninteresting and memorable artistic moments are hard to come by. As a whole, it feels like this collection plays it safe when it comes to artwork, allowing it to avoid major negatives but also robbing it of any major positives.

Continuity

Convergence: Zero Hour Book 1 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 2 (Review).

The larger narrative surrounding the stories contained here is told through the rest of the Convergence (Review) 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 second reality is from the Kingdom Come universe.
• The death of Superman is mentioned a number of times throughout this collection. This death is detailed in Superman: The Death of Superman.
• The destruction of Coast City is mentioned a few times. This happened in Superman: Reign of the Supermen.
• Superboy’s initial adventures are mentioned a few times. These adventures are mostly detailed in Superman: Reign of the Supermen.