Leviathan Theory: Posters

I know I am going a bit overboard with my Leviathan Theory posts.

But I live for comic mysteries like this. I look for the clues and sift out the feints. I lean on decades of comic reading and too much comic history. It is, simply, a ton of fun.

And I feel like this is the first mystery of this scope that I have been on-line to discuss. There wasn't an internet, a comic community, a blogging atmosphere for Sensor Girl or Armageddon 2001.

So you have to bear with me.

DC came out with 8 one page ads to promote the event and to shine a spotlight on the DC detective characters investigating Leviathan in the main mini-series. And some of the text can be fit into my theory.

And, to make matters worse, I have a theory and I am looking for corroborating evidence for my theory everywhere. But get ready, the end of this post will be a new 'back up' theory in case you don't like my original onw.

Let's start out with this one where Leviathan himself speaks. If this is Ted Kord, he would have seen the heroes doing everything in their power to change the world and fail. Nothing earth-shattering here. If Leviathan is a former hero,which I think they are, this text makes sense.

On to the others.

Supergirl Television Show In a DC Universe?

I am late to the game I know.

But a couple of weeks ago, Supergirl producer Greg Berlanti let it slip that the Supergirl of the TV show Supergirl could exist in a television DC Universe and cross over with Arrow and the Flash. Here is the link:http://www.ksitetv.com/supergirl/supergirl-could-possibly-exist-in-the-same-world-as-arrow-flash/48575

And the relevant Supergirl news:

Later in the afternoon at his other officeon the Warner Bros. lot, Berlanti meets with fellow producer Ali Adler and Oscar-winning costume designer Colleen Atwood to go over looks for their upcoming revamp of Supergirl. The show will follow 24-year-old Kara Zor-El, Superman's cousin, and with a twist that that could melt fanboy brains, Berlanti says it's possible this Supergirl could enter the worlds of Arrow and The Flash.

I don't watch Arrow but I do watch the Flash. And it is the upcoming crossover of those 2 shows that will lead me to finally watch an episode of Arrow. The idea of a continuity, a universe, is appealing ... just like it is in comics.

The thing going against this happening is that Supergirl is on CBS and Arrow and The Flash are on the CW. I can't imagine that one network wants to lead viewers to another. But that only needs to happen if there is a true crossover. I can see things like supporting characters and super-villains appear on the other shows. As long as there isn't a 'To Be Continued' on another channel, things should be okay. That would be fantastic.

But the other thing that got me here, that wasn't mentioned in the coverage, is Colleen Atwood helping with costumes. Atwood helps on Arrow. But I expect Supergirl to be more colorful, splashier, a daytime Superhero show rather than Arrow's nighttime street level costumes. Atwood did costumes on Tim Burton's Alice In Wonderland, Big Fish, and Lemon Snickety's A Series of Unfortunate Events. The costumes there were fantastic.

I wonder just what she'll do for Supergirl's costume? There better be a classic S-shield.

And given the hint of a Flash/Supergirl team-up, I have a review in mind for next week!

Review: JLU episode 'Far From Home'

The last piece to my review of the Supergirl and Brainiac 5 relationship comes not from comics but the Justice League Unlimited episode 'Far From Home', officially JLU season two, episode 36. The episode is available in its entirety on YouTube and is definitely worth watching if you are either a Supergirl fan or a Legion fan. As a big fan of both, this is one of my absolute favorite episodes.

As I have said in prior reviews of the series, Supergirl was treated with a lot of respect, acting as a hero, throwing herself into battle, and making the tough decisions. This episode is no different. I can imagine that if JLU was how someone was introduced to Supergirl, that it would be easy to become a fan. Dwayne McDuffie wrote the story and Paul Dini wrote the screenplay, so my guess is these two comic professionals must be Supergirl fans themselves.

Anyways, a 30 minute episode means a long review. Here we go.

This episode starts in the future where Brainiac 5 and Bouncing Boy remain the only Legionnaires free from some unnamed threat. With the heroes so outnumbered (and let's face it outgunned ... I don't care who the villains are), Brainiac 5 decides to look to the past for allies. Unfortunately, incomplete historical records state that while 3 heroes traveled to the future, only 2 returned; the implication is one of the heroes dies.

