DC has early solicited some of their November books so that orders for special 'acetate' covers can be gauged. Here is a link to that story over on Newsarama: https://www.newsarama.com/46215-dc-comics-november-2019-solicitations.html
But more than anything, it had me muse over a famous quote by Satayana.
'Those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it.'
Because, in case you can't tell from the studded leather corseted, KISS make-up wearing, angry red eyed Supergirl on the cover of Supergirl #36, we have once again entered a Dark Kara phase.
It occurs about every 3 years.
It never works.
And we need to rebound from it.
Here I thought 'Queen of the Axe' Kara was Marc Andreyko's Dark Kara. But he and Dan Didio said 'hold our beers while we get shots of whiskey'.
Here is the solicit:
SUPERGIRL #36
written by MARC ANDREYKO
art by EDUARDO PANSICA and JULIO FERREIRA
acetate cover by DAN MORA
card stock variant cover by DERRICK CHEW
Supergirl—the infected! Brainiac-1 attempts to contact Supergirl at the Fortress of Solitude, but for what nefarious purpose? No matter what he has planned, things are about to go from bad to worse as Supergirl heads on a collision course with the Batman Who Laughs! He’s targeted Superman as part of his plan to infect heroes and transform them into their twisted Dark Multiverse counterparts—but Supergirl gets caught in the crossfire, and the Year of the Villain stakes get even higher!
And frankly, I'm tired of this.
Even if this is temporary, which of course it is, DC Editorial could have decided not to have Supergirl succumb, not to have Supergirl infected. But instead we get the drum beat again.
As I have said many times, one of the reasons I started this blog way back in 2008 was because I didn't like what was happening with Supergirl around that time.
2003 - Brainwashed by Darkseid, implied they may have been lovers.
2005 - Split into Dark Supergirl. Bitter and angry. Doesn't like much.
2007 - Zor-El sent her to Earth to kill Superman. She shot up her school with him thinking her classmates were possessed.
So much wrong there. Supergirl is supposed to be optimistic, seeing the best in people. She is learning and might be fierce in achieving her goals. But she shouldn't be dark ... ever.
And yet ...
2011 - Again Dark, albeit as she deals with survivor's guilt
2011 - New 52 Supergirl hates Earth, hates her cousin, wants to be left alone, willing to destroy Earth with H'El, leaves Earth, gets killed by her evil father.
2014 - Embraces rage and becomes a Red Lantern, albeit as a way to a redemption tale and her shedding the darkness of her past.
2019 - A new direction gets taken where, despite all that has happened since Red Daughter and during Rebirth, she again embraces rage, leaves Earth, becomes Queen of the Axe, and comes close to killing people a bunch of times.
Can't get worse, can it?
Turns out it can.
Seriously.
The sad thing is we get the right tone for Supergirl out of these dark times. And those books sell well and consistently.
Sterling Gates/Jamal Igle.
Tony Bedard.
K. Perkins.
Steve Orlando.
Jody Houser.
All those runs, with a heroic, optimistic, young and learning Supergirl, are great.
I guess we have to repeat history again.
And I am sick of it.
18 comments:
As I say every time, amen.
Great walk down bad memory lane.
You forgot Ame-Comi dark Supergirl, though I guess that doesn't count. There must be other dark Elseworld stories I am blanking on.
I think the acetate cover vs.the underlying main cover are backwards in this case.
Each title preview shows 3 covers - one is just the variant cover. In this case it will be by Derrick Chew. With eyeglasses flying off her head, which is cool.
The acetate is the one you printed, with the Year of the Villain banner and the name of the starring villain (or infected hero in some cases, like this one).
In all the other cases, it seems to me the acetate is sort of a "before" moment, obscuring parts of the underlying cover, which is the "after" outcome.
But with this one, the acetate shows the after. The underlying cover actually shows a heroic action that leads to this sad (and odd-looking) outcome.
It looks like Supergirl is "taking a bullet" for Superman, getting in the way of what appears to be a Kryptonite-laced batarang that is probably also laced with whatever the heck the Batman who Laughs virus is. (If not laced with Kryptonite, how would it penetrate?)
So I have some sympathy here.
Reading the solicitation for Batman/Superman #4, it sounds like Supergirl and/or Lois will be part of the Secret Six. The good news would be - more crossover appearances. The bad news is obvious.
The whole theme for the Batman/Superman title is quite depressing. Sadly, the SnyderTynion HorrorVerse, which is dragging Williamson into it and taking Andreyko along as a willing or reluctant companion, is apparently going to have the BWL and Lex/Doom storylines intersect, setting up supposed big changes.
