Readers Favorite Moments Of 2014

Last week I reviewed 2014 and all the great moments that Supergirl had in comics. I listed my top ten moments as well as five honorable mentions.

I asked if there were any moments that I had missed. A year is a long time to review and I knew a couple of probably were overlooked. So thanks to those who dropped me a line and reminded me of some wonderful scenes that should have made the 'Best of' list somewhere.

Bartiemus said Supergirl saves Batman from Cyborg Superman in Superman Doomed 2. Kara comes in like a freight train to take the fight to Cyborg Superman finally now able to think straight thanks to be cured from the Kryptonite posing and Red Ring such a great scene.

I felt, overall, that Doomed was something of a mess. It was hard to follow the story, the infection, the feints. But there was this great moment when Supergirl, rid of the Red Ring, joins her cousin in battle and just brings it to the Cyborg. Magnificent.

But even better is how strong Superman thinks Supergirl is. Brainiac assumes Supergirl will kill the Cyborg but Superman knows better. Kara is too good for that.

Very nice!

Alex said Supergirl and Super Family save whale in Batman Superman issue 16 is another great moment in my opinion :) 

 

It is a simple moment, marred by gunfire a couple of pages away. But nothing said that things were going to be different than this moment from Batman Superman #16. The Superman family ... Superman, Supergirl, Krypto, and Steel ... are working together, and doing a simple good deed, saving whales.

 

In 2013, Superman and Supergirl weren't acting like friends, let alone family. Things have changed.

 

It was great to see them hanging out, cooperating, and being heroes.

 

Thanks Bartiemus and Alex. And thanks again everyone for a great year and keeping this blog such a fun comics community! 

Review: Superman:Doomed #2

Superman:Doomed #2 came out this week and I am going to be honest and say that I am thrilled that this arc is over.

It isn't as if there weren't fine moments in this somewhat drawn out mega-crossover. There were. In fact, there were plenty of fine moments in this issue, many of which I will share. But finding those moments felt at times like panning for gold. You need to work your way through a lot of silt to find the treasure.

For every great character moment, for every nuance, for every bit of heroes acknowledging what an inspiration Superman there were many more empty cliffhangers, dropped subplots, and character gaffes.

Perhaps most annoying was the concept of the 'infected Superman' which changed issue to issue ... page to page. Was it an infection out of control? Could he will himself back to normal? Was he cured by 'good feelings' at one point? Was he dying? Without clearly understanding the threat of this Doomsday virus, I didn't feel invested. In one issue Superman is so out of control he exiles himself into space. In the next, Baka's warm feelings completely cures him. Huh??

And then there is the 'real villain' of the piece Brainiac. His plot is also something of a jumbled mess. He is draining the minds of humans starting in Smallville and Metropolis. He sends down drones that are a feint. He has the Cyborg Superman as a sort of misdirection. And he has a ship that in some issues is 4x the size of Earth but in others is like the JLA satellite. At least in Doomed #2 we find out his plan.

As if adding to the disjointed feeling of the overall arc, this issue has 9 credited artists. Each page is beautiful. But you can't go from Lashley to Churchill to Herbert without feeling a little dizzy from the stylistic changes.

Now listen ... I am about to show you the high points. And they are good high points. But as a whole Doomed was like a runny omelet. Some bites were delicious. But mostly it was a mess.

Last issue ended with Brainiac's ship arriving and Superman deciding the only way to break into the Collector ship and stop him is to go full-Doomsday mode. He sheds his humanity and lets the Doomsday in him surge. See ... maybe I am trying to think about this a bit too medically. How does this even happen? From human to Doomsday because he willed the infection to go out of control??

There are only a few free minds on the planet and Lana and Lois are among them. I like that first panel with the two most important women in Clark's life looking up, confident he will save everyone. It is nice that they have faith in him.

And I also liked the next panel explaining the coloring snafu of a couple of issues back when Lois was her normal skin tone. She turns green when she uses her psionic powers. Nice recovery.