Meanwhile, in the present, Supergirl is celebrating her 21st birthday in the Watchtower's version of the Danger Room. Jon Stewart is putting Supergirl through the paces but she remains up for any challenge. She makes short work of Dr. Cyber, Queen Bee, Atomic Skull, and the brutish Blockbuster (as seen above). She is shown to be a tenacious and relentless fighter. In fact, after mopping the floor with the villains, Green Lantern declares her training done. She has nothing left to learn.


Superman observes the training session from the control room. There is Supergirl taking on the Atomic Skull on the screens.

One thing I liked about this series was the mentor relationship Green Arrow took up with Supergirl. Supergirl is portrayed a bit as a hothead in the series, a passionate hero who makes snap decisions and wades into battle. Green Arrow, another passionate hero, would be a perfect mentor. Here he actually chastises Superman for his 'hands off' relationship with Supergirl. The two cousins aren't shown to be too close on the show, rarely interacting or working on the same mission.

Superman's response 'sounds' like a good idea ... he kept his distance because he didn't want his presence to over power hers. He wanted her to find her own way. But he hasn't even told her he is proud of her, even if she went so far as changing her costume to look more like his. Moreover, she is stuck on Earth, in a culture which is primitive compared to the one she grew up in on Argo. She must feel like an outsider and Clark's distance isn't helping things.

In the end, I think Superman is way off. He can't realize that he is her family, her only family, and should be close to her regardless of his stature?


With the training session over, the heroes are suddenly engulfed in Brainiac's time bubble and brought to the future.

When they arrive in the future, Supergirl recognizes Brainiac 5 as a Brainiac and does what any good super-hero would do. She attacks. I love that good-intentioned impulsive nature of Supergirl here. Just as she took on Galatea, just as she took on Amazo, just as she took on Deimos' men on Skataris (without powers too!), she leaps into action to take on a perceived threat.

Luckily, Brainy's force field belt holds. He is able to explain the situation. The Fatal Five have captured the rest of the Legion and have them mind-controlled. Brainiac grabbed the three random leaguers (yeah right) to help them in their battle.

Although she finds Brainy 'seriously cute', Supergirl isn't sure if they can trust him. GA and GL's instincts say otherwise.

But the plot thickens, Bouncing Boy knows that the date Supergirl was time-grabbed from is the last recorded date of her in the present. She will be the hero who 'does not return'. The Legionnaires keep the information from her so as not to derail history.

As the heroes begin to formulate a plan, they are discovered and attacked by the Emerald Empress and the Persuader from the Fatal Five. Brainy shows some nice moves but ultimately is hit by the Persuader and thrown into the air.

When Supergirl catches him, he reminds her that his force field belt will protect him from all harm. She responds that maybe she was trying to 'cop a feel'! Much like the Levitz issues of the LSH, the Supergirl here is clearly the aggressor of this courtship. Her comments here jibe with her characterization on the show.

And she holds her own in battle, duking it out with the Persuader.

Unfortunately, she does end up having a mind control disk placed on her forehead. In fact everyone ends up with a disk at one point. Brainy's intelligence helps him overcome the technology and free himself. With little time before the villains and enslaved heroes teleport out, Brainy rips the disk from Kara's forehead. She then rescues Green Arrow. But Bouncing Boy and Green Lantern are now slaves of the Fatal Five.


The next scene is absolutely priceless. Green Arrow wonders why Brainy rescued Supergirl rather than Green Lantern. After all, Green Lantern is the most powerful of the recruited heroes. Green Arrow thinks it's because Brainy loves Supergirl.

Here, Brainy rattles of the symptoms ... increased sweat, shortness of breath, inability to concentrate ... yup, it's love. Ollie then plays matchmaker, making himself scarce so Supergirl and Brainy will be 'alone for a long time'. Nice!

The Fatal Five decide that the time is now to attack the United Planets capitol. With the majority of the Legion and a GL under their control, nothing should be able to stop them.

I had to include a shot of some of the Five. Look at the old school Tharok! And Validus! Awesome.

The animated Supergirl shows that she is pretty intelligent too. She figures out that Brainy and her can track Green Lantern by his com-link using a 'quantum tunneling RF transponder'. Whoa ... heady stuff.

Again, this shows the respect the show had for Kara. She isn't just muscle, or just emotion. She is well-rounded.

