It was a crisis to end all crisis, DC Comics revisited its past while unraveling its multiverse with a mighty “Convergence”.
Thirty Years Ago the universe came undone. Creators Marv Wolfman and George Pérez looked on the expansive DC Comics history and realized that after nearly five decades the DC Universe was in complete disarray. For one thing, the “Golden Age” of heroes had given way to the “Modern Age” without so much as a bat of an eyelash — the preverbal baton had never been properly handed off.
And although there was an incredible legacy to behold, there was very little connectivity and just way too many inexplicable redundancies that were just mucking up the works. For example, without having to explain how the Man of Steel was able to survive from his humble beginnings, into becoming a living legend and the inspiration for every marvel that followed.
After all, superheroes should be ageless and an inspiration to each and every generation that adopts them. During the milestone events of the now classic Crisis on Infinite Earths the 12-part limited series and one of the crowning achievements of the aforementioned creative team of Wolfman and Pérez, the duo did what no one in comic book publishing had been able to do before, and streamlined years of comic book history.
Where there was once a multiverse, there emerged a single linear universe where the “Golden Age” inspired the “Modern Age” of heroes, and where once there were two Last Sons of Krypton — now there was one. There existed, for a very long time, a cohesion that established a legacy, but as time went by, there were elements of the DC Universe that didn’t coalesce — fractures and inconsistent instances that couldn’t be easily explained.
Over the years, several other “crisis” events took place, but in 2011 DC Comics entered into its most dramatic reboot ever, and every major character in the universe was reinvigorated — reimagined for today’s more contemporary audiences. The centrifugal pantheon of heroes in the DC Universe are at the height of their super powered careers in the prime DC universe.
Then there’s the multiverse…
In 2015 DC Comics Co-Publisher Dan DiDio promised that the imprint would pay proper homage to the 30 year anniversary of Crisis with a unique crossover experience that would only slightly exist outside of the regular scheme of comics continuity. The event was called Convergence and it would span the entirety of DC Comics continuity, suggesting that elements from every era of the publishing house’s history would be represented.
Convergence resulted in an epic confrontation between elements of DC Comics history that were basically battling for survival, and the outcome would be anyone’s guess.
Next: The story as envision by its writer Jeff King and how he incorporated more than 30 years of DC Comics. At the center…the battle between good and evil is embodied in Superman and Brainiac, and the secret of Telos!