The Passing Of Keith Giffen

How do you talk about the passing of a legend?

I learned late Wednesday night that Keith Giffen had passed.

I had a visceral response, a sense of sadness and loss. I have mourned the passing of other creators in the past but this one hit hard. Because Giffen was a huge part of my comic reading, part of my comic joy, and simply one of the reasons I love comics. 

The Legion. The 5YL Legion. His obvious love of the Supergirl character. His love of Dr. Fate. His reimagining of the stodgy JL as a family/office sitcom. His  Doom Patrol volume! The Heckler! All huge for me.

His art style changing from a slick, organic form to the chunkier later stuff to the wild Trencher stuff. He was always growing. But his storytelling was always stellar. How strong were his layouts? He did thumbnails for all of '52', a weekly book! Insanity. 

He also was a character himself. Irascible. A curmudgeon. An anarchist. A stick in the mud. A raconteur. 

I had the luck of meeting him at Terrificon a few years ago and I am grateful that I was able to tell him all of this in person. Sometimes it is okay to meet your heroes. 

The outpouring of love on social media by other creators and fans has been unbelievable. I hope he knew how loved he was.

Rest in peace Mr. Giffen.

A few more thoughts.

Back Issue Review: Omega Men #3

The solicits for January 2019 were released earlier this month and the solicit for Supergirl #26 had a very interesting line in it.

Supergirl…super-captured! Still recovering from radiation poisoning, Kara finds herself in the clutches of the Citadel and its ruthless leader Harry Hokum, who is eager to experiment on one of the last Kryptonians in the known universe. 

Given the mention of Harry Hokum, I thought I would comb the back issue box and review The Omega Men #3 from 1983, an issue which is notable for being the first appearance of Hokum!

Okay, that isn't true, While this is the first appearance of Hokum, this issue is most famous for being the first appearance of the Lobo. While this is Lobo in look, this is not the Main Man most people are used to reading about. Here he is a calculating bounty hunter who sports a 'Goober Grape' one piece costume, a far cry from the cigar chomping, hog-riding, brutal killer of the current DCU.

Hokum is a pretty impressive villain here, a displaced Earth man who is somehow in the Vega system and a political manipulator from behind the scenes. He looks a bit like Vermin Vundabar of Fourth World fame. But despite his slight frame, he is able to stand up to violent leaders of The Citadel and become part of the inner circle of the fascist regime.

The book is written by Roger Silfer. But the main draw for me is the Keith Giffen art, still sporting his ultra-clean, organic look of his early Legion days. All I can say is 'wow'! I am always amazed at how Giffen's art looked back in the day. And given this was a direct market only book, he is able to get a little more r-rated here and there. I was lucky enough to get the issue signed by Giffen at Terrificon 2 summers ago. (The label is on a comic bag, not the actual book.)

Onto the issue!

Legion Of Super-Bloggers 4 Year Anniversary

Earlier this year, Supergirl Comic Box Commentary celebrated its 10 year anniversary.
That is crazy.

Today is my own person 4 year anniversary of contributing to the Legion of Super-Bloggers.

I can vividly remember my recruitment. The Irredeemable Shag, of the FW Podcasts, called me one afternoon in July 2014. The blog was being put together. They needed members. And knowing my love for the Legion, he wondered if I would be interested.

It was a warm day and I was walking outside of work, wandering off the hospital campus and onto a college campus nearby. I sat down on steps leading into a gothic building where classes were going on. I asked if I could cover the early Five Years Later run. The rest is history.

I have been manning the shop on Fridays pretty much ever since.
I have covered:

• The first 50 issues of the 5YL run
• The Waid/Kitson Threeboot through that titles end under Jim Shooter
• The Levitz/Giffen run from the original series, from #300 up to the inception of the Baxter run
• The Legion Secret Origin mini-series
• The New 52 Series
• The New 52 Legion Lost series
• And currently, the Retroboot, spinning out of the Johns/Frank reintroduction of the team in Action Comics

Unbelievable.

Laurel Gand's Origins in Legion of Super-Heroes #9

It feels a little like Legion week here at Comic Box Commentary. And I am doing a bit of self-plagiarism today, reposting a review I did over on the Legion of Super-Bloggers to cover Laurel Gand and her origins. 

