With DC's Convergence event kicking off in April, the entire publishing line will go on hold, and in its stead 40 two-issue mini-series will be put out. There will be four waves of these tie-ins, one per week. The first wave -- which features stories from the pre-New 52 DCU -- arrives on April 8, with the second part hitting on May 6.

Ron Marz, writer of Convergence: Batman & Robin

Tom Peyer, writer of Convergence: The Atom

Steve Pugh, writer of Convergence: Harley Quinn

Tony Bedard, writer of Convergence: Speed Force

We asked the writers of the first wave of books what it's like writing in the pre-Flashpoint DCU, how their comic ties into the bigger Convergence event, and what they wanted to tease to get fans excited for their tie-in. Hear what they had to say, then let us know what you think in the comments!Update - we added commentary from Convergence: Titans writer Fabian Nicieza.For me, the characters are the characters. The timeline or the era is a detail. An important detail, to be sure, but still a detail. I feel like my job in telling these stories is, first and foremost, stay true to the core of the characters. So I'm telling a story about fathers and sons here, about the relationships between Bruce Wayne and Damian Wayne and Jason Todd. Hopefully that kind of story resonates in any era.There are elements common to all the Convergence titles, of course, since this is a coordinated event. But I think everybody's trying to tell a story that can stand by itself, and touch the audience. There's a common framework for all of these stories, but having read a lot of the scripts during the process, I think everybody put their own spin on the stories. The kinds of stories being told are as varied as the characters who appear. One thing that was very apparent from the beginning of this project was that the stories needed to be character-driven, rather than driven by nostalgia or the overall event.It's Batman and Robin in Gotham City, facing off against a rogues gallery of freaks, though in this case the freaks include the Extremists. But more than that, the real meat of the story is the father-son aspect between Bruce, Damian and Jason Todd. There's just so much fodder for great drama there. And, obviously, working with Denys Cowan and Klaus Janson is a "pinch me" moment for me. The pages are absolutely beautiful.Glad to be here. For me, the big thrill was getting to write Ray (The Atom) Palmer again. He was the first DC hero I ever got to work on--and, as a child, he was the first I read from his debut issue onward. So we're like family, the Atom and I. And it felt like my old days working at Vertigo to be teamed up with the Steves, artists Yeowell and Dillon.Seamlessly, I hope. But editor Marie Javins encouraged me to make it our own Atom story. There's a lot in there about the challenge of being that hero in that place at that time. We tried to meet up with the big epic while telling this more intimate tale.Some street-level weirdness, if I did it right. I thought about the late writer Steve Gerber a lot while working on it. Howard the Duck and A. Bizarro and his many other comics were the gold standard of street weirdness. If a sliver of his mad genius made it into our comic, I'll be proud.I think there’s a huge appetite to see what’s being going on with these characters while we haven’t been looking, and it’s incredible to be a part of that reveal. This is the first time I’ve written a script for another artist so I’m glad it was for my friend and art master, Phil Winslade. At least one of us is a professional!Gotham’s fate is crucial, of course, and Harley Quinn is not a universally popular choice amongst the citizens as a champion! Harley has to shape up and face off against the ridiculously overpowered Captain Carrot or her city and everyone she cares about goes down the plug-hole!It starts off kinda classic Harley, then it turns oddly sweet, then it goes bonkers crazy. It celebrates love, friendships, holiday romances and the power of telling massive lies to beat insurmountable odds. Also there’s a new character called “fish-face” who turns out to be pivotal to the entire convergence event!It's like reuniting with an old friend, one I've had a lot of good times with. It's even better than that, because I get to write the Wally West Flash in CONVERGENCE: SPEED FORCE, and Wally may just be the most missed character left behind by the New 52 relaunch. There were a lot of good reasons why we focused solely on the Barry Allen Flash in the current continuity, but Wally has such a loyal fan base and they've been so vocal these past few years that it's a real treat to bring "their" Flash back, even just for a little while.CONVERGENCE: SPEED FORCE is a 2-part tale that pretty much stands on its own. It's set on the Convergence world with Wally West and his kids Iris and Jai trapped in Gotham City, separated from Wally's wife, Linda. It's been a year since they were trapped there, and Wally is going out of his mind, desperate to reunite his kids with their mom. Then all the cities in Convergence that were plucked from different continuities are pitted against each other, and it becomes a fight for survival for Wally and the kids against the evil Wonder Woman from Flashpoint. So, bottom line: you can enjoy this SPEED FORCE tale on its own, or you can enjoy it as one puzzle piece of the great celebration of DCU Continuity that is CONVERGENCE.First and foremost: WALLY WEST! For a lot of folks, he's "their" Flash. I know he's mine (no offense to Barry and Jay!). Wally's trying to protect his kids, Iris and Jai, from one of the deadliest villains in any version of the DCU: Flashpoint Wonder Woman. Add to the mix the most unusual speedster in DC history -- Fastback, the Flash-turtle from Captain Carrot's Zoo Crew -- and you've got one bizarre clash. But the main thing about CONVERGENCE: SPEED FORCE is that Wally-freakin'-West is back! Flash fact!