And look at Brainy. He's smitten.

Brainy, Supergirl, and Green Arrow speed to the UP homeworld just as the Five arrive. The Legion slaves are sent out to destroy the planet.

Supergirl says she'll run interference against the Legion and Green Lantern so Green Arrow and Brainy can get on board the Five's ship and shut down the mind-control transmitter.

In another great moment, Brainy finally divulges that Supergirl will die in this battle. He almost blurts out he loves her. The information doesn't stop her from doing the right thing. She says she has a job to do, to protect a planet full of innocents.

As she leaves for the fight, she leans in and kisses him in case she doesn't see him again.

As a Supergirl fan, I don't think you could ask for a better scene. She knows what her duty is regardless of the risk.

Of course, seeing her kick the snot out of the Legion is great too.

I love this scene as she takes on all-comers of the Legion, punching, kicking, and tossing them aside.


Even my favorite Legionnaire Wildfire tastes Kara's fury as she delivers a devastating back round kick to his face plate.

But no matter how good she is as a fighter even she can't hold off the Legion forever. She eventually succumbs to their attacks just as Brainy and Ollie destroy the transmitter.


Freed from the Five's control, Green Lantern flies down to the fallen Supergirl, picking up her limp body.

How about this shot from the episode, clearly mirroring the cover of Crisis on Infinite Earths #7! How many homages can that cover get? Is there anything more geek-tastic?

I have to say, the first time I saw this episode I thought they might have actually killed her off.

Turns out she was only mostly dead! Or maybe just resting.

She and the Legion flood the Fatal Five ship and defeat the villains soundly. Look at this heroic Supergirl floating in space victorious, the Legion (and I mean a lot of the Legion) there beside her.

As a Legion fan, it was great to finally see all these heroes I love on the screen.


But what about the prophecy about only 2 heroes returning from that battle.

Turns out it is true ... just not in the way everyone assumed. Supergirl never returns because she stays in the future. She and Brainiac 5 will be together.


Green Lantern adn Green Arrow return to the present. In a taped message to Superman, Supergirl tells him that she loves him but that she feels she belongs in the future ... a place where she can make a difference, be more than Superman's kid cousin. Also, she met a boy.

Superman finally melts a little, saying that Supergirl is headstrong but always made good decisions. He trusts her judgment. Would have been nice if he said those things to her while she was around!

This was the last season of JLU so who knows if there was a plan or ideas for a sequel episode had there been a third season. I would have loved to see Supergirl and the Legion turned into an ongoing series.

I really feel that the Justice League series portrayed Supergirl the way I like to envision her. She is passionate, and head strong, and finding her way. But her heart is always in the right place and she always does the right thing ... the heroic thing. It is too bad this was the last time we saw her on the show. But it certainly was a perfect way to end her story.

The Legion finally did get a series of it's own on CW Kids, a show that starred Superman (must have been while the 'Superboy' law suit was ongoing). But I preferred the version we saw here.

Review: Cry For Justice #7

Justice League: Cry For Justice #7 came out this week, marking the conclusion of the mini-series. The word that best sums up my feelings for it overall is disappointed. I don't mean to sound harsh. And I will probably be long-winded. So bear with me.

When this mini-series was announced way back when, I was excited to read it. While the idea of a pro-active League isn't 100% innovative, the roster was. There was a mix of old school JLAers (GA and GL), legacy characters (Supergirl and Batwoman), and B-listers (Congorilla and Starman). Prometheus, one of my favorite Grant Morrison characters, was going to be villain, brought back to place of villainous prominence. Art was going to be done exclusively by Mauro Cascioli. And James Robinson said the series would impact the entire DCU. On paper it all sounded great.

But then the series release was delayed. And delayed. And delayed.

I assumed that when the first issue was released that the series was in the can and so no further delays would happen. But then there were more delays. And now we have even seen guest artists on the book. Those sort of problems never make me happy as a consumer.

And from a story point of view, there were some cringe worthy moments as well. The dialogue occasionally sounded clunky or overly ham-handed. The heroes sometimes acted in ways I would not expect them to. (Would the Atom really crawl around people's brains after what his wife did to Sue Dibny?) There were pages devoted to scenes that seemed superfluous. It just never seemed to exactly gel.

