Sales Review: April 2011

April was a good month for comic sales with sales down about 1.5% in comparison to April 2010. The top comic Fear Itself from Marvel sold over 140K as well. As always, this information has been gleaned from ICv2. Here is a link to their list of the top 300 comics for April:
http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/20090.html

Comics are still down around 6% for the quarter, so as always stability in sales is to be admired. Which takes us to Supergirl #63.

Supergirl #63 was the penultimate chapter of the 'Good Looking Corpse' story arc. Remember, this arc started with the mini-upheaval at writer with Nick Spencer being ousted (leaving on his own?) in the middle of the first issue. I was worried that the loss of Spencer and the sense of uncertainty around the title might lead to a serious sales drop. Instead, Supergirl fans are holding strong. Supergirl #63 sold 21,598. Supergirl #62 sold 21786. That's a drop of less than 1% in a market where there is almost always attrition. That is the definition of stability.

I think it is also a testament to James Peaty and Bernard Chang. If this wasn't a good story I am sure some folks would have left.

It's funny, even with another new creative team, Kelly Sue DeConnick and ChrisCross, coming on for only 3 issues, I don't have that sense of unease about the title anymore. We'll see if upcoming sales mirror my new-found optimism.

Bernard Chang Art On DC Source

I know I am going back a ways by talking about this DC Source post about Bernard Chang's approach to art on Supergirl but I am still wrapping my head around Action Comics #900.

The whole Chang post is worth reading and here is that link:http://dcu.blog.dccomics.com/2011/04/20/artists-spotlight-bernard-chang-on-supergirl/   There is a lot in there about his work that the whole post is worth reading.

I am a complete sucker for process pieces of the creation of comics with any commentary that comes with it. I have enjoyed Chang's work not only on Supergirl but on Wonder Woman and Superman. The thick-lined carnage seen in his later stuff on Superman was really great, showing a pretty pummeled Mon-El after his skirmishes with Brainiac. Chang really showed just what it would look like if you were involved in a super-powered brawl.

And that is different that the more fine-lined stuff we are seeing in Supergirl, something he comments on here. This was just too good to not comment on. His comments are in blue followed by my usual retorts.

From the script, I need to decide what images best tell the story, what panel construction to organize them in, the tempo and pacing of panels, and other important details like research and design. I’ll use SUPERGIRL #63, pages 2-3 as an example. The script called for eleven panels, starting with a closeup on Supergirl as she’s waking up from being knocked out at the close of issue #62, finding the three Harvard friends, Justin, David and Elise. We recap her previous fight with a brainwashed Miss Martian and our new villain, Alex, and then she takes off to go rescue Robin and Blue Beetle.

My first thoughts were to take advantage of the double-paged spread and designate the two action flashback panels (five and seven) as the “money shots”. I then figured the two should be about the same size since they held about the same weight, one reintroducing her allies in the story, and the other their capture and the villain(s) intro, so that helped form four tiers. The top tier, panels one through four, focused primarily on her waking up and coming to, the middle two tiers on the flashbacks, and the bottom tier, panels eight through eleven, on her flying off and the three students talking amongst themselves.

This is one of those times where I wish I could see the script as well so I could mesh the words to Chang's vision to the finished art. I think this would have looked completely different if this had been simple panels of similar size, or flipped to be vertical panels rather than horizontal.

Then I felt we needed to drag out her waking up moment out a little bit longer, really show the effects of her being knocked out from before, so I decided to expand a sequence of close-ups of Kara’s eyes opening in varying stages, intermixed with establishing shots of her in the Harvard courtyard surrounded by the three students. The close-ups of her eyes would culminate in panel six, when she is fully awake — and aware — of the events of the last issue. And lastly, in the bottom tier, the movement of the characters would flow left-to-right, pushing the action from one panel to the next, and then building a crescendo to page four, exposing a full splash page.

I always talk about art and words meshing so I really loved this spread because it conveyed a lot without words. So seeing those closeups of Supergirl's eyes as she comes to and gathers herself as she recalls what happened just flowed so wonderfully. I can imagine as Supergirl is waking up she is probably asking herself 'what happened' making the flashback panels a perfect fit behind her opening eyes.

