Convergence: Supergirl Matrix #1 Review

Convergence is a series that many have jumped on as being the one last hurrah of their favorite characters. Even years later the attachment many feel for what they mark as “their” DC universe still runs deep. It is to be expected given fandoms and all of that - which is why I freely admit that Convergence: Supergirl Matrix #1 marks mine. It’s the one mini that hits what I see as “my” DCU. So how did it end up?     Honestly, it’s probably my favorite of the Convergence tie-ins so far. It hits that middle groove right between character-piece and overall punch-up like most of the tie-ins have been. Giffen is no amateur to doing tie-ins and especially doing ones for characters that he really has no stake in. If I recall correctly, this was an assignment where Giffen was literally just handed over the left-overs that no one else really wanted - and it bleeds through wonderfully.   The issue from the first pages set up a classic Giffen tone, this isn’t going to be a tale where you’re going to get a tale in the vein of these old characters - you’re going get a tale about what Giffen thinks about their world and their time. So much of this first issue bleeds through subtle, and some not so subtle, commentary of late 80’s and early 90’s comics. There’s some outrageous body angles and shots that can only be intentional, and it’s Giffen.  

  The characters themselves are also over the top parodies, as Giffen is taking extremely liberal license of the fact that these are no ones  favorite characters. “Matrix Supergirl” herself is a character that people only barely know about, and Lord Volt and Lady Quark are literal nobodies. The title of this story is even a huge snide remark to this fact, and Giffen is having a good time doing this and it bleeds through. Lots of quick, peppy, moments that is both hilarious and zesty.   Now, one off-putting point for me at first was that Giffen wasn’t going to be doing art-duties. Giffen doing both is what brings out the best in him, so I was hoping for a repeat here. Yet, Timothy Green II - who previously worked with Giffen during his Annihilation days - was able to knock it out of the park. There are some facial oddities, but he and Giffen work together seamlessly. It can get awfully off-putting but Green II does get one thing perfect.  

  Ambush Bug makes his first, actual, reappearance in years under Giffen’s pen and Green II’s art captures him amazingly. Giffen also makes him one of the highlights of the issue. There’s really one badly done thing in the issue - and it’s due to one page having all of the text bubbles mismatched. If you’ve read it already you know. It’s definitely a shame and stalls the issue. Yet, other than that, it’s a fantastic start and I can’t wait to see how it wraps up.