But most importantly, and before I even get to the final issue review, I never felt like the team came together. Scenes where the initial intriguing roster were all in the same room are few and far between. And while the initial impetus for them each to join was a 'cry for justice', it felt like outside of Green Lantern and Green Arrow, none of the characters really needed to be there. Let me phrase it a different way ... you could remove Supergirl and replace her with Wonder Girl seamlessly. You could remove Congorilla and put in Freedom Beast. You could replace Starman with the Prince Gavyn Starman. In other words, I never felt like a particular character (outside of GL and GA) was crucial for the plot from a back story point of view; I never felt that one character's viewpoint was so unique to the story that they were indispensable.

On top of that, this really became a whole DCU story with Starfire, Donna Troy, Jay Garrick, Animal Man, Vixen, Black Canary all starring; you name it ... everyone was there. I mean, Donna Troy is the one who actually defeated Prometheus! And so I don't know if I ever saw Robinson's vision for the team he created and how they would interact with each other. It was that mesh of characters that got me interested in the first place.

All right, on to the issue.

Last issue, a captured Prometheus revealed his grand plan to teleport several cities around the world into another dimension as a way to emotionally torture his super-hero enemies. Despite being captured, the devices activate.

Without being granted his freedom, Prometheus won't tell the Justice League the codes to deactivate the devices. Unclear of the next best step, the bulk of the JLA teleport to Earth on a rescue mission. Others stay back to continue the interrogation.

Ominously dripping with foreshadowing, Green Arrow vows to Prometheus that the two of them aren't done dealing with each other.

For some reason, Prometheus' devices aren't working as designed. Rather than simply teleporting the cities away, the devices seem to be imploding the cities, destroying them.

Star City is shaking itself apart. One of the casualties is Roy Harper's daughter Lian.

I know this is supposed to be shocking. I mean a child was just killed. But again, the feeling here was disappointed. Did Lian really have to die here? Did we really need to see a child get killed to move this plot along? Haven't I seen enough death and maiming in comics recently? I suppose I should at least be happy that the point of view is from behind Ollie so I am not luridly looking right at Lian's corpse.

Still, a child was killed in this book as a plot device. It just felt unnecessary. Have we really reached a point in story-telling that we need to kill kids to try to get a response out of readers? And I didn't have much time in the issue to really have the death resonate with me because we were already moving on.




While the Earth's heroes scatter themselves to the effected cities, trying to slow down the carnage, the Atom tries to talk Prometheus into willingly giving up the codes. He even brings up the fact that Prometheus has really upset Green Arrow, killing Ollie's 'grand daughter' and maiming his 'son'.

Prometheus refuses to give up the codes unless he gets his freedom in return. At least he confesses that his machines aren't working as planned. Remember they were supposed to just make the cities disappear.

It all seems a bit contrived. Everything that Prometheus has planned in this book, every theft and counterattack and defense, has worked perfectly. Of course, if his machines worked as planned, the cities would just blip away and we wouldn't have the devastation and death we have been treated to. We wouldn't have Lian's death. It just seemed like an easy out to get to that point.


Because absolutely everything else Prometheus has planned is working like a charm. He has a defense against telepathy. Miss Martian feels some sort of backlash when she tries to mentally pry to codes from his mind.


And he has planned against magic. First he has sewn Freddy Freeman's mouth shut to keep him from saying his magic word. Again, this seems a bit off to me. We are talking about a man who skinned the Tasmanian Devil and used the pelt as a rug. Would he really stitch Freddy's lips? Wouldn't he just kill him? Of course, killing Captain Marvel would be too big a deal for this book. And besides we wouldn't see this gory shot of his sutures being removed. And that is all this is good for in my mind, something gruesome to try to get a response from me as a reader.

What's more, even when freed, Captain Marvel can't do anything to the device in Fawcett City because Prometheus made it impervious to magic!

In fact, all the devices seem impervious to any super-hero interference. Prometheus has covered all the contingencies.

There was a sequence I did enjoy in the book. With Star City crumbling around them, with the death tolls growing, the heroes have a quick discussion about what to do.

Do they deal with Prometheus and end the disasters? Do they keep him in custody and hold him responsible for this tragedy? It is an interesting 2 page spread (of which this is one corner). There is some disagreement amongst the group. Some say no deal. Some say deal for the greater good.