Is this all nothing but hype? Can I stop reading all this grim stuff? I think I'm getting event-fatigue.
T.N.
I imagine Steve Orlando feels a bit like Barack Obama, watching on helplessly as the new “creative team” destroys everything good he achieved.
My sincerest apologies for being political, to each their own thoughts and opinions… my brain is a bit fried today and this was the only metaphor that came to mind.
Great post, Anj, awesome in fact! And thank you for the platform.
DC: So, we finally decided how to celebrate Supergirl's 60th in a way that you will remember. We replaced her in the Legion and turned her evil. Happy Birthday.
'Replaced her in the Legion'? I know young Superboy is in the revamp but while classic Superboy has led the logo at times, and Supergirl, well, once, it's never been a case that it has to be one cousin or the other. She'll likely show up once Jon is established in there.
When comparing Supergirl to Superboy history, Supergirl's own title didn't change when she simultaneously headlined the Legion book for a couple of years. That Legion book was retitled "Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes" while she was stuck in the future.
The original Superboy title retained its numbering while going through a few title changes:
1. Superboy
2. Superboy Starring the Legion of Super-Heroes
3. Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes
4. The Legion of Super-Heroes
They kicked Superboy out of his own book!
Then sent him to some pocket universe. (The same one Good Lex and Matrix were from? I think so. That Lex found Superboy's Phantom Zone projector, setting in motion the events that led to the Matrix Supergirl origin story.)
I believe they made that Superboy evil? Or a different one from some other pocket universe?
And then all the clone Superboys were a mess, in titles that were constantly being cancelled. Conner was always either angry or angst-ridden. Or just plain obnoxious.
And then Christopher Kent was a mess, wherever he is. Born in and returned to the Phantom Zone.
Now we have two Superboys, Conner and Jon, though it remains to be seen if the new Jon will ever be as beloved as young Jon. The Conner characterization so far is good. So it looks like Bendis both gaveth and tooketh away.
T.N.
DC is an organization that can't learn...so they keep making the same mistakes continually, "Job Out Supergirl to up the Ante for Her Cousin"...its perfectly wretched the way they return to this default time and again. And yeah its a lousy way to celebrate her 60th anniversary...on the other hand as a way to get her solo book canceled, its freakin' genius.
Disgruntled...
JF
As always, thanks for comments.
Hard to see all of this play out yet again.
And even if it just one or two months, it’s ridiculous to see it ... yet again.
Didio recently complained that reprints of silver and bronze age books often outsell new ones with the same characters. I wonder if he can put his ego aside for long enough to look at this stuff, and other books with characters like Ric (Dick) Grayson, and make a connection as to why that’s happening.
It's the endless cycle of DC Comics' editorial cynicism, going for that cheap gimmick again.
KET
That this keeps happening again and again just shows how creatively bankrupt DC management is when it comes to Supergirl. I can't help but think that someone at DC (Didio?) has a thing for the old "seduction of the innocent" shtick.
Here's a character with so much potential, and THIS is what we get.
As for Supergirl and the Legion, it is possible that the immortal who will bring us to the birth of the Legion in Legion of Superheroes Millenium is Supergirl. The red hair (possibly dyed) and having Supergirl appear to be the first team up in the first issue may be Bendis' way of diverting attention from his real plan. That first story may be about Supergirl becoming immortal rather than the immortal teaming up with Supergirl.
You have a point with the seduction of the innocent schtick, Prof... see also Billy Batson in the same upcoming crossover, and Mary Marvel back during Countdown to Infinite Crisis or whatever.
I think Bendis said that the guide would be someone that could be used without disturbing characters that people are following and passionate about. Since Supergirl has her own ongoing, I think it's not her. The guide is more likely to be a minor character without much use right now, like Lana
This is "Cheap Heat" nothing more, and is that is all Supergirl is good for in the minds of DC Editorial, then it may be time to rethink things...
JF
The newly immortal millennium woman’s also been described as an antihero, that’s certainly not Supergirl. My best guess is Rose/Thorn, FWIW.
Interesting... but Rose & the Thorn has always been a heroine. I still think it's going to be Robinson Goode, de-Blazed and after some rehabilitation.
I'm convinced the majority of DC's writing staff has an evil corruption fetish. Not that having a fetish is necessarily a bad thing, but I wish these supposedly "professional" writers would project whatever sexual fantasies they have about Supergirl into fanfiction where it belongs, as opposed to mainstream canon.
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