I have been thinking about Laurel a lot these days. With Superman being rethought (not rebooted apparently) by Brian Michael Bendis, the future of Supergirl is a bit amorphous right now. It sort of reminds me of the Byrne era where Supergirl was removed from continuity. I doubt DC will be doing that now ... but who knows where this will all shake out for Kara.

With Supergirl removed by the Crisis, the Legion had something of a hole in their history. Creator Keith Giffen with Tom and Mary Bierbaum recreated Supergirl to fill that void in the character of Laurel. There are many overlapping origin points. Their powers are similar. Their relationships are similar. And Laurel is pretty cool.

Over on the Fire and Water Who's Who Podcast, the team of Rob and Shag talked about Laurel this week when reviewing her Who's Who page. It made me think of Laurel and her story once more. Realizing I had not reviewed it here, recognizing that it has enough Supergirl stuff in it to make it a worthy post, and also sensing the time was right to look once more at a reimagining of the character, I have decided to post the review of Legion of Super-Heroes #9 here. Hope that's okay. And it is reposted in total so bear with me. New content will be in blue. The old review will be in black.

Read below for the story.

Legion Five Years Later Post Cards

The midseason forced hiatus of the Supergirl show has been maddening. I am going to be honest.

I have been missing the adventures of Kara, her fight with Reign, and the Legion of Super-Heroes being live and in action on the small screen. In particular, Supergirl comic fans are waiting for things to heat up between Kara and Brainy.

With the show off the air, I have been thinking about the two and the Legion a lot. And with today being an open blog spot (no new episode to review), I thought I would mine the relationship a little bit by looking once more at the 5YL Legion. And thanks to blog friend Paul Hicks of the Waiting For Doom podcast, I have the 5YL postcard set in my collection.

Remember, in that post-Crisis incarnation of the Legion, 'Supergirl' was Laurel Gand, a Daxamite. The muscle of the team, she was big, bold, beautiful, and brutal. And yes, she had a history with Brainiac 5.

I loved Laurel, especially in the early issues. She was definitely a worthy analogue of Supergirl. And I love this picture of her on the postcard, ripping her way through a wall or a ship of some sort.

The text on the back list her as noble and heroic. Sounds like Supergirl!
 

Who's Who Laurel Gand

I have been a long time fan of the Fire and Water Podcast Network. And in particular I have been a big fan of their Who's Who show, even joining in as a guest host on several Who's Who in the Legion of Super-Heroes episodes.

Starting next week, Rob and Shag will begin their look at the 'loose leaf' Who's Who from the early 90s and I am very excited. I collected these when they were released so can't wait to relive them. Unfortunately, my binder of M-Z has been lost to time!

Anyways, to honor their hard work in this endeavor I thought I would review a Who's Who loose leaf page. But I already have reviewed the Supergirl one. And if you look hard enough here, I have also reviewed the Silver Banshee and even Maxima.

So this time I thought I would review Laurel Gand, the Supergirl analogue for the 5YL Legion run. For those who don't know, I reviewed the first 50 issues of the 5YL Legion over on the Legion of Super-Bloggers. I loved that run and I loved Laurel. Even though Matrix was around, I thought Laurel really captured the spirit of Supergirl.

And I love this Keith Giffen art. She is tall, proud, powerful. And I love how the red cape is a bit more of a darker, less primary red color. She was the muscle of the team. And that Darkseid head in the background has to be referencing the Great Darkness.

Just gorgeous.

Review: Blue Beetle #13

One of the books which I feel was underappreciated and ultimately cancelled was Justice League 3001. A wonderful stew of action, humor, with multiple universe interpretations mashed into one wild world, and crazy new versions of classic comic characters, JL3001 was great. J.M. DeMatteis, Keith Giffen, Howard Porter, and Scott Kolins brought us an entertaining and electric romp of a book.

Moreover, it gave us a very interesting Supergirl, a Silver Age-y Kara who was thrust into a universal war and a leadership role in this League.

When the plug was pulled, the 3001 Flash and Batman were pushed back into the present day and were made part of the supporting cast of Blue Beetle.

I admit I didn't buy Beetle regularly, but last month we saw the League in a flashback panel. The Flash and Batman recognized they needed to get back to their time and help their team in the fight against Lady Styx.

