Back Issue Box: Legion Of Super-Heroes #16

It is an off-week for new Superman books on the shelves so that means dipping into the back issue box for something to review. As always, I look for books that resonate with current proceedings. So between the reappearence of the Absolute Legion and the new Crisis On Infinite Earths podcast The Monitor Tapes  hitting the airwaves, I thought it would be a great time to review Legion of Super-Heroes #16, the most 'why isn't this a Crisis cross-over' issue that hit the racks in 1985. 

Crisis on Infinite Earths #7 came out the first week of July 1985. This issue came out 4 weeks later in August 1985. So amazing timing by writer Paul Levitz and artist Steve Lightle to maximize the impact of Supergirl's death. 

Levitz always had the knack of juggling the many characters and many plot lines of this book. He knew that Supergirl's death would have a major impact on Brainiac 5. Legion fans love continuity. Kudos to him for giving the aftermath the pages it deserves. And given Brainy's past with mental health crises, we needed to see this, in all its beauty and ugliness.

But Levitz has more irons in the fire. We get the five new Legionnaires on a solo mission. Four of them are peppering the then relatively unknown Sensor Girl about her powers. The rest of the Legion is away at a baptism. Heck, there is even a hint at a storyline that is more than two years away. That is a lot of plot. But Levitz had that knack.

Meanwhile, legend Steve Lightle is on art. Bob Smith is on inks this issue, giving Lightle less of a polish than Larry Mahlstedt does. But the art is still great. Brainy's pain is palpable. The action is swift and potent. And the downtime scenes with the other Legionnaires show a posh side to the super-hero team.

But why??? Why is there no official Crisis Cross-Over banner on this issue! This has way more to do with the Crisis than some of those 'look, the sky is red' ones!

On to the book.

75 Years Of DC Comics: The Art Of Modern Mythmaking, Courtesy of Mart Gray

One of the things I am most thankful for about this site (and social media in general) is that it has led to many friendships.

One of my closest friends has been Mart Gray, one of the finest chaps on the planet. And certainly one of the most generous. For my birthday, Mart sent me 75 Years Of DC Comics: The Art Of Modern Mythmaking by Paul Levitz.

This is an amazing tome of a book. It is massive and chock full of information, covers, panels, ads, and more. There is a timeline and discussion about the current DC continuity, editorial fiats, and changes in characters.

I mean I have just started to thumb through this book and I know I am going to be amazed when I do a deep dive. It seems like a treasure trove of knowledge and images.

Of course, the first thing I did was hit the index and look up Supergirl. And there is some interesting tidbits, some of which I have covered here. But others were new to me and that made me tickled pink. Figured I'd share a few.

First off, there is a fold out inner timeline of the DCU and there in 1959 is our Kara's debut.

But wait, there's more!

Back Issue Review: DC Comics Presents #43

Over on the Supergirl show, the Legion of Super-Heroes have traveled back in time and are (for now) stuck in the 21st century. When Reign attacks, the Legion are initially reluctant to join in the battle. After all, they shouldn't interfere with the timeline any more than they need to, if at all. Eventually, the team decides that they are heroes who help people regardless of the time they are in.

With that background, I decided that I should thumb through the back issue boxes to find a Legion story to showcase and what better issue than 1982's DC Comics Presents #43, an issue in which the Legion travels back in time to save the Earth in present day from a major threat. And while DCCP is a Superman team-up book, there is a Supergirl cameo which means this is the perfect book to cover here.

There are any number of bonus reasons to include this. Brainiac 5 is one of the Legionnaires, linking this again to the show. Wildfire, my favorite Legionnaire, is a big part of this story. Mongul is the villain, trapping Superman in one of his wonky shrinking cube traps! And, of course, it sports a Brian Bolland cover, one of Bolland's earliest DC works. I mean, that is one gorgeous cover! Bolland is incredible.

Superman and the Legion, together in the present, fighting Mongul and a sun-eater? Sounds like a winner to me! On to the book!

Review: Superboy And The Legion of Super-Heroes #255

Hey all!

A snow-pocalypse has slightly altered the schedule of the blog so my review of Superman #38 has been delayed  from today into next week. As a result, please enjoy this look back at Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes #255.

I have been looking for a Legion book to review on this site for a bit. Most know I love the Legion and I have been waiting for the team to get a proper reboot in the Rebirth era.

