Thursday, October 12, 2017

Supergirl Tidbits

Just a couple of quick hits of things I have noticed that I feel warrant some coverage but not big enough to deserve a whole post.

So here are some quick hits!


Item #1: Steve Orlando has been bringing a lot of DC history into his books, in particular Supergirl where we have seen Lar-On, Strange Visitor, and other nods to the past.

Here in Justice League of America #15 he has Ryan Choi comment on an experiment performed at the New Athens Experimental School. Of course, this was the school where Linda Danvers was a guidance counselor in the Superman Family run. Nice nod to the past!







Item #2: I have been loving Nick Derington's work on the new Young Animal Doom Patrol. In me perusing of Twitter, I stumbled across this. Derington drew the DC SuperheroGirls Supergirl. Back in July he did a series of pics of the Batgirl and Wonder Woman from the series too. And they are gorgeous.

Moreover, Derington was truly excited for the property, excited DCSHG was outselling Watchmen and that they were the future and salvation of comics.

I truly want this picture. If anyone knows Derington, tell him I'll buy it.



Item #3: A friend of my gave me a gift the other day, the trade of the Loeb/Turner Supergirl reboot.

Why is this special? Check out the bottom right corner.


It's from Poland!

I love that my friends know that I get a kick out of foreign language editions of comic books. It is bonus if it is Supergirl.


It's fun for me to thumb through these books. I especially love when there are short sentences I can easily translate. Like 'This is Kara Zor-El, my cousin from Krypton.'


I also have to say that looking at her panels, I think Barda should be speaking Polish all the time. The consonants just seem to suit her.

Okay, just a fun day of tidbits! Thanks for indulging!

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

"Here in Justice League of America #15 he has Ryan Choi comment on an experiment performed at the New Athens Experimental School."

Nice nod, indeed. It's good that Supergirl is being written by someone who knows and respects her story rather someone who thinks insulting her fans publicly coughSupergirlVol5Issue19cough, getting her falling for H'el or getting her killed by her father-turned-super-villain are acceptable developments.

"Moreover, Derington was truly excited for the property, excited DCSHG was outselling Watchmen and that they were the future and salvation of comics."

Mind-boggling.

I want to believe the success of DCSHG bodes well for the future. It means more young new fans who will grow to love the characters. It means to never hear again "Yes, Dick, you can kill Supergirl in Crisis" or "Yes, Alan, you can cripple the b***h".

"It's from Poland!"

I purchased a German edition by accident. :P

"I love that my friends know that I get a kick out of foreign language editions of comic books."

A while ago I checked non-English versions of the DC Wiki. They're considerably shorter, although there's usually an entry for Supergirl. Hoowever it's always Kara. Matrix, Linda or Cir-El are hardly mentioned.

Polish-speaking Barda sounds even more ferocious!

I don't think you've ever reviewed that Superman/Batman arc (well, you technically reviewed the animated adaptation, but it's not the same thing :) ). I'd love hearing your thoughts on those issues, especially what your reaction was back in the day. I figure there'll be a "OH, GOD, KARA IS BACK! ... Why is she naked?" exclamation somewhere.

Looking forward to read your thoughts on this week's Supergirl.

Anonymous said...

Speaking of tidbits, here is one related to that very 2005 series, and another to the way New 52 ended/Rebirth began.

(There was some discussion about the New 52 end/Rebirth start in some old thread here, but it's too old to comment on.)

I've been re-reading the old 2004/2005-2011 series (starting with Superman/Batman 8 in March 2004), and also trying to fill in the other Supergirl appearances at the same time.

Based on cover and publication dates, it seems to me Infinite Crisis is starting right at the time of Supergirl #2, with Supergirl going off into space with Donna Troy in Infinite Crisis #1. Just before that she stops off to say goodbye to Superman, in Superman #223. But in her own title she continues to encounter various teams, moves on the Outsiders, and then we get Black Kryptonite Supergirl.

Finally, #6 jumps to One Year Later which would mean Infinite Crisis has ended.

Are these publication timing screw-ups? Supergirl #5 appears to have come out as many as 4 or 5 months earlier than Infinite Crisis.

Any thoughts on this?


Second matter - there was speculation a year or more ago, right here, about what was going on at the end of New 52/start of Rebirth where Supergirl had lost her powers and needed to get rocketed into the sun to get them back. And I think there were 2 comments that suggested there were hints in Superman #51 - but I think they meant Action #51.

Here's what I dug up. Maybe everyone reading this already knows all this? (If so, egg on face.)

First, at the Crucible Academy, in #39, Korstus has tech that "inhibits the ability of the solar energy stored within your cells to be delivered to the rest of your body."

In #40 Tsavo breaks that device and Supergirl recovers, and is even better than ever, or at least has better control thanks to her recent training - she uses heat and microscopic vision together for the first time.

