CONVERGENCE: THE QUESTION #2
DC Comics
Written by: Greg Rucka
Art by: Cully Hamner
Some quick math: Renee Montoya (the Question). Kate Kane (Batwoman). Helena Bertinelli (Huntress). Harvey Dent (Two-Face). Numbers and names alone tell us that this is a combination many fans have been wanting for years, and add Greg Rucka and Cully Hamner into the equation, this comic is quite a dream come true. Two-Face being my favorite DC character, I have wanted stories both with him and Question Renee and with Batwoman, so having two in one with the added bonus of Huntress was music to my ears, and since tearing through issue #1 the suspense of how this two-part story would conclude hasn’t left me alone. And you know what? Of all the things this title could have been, it gave us what we needed most for these characters, Renee especially: Closure.
I will be upfront: Like I said above, this kind of story has been eagerly anticipated for much longer than before it became a reality, and because of that it was impossible for me to approach reading it without having some in-built expectations. I was therefore dubious how much could be explored properly in just two issues, but within these two issues was a deep, emotional story and solid character work — what fans have come to expect from Rucka. We are given interlocking tales of identity and facing yourself — the good in yourself. Tales of forgiveness.
It is best not to look at Convergence: The Question as a direct continuation of where we last left these characters, but as a self-contained story that takes full advantage of the Convergence event to push these confrontations and revelations that we would otherwise never get to see. With this in mind, the only weakness in this story to me is that I wish we could have gotten that missing piece, that issue #0 that shows us how the characters got to where they are now, what’s happened to them since last we saw them to influence their behaviors and relationships; I would have liked most to see the conflict behind Renee’s choice to forgive Harvey, although why he of all people might be the one she became determined to save is a subtle but brilliantly complex piece of writing — Two-Face, of course, being the hurtful catalyst that caused Renee’s parents to disown her. Two-Face being the one who outed her, who forced her to see herself from the eyes of others and nearly ruined her life. Now, Renee does the opposite for Harvey.
Whatever dilemmas issue #1 posed, issue #2 does resolve. Renee makes peace with her dying father, who though having previously disowned her, tells her that he loves her and hears that she loves him one final time. Kate and Renee have a tense though amiable reunion, the both of them still having some manner of feelings for the other. Two-Face is confronted with his own potential, a possible reason for him to keep living, and learns that his strange protector was Renee the whole time. There is a lot to unpack with this powerful two-part story, and upon reading it a second time (appropriately) I see so much further past the surface to the subtler dynamics layered in through clever and sharply-executed parallels and dialogue. Cully Hamner’s crisp and stylish art drives all these points home, guiding us through with expressions, body language, and panel composition that effortlessly secure the tone and fully immerse us in Renee’s journey toward acceptance and self-forgiveness. The only real question I have left is, when can Rucka and Hamner come back and expand this into a full title?