Convergence: Blue Beetle #2 Review and *SPOILERS*

Written By: Scott Lobdell
Art By: Yishan Li, Dave McCaig
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: May 27, 2015

A Sham, A Ruse, A Con Job.......... A Blue Beetle Plan!

*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

Let me just start out by saying, I think it's in everyone's best interest to read Convergence: Booster Gold #2 before you read this issue because it clears a few things up that this issue won't.  Like in the last issue we had Ted Kord working on a machine that he hoped would take down the dome, but instead of that it seemed like it gave Captain Atom his powers back.  Yeah, I thought that was weird, but I went with it because I don't know what kind of tech Ted is packing, but in Booster Gold we realize that because of Booster's time aura or chronal energy or some such nonsense, his proximity to other characters grants them their abilities back............ So yeah, that's what went down last issue........ and none of that matters here because the dome is down, Booster has bolted and the Legion of Super-Heroes are here to kick our trio's asses.  So let's jump into this issue and see if Blue Beetle, Captain Atom and The Question are formidable enough to take out the entire Legion and win the survival of Hub City.

Explain It!:

As our story begins we immediately feel a huge sense of doom as the heroes of Hub City face the entire Legion........... No way they're going to pull this one off.  At first our trio try to speak amicably with Cosmic Boy, Brainiac-5 and Timberwolf, but after the talk turns towards the "I'm going to kick your ass" line of discussion, Blue Beetle attacks first and Captain Atom and The Question hop in The Bug so that they can figure out a plan............ This is the worst game of tag ever.  After we get inside The Bug, we immediately find out that Ted's been working his ass off in upgrading the vehicle........ this is made abundantly clear when he stops Colossal Boy from attacking it.......... by teleporting away.  Hell, it's got teleporters, weapons and a computer system that can hack into the Legion flight rings, so our heroes three can find out all the dirt they need on their opponents and man, you don't even need a shovel to dig that.  Whatever Beetle's plan involves, he tells Captain Atom and The Question that he needs six minutes to put it in motion, which means bad news for them because they have to go out and keep the Legion busy.

Outside, Captain Atom proves that he's the shit by taking on a whole slew of Legionnaires and even the Question pulls an ace from his sleeve when Brainiac-5 shows up to take him on and all the Question had to do to defeat him was ask him.......... dun dun dun....... a question........ a unknowable question, but a question all the same.........  Yeah, I had a lot of fun reading this issue.  While our two heroes are busy buying Beetle some time, we find out that Ted actually linked into three Legion rings and called Saturn Girl, Sensor and Computo to his location to bounce some ideas off them.  Too bad that he didn't tell anyone else about it though because it looks like we get the big earthquake that we've seen in all these #2 books of Convergence, but this one is off the charts in comparison to others we've seen because all of Hub City gets destroyed.

In the end, after Captain Atom sobs for a bit, we find out that this devastation is just a psychic projection from the three Legionnaires that Blue Beetle called, as a way to try and fool Telos.  The city looks destroyed, so there's no reason for anyone to keep fighting........... Even though that really seems like a terrible plan since we've seen cities that have been labeled "losers" get evaporated away or just straight up razed to the ground........... So I don't know if this will actually work and I guess we'll never know because this is all we get and as our issue closes we see Telos' face in the sky as all our heroes chuckle from the prank they just pulled............. Yeah, I'm not buying it, this story continues in my mind where the Legion is teleported back to their city and everyone in Hub City is killed by Telos, as Captain Atom curses Ted Kord's name....... The End.

That's it for this issue of Convergence: Blue Beetle and while I loved the majority of the book, the ending just left me scratching my head and yelling "bullshit" at my girlfriend to the point where I think we might be breaking up.......... worth it.  At this point though, I don't know how mad I can really be because throughout this event we've seen people adjust their stories to what they think Telos' rules are or just straight up throw the rules aside and just go with what they want.  Besides for that though this issue is packed with action, humor and a shit ton of heroes all vying to be the bad ass of the story and a lot of fun is had from all that.  I loved the art, I had a good time with the story and if I could get past that thing that's wrong with my brain, where I can't let stuff go, this would be one of the best issues this week and to some it might still be.  Just a pleasure to read.

Bits and Pieces:

This story really turned around out of nowhere.  Where in the first issue it seemed like it wanted to live outside of the normal city fights city scenario, here we just jump into the action and leave all that time traveling nonsense behind and I'm happy it did because I had so much fun reading this issue.  Go on out there and be a good comic fan and get yourself an issue of Convergence: Blue Beetle, it's a hell of a way to end this event.

8/10