Last week, Blue Beetle #13 came out which truly featured the JL3001 team, even promoting it on the cover dress.

This is the last issue for this Beetle creative team of J.M. DeMatteis, Keith Giffen, and Scott Kolins. Maybe realizing this might be their last chance to visit the 3001 universe, this book reads more like JL3001 and less like a Blue Beetle book. That made me happy. There isn't much closure here. The future of the 3001 universe is still up in the air.

DeMatteis and Giffen do make a solid connection between this book and the primary villain of the 3001 universe. And Kolins brings his usual gritty, rough energy to the fight.

But mostly, it was great to see this League one more time. I have missed reading their adventures monthly.

Giffen Legion Of Super-Heroes Poster

Between my recent reviews of the last newsprint Paul Levitz/Keith Giffen Legion issues over on the Legion of Super-Bloggers to my guest starring on several episodes of the Who's Who in the Legion of Super-Heroes podcast to my interactions with Keith Giffen at Terrificon, I have been looking back at the Legion of the Super-Heroes of the 1980's a lot lately. A lot.

It is a great comic and a great run featuring my favorite super-hero team of all time.

One of the curiosities that I love from that time period is the Legion of Super-Heroes poster by Keith Giffen. Done in 1983, this massive poster included every character that had appeared in the Legion mythos up to that point. It is an amazing piece of art. The sheer volume of characters is amazing. Kudos to Giffen for being able to do this.

But did you know that there is a character that appears on the poster three times?

But before we get there, let's take a look at Supergirl.

This was at the time when she was just switching costumes, going to the red shouldered look which she adopted in (Daring New Adventures of) Supergirl #13. Note the lack of a headband! When the costume was first conceived, she wasn't wearing it!

Anyways, it is a gorgeous rendition of Kara. I love her pose here, graceful and almost playful. Just gorgeous.

But who is represented on the poster three times?

Terrificon Recap

Last weekend I spent three glorious days at TerrifiCon in Uncasville Connecticut. Earlier this year, my buddy and I decided that this would be our 'big con' for the season and this con was well worth the time spent.

The con itself was in the convention center at the Mohegan Sun Casino. This meant a spacious main hall for the comic creators and exhibitors, a second floor for panel rooms and cosplayers, and a large entrance way area where the celebrities had tables set up to meet the fans. As a result, the place never felt cramped or claustrophobic. Also, being in the casino meant a couple of perks ... free parking and ample food choices from fancy restaurants to food courts.

But let's face it, we go to these cons for the creators and to shop. And this con, unlike many, was definitely comic-centric. And that made me very happy. The guest list was a nice mix of current stars (Snyder, Capullo, Booth, Rapmund) and more legendary folks (Thomas, Wolfman, Giffen, Pasko, Englehart, Chaykin, Kupperberg, etc.). So for an old-timer like me, this was perfect.

I wasn't sure who I would be getting a commission from beforehand. But once inside, I quickly made the wise decision to finally get a Barry Kitson piece. Kitson has been a favorite of mine since his work on Azrael. And he drew Supergirl during the Threeboot Legion run.

I gave him source material for the Matrix full shirt/red skirt costume as well as the 70s hot pants version and said he could draw whichever one he was more interested in doing. Later that afternoon, I picked up this great full color 3/4 body commission. This is just a stunning piece. From the body position to the determined expression to the background, it all just crackles.

I have been very lucky with my commission purchases recently.

Kitson himself is just the nicest guy.

But here is a little inside information. I asked him if this was the first time he had drawn Supergirl in this costume and he said as a commission, yes. But he then said he is doing a cover of Supergirl in all her costumes and this was one of them. When I asked what the cover was for, Kitson's handler at the table said 'don't say anything.'

Hmm ... maybe a 'Greatest Supergirl Stories' trade in the future?

All the guests I chatted with were approachable and easy to talk to. As I said, it was meeting the writers of my youth that really made me this the con for me to be at.

On Saturday, Robert Greenberger moderated a great Supergirl panel with Paul Kupperberg, Peter David, and Marty Pasko. They talked about the character, the 'need' for a Supergirl, her character development over the years, and touched on the show.