And given my recent lamenting of the 'going back in time to visit Krypton' storyline in Action Comics these days, this issue seemed like a quirky little book to go to for a review. There isn't any Supergirl in this post. But not only do you get a visit to Krypton and the El family before the planet blows up, you get plenty of angsty teenage Clark. As a bonus, you get Shrinking Violet in her mod green jumpsuit! What's not to love?

This is a near-perfect example of a Bronze Age done in one story, zipping through any number of plot points with startling alacrity. And this book starts more like a Superboy solo book than a Legion tale. It takes a while for everything to mesh. But once it does, it is a wild ride.

Showcase #99: Power Girl

I have had the luck of finding some gems in my comic shop's dollar box these last couple of months. The store recently bought some new collections and after scooping up the most lucrative gems, put the rest out in the bargain bins.

I was lucky enough to find a copy of Showcase #99 in the box, albeit in a 'well-loved, well-read' condition. Still, while I barely touch upon Power Girl here (she is, in my mind, a separate character), I do consider myself a fan and like reading her earliest adventures.

"The Crater that was Keystone City" was written by Paul Levitz and drawn by Joe Staton and is a fun Earth-2 story in which Power Girl fights old JSA villain The Brainwave (never seen him use 'The' before his sobriquet) and team up with Jay Garrick and Alan Scott. It also helped solidify Karen Starr who Power Girl would be moving forward in the DCU.

This Showcase three parter surely is a key part of a Power Girl comic collection.

On to a couple of moments that struck me!

Crisis On Infinite Earths #7 Fallout: Legion Of Super-Heroes #38

Crisis on Infinite Earths #7 came out 30 years and two months ago.

In July, I did my best to cover Supergirl's death in that issue, the decision, the issue, and the ramifications of that in the comic world.

I was supposed to put the Crisis behind me but somehow I ended up covering some of the fallout of the issue throughout the rest of the summer.

Today I finally end my coverage of the death of Supergirl from the Crisis by looking at one more nod to her heroism in a universe that was supposed to have forgotten she had existed.

In Legion of Super-Heroes #37 and #38, writer Paul Levitz tried to reconcile Superboy's place in the Legion mythos in the new universe where Superboy never existed. John Byrne wrote the Man of Steel miniseries in the summer of 1986. Shortly thereafter, Byrne created the Time Trapper's 'pocket universe', a place where Superboy existed.

In Legion #38, Superboy turns on the Time Trapper and ends up sacrificing himself to save the world. Despite being a slave of the Trapper, he aids the Legion and dies a hero. It is an interesting story, one of the many somewhat loopy arcs that came out in the immediate aftermath of the Crisis as DC tried to hammer some major continuity issue smooth in the new timeline.

This issue, sporting a wonderfully powerful Bill Sienkiewicz cover, came out in June 1987.

 The inside art was by then-current Legion artist Greg LaRocque. I loved LaRocque's work on this title.

Here is the end scene where Superboy's body is laid to rest and a Superboy statue is placed in the hall of heroes. After all, dupe of the Trapper or not, he was still the team's inspiration and he died to save them all.

But look in the background!

Yep!

That is a statue of Kara in the hall of heroes.

We are two full years away from her death in the Crisis and definitely well into a History of the DC Universe where she didn't exist.

I am sure that this somehow slipped by the DC editors.

But serious kudos to Paul Levitz and Greg LaRocque for slipping her in. She died saving the multiverse. She should be remembered ... honored.

And so ends my 30th anniversary of the Crisis review.

Crisis on Infinite Earths #7 Fallout: Legion Of Super-Heroes #31

I have been looking at Crisis on Infinite Earths #7 over the course of this summer. With coverage of the issue itself over, I have been looking at some of the fallout from Supergirl's death.

Remember, Crisis on Infinite Earths #7 came out in July 1985. When Crisis ended, the history of the DCU was rewritten. Supergirl never existed.

And yet in Legion of Super-Heroes #31, a book which came out in November 1986, still had a piece of Supergirl history.

Now it is one thing to have this happen in the immediate aftermath of the Crisis when creators were dancing through the raindrops of continuity issues. But this is a year later ... and months after John Byrne's Man of Steel, a book which cemented Superman's history as being Kara-free.

