Fantastic Four #645 (Marvel)

writer: James Robinson

artist: Leonard Kirk

This is it.  Marvel and/or Disney has thrown a hissy fit because Fantastic Four remains a 20th Century Fox film property and thus not part of the Avengers franchise (as Spider-Man has now become), and so the series has been cancelled, put on indefinite hiatus.  Goodbye, see you later, nice knowing you, First Family.

How does it end?  James Robinson followed a Jonathan Hickman run that sought to push the team to new creative heights.  Mostly he reboots it right back to its classic dimensions, and basically winks to the reader and says there are some constants, and the Fantastic Four are one of them no matter how it looks at the moment.  I mean, Marvel would be pretty stupid to keep it gone, right?

Karl Kesel gets to write a Johnny Storm solo, Louise Simonson a Sue Storm entry, Tom DeFalco gives the Thing his moment, while Jeff Parker rounds these shorts out with Reed Richards.

Mark Paniccia, identified as senior editor at Marvel, writes a farewell notice.  Various creators write odes to their favorite covers and by extension, their favorite stories.  "Willie's Mailbag" (referencing an old timey supporting character), which may or may not have been an ongoing letters column in the series and/or the history of Fantastic Four (my reading history with the World's Greatest Comic Magazine has been sporadic; I read somewhat steadily during Civil War, and I popped in once or twice during Hickman's run), but here it represents a chance for the fans to say goodbye.

And that's it.  Goodbye.  See you again!

Convergence: Infinity Inc. #1 (DC)

writer: Jerry Ordway

artist: Ben Caldwell

I'm not gonna lie: I was hugely interested in this particular Convergence spin-off for only one reason, and that's artist Ben Caldwell.

Simply put, I became a devoted fan of Caldwell's after his masterful Wonder Woman feature in Wednesday Comics.  The panel I've included from Infinity Inc. is as close as this one gets.

Which is not to say, Ba! and darn you Ben Caldwell! but that clearly he didn't get to go the full Caldwell.  "Full Caldwell" means some of the most interesting page layouts I've ever seen.  But it's okay.  It's enough to see more Caldwell art at all.  I have no idea why, but this has proven to be incredibly scarce over the years.

So yeah, I leaped at Infinity Inc. to see it again.

The rest of the comic isn't too bad, though.  The writer is Jerry Ordway, another impressive talent (with more pedigree and longer history) who doesn't seem to get enough work.  The featured characters are the offspring of the Justice Society.  Back in yon olden days I had randomly acquired an issue of the classic Infinity Inc. material, so I was familiar with the characters from their original context (Alan Scott's offspring, Jade and Obsidian, have the longest publishing history of the set).  And it struck me, these guys make for excellent storytelling material.  Grant Morrison's Multiversity issue The Just featured a different second generation entirely (as did Kingdom Come, and come to think of it Geoff Johns' JSA/Justice Society of America), but this is the original version.  If I were DC, I would consider bringing them back on an ongoing basis.

And, you know, locking down Ben Caldwell.  He'll be doing Prez after Convergence concludes.  I will certainly have to take a look at that, too...

Convergence: Detective Comics #1 (DC)

writer: Len Wein

artist: Denys Cowan

Wait, why am I using an art sample from an issue that by the cover is supposed to feature Robin and Huntress as featured in full '70s Justice Society alternate reality mode?

Because Len Wein is another of the writers clever enough to do something interesting with the opportunity he's been given.  See, he gives equal time to Superman: Red Son's Soviet soldier.  And this is a very good idea.  The conversation between Dick Grayson and Helena Wayne (daughter of Batman and Catwoman) throughout the issue, at least for me, is far less interesting, mostly Huntress needling Robin for wearing a hybrid of Boy Wonder and Batman costumes (in this reality, Batman is dead) rather than outright assuming the blue cowl.  Of course, by the end of the issue, it seems Huntress has let her impetuousness prove fatal.  We'll see.

The art is from Denys Cowan, who's pulling double Convergence duties (he's also the artist on record for Batman and Robin).  I like his work better here, especially for Superman (another reason to cheer this part of the book on).

Convergence: Blue Beetle #1 (DC)

writer: Scott Lobdell

artist: Yishan Li

Seriously, though, folks: Scott Lobdell.  The guy can't seem to catch a break with the fans, but he's a genius, he really is.  That excerpt from one panel in this issue helps prove it all over again.

Across multiple Convergence spin-offs fans have seen characters breaking or attempting to break the rules of Battleworld Telos (he's a planet, too!).  Finally (maybe it's occurred in some of the titles I haven't read, but I suspect not), Lobdell hits on the obvious, a literary technique that probably doesn't get mentioned in comics a lot: the unreliable narrator.  As in, you don't have to believe everything he says.