The second part is the actual line drawing. This is mostly technical, and not a lot of design or research work is going on here because everything should have been solved in the previous stage. I take my thumbnail layouts and rough them out on the back of the bristol board, loosely putting down the figure work, laying down the perspective angles. I’ll then begin to flush out certain details and then I flip over the page and lightbox a tighter pencil on the front.

This is also the stuff I love to see. It always amazes me to see that transition from rough thumbnails to final art. That will always be incredible to me.

When I’m done pencilling, I’ll move straight to inks, employing a variety of pens and markers. For the SUPERGIRL books, I’ve been keeping a consistently thinner line than my previous books, like SUPERMAN or WONDER WOMAN. My intent was that this thinner line would be more subtle and delicate, and being that Supergirl herself is a teenager, this linework would re-enforce that approach.

I think somewhere along the way in the past I commented on the more delicate feel to Chang's art here than in Superman, so I was psyched to see Chang comment on it. I include one of my favorite splash pages of his Superman work to contrast. The thick lines and darker feel of this panel is really a different feel than the current Supergirl work.

After the inks are finished, I scan the page into the computer and move to the digital phase, prepping the page for the colorist, and adding a layer of greytone shade and shadowing, as well as additional special effects. 

And then there is this great progression piece of that superb Robin splash page from Supergirl #62. Here we go from rough pencils to final inks, to final product with greytone and effects. 

This post made me more jealous of everyone who was able to get to see Chang draw out in California recently. 

I hope Chang finds work somewhere at DC after his Supergirl stint is over.

Review: Supergirl #63

Supergirl #63 came out this week, the penultimate chapter of James Peaty and Bernard Chang's 'Good Looking Corpse' story arc. That also means we are nearing the end of the Peaty/Chang's tenure as creative team on the title. Despite all the issues surrounding their run ... taking over from Sterling Gates and Jamal Igle's prolific run, the sudden departure of Nick Spencer ... the team has put together a compelling and entertaining story so far. It's hard to believe that it's already almost over.

As the second to last chapter, Peaty has work to do here, lining things up for a satisfying conclusion. That means revealing who the villain is ... because we know there is more to Alex than meets the eye. It also means keeping the Lois subplot moving along as well, something I have liked about this arc very much. This is definitely how I picture Lois being characterized and with her near absence in Grounded, it has been nice to see her in action.

While much was revealed in this issue, I still need a little bit more on the villain's backstory, a little bit more of some of the character's motivations, which means next issue has a lot to cover in a short period of time.

It was nice to see Amy Reeder back on cover duty here. You can really see the fear in Supergirl's eyes here. I know that I was worried that the hand clutching her here was Comet's hand, from the PAD run on Supergirl. While it would be nice that Comet would be back in continuity, it might also have opened up a can of worms. Suffice it to say, it isn't Comet.

Last issue, Alex had knocked Supergirl unconscious and teleported away to his lab, leaving Kara alone with the insipid Harvard students from the first issue. Their continued presence at least in some ways justifies the pages of conversation we had from them in the first issue, although I still think too much time was wasted on them there. There is more to them than meets the eye here.

This is a small piece of a nice 2 page spread with long horizontal rows of panels, showing Supergirl awakening, gathering herself, and zooming off to find her friends. Bernard Chang really is doing spectacular stuff here.

As Supergirl tries to fly away from the evacuated Harvard grounds, she finds the university covered in a force field. Now, if she really wanted out, she could burrow underground and see if the dome is a sphere. But there is too much mystery to be solved on campus. She is trapped, alone save for the students we know are Alex' friends.

The issue's art work is an interesting mix of panels. After the two page spread above with many small panels with tight focus, we get several large splash pages like this one. I always say big moments deserve big art. I also say that spalsh pages sometimes means less story is being told. I don't know if this warranted all this space, no matter how beautiful the art is.

For me, the best part of this issue was the Lois subplot, her dealing with Cadmus employee Catherine Devereaux. Devereaux told Lois about the Cadmus project back in Supergirl #60 only to discover that Alex had killed her son Jason in response.

I like that Lois has the compassion to follow-up on this end of the story, to see how Devereaux is holding out. It also gives Peaty an opportunity to flesh out some of the backstory here. I liked this line where Lois tells Devereaux about a friend who also lost a son, obviously talking about Cat Grant. Devereaux asks 'did she survive' and Lois says 'in her own way'. Just the most perfect response to that question. Cat has survived, but not unscathed.