Here on the opening splash page of LSH #31, Sensor Girl is walking amidst the monuments of the fallen Legionnaires.

And there in the background is Supergirl's statue!

How great that writer Paul Levitz and artist Greg LaRocque snuck this little beauty into the background.

I wonder if editorial saw it and decided to keep it or if it snuck under the radar.

At least this book recognized Supergirl as the hero she was, saving the multiverse and being a valued team member.

It wasn't the last time this very book thumbed their nose at continuity and included a Supergirl reference. But that'll wait for next week.

Bullet Review: Showcase #97

Last week I reviewed Convergence:Action Comics #1, a mashup of the Red Son world with the classic pre-Crisis Earth 2. The stars of that book were Kal-L and Kara Zor-L, the Superman and Power Girl of Earth 2. In that very review, I commented how I tend to stay away from straight-up Power Girl stories because I want the focus of this site to be Supergirl.

Well, I am going to buck that trend today, giving a quick bullet review of Showcase #97, what I believe to be the first solo Power Girl story. Showcase was a title DC used at the time to give characters and ideas a try to see if they resonated with the buying audience. A huge number of great characters emerged from the book. The Silver Age renaissance of the Flash, Green Lantern, and the Atom all started in Showcase. And other characters like The Creeper, Hawk and Dove, and Dolphin also premiered in the book.

In 1977, after about 8 years of being off the shelves, DC dusted off the idea of Showcase and used it as a testing ground for some new material. One idea was the New Doom Patrol, the Kupperberg/Staton group which included Celsius, Tempest, and Negative Woman.

Another was Power Girl. She had been introduced in the revival of All-Star Comics just the year before. And DC must have thought the had enough popularity and prowess to maybe warrant her own book. She got a three issue tryout in Showcase. But nothing seemed to come of it.

Still there is enough to like about this opening chapter that I thought I would review it and bring it back to the Convergence discussion from before.

While Gerry Conway is wrote the initial Power Girl stories in All-Star, Paul Levitz is at the helm here. I suppose Levitz's history with the character (as well as the Huntress) explains why he was tagged with writing the New 52 Worlds' Finest book.

The art here is absolutely dynamic. Joe Staton is on pencils here. The common knock on Staton is that his art is somewhat 'cartoony'. That might work for Plastic Man. But it sometimes seems off for straightforward super-hero books. (I will say I loved his stuff in the New Doom Patrol issues of Showcase.) Here that style is tempered a bit by the inks of industry legend Joe Orlando. The result is a very nice aesthetic which is dynamic and bold. They also do a good job of conveying the same sort of physical presence as Ric Estrada and Wally Wood had been giving us in All-Star.

I mean, look at this wonderful opening splash page of Power Girl leaping into action to stop a robbery of a technology firm.

Remember, this is Showcase. So Levitz realizes that this might be someone's first Power Girl story. He needs to introduce us to the audience as well as tell a story. So he does a good job here of letting us know she has all the powers that Kryptonians usually do.

For example, she is faster than a speeding bullet.

And as she is chasing down the crooks, she has to stop to make a quick rescue, stopping an out of control passenger train.

You guessed it ... she is more powerful than a locomotive.

And, it seems we are in a 1938 power mode because she can't fly. She can only jump over tall buildings in a single bound.

One of the main reasons I thought of pulling this book out of the long boxes and review it is because of the appearance of Andrew Vinson in the Convergence book. We meet Vinson for the first time in this issue. He worked his way into Power Girl continuity beyond this story, making some appearances alongside her in Infinity Inc.

But here he plays an investigative reporter who is a bit rude in his interactions with Power Girl. He doesn't just want to hear her story and why she does what she does. He demands it! And Power Girl isn't going to stand for that sort of demeanor. She says outright that she doesn't owe anyone any information about her. Funny how often from fire like that romance blooms.

That said, Karen has always been fiery and opinionated. But this seemed a bit too rough even for her.

Levitz then has Power Girl remember her origins, highlighting the differences in her Earth 2 origins and the mainstream Supergirl one. (Although he has her remember it while she takes a nap on the grass in a park. For someone who wants privacy and for reporters to leave her alone, you would think she wouldn't lounge in the open.)