As always, small editorial errors bother me. So when the Flash says they need to decide quickly because 'they're loosing' (instead of losing) I had to roll my eyes.

Finally, Green Arrow cuts through the chatter. The heroes need to save people. And in this instance the best way to do that is to release Prometheus and have him turn over the codes.

He states it simply: 'we have to think of the living'. On first reading, I thought this was a nice moment. After all, Arrow lost the most here. Since the beginning, I thought he was going to be the moral compass for the team, joining it to keep Hal in line. So to have him take 'the high road' made some initial sense to me. He could look past his own tragedies and think about others ... that's sort of what heroes do, right?

Of course, it is one thing to say that happened. It is another thing to write it. Here we see the aftermath of the scene where a disgusted Vixen walks Prometheus to the teleporter.

But how did it play out? If Prometheus gave the codes and they worked, would Vixen really let him just walk away because she 'gave her word'? I don't think so. And would they ever let Prometheus walk without giving them the codes and trying them first? In other words, I can't play out the actual scene in my head in a satisfactory way. Maybe that is why we only see the conclusion ... because the scene can't be written well.

I figured I'd throw in the second panel because it the only shot of Supergirl in the book. Wasn't she supposed to be one of the key characters in this book? And she isn't even in the finale. This is what I was trying to get at earlier. This really wasn't a team book the way it was advertised. The characters we were told would 'star' were really just part of a cast of thousands.

And so we finally get to the 'big ending'. Despite his speech about the greater good, Ollie needs 'justice' and he thinks murder is the way to get it.

But even this scene ... the dramatic last page of the series ... fell flat.

From a story point of view, I can't get around the fact that Prometheus dies this way. Here is a villain so prepared that he has a defense against everything ... including having nanites to defeat the Atom in his blood. He had shown himself to be protected against telepathy and magic. But his helmet isn't arrow proof? Just a plain old steel-tipped arrow is what brings him down? Really?

Really?

And that is without my asking just how the hell Green Arrow got into the Ghost Zone and walked into Prometheus' stronghold. Are you telling me Prometheus doesn't have any defense systems there? Prometheus had just walked through the JLA satellite and defeated almost the entire team and he allows a hero to simply walk into his home and shoot him in the head with an arrow?

But even more than that, I am just sick of seeing heroes kill people. I don't think I need to see my heroes fall and go through a moral crisis and then reinvent themselves any more. I think I just want to see them be heroes again. As readers, we keep hearing that comics will try to move away from 'dark' and 'grim and gritty' but we see this the month after The Sentry literally rips Ares apart over in the Avengers.

And the fact that we see it over and over means that I have become somewhat inured to it. Maybe 10 years ago this would be shocking. Now I just sighed and thought 'here we go again ... another hero who crossed the line.' And that truly is a whimper for an ending, not the bang I think Robinson was going for.

Overall grade (issue): D+
Overall grade (series): C-

Review: Cry For Justice #4

So far Cry For Justice has been an interesting mix of beautiful art and somewhat overdone dramatics. It sort of reminds me of John Boorman's Excalibur movie. It was beautifully shot and had a lot of Arthurian drama ... but was a bit ham-fisted with acting and dialogue. Still I love Excalibur. I haven't loved Cry For Justice but I have been entertained, although sometimes more at its unintentional humor than the story itself.

Surprisingly, Justice League: Cry For Justice #4 was a decent issue without as much heavy dialogue and overly dramatic moments. Supergirl has some nice moments. And we finally have a Batwoman sighting.

As usual, Mauro Cascioli's art stands out as being spectacular.

As we saw a while back in the preview of the issue, Shazam was able to use a 'lightning flash' to disperse the force of the Clayface bomb leaving the Justice League alive and well. The League realizes that Prometheus probably has some sort of hold over some of the villains working for him explaining why Clayface would commit suicide.

And, as mentioned before, Supergirl appears attracted to Freddy as he explains how he saved the League.

Over in Paris, Congorilla and Starman have stumbled onto a couple of Prometheus' lackeys - Arak and Penny Dreadful (from the group Helix). Initially, the four skirmish but the heroes get the upper hand and have the villains down for the count.