One nugget here was that Greenberger talked about how rigid DC was in the post-Crisis world in regards to characters that could/could not be used or even mentioned ... Supergirl being one of them. Paul Levitz was adamant about it. When I brought up how Sensor Girl was rumored to be Supergirl, Greenberger said (and I am paraphrasing) 'Levitz was in charge. If he wanted Sensor Girl to be Supergirl, she would have been.' Hmmm ...

There was also this ad hoc 'panel' at Marty Pasko's table where I heard Keith Giffen, Paul Kupperberg, and Marty Pasko discuss story-telling, current writing styles in comics, and their approach to characters. Brilliant.

I talked to these three creators the most over the days. In particular, I had a lot of thoughts and questions to ask Giffen (given my utter love of the Legion). You can read more about that here. Suffice it to say, it was great meeting

I got a ton of issues signed by folks, many of whom did not charge instead having a Heroes Initiative donation jar. So plenty of books signed by all, especially Giffen.

But perhaps the jewel of them all, even more than a handful pf 5YL Legion books being signed, even more than Action Comics #500 being signed, was getting Marty Pasko to sign 1st Issue Special #9. This Dr. Fate story is one of my all-time favorite comic stories. And, having run into creators a bunch at cons over the last year, I now have the trifecta of signatures of Pasko (writer), Simonson (artist), and Joe Kubert (cover artist).

Priceless.

I also met Steve Englehart and got him to sign some of his Detective Comics issues. But I also got him to sign his Mister Miracle issues from the 70s, more books from my formative comic reading years.

Most of my comic purchases were from the dollar box, fleshing out my Sojourn collection as well as the recent Sif run on Journey Into Mystery. I also bought a bunch of kids comics to keep in my office and hand out to kids.

The one big purchase was Giant-Size Creatures #1, the first appearance of Tigra. Early Tigra is a tiny niche pocket of my collection. So it was great to finally check this issue off.

So nothing but praise for the convention. I figure this will be one to hit again next year.

This Weekend ... Terrificon!

I haven't even done my overall take on this year's Boston Comic Con and I am already heading off to my next convention.

Terrificon is a convention a little south of me in Uncasville Connecticut and I am considering this my big con for the season. For me, this just seems to be a convention more built for me. There are a ton of comic creators that are going to be there who had huge impact on me in my salad days of comic reading.

Yes, there will be current mega-stars there. You don't get much bigger these days than Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo. And I will be hoping to get on commission lists for Brett Booth and Barry Kitson.

But it is the veterans that are going to be there, creators who I haven't met yet at other cons, that is the big draw. And so I'll be there with bells on!

Let's start out with Keith Giffen! Keith Giffen!!!

He plotted/drew Legion of Super-Heroes in the Great Darkness Sage era.
He wrote/drew/created my beloved 5YL Legion.
He wrote the bwa-ha-ha Justice League.
He wrote the Doom Patrol.
He wrote Justice League 3000/3001.
He wrote 52.
He wrote/drew/reinvented Dr. Fate.

I seriously could probably fill a whole long box to bring to have him sign. So distilling this down to my usual 8-10 books is proving to be difficult. I may need to head to his table once each day.

Seriously, I am geeking out that I will be meeting Giffen.

But there's more!

Terrificon

We are rapidly approaching my convention season and while Boston Comic Con has always been my main show, this year the incredible guest list for the nearby Terrificon lured me across state borders.

I am very excited for this show and have really had a hard time preparing for it. There are some great creators going to this show. As I have said in prior convention posts, I try to limit the books I take to get signed by a creator to a maximum of 10. But some of my favorite creators, who I have followed for decades, are coming to this show. And so limiting my sig list to the aformentioned 10 books has become something of a conundrum!

And, as usual, there are some artists at the show that I am hoping to grab commissions from. As usual, it is all about the timing. I haven't been able to line anything up beforehand so far so I also think I will need a little luck.

So who am I going to see?

The Creeper!

Anyone who knows me at all knows that I have a great fondness of The Creeper, that wild superhero created by Steve Ditko in 1968.

Whether it is the absolutely insane costume, or the manic laughter the Creeper uses, or his occasional brutal justice that he metes out, there is something about the guy that hits me right. The Creeper finally made a return to the DCU in the new Rebirth continuity and all my pals reminded me to look for his latest incarnation.