The Earth 2 Kandor was never shrunk. Argo City was never freed from Krypton. Kara was born around the time Kal was. Zor-L made a rocket based on Jor-L's designs but tinkered with it a bit. As a result this young Kara took longer to make it to Earth. Hence, she is 'younger' than Kal.

This must be where the notion of Kara being technically older than Kal in the current universe came from.

Things get a little crazy as the tech thieves continue to come out, hoping to score more loot. They bring a small army to try to steal special electronic circuits.

But this issue is all victory for Power Girl.

I love this splash page. Power Girl is clearly the star, dominating the center of the page, in a great action pose, and just surrounded by the chaos of the soldiers, spider ships, and even the cops.

Love it! Love it!

In what I find to be an odd subplot, Power Girl continues to wage a war with the media. I suppose she simply craves her privacy. She shouldn't feel compelled to answer questions about her origins or even provide a sound bite for the news. But this reporter just asked if she wanted to make a statement.

Instead she talks about the reporters as being vultures who need to give her space. And then she stomps the ground to make sure she gets it!

Again, I like a brash Power Girl. I like her being opinionated and maybe a little rough around the edges. But this seems just as rude.

I think this is a great issue for Power Girl fans, taking a look back at her early personality and giving us some great art. While not a key part of a Supergirl collection, Karen fans should look for this run of Showcase.

Overall grade: B

Bullet Review: Worlds' Finest #30

Worlds' Finest #30 came out last week, one of many chapter in the deconstruction of the New 52 Earth 2. I stopped reading this title half a year ago when a sort of creative ennui mired the book into irrelevancy. Since then, I have only seen the ads and read a review here and there about Worlds' End and Earth 2.

There isn't much about what I have seen happening in these books that has made me question my decision.

But blog friend and fellow comic reviewer Mart Gray   tipped me off that I might enjoy some of this last issue and he was right.

The whole issue is told in flashback by Lois, a look at this Earth just before it unraveled into chaos. So we see this quiet moment of Mr. and Mrs. Superman enjoying each others' company and doing a little canoodling.

Of course, Supergirl lives with them and walks in on them snuggling. There is so much to love in this scene, from the simple romance of Lois and Clark to the 'cowbell' comment by Kara.

But most of all I love this costume. For one, it shows that this Kara has always preferred the leotard look, the one piece. No skirt to be seen here. And it echoes the one piece she wears as Power Girl. But most of all I love the ballerina slippers, a nice nod to the later  70's Adventure Comics Supergirl.

It's funny. I found the strongest part of this book is when Paul Levitz looked back at Huntress and Power Girl's early careers as Robin and Supergirl. So I also enjoyed this other adventure in the book with Catwoman and Robin.

These flashback scenes made me miss a more classic Earth 2 even more, the one with the JSA, Infinity Inc, and a sense of legacy.

Thanks again Mart! That Supergirl page made me smile. 

Review: Superboy And The Legion Of Super-Heroes #233

Justice League United, written by Jeff Lemire, has been a great title for me, mixing in the best of the Silver Age, the Bronze Age, and the modern age, into the current state of comics.

It certainly hasn't hurt that Lemire has brought back a Legion of Super-Heroes that I both recognize and enjoy. It has been a while since I have been able to say that. And in the big JLU/LSH crossover, the villain is the Infinite Man (renamed Infinitus).

I have been looking for the right time to review Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes #233, the Infinite Man's first appearance and with Infinitus about to rise in JLU I figured the time was right. It was the middle of 1977 when "The Infinite Man Who Conquered Time The Legion" hit the shelves. Writer Paul Levitz and artists Jim Sherman and Bob Wiacek spin a fast paced action tale with a couple of interesting side scenes to create a pretty intense story.

While the story is very good, the art is spectacular! Dramatic, trippy, detailed ... as well as showing huge art where art needs to be huge. Sherman and Wiacek really shines here and make this book worth buying if you see it for the right price.

And this isn't just the first appearance of the Infinite Man! We see Sklarian Raiders for the first time as well, right here on the opening page!

Here, the Raiders are trying to steal a new 'time engine' designed by Rond Vidar. They feel that the United Planets are holding their planet back, keeping technology away from them and therefore keeping them in a sort of Dark Ages. If they need to steal the tech, they will.