 Superdoom basically begins tearing through the ship, hoping to get to the core and disable/dismantle the Brainiac tech.

While Lana and Lois were on the same page just before, here we see how they differ. And it might be the first time I haven't liked Lana in the Pak era.

Lois tells Clark to not lose himself to the monster, to not do something he might regret. But Lana ... she outright tells him to kill Brainiac. It makes me think that maybe Lana doesn't understand Clark quite as well as I thought she did.

 Like much of this arc, a lot of time takes place on the mental plane. Brainiac might be safe in his control room and Superdoom might be running through walls but the real confrontation is taking place in the mind as Brainiac tells Clark his plot.

It turns out that Brainiac is gathering all the sentient mind energy he can. He knows that observation can change reality. He hopes to have enough 'observer power' to recreate the universe.

It is a riff on the old 'light will behave like a wave or a particle depending on the belief of the observer' experiment. But it is a bit much to swallow.

But let's say that I decide to swallow it. Let's say that Brainiac needs lots of minds to do this (indeed he says he has already drained billions). The last place you would ever go is Earth!! Why go to the place with the guy who has trounced you over and over? Drain every other planet you find. Why poke the beehive?

 Back on Earth, Brainiac discovers that the resistance is hiding in the Fortress. So he sends his troops in hoping to distract them. One of his army is the Cyborg Superman.

Now after being sullied and mistreated in the prior big Superman crossovers, Greg Pak and Charles Soule treat her very well in her few moments in the book.

First off, the Cyborg tells her of Brainiac's plans, saying that Brainiac could give them back Krypton. He asks her who would even care about Earth when that could happen. It is basically the same hook that H'El tried to get Kara to help him The same.

And yet it is clear Kara has grown a bit. She isn't lured by that anymore. She cares about Earth and wallops him with a nice left jab.

 Again, conversing in their minds, Brainiac warns Superman what is going to happen if the fight on Earth continues, if Superman doesn't allow Brainiac to rewrite history.

Supergirl will kill her father the Cyborg. Then she will be forced to kill Superman who will be out of control as Doomsday. Then she will become infected by the spores and become Doomsday herself.

I had to include this page. There is something very meta about this page with an enraged Kara, having killed her father, splitting Superman in two and becoming a monster. It is drawn by Ian Churchill who drew the Jeph Loeb and early Joe Kelly Supergirl issues, the one where she is a monster who gunned down her classmates and was trying to kill Superman.

That has to be why he was chosen to draw these pages right? It would have fit right into the last Supergirl series, somewhere around issue #10 I would say.

That said, Churchill does draw the bottom of the costume differently. Look at the second panel. The red area is broader and it looks more like gym shorts than a bathing suit. I like that way more than the usual interpretation.

This is a very good page by Pak with a very good moment for Supergirl.

Superman tell Brainiac is that he doesn't understand the cousins. Kara might have been a little out of control at one point but she won't kill the Cyborg.

And she doesn't. Instead she just pounds him and is victorious.

After seeing him utterly defeat her and kill her in her own book a couple of times over, it is great to see Kara finally win here.

But this is Superman and Brainiac's battle on the psychic plane.

Brainiac enters the marauding Superdoom's mind and shows Clark possible futures ... if only Superman will let the Coluan recreate the universe. In one of them, Steel and Lana marry and become the heroes of Metropolis allowing Superman to retire.

In another, drawn by Dave Bullock, Superman's very presence has an effect on humanity. The world becomes a better place, inspired by Superman. Crime and evil fades away. And Batman gets to retire!

But these glimpses into a possible peaceful future doesn't change the fact that the universe would be rewritten by a tyrant. Superman is able  to shrug these off as folly.

Bullock's style is pleasingly like Darwyn Cooke's. It works for this sequence.

Oh yeah ... remember that subplot where Wonder Woman went into the Phantom Zone to convince Mongul to use Warworld to attack Brainiac? Remember?