After talking more, Devereaux reveals that not only did she learn about the project, she help set Alex free.

Meanwhile, at his secret base at an abandoned Cadmus site in Central City, Alex begins breaking down the spirit of the heroes he has captured. He has already seized control of Miss Martian and Blue Beetle, enslaving them telepathically. Interestingly, Damien's mental training makes him the hardest to break down. But Alex finally worms his way in to see what Damien fears.

Here is another splash page, this one deserving of the space, as we see Robin's fear is that he will embrace his role as Ra's Al Ghul's heir and slaughter the entire Bat-family. Powerful piece.

Of course, the motivation here seems off. At first in this arc, Alex seems hell-bent on killing young heroes. So why not simply kill the ones he has under his control. While draining them of secrets might help his cause, once that has been done wouldn't he just slaughter them? I know, knowledge is power and right now they are serving him. But I would have liked one line from Alex saying it rather than me having to infer it.

Back at the hospital, we learn more about Alex. Here Devereaux talks about how she felt for this clone being made, born and reared in a tube, trained to loathe the heroes, but basically unloved. To a mother like Devereaux it was more than she could bear to watch. She felt for Alex.

Even if Alex promised to cure her son Jason of his leukemia (that is part of why she freed him), she still thought Alex deserved better.

Per Devereuax, he was named Unit X.X.X. and lived in a test tube, raised by an artificial intelligence father, and basically lacked the upbringing a child needs. She thought that was inhumane.

Now Alex has telepathic powers which might have nudged her to have those feelings and free him. And, of course, since her own child was dying, she might have been an easy target for him to control. But none of this seems entirely consistent with the woman who went to Lois in the first issue afraid of what was being made. Unless, after freeing him she realized what he was.

That said, before the scene ends, Devereuax, now sporting the Alex-controlled pink eyes, says she is still close to him and seems to prepare to attack Lois. I hope these differing sides of her character - worried whistle-blower and surrogate mother - are explained a bit more. Maybe his mental control on her is spotty?

In my favorite Supergirl moment of the book, Kara realizes it is a little too convenient for only three students wiped of their memories to be on the campus with her. She is suspicious. And using some parts remaining from the battle drones she has defeated, she jury-rigs a machine with the fly-over app on her phone that shows that Alex' friends are also cloaked drones. It is a nice moment, reminding me of the tinkerer Supergirl who was part of the Science Guild.

It also shows that Alex might be free from Cadmus but he is just as alone. Even his friends are fake. In fact we see what I assume are the real students in some suspended animation device in his lab.

With the force field over Harvard about to run out of power and no one to delay Supergirl from bringing the fight to Central City and Alex' 'primary hub', Alex decides to face off with Kara.

After a couple of pages of him tossing her around like a rag doll with his telekinesis, a battered Kara lands in his clutches. He even tells her that there is only a little Kryptonian genes in his make-up, just some 'extra spice' as he puts it. (That at least explains the heat vision we have seen.) And then we have the big reveal ... it's Dubbilex.

So a couple of things here. Supergirl shouldn't be defeated by being tossed around a room unless there was some telepathic attack on top of the physical beatdown. Maybe this is a ruse by Supergirl to get close to him?

Secondly, I don't think this is the Dubbilex. This must be Unit X.X.X., something built off the template of Dubbilex. Does that mean he's Triplexxx? I have to say I never guessed this ... and that always makes me happy. I like to be surprised. Clues were there though ... a Cadmus built clone, with telepathy, and a name with X ... maybe I should have guessed it. I think I was still trying to shoehorn another human in there too much, first Lex Luthor, then Maxwell Lord, and then Sam Lane. So this was a nice reveal.

Overall this was a good chapter, setting up the big finale. I definitely like how Lois is being used here. And Supergirl continues to shine here. In this arc we have seen her trash robots imitating super-villains, leading other heroes, and here use her science know-how to stop another threat. Sure Alex has beaten her the last two issues but that means he is a viable threat. There are some minor characterization problems here but all in comparison to the opening chapter which was co-written by Nick Spencer. I wonder how much of these speed bumps come from that writer discrepancy.

Peaty continues to craft a very good Supergirl story. And Bernard Chang is just doing sparkling stuff here. I hope both of them find work at DC after this story.

Overall grade: B+