Sklarian Raiders are always female, usually gorgeous, and later on obtain a yellow skin color and blue hair with a few pastel highlights. Their costumes here fit the time when Dave Cockrum's influence was still strong in the Legion leading to a skimpy bathing suit style costume with a variety of holes cut out here and there.

Kono, over in the 5YL Legion, is from Sklaria.

The Sklarian Raiders are repelled so Vidar is able to proceed with his hyper-time engine experiment.

Vidar theorizes that time is circular and that he will use the engine power a ship and send someone through time for one lap. The pilot is Jaxon Rugarth, a volunteer from the Time Institute and a fan of Vidar's.

Unfortunately, the  engine works too well. The ship travels through time a near infinite number of times. And that trip is enough to do two things to Rugarth. One, it makes him nearly omnipotent. Second, it cause him so much pain that he goes insane. And all his pain and wrath is aimed at Vidar.

Here is the first of many good pages of big art by Sherman. The design of the Infinite Man is visually grabbing - giant sphinx helmet, invisible or galactic limbs. And with power over time, Sherman gets to stretch his legs a bit showing us Viking ships, biplanes, and starships.

Levitz makes the Infinite Man seemingly unstoppable. We see him pluck things out of time to battle the Legion (dinosaurs and cavemen). We see him blast pure energy from his eyes, helmet, and hands. We see him paralyze Star Boy by freezing him in time. And we see him teleport Superboy away, sending the Boy of Steel careening through dimensions light years away. There is simple no reason why a handful of Legionnaires should defeat him.

But somehow they are able to at least hold him off. Infinite Man realizes he needs to regroup and teleports away to bide his time.

There are plenty of great panels of this early fight with Tyrannosaurs as well as Superboy in the wild visuals of the different dimensions. But I love this page. It's sort of a semi-splash but by giving Sherman room we really see the difference in size between Superboy and Infinite. And there is something ludicrous but fascinating about seeing the villain's bare feet. The shading and perspectives are great too.

And then the story takes what I would think is a left hand turn. Realizing that time means nothing to the Infinite Man and that he could return any second, the team splits up to seek help from the own races and others. So Dream Girl heads to Naltor to see if the high seer can prophesize how to defeat the Infinite Man. And Phantom Girl heads to Gendyx to ask The Timeless Ones if they can help. Neither gets anything useful.

Brainiac 5 even heads to Colu to see if the brilliant minds there can help. But even they have been unable to fully understand time. And Brainy isn't happy about it. Look at that emotion!!

Meanwhile, The Infinite Man has fully grasped his powers. He controls time and space. And he still is livid at Rond Vidar. Despite the powers the Infinite Man has, Jaxon Rugarth suffered pain for "a million million" trips through the circle of time.

He heads back to have his revenge only to once again square off against the Legion.

Despite all these powers ... beams, control of time and space, ability to teleport ... somehow Colossal Boy gets in a right cross to the kisser. I do love how the Legion simply doesn't give up. Would you even consider punching this guy as an answer?

I also think Vidar's silence is deafening. You almost wish he would surrender to spare the world this menace. My guess is once Vidar is 'punished', the Infinite Man would leave.

But the battle continues.

I love this panel. The Infinite Man decides to show the Legionnaires an instant of what he suffered during his trips through time. And we get this absolute maelstrom of a panel with swirls, a Dali-esque Star Boy, and enough Kirby Krackle for an issue.

I have always liked Sherman's work but this issue has really elevated his stuff in my mind.

The Legionnaires are basically delaying the inevitable as the deal with neanderthals, energy blasts, and trips through chaos. Finally Rond Vidar (who is thankfully protected by Brainiac 5's shield belt) comes up with an answer.

He hooks up Rugarth to the hyper-time engine again (!), sending him hurtling through time ad infinitum. This time he won't be able to escape. Instead he will endure the torture of this trip ... forever. Harsh!

And so we have the origin of The Infinite Man. There is a lot of potential for this character as his powers are varied and interesting. His design is also quite grabbing.

We see the Infinite Man again, most notably in a Crisis crossover. But the real beauty of this issue is the art!

Overall grade: A

Review: Worlds' Finest #25

Worlds' Finest #25 came out last week and was the last issue with the 'old' theme of Huntress and Power Girl stranded on Prime Earth. We know that the weekly Worlds' End book is coming up, redefining Earth 2, is right around the corner. And I am pretty sure that I don't think I will be following along. I might wait and see.