It takes the Question to say it.  Of course it does.  The title says Blue Beetle but it's actually a whole Charlton reunion, featuring Question and Captain Atom as well (the nucleus of the characters Alan Moore borrowed for Watchmen, and borrowed back by Grant Morrison for Pax Americana), plus referencing others.

Lobdell knocks the whole issue out of the park.  Usually his comics shine best in narration, so he would certainly be the one to know all about the rules of the storytelling device.  This one doesn't have narration, but it does have yet another novelty (again, in my personal Convergence experience) in showing Telos himself as his explanation for the dome experience is once again repeated, as it is in each Convergence spin-off.  Usually it's featured as it was in Convergence itself, as disembodied words in the air.  Lobdell and Yishan Li play by their own rules.  And thank goodness.

Convergence #4 (DC)

writer: Jeff King

artist: Stephen Segovia

Well, I think at this point it seems clear that the great cosmic significance of Convergence is going to result in...Earth 2: Society.  Maybe elsewhere, too, but as it seemed obvious from the conclusion of Earth 2: World's End and even Convergence itself, that's where the story is headed.

Pretty bold move for DC, actually.  Earth 2, without or without James Robinson, was never going to be the company's top book.  It's set in an alternate reality.  The only other time anyone was really paying attention was when this version of DC revealed Alan Scott (Green Lantern) to be gay.  And now it's not only got a weekly under its belt, but its own crossover event.

I say, bravo.  This was always a great idea, in my book.  Fans were pretty annoyed that the Justice Society concept itself was more or less discarded, but I thought that was a pretty good idea, too, finally leaving behind the concept of aging heroes and thereby making the reintroduction of at least some of them more relevant than they've been in years.

All the time travel villains this issues makes obvious (some of them always having had direct Justice Society significance, such as Per Degaton, who was featured in Geoff Johns' JSA; others like Extant who should have, considering what he did to the team during Zero Hour) add an additional layer of new significance that should certainly be interesting to explore, should they factor into the new series launching in June.

Telos identifies the Earth 2 Dick Grayson as the first he's seen who doesn't wear a mask (the current mainstream one doesn't, either, but that's after years of Robin/Nightwing/Batman), and clearly that's another element of what we can expect in the future (see how many Convergence tie-ins feature the original Boy Wonder?), his new prominence.

I'm liking Convergence quite a bit.

SPOILER ALERT: Batman #40 (DC)

writer: Scott Snyder

artist: Greg Capullo

Wait, I'm not the only one to notice this, am I?  I mean, it's kind of obvious, right?  But I haven't seen any references to it, in my admittedly casual trips through the Internets since last Wednesday.  I haven't done a search, so maybe I'm not.

But still.  You'd think it wouldn't be that hard.

Well, here it goes (and here we once again mark SPOILER ALERT for those who haven't read it and/or have but didn't catch this panel, which on its own doesn't actually spoil anything, but still amply illustrates what I'm about to talk about):

Batman survived.

And by the way, I noted elsewhere how this issue was the break-all point for me.  If Scott Snyder hadn't stuck the landing, I would have finally and truly and with all other concluding statements given up on his Batman.

But he does nail it.  He absolutely nails it.  This one issue justifies all the years of hype and accolades Snyder has enjoyed.  "Court of Owls," "Death of the Family," "Zero Year"...they all mean absolutely nothing without this moment.

It's Snyder finally reaching a culmination point that means something, his statement on what Batman and the Joker's relationship really means.  Granted, it's not what I thought he'd do, after the conclusion to "Death of the Family" (I thought Snyder was going to say: hey, guess what, they're brothers!!!) (which would still be awesome, by the way), but after all the years of psychotic villainy that went deeper than anyone else could ever go, the Joker got his comeuppance.  And Batman seemed to have cashed in all his chips to achieve this moment.

And it absolutely did build on everything else Snyder has done over the years, as I'd hoped "Endgame" would but sometimes seemed as if it didn't (all the way back to the Detective Comics days, even, when Snyder brought back the crowbar that murdered Jason Todd) (besides, you know, the explosion).

But Batman didn't die.  Much like Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Rises, Snyder decided this was a perfect way for Batman to retire.  Bruce Wayne literally walks away.

Permanently?  Nothing's permanent in comics.

But perhaps the all-the-more-interesting thing about that panel is the presence of Damian.  Is this the first time Snyder acknowledges his return (which occurred in the pages of Pete Tomasi's Batman and Robin)?  Perfect timing.

Bravo, Mr. Snyder.

Free Comic Book Day 2015

Yesterday was Free Comic Book Day, the annual event I've gotten to enjoy nearly every year for the last decade.

