Supergirl Preview Page In Superman #700

There is a lot of Supergirl and Superman news to cover here over the next couple of days. Between the release of the much-anticipated Superman #700 to the beginning of the 'Who is Supergirl?' arc in Supergirl #53, I will be scanning and reviewing through the weekend.

But I thought a good place to start would be with the Supergirl preview page in Superman #700. My guess is that with the nation-wide hype about JMS' 'Grounded' arc and the anniversary nature of the issue, that Superman #700 is going to sell extremely well. DC, in a savvy promotional move, decided to put preview pages of the other super-titles in the back of the issue discussing what will be happening in Action Comics, Superboy, and Supergirl. It is a brilliant way of marketing those titles to prospective readers.

Sterling Gates wrote the Supergirl page which includes a lot of information about the upcoming year. Some of it we knew; some of it we didn't. We knew Bizarro-Girl was coming to the book. We knew that Supergirl Annual #2 would be another Kara/Brainy story. And we knew that Jimmy Olsen and Natasha Irons were joining the supporting cast.

Little new nuggets were slipped into this piece though.

The annual includes a Supergirl and Legion battle against one of the scariest Legion villains of all time that includes a rip in the fabric of time. Since the Time Trapper was just used in Final Crisis:Legion of Three Worlds, I am going to guess it is the Infinite Man, another time based Legion villain. We also hear that Supergirl and Brainy are going to kiss!

As expected, it sounds as though Cat Grant and the Toyman will tussle and that Supergirl will come to Cat's rescue, despite Cat unleashing another anti-Supergirl campaign.

And we also hear hints about Superwoman's fate and Supergirl enrolling in college.

Perhaps most ominously, it sounds like just when Supergirl comes out of her post-New Krypton doldrums that 'her greatest enemy returns ... and brings along friends'. Her greatest enemy? Are we still all worried about the Anti-Monitor? Or is it just the 3rd bout with Superwoman?

Included on the page was this panel/splash page from Supergirl #54 by Jamal Igle. I thought this was a delicious little treat and really showed how much the creative team cares about the character.

It looks like Kara is looking at her Supergirl outfit pensively. But look at all the stuff around her in the room! It really shows the attention to detail that Gates and Igle have as these knick-knacks lay out Supergirl's history a bit. Going counter-clockwise from the top.

1. Belt rack with the variety of belts worn by Supergirl with this current costume (Michael Turner's, Ale Garza's, etc)

2. The 'Why The World Doesn't Need Supergirl' by Cat Grant Daily Planet from Supergirl #34

3. The Wonder Girl/Supergirl photo with them capturing a giant shark seen on her desk in Supergirl #43; I like how the frame seems partially destroyed - a given since it was on new Krypton when it exploded

4. An Eiffel Tower replica, probably from her apartment in France

5. The Blood Petal from her early age adventure with Thara in Superman Secret Files 2010

6. Zor-El's headband

7. The wig she wore when she tried to be Claire and go to high school in Supergirl #10

8. Amazon spear from her training on Paradise Island

9. Her Flamebird helmet from her mission on "Candor" in Supergirl #6-8

10. A Superman doll from fighting the Toyman in World's Finest (I think)

11. The piece of Alura's S-shield she recovered when New Krypton exploded from War of the Supermen #2

When that much of Kara's stories are captured in one panel, it just shows the love that Gates and Igle have for the character. This could have been just the uniform.

I think this is going to be a great upcoming year for Supergirl.