And so in some ways, this is a sort of eulogy for this book. This might be the last time I do an in-depth review for the title. And in some ways this is a 'perfect' issue to close on as it sort of embodies much of the problems I have had with Paul Levitz' run. From the semi-caricature personalities of the characters, to the 'treading water' overall feel of lack of progression on the book, to the deus ex machina sudden leaps in progression that the book takes, this has been an uneven book. At least in this issue, the two characters are together! All to often, Levitz split them up.

The sad thing is I was so excited for this book when it was announced! Huntress and Power Girl, two of my favorites, starring in their own book! With art by George Perez and Kevin Maguire! With a E2 history as Robin and Supergirl!! It seemed perfect.

One thing I will say about this issue is that the art by Tyler Kirkham is lusciously beautiful. There is a faint whiff of fan service. But overall, this is light years better than the uneven efforts of RB Silva over the last year.

And please don't dwell on the cover as nothing even remotely close to this happens in the book.

So farwell to this book and farewell to Prime Earth ...

The issue opens up with a relatively 'slash fiction' scene. That, in and of itself, is interesting. Imagine if DC had these two become a couple! But it occasionally goes over the top in its feel. And part of that is this rather odd characterization of Power Girl has having an overwhelmingly voracious sexual appetite. I know ... there is nothing wrong with that. But remember she was going to get busy in the Hadron collider after meeting the guy a few minute prior as the heroes were investigating a way home. I don't know if her sensual needs should trump all priorities.

Knowing they are leaving Prime Earth forever, Karen has spent the night partying. She comes in so barely dressed that Helena says it is the 'flight of shame' and that Karen is dressed like 'the entertainment' (I assume she means a stripper). Power Girl dressed like a stripper and doing the flight of shame? Really?

Again, this one personality trait has overwhelmed the character at points making her feel one-dimensional.

Am I over-thinking this? Can I have her be independent and in control of her body and free-spirited without overdoing it?

Meanwhile Helena has decided that she would have extra helpings of the sweets this Earth has to offer. We see her very sensually eating a cupcake with so much tongue I thought she was going to lick her eyebrows clean.

And some of that slashiness comes in here as we see Helena watching Karen move in and out of the shower and then pins Karen's towel to the wall.

Remember way back when Helena survived radiation exposure and I wondered if Levitz was subtly showing that she had manifested powers. I am still wondering that here as she flicks the fork and embeds it in the wall, cracking it.

If Helena was having extra helpings of sweets, Karen's extra helpings were the men she was 'close to'. She wants to send them each a letter.

Look at that pile of letters!

How many is that?

I just don't know. Seems insane.

Once showered and dressed, the heroes walk around Boston, taking it in one last time before they head home. There are a couple of things that I think are worth noting here.

One, how insane is it that Earth Prime is the 'safer world' in the DCU when it feels so unrelentingly dark. That makes me depressed. Not that Earth Prime can't be safer than Earth 2 overall. But that this world, as bleak and grim as it is, is considered safer.

Second, Helena worries that she simply isn't tough enough to survive Earth 2. Is this foreshadowing for some tragic ending in the crisis of Worlds' End?

Desaad is still stuck on Prime Earth and he knows that the heroes are close to crossing over and so he decides to break into Karen's facility to try to hijack a way home too.

He seems drawn to Dr. Spears, who he ran into last month as well.

Helena and Karen's walk brings them to the lab just in time to hear the yells of Spears and the workers.

I include this page only to showcase how wonderful Kirkham's art is. That is a powerful Power Girl smashing through the wall. Just beautiful.

And then this silly moment ... almost out of a Bugs Bunny cartoon. Power Girl punches Desaad so hard that he gets stuck in the ceiling.

Too silly?

The book ends with the heroes flying through the portal, getting back to Earth 2, only to discover Boston in flames and ruin. I don't read Earth 2 so I don't know if this makes sense. Can I also say that this final trip back to Earth 2 felt a little anticlimactic? We have heard how they struggled over 5 years to try to find any tech that might help. And then suddenly, basically not from their own endeavors but by copying a villain, they suddenly put it all together in 2 issues.

Maybe I have been too hard on this book, on Levitz and his characterization, on the lack of progression on the book, on the rough art that has been on the pages for a while. Maybe it is because I love the characters so much I wanted so much more.