Well, we get reminded of it for 2 pages. Diana fires Warworld from within the Zone, blasting Brainiac's ship, weakening Brainiac's defenses and resolve.

Can you fire a weapon from within the Zone, through a portal, and out into the universe??

And I think of the time spent in the Phantom Zone over the issues - hunting Dr. Xa-Du, fighting Mongul, etc. It all seems like a waste of time as none of it seemed to impact the story greatly.

With Brainiac weakened by Superdoom beating him up, the mental plane becomes something of an even playing field. In fact Lois is able to join Superman there to try to battle Brainiac.

In this state, Brainiac's true intentions are finally revealed. His origin includes him losing his wife and child. He is anguished by this. He wants a universe where they are still in his life. And that touches Superman. When Lois is about to psionically kill Brainiac, Superman talks her down.

They should want peace, not punishment.

It is a nice moment showing the core of Superman's beliefs.

That said, I am a bit tired of the 'sympathetic back story for a villain'.

This stay of execution is something of a pause. Brainiac ends up continuing his assault on Earth, is killing the population by draining them, and still wants to recreate the universe. There is no easy way to stop this plot now that it has gone this far.

The only solution is for Lois to drain Brainiac of all his power and then shove it into Superman.

Again, I have some problems with this. Brainiac is the most powerful psionic in this universe (personally I just miss him being super-intelligent). So how can Lois, a neophyte given powers by Brainiac be capable enough to drain him.

And then giving them to Superman?

Look at this panel. Is this what we want Superman to be? This monstrous amalgam. Can't we just have Superman? You know what it reminds me of ...

That's right. Morrison looked into the future.

And then a whole bunch of things happen that I don't know if I quite follow.

Superman, energized by his powers, Doomsday strength, and billions of sentients mental energy, grabs Brainiac and flies him to a black hole. Or maybe he creates the black hole with his 'observation powers'.  Somehow all of this strips Lois of her Brainiac power and rids Superman of all the Doomsday virus particles.

It may be that both Brainiac and Superman head through the black hole ... it's hard to tell. At the very least Superman shoves Brainiac through it.


So is it the black hole or the observation powers that does all this. I guess I have to roll with it.


But once again, the whole 'Doomsday infection' is so convoluted that it is hard to wrap my head around. Gravity cured him? Good feelings? And as this infection was the crux of this whole arc, I am both irked and underwhelmed.

But within the black hole, Brainiac seems to have been placed in a Hypertime like area of alternate realities.

There is a lot to digest here. That's a pre-Crisis on Infinite Earths JSA (based on Huntress costume). That's Plastic Man and Uncle Sam on Earth X, also pre-COIE. There's Lord Volt and Lady Quark, peri-COIE. But also a red trunked Superman, the Flashpoint world, the vampire Batman from the Red Rain Elseworlds. And a classic Harley Quinn!

This really had nothing to do with Doomed and might be the best page, with great art by Aaron Kuder.

So, mercifully, Doomed ends.

For this issue, we have Lois having faith in Superman, that great moment of compassion by Superman, the future sequence with a retired Batman, and all the Supergirl stuff as high points. But I have to weigh that against all the low points here ... the concept of rewriting the universe, the Lois power levels, the cure at the end. And against the big issues I have had with the Doomed arc itself, the feints, missteps, and inconsistencies.

Overall grade: C

Sales Review: August 2014

ICv2 has posted their review of August 2014 sales over on their site.

For me, I am always trying to figure out what to do with these sales numbers, especially with books that have multiple covers. Remember, these aren't readers ... these are orders. My store seemed to order more copies of some DC books to give the choice of 'regular' or 'selfie' variant. And that seems to bear out in this list of sales. Harley Quinn #9 had a selfie variant and orders broke 71K. Harley Quinn #10, without a variant, sold 58K. My guess is the second number is more indicative of the books overall popularity.