And kudos to friend Mart Gray of the Too Dangerous For A Girl comic review site for forwarding to me the (I believe) only interaction between The Creeper and Supergirl! Creeper and Supergirl ... that's like chocolate and peanut butter.

This panel is from Justice League Unlimited #8, written by Adam Beechen with art by Carlos Barbieri. The League has to team up with the Creeper hoping his madness will help them track down the Madmen. I don't own this issue ... but now I have to find it!!

I love how Supergirl is ... well ... creeped out by the Creeper. Too funny!

Best Of 2016 - Top Ten Supergirl Moments In Comics; #5-#1

I have a preamble for the Top Ten Supergirl Comic moments of 2016 yesterday when I covered #10 through #6. As I said then, this was a great year for Supergirl in comics. It took me a while to sift through everything to come up with this list. And I had a hard time picking the number one moment for the year. As always, I love dialogue so please let me know if you think I missed something, put something in a wrong ranking, or was just plain nuts.

Without further ado, here they are, the top five comic moments for Supergirl in the year 2016.

Best Moment of 2016 #5: All the Supergirls (Adventures of Supergirl Chapter 7)

There were plenty of moments in Adventures of Supergirl that could have made this list. Sterling Gates has such a respect and love of the character that you just know you are going to get a great, high quality read.

Gates respect for the character's history was evident in AoS chapter 7. The main villain was classic Supergirl nemesis Psi, And in the story, Psi batters Supergirl's psyche with dream visions. I absolutely loved how Gates acknowledged all the different incarnations of Kara in this psychic attack. Earlier we saw the New 52 Kryptonian armor, got Nightflame name-dropped, and heard of Supergirl sporting flame wings. Here, lusciously drawn by Emanuela Lupacchino, we see Supergirl fighting the Timm-verse version, the Red Lantern Kara, and even the 'pink Halloween costume' Supergirl.

Having a writer like Gates recognize the importance of the character's diverse and long comic history was just fantastic. When I read this, I thought for sure this would be in the top 3 moments of 2016.

Best Of 2016 - Honorable Mention Supergirl Moments In Comics

Welcome to the first in three Best of 2016 posts focusing on the best comic moments for Supergirl over the last year. I found it hard to stick to just the top 10 moments because there was a lot to love in the comics this year.

I will admit this year opened up a little odd for Supergirl in comics. With her popularity peaking in the non-comic world, 2016 opened up with no comic titled Supergirl on the shelves. The majority of the year, we had to read Supergirl in comics that were on the periphery of DC Continuity. She led the team in JL3001. She fought Nazis in DC Bombshells. She existed in a universe based on the television show in Adventures of Supergirl.

It wasn't until the summer and The Final Days of Superman that we saw Supergirl in the main DCU. But then #Rebirth happened and we got a new Supergirl title. So please read on to see my 'almost the best' comic moments for Supergirl in 2016!

Bullet Review: Legends of Tomorrow #6

A lot of people have been telling me good things about the Legends of Tomorrow mega-book that DC publishes. While I have some minor interest in a couple of the stars and creators, none of them had enough of a draw to rope me into the hefty $7.99 price point. So I figured I would wait and see if miraculously they ended up in the cheap bins.

However, when Legends of Tomorrow #6 came out last week, my social media feed lit up a bit. The Sugar and Spike story guest starred both Supergirl (in her Silver Age incarnation) and the Legion (in multiple incarnations). The sample panels by writer Keith Giffen and artist Bilquis Evely really seemed to hit the sweet spot of fun and nostalgia and so I couldn't resist.

I'll only review the Sugar and Spike tale given the focus of this blog but on reading the other entries, I have to say Firestorm and Metal Men (with a classic Tinny save at the end) read well and might be enough to entice me to grab them all should the books go on sale.

But the Sugar and Spike story is near perfection for me. As an old reader who has been through multiple versions of my favorite characters, it was great to see a writer have some fun with all the continuity bugaboos that now exist. I shouldn't be surprised that Giffen wrote this. For one, he has been a creator on any number of Legion incarnations. But also, his  (and JM Dematteis') JLA 3001 as well as his Doom Patrol book showed that Giffen can both acknowledge that all the incarnations are viable (even when that simply cannot be so) so long as the reader sits back and enjoys the great stories. His Silver Age Supergirl in JLA 3001 was a high point for me and her character in this story echoes that no-nonsense, oddly mature Kara we saw there.