But I don't think I will miss this book once it isn't on my pull list.

And I never thought I would say that about a Power Girl or a Huntress book.

Overall grade: B (raised a full grade because of the wonderful art)

Supergirl Sighting: DC Challenge #4

Ah, the joys of the dollar box.

Back in 1986, DC Comics released DC Challenge!, a 12 issue maxi-series in the beautiful Baxter format. And this is a truly nutty concept - a round robin book with a new creative team on each issue. And there was no set plot! Each writer would receive the script of the prior issue and was told to simply carry the story forward in any way possible.

I was interested in the concept back when it came out. But I wasn't swimming in cash way back then and so I had to be a bit more frugal in what to buy. So I didn't get it then. Since then I have read how insane it is and so I have been looking for the issues, albeit if cheap.

Well surprise - in the dollar box at my store, there it was - all of it except issue #5. And looking for some bizarreness, I bought issues #1-4 and #6-9. This comic is a trip.

As a result of the format and round robin story-telling device, I feel that each writer was simply trying to create an impossible or insane set-up for whoever was taking over. Dead actors on earth, aliens fighting magic, time traveling heroes, a side trip to Rann, bizarre cliff-hangers, characters from the corners of the DCU (B'Wana Beast, Congorilla, etc.), Albert Einstein as a god-like creature ... whew. I think you need to have ingested mind altering chemicals to follow this.

Anyways, as I was reading Challenge #4, I saw .... SUPERGIRL!

Now maybe you aren't surprised that a book that spanned the entire DCU would include Supergirl. But this issue was released ... when?

4 months after Crisis on Infinite Earths #7!

That's right! Despite being killed by off by Marv Wolfman and a month away from being forgotten by everyone in the DCU, somehow writer Paul Levitz and artists Gil Kane and Klaus Janson didn't get the memo.

It is a cameo. And it is an odd costume. But it is Kara! An extremely rare post-Crisis appearance for the original Supergirl.

Part of the storyline (and please don't ask me to expound, I won't be able to) is aliens coming to Earth to execute ... other aliens! And they have weapons and powers that can defeat even the mightiest of extra-terrestrials.

In this scene, alien super-heroes are tied to a post before an alien firing squad. Superman, J'Emm, J'Onn, and Starfire are all facing those guns.

And so is Supergirl!

But here she is wearing a short sleeve shirt! This certainly isn't the head band, red-shouldered costume she was wearing at this time.

In a faraway shot we see she is wearing the hot pants!

A hot pants, short sleeved Supergirl? I don't think that costume has appeared anywhere else. Was this Kane taking some artistic license?

Regardless, here was Kara once more, just a handful of months after her death, after we had been told she wasn't going to be a part of the DCU. Even if this book is out of continuity, I thought there was an edict to forget about her. (I will admit, Crisis wasn't over yet so the 'no one remembers Supergirl' wasn't in continuity yet.)

Unfortunately, I don't have Challenge! #5 so I don't know how Supergirl escapes this predicament.

But this was an unbelievable and unexpected find in the dollar box. Makes it worth it.

Review: Worlds' Finest #24

Worlds' Finest #24 came out last week and I sighed and bought it.

In my mind, I will stop collecting this book as soon as the Worlds' End weekly comes out. I don't think I will need to read a crossover with Earth 2 and certainly not on a weekly basis.

But as a result, there is a sort of fatalism with this book. There has always been a sort of lack of energy with this book, with writer Paul Levitz struggling putting together any momentum or growth with the characters. And now that I am pretty sure I am dropping the book, there is even less energy in me to read the book. And those two things together make the faults of the book stand out even more.

One thing that Levitz has struggled with all along has been putting the two heroes together in an adventure. I am sure it isn't easy to write a story where a Kryptonian and a well-trained human can face one enemy. But ... people have written Batman and Superman stories for decades. In this issue, Levitz again keeps the two heroes apart ... in any way possible.

The art here is done by Scott McDaniel alone. McDaniel had been doing breakdowns for RB Silva the last several issues. Here he gets to do it all. And I have to say, McDaniel on his own is much better than Silva working with his setups.

But the real winner here is the cover by Barry Kitson. Trust me, this representation of Power Girl working in a Kirby-krackled reactor is way way more interesting than the actual story behind it. I love Kitson's style and wonder why he isn't on a monthly right now.

