Unlike so many of the other “Convergence” crossovers, “Convergence: Aquaman” #2 actually sticks to the script of two characters battling to the death for the life of their city. Tony Bedard and Cliff Richards deliver an intense story that pits Aquaman against Deathblow within the confines of the Metropolis branch of S.T.A.R. Labs during the hook-hand era of the titular character.

Bedard’s take on Aquaman is on-target, as the writer gives readers a reminder of Aquaman’s confidence and authoritarian attitude while the Sea King tries to spare the lives of innocents caught in the crossfire. Bedard also serves up a healthy dose of braggadocio for Deathblow, since the hired gun technically cannot be killed. At no point prior to the final fight does Bedard tip his hand, filling the issue with the feeling that anything really could happen in this comic book.

Richards’ art is clean and crisp. His characters stand apart from the backgrounds quite cleanly, making it easy for colorist John Rauch to fill the drawings in. Hook-hand Aquaman and Deathblow battling in the very gray lower levels of S.T.A.R. Labs could be more visually explosive, but Richards and Rauch keep the story rugged and tinged with the real-world, despite this fight to the end occurring on an alien planet patched together with slivers from times and places across the DC Universe.

Bedard and Richards dial in so tightly to the fight between Aquaman and Deathblow that “Convergence: Aquaman” #2 never layers in the scope of the event, but that truly doesn’t matter. This is a story of one man fighting another, hoping for survival and unsure what waits on the other side. In so many of the “Convergence” tie-ins, it seems as though there is no clear-cut victor but, in “Convergence: Aquaman” #2 the victor walks out of this fight and, along with the reader, is pointed towards “Convergence” #7.

“Convergence: Aquaman” #2 delivers a fight to the finish and an interesting path to victory for the winner. Bedard and Richards give readers a solid story, but it needs a little more oomph. That path to victory will probably be much more memorable than the actual fight between the characters, the outcome of the battle or, perhaps, even the “Convergence” event itself. “Convergence: Aquaman” #2 is decent, but it falls short of ascending beyond that.