January Solicits for Supergirl; JG Jones off Final Crisis

DC Comics January 2009 solicits were posted on Newsarama last week. Here is the link: http://www.newsarama.com/comics/081020-january09-dc-solicitations.html

There are a number of interesting items that month including the 'Faces of Evil' theme of villainous covers. January is the first month post-'New Krypton' for the super-titles. Supergirl is not mentioned as appearing in Action Comics or Superman, but with the integration of the titles it is hard to know if she will pop up there. And ... of course ... the Final Crisis finally wraps up with Superman Beyond #2 and Final Crisis #7. As mentioned everywhere else, JG Jones is not doing the pencilling on FC#7, handing the art over to Doug Mahnke.

I know this is a Supergirl blog, but I have to say that I am pretty sick and tired of delays in comics and creators not being able to make deadlines. Growing up, this never seemed to be a problem. As a writer or artist, you had a deadline to make or (I assume) you were shown the door. Comics were always on time.

I think of Crisis on Infinite Earths as a recent example of timeliness. George Perez did every panel, had a million inset panels, drew most characters from the DCU in intricate and detailed pages, did the covers, and had the book out on time. Then I think of Infinite Crisis where there were multiple artists on one issue with each page being a different style. It is disconcerting.

There are arguments that it would be better to give the creative team as much time as they need to assure a better artistic product. But this was a comic planned a year before issue 1 was released and Jones couldn't finish 7 issues? Is this because some comic creators are now 'rock stars' in the field, a 'big name' given some leeway the average creator doesn't get? Is this how DC wanted their summer block-buster to come off? Delayed and with a different artist? How much are we readers held to blame for tolerating this?

Sigh ...

Okay, enough ranting. I'm sorry.

Here are the January solicits with some comments.

SUPERGIRL #37

Written by Sterling Gates

Cover by Joshua Middleton

Art by Jamal Igle & Keith Champagne

“Who is Superwoman?” part 1 of 5 and a “Faces of Evil” issue! After her encounter with the mysterious Superwoman, Supergirl is left with two burning questions: who is Superwoman, and what gives her the right to wear the symbol of the House of El? The answers lead Supergirl into the darkest depths of New Krypton and drastically alter the Superman Family forever!

Hmmm. The plot thickens a bit about Superwoman and her identity. It is interesting that she sticks around after 'New Krypton'. Makes me wonder if she is a Kryptonian after all. It does make the Linda Danvers guess a bit more likely.

And "Who is Superwoman?" is a 5 parter. After #34 as a jumping on point and the 'New Krypton' cross-over event, it will be nice to see the new team settle into a long arc. I still hope it is Lesla Lar, but now I really doubt I am right.

SUPERGIRL: COSMIC ADVENTURES IN THE EIGHTH GRADE #2
Written by Landry Walker
Art and cover by Eric Jones

Super strength, the ability to fly and extra-speedy reflexes should make a girl’s life easier, but they only seem to complicate things for Supergirl. Life gets a lot crazier, though, when a new enemy named Belinda Zee shows up. And with girls like Belinda around, facing down Super-Villains doesn’t seem so bad.

I like how on the cover, Supergirl seems more afraid of the girl (I presume Belinda Zee) than the chunk of Kryptonite in front of her. I think this comic is going to be great. The description sounds like it will show that adolescent confrontations can be as threatening as super-villains ... sort of a 'Mean Girls' for the super-sect. The super-girls at home are as excited as I am to read this title.

SUPERMAN/SUPERGIRL: MAELSTROM #5
Written by Jimmy Palmiotti & Justin Gray
Art and cover by Phil Noto

This explosive conclusion pits Superman and Supergirl against the combined might of Maelstrom and the Female Furies in the heart of Metropolis. Has Supergirl learned anything from her time on the alien world, or will she repeat her rookie mistakes? And what will be the fate of Maelstrom?

I have gushed about Phil Noto in the past. This cover is gush-worthy. I *love* his rendition of Supergirl.

I don't know if I necessarily consider Kara a rookie any more. Sure she is still learning and trying and hopefully Palmiotti/Gray will have her grow in this mini-series so she does not 'repeat her rookie mistakes'.

More than anything else, I am hoping that this mini-series shows Supergirl in a positive light. There are things about it that sound so promising: focusing on her relationship with Superman, the inclusion of Fourth World characters, and taking the super-cousins to new locations. I just fear that Supergirl will be portrayed as a mistake-prone rookie throughout.

And now, the Kara-free issues worth mentioning.

REIGN IN HELL #7

Written by Keith Giffen

Art by Tom Derenick & Bill Sienkiewicz and Chad Hardin& Walden Wong

Cover by Justiniano

The war hits its horrifying crescendo, and Zatanna, Dr. Fate and the rest of the DCU’s magical characters must pick their sides as the new powers in Hell emerge! Plus, Dr. Occult learns Hell’s nastiest little secret, with grave consequences for the nature of life itself. But will he share it? Better yet, should he?

So I keep mentioning this title because Linda Danvers is supposed to be appear here. But so far we have only seen her in a couple of pages of issue one. And I wasn't exactly thrilled with the way she was portrayed there.

Hopefully we will see her again. Hopefully she will have some sort of meaningful role since she was the only reason I picked up this title.

FACES OF EVIL: PROMETHEUS #1
Written by Sterling Gates
Art by Federico Dalbochio
Cover by Mauro Cascioli

It’s an all-new prelude to the upcoming, all-new JUSTICE LEAGUE #1! Prometheus once defeated the Justice League single-handedly, and with his latest lethal crime spree, he's moved to the top of the heroes' Most Wanted list. But what grave crimes has he committed, and what will he do to prevent capture? Learn the real face of evil that is Prometheus!

Well there are a couple of reasons to mention this stand-alone issue. One, I am a huge fan of Prometheus ... well, I am a huge fan of Prometheus when he appeared in Grant Morrison's JLA. In that book, he nearly took out the Justice League single-handedly.

Of course, since then, he has been used more like a measuring stick for heroes to show how tough the hero is. I mean Huntress defeated him in Birds of Prey. I love the Huntress .... but defeating Prometheus?

Anyways, the issue is written by Supergirl scribe Sterling Gates and he has said in interviews that Prometheus will be twisted and unstoppable here. I like the sound of that, sort of a return to his roots.

And it is a prelude to James Robinson's Justice League!

Some of you may have forgotten that this title is coming out! It was announced several month's ago but no release date has been released. Of course, Supergirl is a member of this incarnation of the league as seen in this preview picture by title artist Mauro Cascioli. His art is stunning! His Supergirl is simply statuesque!

So, January will be a busy month for the DCU and an important month for Kara. See you all then.