Friday, November 16, 2018

Review: Supergirl #24


Supergirl #24 came out this week and I won't bury the lede. It has Doc Shaner art.

Since I discovered Shaner's art I have wanted to see his take on Supergirl and he doesn't disappoint. That is not to say that Kevin Maguire hasn't been killing it on this book; he has. But there is something just magical, just gorgeous, just grin-inducing about Shaner's art and his take on Kara that elevates this issue tremendously. Expect me to gush throughout the review even though I have already blasted you with superlatives.

The story in the issue is good, advancing the plot of detective Kara trying to uncover what Rogol Zaar and 'The Circle' had to do with Krypton's destruction. I feel like the first three issues have been something of prologue, starting Kara out on this intergalactic journey. Now, out in space, writer Marc Andreyko can start to put the rest of the pieces out on the chess board. A couple of new characters are introduced. And we continue to move forward on Kara's quest to reunite the crystals Appa Ali Apsa.

Sure, Kara seems more of the angry, 'punch first' Supergirl of past years. The cover touts her 'path of vengenace'. It seems like a step back in her characterization. At least, at times, she seems like the bright, inquisitive Supergirl we have seen recently.

But the big win here is Shaner's art. It is just a fill-in. He has no other planned issue of Supergirl ahead. Maybe the hue and cry of the common folk can bring him back as designated pinch hitter?

Onto the book.


Last issue, Kara fled Mogo to continue her search for crystals which contain the journal of the Guardian Appa Ali Apsa. It has led her to Taffey's bar, last seen in Bendis' Man of Steel #2, reviewed here: http://comicboxcommentary.blogspot.com/2018/06/review-man-of-steel-2.html

It was at Taffey's that Rogol Zaar first heard about Superman living on Earth so this seems like a good place to start. In a nice little bit of continuity, we see Ambush Bug still there as entertainer and even the same bartender, a woman who looks a little like Mr. Mokkari.

I do like Kara trying her best to stay undercover in her cloak and stealth suit. But the S-shield stands out, warning everyone that she is Kryptonian.


In a bit that is very Daredevil in it's execution, Kara uses her super-hearing (radar sense?) to listen to all the heartbeats in the bar to try to pick out someone who is nervous. I don't know if it works for me on several levels.

One, it *is* very Daredevil. Has Supergirl really used her powers as a lie detector before to be certain?

Two, there are innumerable alien races here. She says she has studied alien physiology. But can she really know what a normal resting heart rate is for everyone? Can she know what happens to random alien's heart rate when they are nervous or lying?

People deny knowing Rogol Zaar so Kara decides intimidation is the right move. Burning the axe symbol into the floor, eyes cloaked, she says she wants information ... or else.

Sigh.

It doesn't sound, at all, like the Kara we read in the first 20 issues of this Rebirth series. It doesn't sound like the Kara from the last year of the prior series. This feels like a step back.


Meanwhile, Gandelo, one of the dark Circle, has two operatives tailing Supergirl. One is only seen cloaked. Whoever they are, they want to engage Supergirl. But Gandelo advises the being to lay low and just observe.

After all, he already has an operative there.

I am pretty sure we meet one later. But for now, Gandelo's crew remain unknown. I don't quite know why he is sitting back here. Maybe he thinks Kara will simply fail in her mission and head home? So why bother?


Eventually, using her Daredevil senses, she singles out the alien she is looking for. Before she can corner him though, her questioning gets unwanted attention. A bruiser with a quarterstaff decides he is going to take out his frustrations about Krypton out on her.

This moment of Kara wondering what Kal would do is interesting only in that she states immediately she isn't Kal.

Now listen. I don't want Supergirl to just be a younger Superman. What I love about her is that she is still learning. She isn't infallible. She is fierce and sometime reckless. That is why I first became of fan of hers.

But heading into a bar where her strategy is to brawl? That sounds like something this Kara wouldn't do given everything that has happened in her life. Her dismissal of Kal's ways seems off. I almost wish she tried his way only to fail and then have to brawl. It would show the right intention but foisted on the wrong people.

But she decides the right thing to do is to 'not be Kal'. She transmutes her stealth suit to her classic blues. She activates the suit's yellow sun reserves. And she calls in Krypto.

Oh my god!

Look at this double page splash by Shaner.

Just gorgeous. Absolutely stunning.


And a true barroom brawl breaks out. Supergirl pinwheels through the bar, bashing all in her path but draining her reserves.

In the middle of the fight, a Coluan joins the fight, helping her out.

Is that a Faceless Hunter in the crowd??