Unfortunately, Congorilla flies into a rage and moves in for the kill. These villains slaughtered his people and he wants blood. It is only with great effort that Starman is able to stop Bill from killing the two villains in cold blood. Starman finally says the line that we all have been thinking ... vengeance does not equal justice. The heroes have captured these C-listers. That is enough.

Surprisingly, Arak does not seem to have the loyalty to Prometheus as others have. He starts telling Congorilla what he knows. Prometheus killed the majority of the ape tribe. Malavar was the target all along. Penny Dreadful was involved in the killing of Tony, Starman's boyfriend.

Before Arak can say anything else, Penny Dreadful lashes out at him, killing him.

As she aims her powers at Congorilla, Starman strikes. His energy immolates Penny Dreadful, killing her. Within seconds, both villains are dead on the floor.

Starman feels remorse for his killing and fears he is losing his humanity. Regardless, the trail to Prometheus for these two has suddenly gone cold.

It is an interesting scene. To see Starman want to do the right thing and bring the villains to the authorities only to lash out and kill one immediately afterwards shows just how hard it is to draw a firm ethical line. Things happen and snap decisions need to be made.

In the meantime, the golden age Flash continues to try to figure out exactly what overall plot is forming around the world. There is an excellent page of Jay touring the DC America and talking to the various heroes he runs into.

I really like that Jay is emerging as a major hero in the title. He almost could be looked on as the moral heart of the title as he from the beginning has been looking for the root of this evil the 'right way'.

His scene is immediately contrasted to another scene of the Atom torturing another villain. As he crawls around Deadline's mind, Green Arrow finally takes a stand. This torture has to stop. It isn't getting the League any closer to Prometheus. It isn't getting them justice.

How interesting that 'Gitmo' is thrown into Arrow's discussion. It is a jab at the current US military and implies that the military is as bad as the inquisition. I don't know if I quite agree with that. I also don't know if 'real world' politics should be inserted in comics like this. The discussion of the ethics and utility of torture could have been done as a metaphor for current practices without hammering home the US attempts to keep their borders safe. And to make this transparent, I agree that torture is reprehensible in the real world.

Green Lantern and the Atom still feel it is the right thing to do, to get information in any way possible.

Saying that torture is what villains do, Green Arrow decides to take matters into his own hands. Turning on some type of sonic arrow, Ollie incapacitates Hal and Ray. Luckily the two younger heroes, Captain Marvel and Supergirl know that infighting amongst heroes does nobody any good. They seperate the feuding heroes, Supergirl melting the sonic arrow with her heat vision.

The dialogue about torture needed to happen. We needed someone to finally stand up and say that the practice was wrong. So I am glad we saw it. What surprises me is that Supergirl and Shazam initially took more passive roles, watching the torture happen without comment. Maybe they felt that they were out of their league (no pun intended) and really couldn't state their opinions to the more veteran heroes.

Once again, Captain Marvel shows how handy the wisdom of Solomon is. Prometheus is probably setting up all these events as a way to psychologically break down the heroes, to force them to do unsavory things, to make them afraid. If Prometheus wants to be a villainous Batman then he would use tactics like that to make his enemies weaker.

If Jay is the moral heart of the story, Freddy is the moral compass of the League. Throughout this story he has been the one to point out what is right and just. He points out that this Prometheus plot has grown to big to be handled by this group alone. They need the help of the whole Justice League.

You almost feel like Freddy is growing into his role. He isn't pretending to be Captain Marvel, or filling in for Billy anymore. He is Captain Marvel.

And Supergirl can't seem to take her eyes off him. Good looks and brains! It is obvious to Green Arrow that Supergirl has a little crush on the World's Mightiest Mortal. And Supergirl doesn't deny it.

The group leaves Gotham but not before they are spotted and observed by Batwoman. Until this point I had forgotten that Batwoman was supposed to be in this book.

As for Kara, she decides to get to know Freddy a little more and he doesn't seem to mind the attention.

Back at home, Jay bemoans the fact that he can only sense that something large is looming. He hasn't been able to find out much. And he fears that the heroes haven't rebounded yet from Final Crisis.

Before he can even rest, The Shade shows up and tells Jay that he has information for the speedster. I thought the Shade saying he took his coffee black was amusing.

My best guess is the Shade was offered a place in this plot by Prometheus and turned it down. He now has information the heroes can use. Why he would help out them out is a question I need answers for.