But then after returning to Earth she observes that while the sun has made her almost new again, things feel different. Then - surprise - she cuts herself at work in the coffee shop, and the series ends that she feels more human.

Dizziness at that job are shown in the montage in Action #51, but since there's no bleeding from her cut it's not the same moment shown in Supergirl #40, and could be happening months later.

My point though is: there is no further mention of the tech that altered her relationship to solar energy, which seems to be the initial cause of her problems on Earth. Instead, in the montage she only blames her power loss on Vandal Savage.

The whole Truth - Injustice - Savage Dawn series starts a few months after Supergirl #40, though I'm not sure where the comet part of the story factors in (I need to skim some of this).

But the timing suggests that, just as Superman later attributes his illness (and death) to a multitude of weakening factors in succession, the problems Supergirl has with Vandal Savage may only be compounding the problems that had already started at Crucible.

Maybe I'm reading too much into what happened at Crucible and it's all due to Savage, but my guess is DC either forgot, or decided to drop, the Crucible solar tech element of the story. Not impossible they forgot - writers don't have much time, they saw how #40 ended and no reason to assume they read #39 to try to figure out the cause.

What do you think?

Also - I'm curious about elements in the montage in Action #51. Some elements are clearly flashbacks, like Supergirl in the device at DEO which was seen previously, and Supergirl having troubles in general at the coffee shop, but what about the rest, where she is depicted as weakening in action? Are those also flashbacks to content previously shown in some book, or is the montage including exposition being filled in for the very first time?

The only completely unexplained change is the costume. I guess she saw the TV show, read The Adventures of Supergirl, or went shopping.

Anonymous said...

"Are these publication timing screw-ups? Supergirl #5 appears to have come out as many as 4 or 5 months earlier than Infinite Crisis."

I think the entire "Girl Power" arc happens before Infinite Crisis, and the sixth issue happens later. Publication dates are not always useful to fit storylines chronologically.

Supergirl fifth volume had many troubles early on, but that Supergirl enjoyed great exposure. She was a member of several high-profile teams, developed friendships and relationships with many heroes and made regular appearances in various titles. She was truly integrated in the DC universe. I miss that.

"My point though is: there is no further mention of the tech that altered her relationship to solar energy, which seems to be the initial cause of her problems on Earth. Instead, in the montage she only blames her power loss on Vandal Savage."

I never thought that inhibitor was the cause of her power loss. I don't think it was ever implied.

I wonder what Kate Perkins and Mike Johnson had in mind when they wrote that final scene. Depowering the character in the final page of the last issue seems a strange move. Ideally you'd want to leave the character available for another writer.

Maybe they knew about the Vandal Savage storyline beforehand? Or Peter Tomasi was taking advantage of it to explain the power loss?

"Also - I'm curious about elements in the montage in Action #51. Some elements are clearly flashbacks, like Supergirl in the device at DEO which was seen previously, and Supergirl having troubles in general at the coffee shop, but what about the rest, where she is depicted as weakening in action? Are those also flashbacks to content previously shown in some book, or is the montage including exposition being filled in for the very first time?"

As far as I know, no, those scenes weren't seen previously.

"The only completely unexplained change is the costume. I guess she saw the TV show, read The Adventures of Supergirl, or went shopping."

You got a smile out of me.

I don't think costume changes need much of an explanation. Pre-Crisis Kara changed costumes constantly between 1970 and 1985 and usually her only motive was "Because I wanted".

Anonymous said...

Agreed, that Supergirl showed up everywhere. Often 5 or even 10 appearances in other books between each issue of the Supergirl title. I guess Legion was her most frequent alternate title.

New 52 Supergirl had a run with Justice League United, and the Red Lantern arc, and after the title ended, all the interactions with Final Days of Superman. Some connections to the Superman Doomed storyline as well.

Some of the Pre-Crisis costumes were too trendy to last long. What is amusing is if you look at the first 12 Daring Adventures, Carmine Infantino was drawing Linda as a frumpy old lady with frilly outfits totally inappropriate for a young girl of that mod era. That was toned down as the series progressed and she dressed more normally.

Anonymous said...

"Agreed, that Supergirl showed up everywhere. Often 5 or even 10 appearances in other books between each issue of the Supergirl title. I guess Legion was her most frequent alternate title.

New 52 Supergirl had a run with Justice League United, and the Red Lantern arc, and after the title ended, all the interactions with Final Days of Superman. Some connections to the Superman Doomed storyline as well."

She made some extra appearances, but she definitely had less exposure. I don't get why. Her book is selling better -and well above cancellation-, she's about to get her own show, and it's cancelled?

"Some of the Pre-Crisis costumes were too trendy to last long. What is amusing is if you look at the first 12 Daring Adventures, Carmine Infantino was drawing Linda as a frumpy old lady with frilly outfits totally inappropriate for a young girl of that mod era. That was toned down as the series progressed and she dressed more normally."

You're right. Maybe Infantino thought that's how young women were attired back then?