#Rebirth Supergirl

At WonderCon this weekend, DC had a major #Rebirth panel. In a nice move for all their fans, they streamed the event so I was able to watch right along with those in attendance. It opened with a nice short film highlighting key moments in DC's history which included two Supergirl moments, Action Comics #1 and the Supergirl #1 cover by Micheal Turner.

The panel was moderated by Jim Lee, Dan Didio, and Geoff Johns. For the most part, the message was clear. Lee talked about wanting to keep stories vibrant and exciting. Didio talked about DC losing its way and losing their fans (a pretty big admission since he is a driving force on all recent changes). He said the company had to recommit to their fans. And Johns came out and talked about how something was missing in the DCU, and that something was legacy. DC needed to reclaim all that has made it great. That overall message was well received by me since I have been complaining about the lack of legacy and positivity in DC books for the last several years.

Later we heard about the Rebirth Special (cover seen above) which will explain how all this unfolds. Who do we think the 'mystery hand' is reaching out to touch the New 52? I say the Monitor.

After that opening all the books and creative teams were announced and that included Supergirl.

Supergirl will come out in September, written by Steve Orlando with art by Brian Ching. Ching and Emanela Lupacchino will provide covers. Right off the bat, I like the look of the book. It is clear the #Rebirth costume riffs on the television show's, right down to the boots (no more exposed knees!) The cover looks like it includes Cat Grant which is appreciated. I like Ching's look so I'm happy.

Orlando was present and talked about his take. He opened with some nice comments about how he wanted to bring a classic super-book sensibility to the title. Specifically he mentioned 'enormous idea', 'large scale heroism', and 'amazing feats of compassion'. When he mentioned those idea, I was pretty optimistic. This wasn't the isolated, angry, bitter, angsty, 'hell on wheels' that the New 52 Supergirl was promoted as.

Then Orlando talked of the opening plot and I had to pause. Kara's story is different than Superman's because she left things behind on Krypton, she remembers that world. On Earth, she is trying to 'build bridges between cultures'. So far so good.

But then the Zor-El Cyborg Superman arrives and wants to give Kara her wish, going back to Krypton. And she goes and finds it a twisted place.

First off, the crowd gasped at the mention of Zor-El being Cyborg Superman. Even Didio seemed surprised. That's been canon since the short-lived Michael Alan Nelson run on the New 52 book. Shouldn't Didio know that?

But second, this sounds a bit too much like the early New 52 Supergirl who wanted to leave the mudball of Earth and head back home. I hope execution is top notch because it sounds like a retread of material mined over the first two plus years of the New 52 book. And that is a shame because the K. Perkins and Mike Johnson run had righted the ship. Kara was a hero, accepting Earth as her home, and happy.

I hope this first arc just re-establishes that.

At the very least, it is great to see this costume back. It is a nice mix of classic Matrix plus the show's version.

Later in a post Q and A session just for press, Didio confirmed National City and Cat Grant being in the book.

And then in ComicVine we hear much more which makes me optimistic. It also confirms that the book is going to lean on the show a bit. Steve Orlando reveals some of the beats in this book in an interview. She is Kara Danvers. Her parents work for the DEO. She has put anger behind her and wants to rehabilitate villains, not just defeat them. Now this makes me happy (although I'd have preferred Linda Danvers). So good stuff! Later on Twitter, Orlando said that his Kara will be the type of hero that will try to talk down the villain before fighting. And when the villain is captured, Kara is the type to head to the prison in a couple of weeks to check up on them.

Look, the big ideas espoused by Orlando sound like a book I want to read. So maybe this Cyborg Superman arc will just set the table. Heck, maybe she can cure/rehabilitate her father.

As for the rest of the super-books, Dan Jurgen, Patch Zircher, and Tyler Kirkham are on Action and that thrills me. Superman has writer Peter Tomasi and artist Pat Gleason. I am hoping Tomasi is able to bring a more positive outlook to this book than he had in SM/WW during The Truth. There is even a Superwoman book by Phil Jiminez. They look good.

There are other books which look interesting so I'll be sampling. In particular, the Green Lantern books seem re-energized.

Overall this has a better sound than the downbeat New 52. And the Supergirl book has me hopeful.

So what did you all think?