Finally, the Cry For Justice group head back to the JLA satellite to fill their friends in on what they have learned.

The League doesn't seem to happy with what Hal's group has been doing. The shot of the League is quite stunning, although I don't recall Zatanna ever looking that much like a stripper.

With three issues to go we still don't know much of what Prometheus is planning. But this issue was much more character-driven than the others. This was about Hal coming to grip with the futility of what he was doing. He was losing sight of the forest (some major plot by Prometheus) for the trees (torturing a foot soldier like Deadline). While I think that the 'hero fighting hero' plot device is cliche, it was good to see the torture issue at least brought up. Hal never admits he was wrong but his silent acceptance of Captain Marvel's advice spoke volumes.

And unlike the last issues, there weren't many 'cringe moments' here. The issue didn't seem overdone. Add to that the burgeoning Supergirl romance and I was pretty pleased. This was the best issue of this mini-series so far.

Overall grade: B/B+

Review: Cry For Justice #3

Cry For Justice #3 is another up and down issue in this up and down mini-series. The problem with this issue is that there are many more downs than ups.

In fact, there is only one up. The artwork by Mauro Cascioli is simply astounding. I mean ... I could really just gaze at the pages. I had complained about the delays in releasing this book. If the delay was to let Cascioli produce these pages then it was worth it. Now I might not like the composition of some of the panels, but overall the art was stunning.

But so much else ... the plot, the dialogue, the events ... just fell flat. Really flat.


Let's start with the opening page, the 'headless Supergirl' page we saw back a few months ago in the DC Nation column. Back then I talked about the composition of this page which effectively reduces Supergirl to her chest and midriff. What a sorry way to open this issue after Kara's heroic entrance which ended last month.

Back when we first saw it, I hoped it was just a cropped panel and that Supergirl's face would be visible. Instead it is the opening splash page and we don't see any of Kara's head. Why lay out this panel this way where it is clear that the emphasis is Supergirl's breasts?

As if the composition of the panel wasn't bad enough (and I don't know if the design is Robinson's or Cascioli's), we get some pretty weak dialogue. How nice of Hal Jordan to ask Supergirl if she is a villain. Hasn't he teamed up with her in the past? Didn't she just defeat some supervillains? Does Green Lantern really think Supergirl is a villain?




So I rolled my eyes when I saw that first page hoping things couldn't get much worse.

I was wrong.

Pages 2 and 3 were cringe inducing.

First we get my particular pet peeve ... a shot of Supergirl crying. I have harped on this before and I don't know why this bothers me so much, but it does. It really does.

Hal asks her if she is a villain and she cries?

I get the symbolism behind it ... I really do. Supergirl is physically indestructible but emotionally vulnerable. It is a powerful and intriguing contradiction so I can understand why creators would use it. But when it is overused it can lose its emotional punch. I mean, how many times have we seen Kara cry in the last year?

I mean ... your father dies in your arms? It's okay to cry.
You're in the eighth grade and your best friend is dying in your arms. It's okay to cry.
You are still reeling from your father's death and your mother is emotionally cruel to you? It's probably okay to cry.

But Hal Jordan acts like a jerk and asks you if you are a villain? And you cry? Maybe not so okay.

Ollie goes to console her but he ends up talking to her like she is in elementary school saying 'the horrible man didn't mean it. He gets grumpy around this time of day if he doesn't get a candy bar.' I know Ollie is trying to lighten the mood but would he talk to any other super-hero that way? Would he talk to Robin that way? It makes it seem like he doesn't take Supergirl or her feelings seriously.

Then we get this panel where again Supergirl is reduced to just her looks by the other heroes.

When Captain Marvel says he senses no ill will in Supergirl, the Atom assumes he is thinking with his hormones. Luckily Freddy chastises the Atom for his insensitivity. But then Captain Marvel comments that Supergirl is indeed pretty.

It unfortunately gets worse.

When Supergirl is told that Hal is being cautious because of the current situation with New Krypton, she says this wooden line. "I'm Kryptonian sure. But I'm not bad. I'm good." Who would say that? It sounds almost childish. Or maybe it should have been "I'm not bad; I'm only drawn that way" a la Jessica Rabbit.