I love panels like this with multiple images of Supergirl showing how fast she is moving through the space. But our hero Supergirl beating up a whole bar? Still felt a little off.


And we begin to get a sense of how tricky this mission will be when her suit is drained of sun energy. Suddenly she is a very vulnerable teenage girl. And the guy with the quarterstaff is still there.

I love this panel. Look at the surprise on Kara's face as her cape gets tugged. Wide eyed, brows high ... she looks shocked and scared. Just amazing art by Shaner again.


Kara does have an ace in the hole. Reaching under her cape, she pulls out Zaar's axe and brandishes it. Now her power level is zero. So should she be able to so easily lift and parry with this axe built for Rogol Zaar? Or is that weapon out of her weight class?

Regardless, another great splash by Shaner. I love the use of silhouette here. You feel the energy lashing out, buffeting those around. Brilliant.

And her use of the axe has a profound effect on the patrons still standing. There is sudden respect.

As for me, I went back and looked (you can too). Shaner showed us the axe peeking out from under her cape in appropriate panels. Look two panels up here and you'll see it. That makes me happy!


Just as Supergirl is going to interrogate the nervous alien, he is literally incinerated by the bartender. Within the ashes of his body is another crystal, perhaps the next clue.

The bartender is knocked out by Kara's new Coluan friend, Z'ndr Kol. (I am pronouncing it Xander Call.)

He seems a bit of a scoundrel in his Poe Dameron coat, his three day beard, and his suave demeanor. He congratulates her on her use of Klurkor and Torquasm (although I thought Torquasm was a meditation skil, not a martial art). Somehow he sweet talks his way into traveling with Supergirl. He is on the hunt for a Coluan colony in the outskirts of the galaxy. He wants to reconnect with his people. Certainly she understands that? Right?

It all sounds too easy, too perfect. He has to be the cloaked agent from earlier. And in my mind, all this will do is add some friction of distrust when Kara meets Brainiac 5 .... whenever the hell that is given DC's reluctance to put out a Legion book.


There he is on the chicken-ship. There is a nice page showing the awkward silence that would come from traveling with a complete stranger. I still wonder why Kara would bring him along. She seems so focused on this mission. He can only slow her down. Nevertheless, there he is.

Next stop on the Supergirl trail? The site of Krypton. Nothing like a planet worth of Kryptonite in one spot to bring on a migraine.

Overall, we get more details to inform us on this journey. The suit has a finite energy battery. She can recharge the suit different ways. She has Daredevil powers. She has acquired another crystal. She met Z'ndr and has brought him along. Gandelo is spying on her already.

And she is a hothead more like early new 52 Kara and less like the Supergirl we have read over the last 3 years. Hmmm ...

Oh yeah .... the art is so pretty I wept while reading.

What did you all think?

Overall grade: B

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

I wish I could chain Shaner to a drawing board and get him draw Supergirl forever and ever (Jamal Igle and Emanuela Lupacchino can take over every time he needs to eat, sleep or go to the bathroom). His art deserves every bit of gushing you've heaped on it.

Storywise, the issue is good but it has some issues. And Supergirl's characterization is some kind of middle ground between her early despondent and angry self and Orlando's ever-eager-to-talk Supergirl.

By the way, did you notice she mentions the "Alex" name in the first page? This, together with that framed picture next to Eliza's answering phone in issue #21 featuring four persons makes me suspect that Andrekyo has retconned Alex Danvers in continuity with zero explanation.

Heh. Counting Convergence, this must be the third Supergirl/Ambush Bug meeting.

"It doesn't sound, at all, like the Kara we read in the first 20 issues of this Rebirth series. It doesn't sound like the Kara from the last year of the prior series. This feels like a step back."

I don't know... I didn't think that moment was so bad.

"I don't quite know why he is sitting back here. Maybe he thinks Kara will simply fail in her mission and head home? So why bother?"

Maybe. I guess he has two agents on the case, so they can look after her if push comes to shove.

"But heading into a bar where her strategy is to brawl?"

There must be some kind of "If the characters walk into a bar, they'll get involved in a brawl" fiction rule we haven't heard about.

I liked the references to Klurkor and Torquasm Rao, I'll give Andrekyo that.

"Now her power level is zero. So should she be able to so easily lift and parry with this axe built for Rogol Zaar?"

Maybe the axe is lighter than it looks? I'm more curious about Krypto: Kara's body and suit are out of juice but Krypto flies just fine?

I find more concerning her main reaction to her turned-to-ashes suspect seems to be annoyance at being thwarted.

