Sales Review: December 2016

The sales for December 2016 were posted over on ICv2 and I highly recommend heading over there for great insight. Here is a link: http://icv2.com/articles/markets/view/36511/top-300-comics-actual-december-2016

But I was very interested in seeing the hard numbers because this was the first month in a long time that two dedicated Supergirl comics were on the rack at the same time. Has Supergirl reached a level of popularity that she can support two series? Or, from a print viewpoint, is she still a steady 'middle of the pack' seller.

Suffice it to say, as an eternal pessimist, my glass is half empty.

Supergirl #4 continued the Cyborg Superman/Argo City storyline. In this issue, Supergirl breaks out of her prison and breaks through to her mother that Earth must live and Krypton has already died.

This issue also had one of my favorite covers in recent memory, Bengal's variant of Kara saving Streaky from a truck accident.

So how did it sell?

Review: Supergirl #4

Supergirl #4 came out this week and was a very good issue, pushing the story along nicely and throwing in a lot of emotional beats. It is these character moments that make this such an enjoyable read, possibly the best issue of the title so far.

The underlying premise is that there is a war going on for dominance over Supergirl's spirit. Is she still beholden to Kryptonian culture so much that she would sacrifice Earth to regain it? Or has she put the scars and sadness of Krypton's death behind her and embraced her new home. It is unfortunate that we are mining this theme again. It has been played out in New Krypton, the beginning arcs of the New 52, and the ending arc of the New 52. But since #Rebirth might be the first Supergirl comic someone has read, I suppose it makes for a good opening arc, differentiating Kara's origins from Superman. She would miss Krypton; she actually lived there.

Writer Steve Orlando even has a nifty way of playing this theme out, having Kara's parents in conflict, a way of making the Earth/Krypton emotional fight also a very physical one. We saw the sets of parents interact in the Silver Age but I don't think that has been used recently, bring a fresh feel to the overall plot.

If there is one thing that detracted from this issue, it would be the art ... in places. Brian Ching has a distinct style and some panels of his expressive work are really wonderful. But there is also an unfinished feel to his work in places, particularly in his leaving of faces, noses, and mouths occasionally. Also, it was in this issue that I finally noticed that Eliza is missing a hand, something I may have noticed before if my eyes didn't gloss over things as Ching's artistic shorthand. This isn't a blanket complaint; most of the issue is beautiful.

On to the book!

December 2016 Solicits

The December DC Comics solicits came out this week and there weren't too many surprises. That doesn't mean that I don't have things to say. In fact, there is something about these solicits that troubles me. And we'll get to that right up front.

I'll be looking at the super books but if you want to see all the DC solicits, here is a link to Newsarama's coverage:http://www.newsarama.com/31093-dc-comics-december-2016-solicitations.html

On to the books!

SUPERGIRL #4
Written by STEVE ORLANDO
Art and cover by BRIAN CHING
Variant cover by BENGAL
“REIGN OF THE CYBORG SUPERMEN” part four! Supergirl struggles to escape the perverse reincarnation of Argo City as her father, the Cyborg Superman, attacks National City and her new home with the DEO! To face her ultimate test as a hero, Kara must let go of her past and embrace the future.

So here is my immediate problem.

This cover.

I am not thrilled with the Kara side of the cover. There is something just a bit too hentai for me in this look. A bound Kara, her eyes wide looking down at the growing mechanics heading towards her skirt. There is just something a little icky about this image, especially given the tone of this new book. This isn't overtly salacious. It isn't a Zenescope cover. But this is supposed to be a 16 year old girl and there are some things implied here.You can have an imperiled Kara who isn't in *this* position. Add to that the word perverse in the solicit and my remembering that Eddie Berganza is the editor who okayed this cover and I cringed a little.

As for the solicit, I thought this Kara had already let the past go and embraced Earth. But as this is a #Rebirth with 90K more readers, I guess Steve Orlando felt he needed to cover that one more time. So long as the story is good, I am in.