Bilquis Evely is also a huge star in this book. I loved Evely's work on DC Bombshells. But here she shows that she can handle all the ephemera and minutiae that Giffen can throw at her. Supergirl is stunning. But the Legion ... well they are the icing on the cake here.

On to the excellent story.

Review: Justice League 3001 #12

It is the end of a brief era.

The New 52 chapter of the DC Universe is coming to a close. There is a #Rebirth. There is a scrubbing away of the angst, hate, and dismal nature of the characters. There is a return to a more classic feel, leaning on legacy.

But such a change cannot happen with casualties. And Justice League 3001 has always been a fringe book. With sales dropping and a continuity shift happening, I'm not surprised that the book is ending. But I come to praise this book, not bury it.

Justice League 3001 #12 came out last week and was the final issue of this title. But I have to tell you, it didn't read like a final issue. And that pained me. Because I needed some closure for these characters who I have followed for 2 titles now. Writers Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis have had so many plot lines bubbling through this title while they played with all of DC continuities.  I wouldn't have minded the book closing in an open-ended way with a chance for more. But this book ends mid-battle ...

I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. This title has broken all the rules. Why not how to end?

The art is split between Collen Doran who brings a smooth sensibility to her pages. Tim Green II also provides pages here. He recently did the Convergence:Matrix mini-series. His art is very stylized, every character gangly and stretched like taffy. And yet, it works.

But the bottom line is this title is ending. The candle that burns twice as bright burns half as long. And this book has burned so very brightly.

Review: Justice League 3001 #11

You can't have a Rebirth without some death I suppose.

And unfortunately Justice League 3001 has been cancelled. This doesn't really surprise me given the sales result. But it does sadden me. This book (and its predecessor JL3000) was a nice melange of all the crazy corners of the DCU.

Justice League 3001 #11 came out last week and is the penultimate issue of the series. Writers Keith Giffen and JM DeMatteis are unfortunately faced with something of an impossible task. They have to try to wrap up this pretty complex, multi-layered comic in 40 pages. And as a result, this issue felt somewhat rushed. There are a lot of questions that I am hoping will be answered. There are a lot of questions I think won't be answered. And there is a ton of backstory, explaining everything about this universe and these characters, that I don't think I will ever get. And that is a shame.

Scott Kolins does an admirable job on the art bringing the grime of this flawed future. I also like the design of the heroes here as well as the corrupted Legion and the other aliens. Kolins' look definitely fits the title perfectly.

I promise not to curse the darkness here. I got 2+ years over two titles to read these characters. That's a light I should celebrate. On to the issue.

Review: Justice League 3001 #10

Justice League 3001 #10 came out last week and, as we are nearing the end of this book, the plots are sort of rushing to the end. Amazingly, the creative team continues to add elements to this book despite knowing that the finale is only a couple of months away.

Writers Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis have been playing in the DC toybox, picking and choosing who they want to write regardless of continuity. The result has been a weird, wild book which has been incredibly entertaining. So imperfect clones of classic JLA, a Silver Age Supergirl, a Bwa-Ha-Ha JLI contingent are all fighting universal threats and an evil Legion of Super-Heroes. In this issue, despite a full cast of characters, they add a couple more. Now G'Nort and Larfleeze are in the mix! I would love to know how the two decided who was going to come into the book.

The art for the last few issues has been split between Scott Kolins and Colleen Doran. Both bring an appropriate sensibility to their stories. Kolins has a grimy, raw feel to his pages which works well with the League scouring planets which have been leveled. Meanwhile, Doran brings a more polished look to her story involving Lois Lane and Ariel Masters trying to defeat Lady Styx from behind the scenes.

Review: Justice League 3001 #9

Justice League 3001 #9 was released this week and this book continues to be wonderfully creative and entertaining. It is somewhat depressing that I am looking ahead already at #12, the last issue.

Because JL 3001 is sort of an omelet of a book and I love omelets. The best omelet have a number of wonderful ingredients which together brings a fantastic and flavorful taste. But an omelet needs eggs to hold all those ingredients together. And you can't make an omelet without breaking some eggs.