Last issue, Desaad plunged Boston into a blackout giving some low-level terrorists the opportunity to steal some radioactive material from MIT. After taking a hostage, one terrorist is able to escape the Huntress' wrath.

But, in a 1960's Spiderman move, Huntress throws a tracer on the car the terrorist has hijacked. This doesn't seem old school. This feels archaic.

And it felt sad that a thug with a gun and a hostage is able to outwit and escape The Huntress. Isn't she tougher than this? And remember, he is carrying a couple of jars of plutonium (or something like that)! Shouldn't she really be on the top of her game and simply take this guy out?

Huntress does have the good sense to call Power Girl to see if she can help. Remember, this guy is running around with the stuff to get a dirty bomb built. We should call in the big guns.

But, again, Levitz keeps the heroes apart. Because Power Girl would be able to too easily apprehend and stop this guy. So to keep her away, Levitz has her acting as a turbine to restart the Seabrook Nuclear plant which stopped working because of Desaad. If Boston is going to get power again, this needs to be restarted.

I don't know exactly how nuclear plants work but this also felt a bit off. Do we really need to crank something to get fission going?

And lastly, to have her singing a song about boys buying her drinks (to the tune of '100 bottles of beer on the wall') is groan-worthy. Doesn't Karen deserve better than this?

Undaunted by needing to work solo, Huntress tracks the terrorist. He drives into a tunnel, abandons the car, and heads to ground. He also dumps his hostage, Tanya Sharp the scientist from STARR Ware that I think is possessed by Desaad.

Sharp has been shot in the shoulder but continues to want to help. The Huntress wants Sharp to stay put and out of danger.

Now I don't know just how long this chase has happened. The beginning of the issue, with the terrorist on the bridge, is clearly nighttime. The blackout occurred in the night. Now Huntress comes out of the tunnel and it is clearly morning. And morning enough that the park she enters is pretty well populated by joggers. That also felt off.

And then, the Huntress is forced to use rocks she has picked up to use as weapons. She disarms the man by throwing a rock at his gun hand. While it is fine to hear that part of Huntress' training from the E2 Batman was to use anything on hand. But ... rocks? Are you telling me she doesn't have darts, shurikens, ANYTHING hidden in the pouches, gloves, and boots of her costume?

Meanwhile, Power Girl has restarted the turbine!

But we can't have her join the fight in the park because she would put an end to it. So now she has to slowly replace the control rods in another section of the reactor. So let's keep the pair of heroes apart even longer! This whole plot seemed a little forced as if it only seems to happen to keep Power Girl here.

To add to matters, the head scientist worries that Power Girl won't be gentle enough in her repair. And Power Girl worries she might not be truly invulnerable against this radiation.

Is this some way to depower her for the return to E2?

Finally, Huntress is able to get an upper hand on this bozo.

Of course, in the brawl, he lets the nuclear material slip out of his hand. And he had loosened the cap too!

I just don't know. This is a guy with no training at all! Just some creep. And he has kept Huntress at bay for an issue. And she is sloppy enough in her fight that she let's deadly radioactive material slip from his hand! And she is more intent on giving him a right cross to the jaw than to stop a deadly spill.

Shouldn't she have taken this guy out in one panel? Would Batman be stymied by this guy this long?

Thankfully, Sharp has followed along and was able to cap the jar after only a drop hit the ground.

So was she exposed to this stuff when she put the lid on? I suppose seeing a 'normal' person acting the hero and being selfless is a nice lesson to put in the book. But if it needs to happen because Huntress wasn't paying attention ... that isn't good.

And just in time, Power Girl shows up and is able to fly the two where they need to go. Because Power Girl can't show up earlier without throwing a wrench into the story.

The time has come for a shake-up in this book. It just seems that Levitz is having a hard time with this cast and putting together a story for both Power Girl and Huntress. I find it surprising given he was able to juggle a huge cast with a wide array of powers for so long in the Legion.

McDaniel's art is a bit rough but not as distorted as the recent fare by Silva. I do know Tyler Kirkham is coming on the book soon. And judging by some previews he has put up on Twitter the book will look slick.

But I am counting down here ... unless something dramatically changes.

Overall grade: C+