These days I work across the street from my local comic book store, and I work overnight, so this year it was absolutely not a question of getting there or getting there early or any other complication I've experienced in the past.  I had four and a half hours to kill.  I started by walking over to Dunkin' Donuts.  I'd planned to stick around there a while, reading Tom De Haven's It's Superman! (this came up in my reading order, so it was merely serendipitous to be reading something absolutely appropriate on the comic book geek holiday), but decided to leave pretty quickly because, I don't know, anticipation.  I spent a lot of time walking around, and by 8 (the store opened at 10) I found out I'd lost my designation as first in line.  And then because I didn't stick around even at that point, I became fourth in line.

This was obviously not much a problem.  But still.  The only real problem was listening to the inane chatter.  Not dorky comics chatter, but anyway...at one point a trio of genuine hobos came up and I got to listen to that, explaining how they've been all over the country in a surprisingly brief amount of time, and how best to sneak into Canada and not get into trouble.  Hobos, ladies and gentlemen.

(Hobos rock!)

The owners of the store, I learned during the waiting period, had decided to do things differently this year.  They thought last year was too chaotic.  (Remember, my chief complaint was about the idiot who thought taking a recommendation was a ridiculous idea.  Yeah.)  So I started to worry a little.  And then a Ghostbuster came up and started setting up a table with all the awesome gear he's constructed (he said it took him about a year to put together the backpack).

And then the store opened.  And we literally became an assembly line, and the only assemblage necessary was: being handed a bag and shuffling out the store again.  Person + bag = happy person.  Probably.

The bag was stuffed, literally, with every Free Comic Book Day release the store received.  Fifty-one free comics!  Insane!  This I absolutely did not expect.  How could you???  In Colorado I became used to the store's three comic limit.  That sucked, but it made priorities an absolute priority.  And much, much easier to calculate subsequent reading time.  Last year was incredible, being able to pick anything I wanted, as much as I wanted.  Which makes this year's haul absolutely ridiculous!

Seriously.  So I won't be providing thoughts on everything.  So I will probably leave it at this list of everything from the bag:

1. 2000 AD (Rebellion)
2. And Then Evil Was Gone (Comix Tribe)
3. Attack on Titan (Kodansha)
4. Avatar: The Last Airbender (Dark Horse)
5. The All-New, All Different Avengers (Marvel)
6. Bob's Burgers (Dynamite)
7. Bongo Comics Free-For-All (Bongo)
8. Bodie Troll (Red 5, not featuring Atomic Robo for the first time ever!)
9. Captain Canuck (Chapter House)
10. Chakra the Invincible (Graphic India)
11. Cleopatra in Space (Graphix)
12. Comics Festival 2015 (Beguiling)
13. Dark Circle Comics (Archie)
14. Divergence (DC)
15. Doctor Who (Titan)
16. Fight Club (Dark Horse)
17. Grimm Fairy Tales Presents: Wonderland (Zenescope)
18. Gronk (Action Lab)
19. Hatter M: Love of Wonder (Automatic)
20. Help the CBLDF Defend Comics (CBLDF)
21. Hip Hop Family Tree (Fantographics)
22. I.C.E. (12-Gauge)
23. JoJo's Bizarre Adventure (Viz)
24. Jurassic Strike Force (Silver Dragon)
25. Lady Justice (Super Genius)
26. Legendary Comics 2015 Preview (Legendary)
27. March Grand Prix (Capstone)
28. Mega Man/Sonic the Hedgehog (Archie)
29. Mercury Heat (Avatar)
30. Motorcycle Samurai (Top Shelf; best title)
31. Overstreet's Comic Book Marketplace (Gemstone)
32. The Phantom (Hermes)
33. Pokemon (Perfect Square)
34. Rabbids (Papercutz)
35. Savage Dragon Legacy (Image; seriously, though, Erik Larsen is going to eclipse Dave Sim at this point)
36. Secret Wars [Free Previews edition] (Marvel)
37. Secret Wars (Marvel)
38. SpongeBob Freestyle Funnies (United Plankton)
39. Steampunk Goldilocks (Antarctic)
40. Street Fighter (Udon)
41. Super Mutant Magic Academy (Drawn & Quarterly)
42. Tales of Honor (Top Cow)
43. Teen Titans Go!/Scooby-Doo Team-up (DC)
44. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (IDW)
45. Ten Year Celebration (Boom!)
46. Terrible Lizard (Oni)
47. Thanatos Diver/The Stuff of Legend (Th3rdworld)
48. The Tick (New England)
49. Transformers: Robots in Disguise (IDW)
50. Valiant 25th Anniversary Special (Valiant)
51. Worlds of Aspen (Aspen)

Plus, New York Bulletin (a newspaper-style Marvel Secret Wars preview...making that three for the year) and a leaflet advertising the 2015 Boston Comic Con.  And, you know, air.