Z'ndr Kol is too suspicious-looking to NOT be the Circle's agent. Or maybe that IS what Andrekyo wants us to think?

I laughed at the recharge stations. Really? Is that a thing? It looks like something out of a Silver Age issue.

"What did you all think?"

Decent story with some issues. Glorious art. I think your grade is deserved.

I find interesting old-time Supergirl fans are having issues with Supergirl's portrayal whereas people who don't usually give a damn about are telling this is the best the book or the character has been since forever.

And... I'm sorry for the off-topic, but as soon as I saw the number of comments on the Supergirl episode review I knew that troll has returned. Don't let him bother you, Anj. Anybody who has ACTUALLY read your comments and reviews knows you aren't a bigot and what your REAL issues with the show are. Perfectly valid issues, by the way.

I still remember his first "post". He claimed people were hating Lauren Faust's DCSHG Supergirl because she was given a personality at last. Putting aside no one was hating that version, he thinks Supergirl has never gotten a personality since 1959? That's all evidence that you need that he doesn't like or know the character at all. And if he doesn't like Supergirl, why is he coming to a Supergirl-focused site? Simple, because he's a troll looking to make trouble. He doesn't care for your favorite characters, your great site or your real opinions, he only wants to harass people.

Don't pay attention to him and don't let him discourage you. Before finding your blog I thought Supergirl was a decent character but I didn't give much thought to her. Now she's one of my favorite heroes and I have discovered many interesting stories I knew nothing about. So, thank you and please carry one.

Martin Gray said...

Great review, and yes please to more Shaner, though I don’t see him as quite so far ahead if the rest of the pack as you.

You know I have a theory that not only is Col the spy, he’s the Durlan from the bar? Maybe Kara picked out his heartbeat, realised it didn’t match his look, super-intuited he’s a spy and took him on board the Krypto-chicken to see what he knows?

Hi Anon, I don’t see anything weird about the charging points, aren’t they just the space version of electric car charging points found in towns and cities everywhere today.

Anonymous said...

Good review any but here I will have to disagree with you on a couple of points:

"Her dismissal of Kal's ways seems off. I almost wish she tried his way only to fail and then have to brawl. It would show the right intention but foisted on the wrong people."

Coupled with Superman #5 where Clark calms down after he thinks of ma and pa's advise and the tvshow where Supergirl is losing every fight, I rather like this approach. One of the reasons why I love Kara is that she is not kal and I don't want her to be kal. Kal has good parents who taught him to be better but Kara, she didn't have anyone. Zor el and alura are way too flawed to have been people she would look up to. She watched her planet being destroyed and since then it has been an uphill battle for her, trying to understand her powers and figuring out how to control herself. This is why I loved that Orlando finally introduced Eliza to the book, I thought that maybe with a good mother like her, she would learn to be more in control. But even though we are kind of taking 5 steps back, it is just a testimony that Kara has never had it easy like kal has. Hers is the uphill battle without proper support system- all the time, in the comics and how people perceive her in the outside world. I don't have an issue with her being brash and angry, it's that it has to be dealt with well. I am not sure andreyko is doing it.

"But can she really know what a normal resting heart rate is for everyone? Can she know what happens to random alien's heart rate when they are nervous or lying?"

The first issue was her saying that she barely paid attention to class and that ticked me off because we all know Kara was the youngest member of the Kryptonian science council, she was a diligent student. Not a slacker. So I will take gladly take that she can do all this, that's how smart she is- this is my interpretation.

Also, "Kara's body and suit are out of juice but Krypto flies just fine?"

It looks like he is just jumping/ pouncing normally to me.

"It all sounds too easy, too perfect. He has to be the cloaked agent from earlier."

Conspiracy theories are afoot everywhere with many (including me) praying that it's just brainiac5 in disguise.

Also, doc's art is amazing, it just lifts the story so so much. As for andreyko, I suggest everyone makes their peace with him; fours issues in and I have realized unless we get sterling gates, Steve Orlando or someone like gail Simone or Kate Perkins, till then it's gonna go like this. Sales numbers are good, the story is decent and at the end of the day, it just matters to me that she keeps on having her solo book and doesn't perish into oblivion.


Anonymous said...

"It looks like he is just jumping/ pouncing normally to me."

I checked again that panel and he is clearly bursting through the wall. Look at the kinetic lines.

"Conspiracy theories are afoot everywhere with many (including me) praying that it's just brainiac5 in disguise."

It'd be great, but I'm not betting on it. It'll be a stand-in for Querl or an agent of The Circle.