This title has brought together some of the best ingredients ... ummm, elements ... from DC continuity. We have Bwa-Ha-Ha era Leaguers. We have a Silver Age Supergirl. We have had Etrigan, Camelot 3000, and now a twisted Legion of Super-Heroes. We have seen some broken eggs ... umm, some reimagined big name characters , warped to fit them into this dingy future. The big 6 have been brought back as flawed copies, allowing the creators to look at these characters fondly, comedically, and critically. And I guess in this analogy, the eggs that hold all these disparate elements together are the creative team of Keith Giffen, JM DeMatteis, Howard Porter, Scott Kolins, and Colleen Doran.

This issue pushes the latest (I guess last) arc forward. It feels a little like a classic League story with the team splitting up to fight on multiple fronts. But we also have some strong character moments as well. We have seen the members of this team evolve over time.

The art on the issue is split between Scott Kolins and Colleen Doran. Kolins section is wonderfully gritty, showing how the universe is a grimy crumbling place now. His villains are monstrous. Whether it is Eclipso's hand-feet or the faceless Saturn Girl, these guys are frightening. Doran's section has a great conversation between enemies turned friends. Doran still is able to infuse action and emotion into what is effectively just pages of people talking.

This is a long introduction so I apologize. But I only have a few more of these intros to write.

Review: Justice League 3001 #8

Justice League 3001 #8 came out this week with an issue titled 'A New Beginning'. Anyone who has read this blog for a while will know that I am a sucker for 'bold new directions' and will most likely pick up a book where that is splashed on the cover.

This issue is a new beginning for this book. The team is different. Suddenly we have an all female team, united against a new threat. I almost feel, for better or for worse, that we will be putting a bunch of the mysteries of the early issues behind us, maybe never to address again. I am going to miss Beetle, Booster, and Turtle Jimmy Olsen. Will we see the vengeful Lois Lane/Ariel plot finished? Will we see her Injustice League with Bane and the others?

But this is book where I am introduced to Lady Styx, a new villain who is mysterious and intriguing. And Giffen and DeMatteis are sliding some Legion of Super-Heroes into the book! As one of their fandom, I have been  clamoring for any sight of them.

For me, most importantly, I get to see Supergirl leading an incognito League against a universal threat is great. And since her introduction in the book, Giffen and DeMatteis have thrust her into a role of leader, even if she is still a youngish Kara. Seeing her come to terms with this, seeing her 'replacing' Superman (a theme which has been part of her character since 1959) is wonderful.

Scott Kolins is on art and brings a sort of grungy dystopian sensibility to the book. He also redesigned some of the costumes the heroes are now wearing. I love Supergirl's new look which has a feel of the 70s Adventure Comics look, but includes red shoulders like the Crisis-era Kara. And the cape, a giant S-shield, is pretty cool.

On to the story.

Last issue the Scullions swarmed throughout the universe, taking over the universe in the name of Lady Styx. Only some of the heroes escaped. And now the League is basically on the run.

Six months have passed since that last issue and we see how the members of the League are all living incognito on Takron Galtos, biding their time until they can strike. Diana is a welder on a construction crew (shades of the Bombshell 'Rosie the Riveter'?). The Flash is still suffering from PTSD. Ice and Fire are living together, using passwords to ensure safety.

And Kara is living alone, wondering how it all happened. Styx had been infiltrating planets all along and simply took over. That second panel, a small Kara, small, alone, framed in a box in a box. You just get the sense of how imprisoned she feels, how claustrophobic this life must be.

Each member does have a transversal which allows them to head to their 'headquarters', a demolished Paradise island, the temples and columns in ruins and overgrown.

In this sequence, Giffen and DeMatteis give us a quick rundown of how all the members feel. It is like a rapid fire character check to set the stage for how they all feel 6 months into this secrecy. It is clear this team is still a bit in disarray and hardly a Justice League united.

Diana is impatient and wants to rush in and fight. Fire agrees. Ice wants to do what's smart. And Guy, whose personality is slowly being erased by his host body's DNA/personality, thinks planning is important. Is that Guy or Shirylalla that is the voice of reason?

But there is Kara at the end, arms folded, taking charge and saying that they need to wait. Even in this sequence, it is clear Supergirl is the leader here. She is the last to talk. Her panel is bigger, implying she is bigger. So much information given in the page layout.

