Thursday, July 9, 2015

TV Guide Article & Comic


The TV Guide Comic-Con Special came out earlier this week and included a bunch of goodies for those of us anxiously awaiting the Supergirl show.

First off, Melissa Benoist graces one of the four covers. Smashing through the 'screen' as she streakes towards us, she looks like everything Supergirl should.

I am still absolutely giddy that we are getting a live action Supergirl show! I don't know if I would ever have imagined it.


There is a brief two page article reviewing the show. We hear stuff we have heard before - the tone of the show, how Supergirl is going to be relatable, a brief synopsis of her comic origin, and what Benoist thinks of the character. There isn't too much new there for folks like me who have been following all along.

But there was something new tucked in there.

The Danvers are named Jeremiah and Eliza. Jeremiah and Eliza??  I was hoping for Fred and Sylvia (an homage to the PAD parents). I would settle for Fred and Edna (the original names for her adoptive parents in comics). Jeremiah and Eliza sound downright Smallvillian.

And both are scientists? Well this is a wrinkle I suppose is nice. Kara's adoptive mother being a scientist would be another strong female inspiration for her.


Then we get a brief four page comic written by pilot writer Andrew Kreisberg and show producers Greg Berlanti and Ali Adler. Art is done by Xermanico. I haven't seen Xermanico before but the style looks very Igle-esque.

Again, it is a brief story but lays down some nice beats for the show to build on.

The DEO and Supergirl are called to take down a couple of aliens stomping through a city.

I do love this quiet confidence when Kara arrives saying 'This looks like a job for Supergirl', a classic line from the super-mythos.

And I wonder if that font is the new character font for the name Supergirl, replacing the more classic Superman-like font.

 The alien isn't too much of a threat, eliminated with a two-fisted strike. I do like that top panel where Kara slams into this thing.

But then we get some snappy tete-a-tete between Kara and Alex. Seems Kara didn't pay attention to the alien's powers during mission prep. She is a young and new hero. But I hope this semi-lackadaisical attitude doesn't carry over too much.


 With the battle over, Supergirl hears someone crying and finds a young girl alone in a nearby apartment and frightened.

You can see how freaked out the girl is by her body language, recoiling as Kara tries to console her.

This is just great. It shows that Supergirl is thinking of all aspects of her heroic duties, both bashing monsters and small personal moments like this.

The girl was left alone because her sister had errands to run.

Supergirl talks of sisterly love and its ups and downs. But the foundation is love. It is a nice look at the Alex/Kara dynamic and the relationship they have. It also makes me think the 'Luthor-ification' of Alex might not happen this first season. I can only hope.

More optimism!

11 comments:

Unknown said...

I love how the TV Guide cover echoes Helen Slater's Supergirl smashing through Selena's magic mirror, and her strong flying pose.

I definitely agree with you it would have been wonderful for Supergirl's adoptive parents to been named Fred, Edna, or Sylvia in homage to the comics!

With regards to Alex, I didn't realize she would go down a path to become like Luthor. I guess this development would happen along with Hank Henshaw becoming the Cyborg Superman.

Overall, so happy to see so much publicity for Supergirl!

Wayne Allen Sallee said...

Anj: is this the general TV Guide? Here in Chicago, you can't buy them in stores anymore, and I haven't received my issue yet.

Anj said...

There's no program listing so this might not be the true TV guide.

I got mine at Barnes and Noble.

Anonymous said...

They did away with TV listings years ago. This is just a straight up magazine.

Anj said...

I guess this is it then.

Gene said...

Nice to see the TV costume in comic book form. It works well in both mediums.

Gene

Anonymous said...

Alex as "Alexandra Luthor"? Thats a new one on me, where did that come from? Of course it does track well with "The Flash" and the whole Harrison Welles/Reverse Flash storyline...which in turn begs the question as far as this series goes who DOESN'T know Kara Danvers is Supergirl??

:)

JF

Anonymous said...

In answer to some discussion above, this is not the regular TV Guide. It's a special (and pricey -- $7.99) Comic Con issue. Regular TV Guide was still published this week. It was hard for me to find this special issue, but after checking several stores over several days, I finally came up with a copy. They only had one with the Supergirl cover, so I was lucky I snagged it. I still haven't been able to scare up the Batman v Superman issue of Entertainment Weekly, though. :(

Anonymous said...

I kinda noted the Luthor-esque control Alex had in this comic, but wrote it off largely because this is supposed to be a 1shot
introing people to the TV series. And boy does it hit all the right notes! I LOOOOVE the jibs Kara gives Alex, and the counterpoints
Alex gives to Kara, but what was so right was that in the end they both care for one another.

Can only see how the TV series plays the sister dynamic... we already know from the previews that Hank Henshaw already inherently
mistrusts "the alien sister" while Alex will defend Kara from all comers.

We can only see.

...but yeah, wish I could find this to add to my collection :)


Regards

Anonymous said...

Supergirl has a sister. "She's going to be evil or betray Kara!"

Supergirl gets a friend in Siobhan. "She's going to turn evil!"

Zor-El is alive. Let's kill him again!

Alura is alive. Let's kill her again!

Kara makes some friends on the Red Lanterns. Whack!

Supergirl makes friends on Crucible. Send her home.

I'm beginning to understand why Kara feels put upon.

Anj said...

Thanks for continued comments!

I think the name Alex alone led me to that she could go the way of Lex. I don't think she is a Luthor. But I imagine an evil turn might be somewhere down the line. End of season 2?

As for Supergirl being put upon, she is getting her own network show with the biggest bump in her visibility and DC doesn't even have a book with her in it. That is insane.