At least Supergirl gets to explain her reasoning why she is there. Like all of them, she wants justice. For her, she wants to find who was behind Zor-El's assassination. But then she says the clunker of a line: 'Together we can be justice.'

I know there were complaints about Robinson's dialogue in the first two issues but here the lines are too campy ... too grandiose ... to really tolerate. The comic almost reads like an overblown parody of comics. It reminded me of Doom Force, Grant Morrison's parody of Rob Liefeld's X-Force. The problem here is I don't think Robinson is intentionally writing parody.

I also don't really know why Supergirl thinks that Hal, who initially was going after Libra but now has been side-tracked by Prometheus, would even be interested in finding Zor-El's killers.

We next get to the 'torture' scene of the issue. The League has apparently captured Prometheus (off screen) and is now torturing him for information. Ray Palmer again shows how he has mastered the technique Jean Loring used to kill Sue Dibny.

As I thought in the first issue, Green Arrow plays the foil to Hal asking if torture is the right thing to do. Hal shrugs off the question saying that the bodily harm they are inflicting is still better than the death that Prometheus and other super-villains have been spreading around.

Do I really want Green Lantern to do this? Geoff John's has done such a great job recreating Hal as the ultimate Green Lantern, the ultimate good guy. Does this Green Lantern, literally picking the brains of his enemy, seem like a hero?

And with all the Atom has been through, would he really crawl around people's brains like this?

Because of ... or maybe despite ... the torture, Prometheus begins to talk some gibberish about how Prometheus wanted to become Batman. It doesn't seem like any useful information came out of this.

Green Arrow then shows his lack of knowledge when he calls Prometheus a B-lister, below Javelin in ranking. Now I know Ollie was dead at the time, but doesn't he know that Prometheus almost took down the whole JLA single-handedly? I realize that Prometheus has been portrayed as a chump since then ... but below Javelin?

While the interrogation goes on, we cut to Congorilla and Starman who are still jetting to Europe in a Blackhawk plane.

They talk like old friends, odd since they just met. Congorilla says that he noticed a missing body among the remains of his slaughtered tribe. An evil ape scientist called Malavar was not amongst the dead. Congorilla assumes that is an important clue.

Now I haven't heard of Malavar but his inclusion seems like a convenient way to shoehorn Congorilla into this science-based plot.

Before the two can talk more, they are ambushed by men with jet-packs. The heroes take to the skies and defeat the airmen although it means Congorilla needs to swim the rest of the way to Europe.

The art here, no surprise, is spectacular.

Back in the States, "Prometheus" drops his disguise and reveals himself to actually be Clayface. He then detonates a bomb which destroys the floor of the skyscraper the League is questioning him in.

So first off, the Atom couldn't recognize clay brains when he was crawling around in there? But second of all, I don't know if a bomb is a significant enough threat to be a cliffhanger here, to make me concerned about thr well being of the heroes. Outside of Green Arrow, would any other member of this group even blink at a bomb?

We finally catch up with the real Prometheus who is shown to have captured Malavar.

After he reclaimed his name from his protege, Prometheus realized that he wanted revenge on the entire superhero community. Death did not seem to be a good enough outcome for his plot, especially given the number of heroes who come back from the dead.

He recounts to an underling how he began to accumulate super-technology. First he did so in Europe where he encountered and killed some Global Guardians. (Okay, I admit having the Tasmanian Devil end up as a throw rug is a nice touch.) Now that Prometheus has the tech he needs, he can unveil his true plan.

This is the Prometheus I remember ... intelligent, cunning, ruthless. At least this series will rehabilitate his character.

The issue ends with mystical characters in Opal City (presumably characters from Robinson's Starman comic which I did not read). One of them, using tarot cards, says that danger and death is coming for all of them.

We then get a full page of small panels showing all those endangered.

Look! It's another nearly headless shot of Supergirl's chest! Yeesh.

So overall I have heroes torturing villains, a poor portrayal of Supergirl, some very hackneyed dialogue, and absolutely lush artwork.

In case you can't tell, I was pretty disappointed with this issue. Yes, I am sure that in the end Hal will realize that you can't look into the abyss without the abyss looking back. And yes, I will read the rest of the issue to see how this all turns out. But this seems like a mess.

And when Supergirl is reduced to breast shots, says childish lines, and sheds quick tears ... well I am going to be unhappy.

Overall grade: C-