 There is one other member, Batman, who is the most impetuous of the group. She is off  trying to destroy the indestructible Scullions. Supergirl needs to teleport in and get Batman out before things go south. I like the mecha-look here.

But what I like is that, of all characters, it is the Batman character who is the most hot-headed, the most like to rush in blindly, the one who doesn't want to plan. It is the concept of Batman flipped on its head, a nice addition to a book like this.

 Remember Batman is actually Tina, a school age girl and descendant of Bruce Wayne. She's brilliant and hot-headed. I guess it makes her more of a Damian character which is reinforced in my mind when we see her dressed in Robin garb.

Diana and Teri have to tell Tina to slow down. That rushing into battle is foolish. Diana has to begrudgingly  agree that Kara is right.

I do feel bad for Teri who is still suffering from PTSD, decompensating whenever she sees Scullions or is reminded of Clark's death.

We do see that the headquarters isn't completely safe. Someone is skulking in the shadows, watching the team. Who could that be? Guesses at the end.

 The team is splintered even further. Fire and Ice feel like a separate faction within the team. They feel like outsiders and Ice wonders if they should just leave. These two were part of the 'Bwa-ha-ha' League as was Guy.

So it made sense to me that Guy approaches the two and says he needs them and will be part of their subgroup. It is only the memory of Ice which seems to be stemming the personality re-write, reminding him that he is Guy. I think that is a nice touch. This isn't the headstrong Guy. He is scared of disappearing.

One quibble here. Fire talks about Guy striking Tora a few days earlier. Now we did see Guy slap Tora last issue but isn't that 6 months ago? Unless Guy is a serial slapper, it shouldn't be so recent.

I have commented how it was implied that Supergirl is the leader here. We are told she is the leader later in the issue. And I love the characterization here.

First off, I like the fact she keeps the pictures of the dead Leaguers on the wall, a reminder of what she has lost.

She also is worried that she isn't ready for this leadership role. She can see that the team is looking to her for guidance and she worries she won't be up for the challenge. This feels like a classic Kara who is striving to be the best she can be, is ready to step in for Superman, but is still growing and maybe a little unsure of herself.

But she won't back down from this responsibility. Fists clenched, she is determined, showing that fierceness of character I love in her.

Love this new Supergirl costume. The red shoulders harken back to her Crisis-era costume. But the reversed yellow/red of the s-shield with the high collar and knee-high boots is groovy. As is this cape.

Kudos to Scott Kolins for the design.

We finally get to meet the lead villain, Lady Styx.

In flashbacks, we see her simply announce that she is taking over the galaxy. Her army has been in place for some time. Her ascension to power is simply 'the period at the end of a sentence'. Love that line.

Styx is on Naltor (Dream Girl's home planet) and has a drone version of Saturn Girl go and fetch Terrance, Teri's brain damaged brother who was a key character in JL3000. There are odd acolytes in front of her. One could be Wildfire or Timber Wolf. Are Giffen and DeMatteis slipping the actual Legion into this book? Why not? So many continuities have been woven into this book. I miss the Legion. I really don't want them to be evil.

So that makes me wonder if the shadowy figure could be a 'good' Legionnaire. Shadow Lass? Cham? In the end, I think my guess is that it is Ariel/Lois. The enemy of my enemy is my friend.

As for Styx, she is a wild character. There is some Kirby Thor elements here. My first thoughts were she reminded me of Karnilla or Hela. But then I wondered if there was some Gemworld in here. And given the Legion element and this being Naltor, could she be an evil White Witch??

Styx needs Terrance to help find and defeat the League because the presence of Supergirl and Tina/Batman wasn't anticipated. I still think this is some nexus of intersecting realities given the multiple continuities seen. Maybe a pre-Crisis Silver Age Supergirl wasn't anticipated in this future?

Whew! This is what a bold new direction is supposed to be, keeping the foundation of a book but shaking it up. We have a new universal threat, infused with Legion of Super-heroes elements (hurrah!). We have an unsteady team, hiding away, and being led by a young Supergirl. And we have versions of classic characters tossed into the mix of a dystopia. It all works.

So if you are looking for a jumping on point, a place to swim in the deep end of DC mythology, this is the issue for you.

Overall grade: A