"As for andreyko, I suggest everyone makes their peace with him; fours issues in and I have realized unless we get sterling gates, Steve Orlando or someone like gail Simone or Kate Perkins, till then it's gonna go like this."

Very true. Since 1959, most of writers ignored or disregarded Kara's backstory. Sometimes Supergirl is given to writers who know and build on her history like Jack C. Harris, Paul Kupperberg, Sterling Gates... Elliot S! Maggin wrote a couple of issues but he still had pace space to bring Lena back... but it seldom happens.

"Sales numbers are good, the story is decent and at the end of the day, it just matters to me that she keeps on having her solo book and doesn't perish into oblivion."

Indeed.

But I can't believe neither of us have commented on one of the best lines of the issue. "All hail the Axe Queen!", indeed. And uttered by a guy wearing a Zook shirt!

Anonymous said...

Loved the art, and can forgive the heartbeat logic. While the text doesn't match this theory, I can hypothesize that Kara checked out all the heartbeats earlier, so she can hear the difference when they change.

Here's another theory: the ship itself must have recharging built in, because otherwise Kara and her suit would always run out of juice. So, Krypto himself is fully charged when he ... charges.

I'm liking the black and red stealth suit more and more. What a change, after 60 years of blue, red and yellow. It's a good addition, and why not?

Shaner does some great stuff with the eyes and eyebrows, and whistling, and Krypto pacing, in that awkward scene on the ship. Would like to see how that page was scripted. (That's a hint for a DC Nation feature! Which isn't going to happen given Doc is a guest artist.)

Do I see a moon-like outline of Krypton? Does a husk of the planet remain?

This is a great example of trusting the art to do so much of the storytelling, with some 1st person narration thrown in. A quick read, but easy to linger on the terrific art.

Some reviewers have complained that not much happens in this issue. I think exactly the right amount of stuff happens!

T.N.

Anonymous said...

The "Alex" reference here is to Alex Trebek, host of "Jeopardy!"

John (somewhere in England) said...

"Now her power level is zero. So should she be able to so easily lift and parry with this axe built for Rogol Zaar?"

My assumption was that the axe can vary its weight, just as it can change its size. With Supergirl powerless the axe gives her a helping hand by becoming lighter.

Anonymous said...

Ya know its funny, this week's TV episode had too LITTLE Supergirl "Action", and this week's Comic had TOO MUCH Supergirl "Action" of a misguided variety. I have to call bull squat on Supergirl's priorities starting a nigh pointless barroom brawl with compromised energy reserves...that to me felt like filler and bad filler at that since it calls into question Supergirl's core super power which is "good judgement". And then there is the scene of the crime cliffhanger, which REALLY casts mortal doubts on Kara's common sense....

On the other hand, the artwork was superlative as noted above.

So its a wash I agree with Our Host Supergirl's characterization is wobbling all over the place a little dangerously at that, I'm not bailing or anything there are enough bits and pieces I can enjoy in the interim. My main concern is that this story arc won't more Supergirl as a character forward...and indeed the next big writer on the book will have to fix some things as well.

We'll See


JF

Anj said...

Thanks for the great comments here.

Love the idea of the Durlan being a spy.
Love the head canon for the axe and Krypto.


I still don't know if I like the angry Supergirl here. But on Twitter someone described it more as 'impulsive' and maybe I should look at it through that lens.

The Coluan has to be a soy for Gandelo.

Thanks for great comments.

Anonymous said...

Supergirl #24 has made it to the Comixology Top 25 this week, too (even though it claimed the last spot). Digital sales seem fine, at the very least.

Anonymous said...

25th for the week for the week probably works out to around 100th for the month, which suggests around 25,000 floppy sales.

October's #23 did have outstanding floppy sales. I wonder what its digital rank was the week it was released. Maybe 10th?

T.N.

Professor Feetlebaum said...

The barroom brawl in Supergirl 24 may be the best one seen in comics since $crooge McDuck single-handedly took on the Black Jack Ballroom in "Back to the Klondike", away back in 1952 (although that scene was deleted from the original printing, and wasn't restored until the 1980s).

Unless things have changed recently, Doc Shaner will be drawing more Supergirl. He said as such on his Tumblr page. In August, he wrote "I will be back after issue 24." And in September, "I was originally brought in to draw #24 as a one-off, but I will be back soon."

I can understand Kara's anger in the context of this storyline, although I guess I tend to see it more as determination. I do wonder what the plans are for Supergirl after this story comes to an end.

"The "Alex" reference here is to Alex Trebek, host of Jeopardy!"

We all know Supergirl would clean up on Jeopardy, thanks to that Adam Hughes drawing from awhile back!