Now this month I had a lot to mull over. Perhaps the thing that shocked me the most was that Multiversity #1only sold 90K. (I know ... saying only sold 90K in today's market is silly.)

Here is ICv2's list of the top 300 books from August: http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/29603.html

Supergirl #34 was on sale last month.

This was a Superman:Doomed crossover, although in my mind, it was barely a Doomed book.

It also was the first post-Red Daughter storyline, showcasing a new direction for Kara. In this book she seemed to embrace Earth for the first time, told emergency workers she was there to help, met Michael who taught her about being positive and making the most of life, and even added a little romance!

This was a great issue!

Now, most likely because it was a Doomed crossover, sales were pretty robust for the book.

Supergirl has a very steady sales history, always hovering between 22 and 23K. Last month it sold 22802 units.

Supergirl #34 sold 26510, up 16%.

I can only hope that some of the new people reading this for the Doomed aspect might stick around. Of course, this is nearly Tony Bedard's swan song. Will people want to stick around for a 'lame duck' creative direction.

In the end, all that matters is that more people read Supergirl last month than the month before. Hurrah!!

Now I usually take the latter have of this monthly post to look at sales of another book, one whose sales are dropping near a danger zone, a book which should be doing better.

Here I highlight two books.

First off, I will freely admit I bemoaned JH Williams leaving Batwoman. I loved his art. I don't know if I 100% loved his stories which seemed a little trippy and a little clunky. But it was eye candy. And I know the controversial backstory to his leaving.

But I have very much enjoyed Marc Andreyko and Jeremy Haun's run more than the earlier issues. The stories are much tighter. There is great action and character growth. The art is very good, suited for the material. There has been an undercurrent of horror which I believe is going to surge forward.

And here it sits at just below 17K.

And there, right above it is Elektra. In many ways it reminds me of the early issues of Batwoman. Haden Blackman is writing it (as he helped Williams co-write the Batwoman book). And the art, here by Mike Del Mundo, is simply gorgeous, a painted style which flows. It too is selling around 17K. And now it seems like Elektra has been canceled.

Hope Batwoman survives a bit longer.

Review: Superman/Wonder Woman #11

Superman:Doomed ....

Will it never end!

I must admit that my interest in this mega-arc has waned dramatically over the last couple of weeks. As the plots spin out of control, as the infection waxed ... waned ... waxed ... and then was cured because Baka believed in Superman (an overly easy answer to such a key plot point), I have just grown fatigued with reading this story. There is too much happening, too many plots and subplots, and too many feints by the creators. I don't know what is important. And I can't believe that the Doomsday virus was cured by good feelings.

This week Superman/Wonder Woman #11 came out, one of the final chapters of the arc, and writer Charles Soule basically continues the cycle I have described above. Last week's cliffhanger turns out to be a fakeout (like the Cyborg Superman cliffhanger was something of a fakeout, like the incurable Doomsday virus has been something of a fakeout). There is some action sequences that seem like filler. And yet another new plot element is added. Does DC think this bloated storyline is going to be easily wrapped up in this month's Superman:Doomed #2?

Tony Daniel is sadly not doing art on this book, most likely because he is hard at work on the new Deathstroke comic. So newcomer Thony Silva does interior. Silva's art is stylized. His characters look gangly and angular. And Superman oddly never has pupils. I think I would rather see this style on something like Deathstroke and bring Tony Daniel back.

The last issue of Doomed ended with another cliffhanger ... Non and Mongul leaving the Phantom Zone! Yet another new element added to this incredibly overly complicated mega-arc!

But I should have remembered some of the other cliffhangers in this arc, threats or events which quickly downshifted or disappeared. Here Non and Mongul see that Earth is being overrun by Brainiac. And despite their combined might, neither of them wants to face that threat. They actually retreat back to the Phantom Zone! So much for that cliffhanger.

I suppose I should be happy that they weren't added given my concern that there are too many moving parts here.

I did like how Mongul tries to explain to Non that he isn't scared of Brainiac as he is retreating.

And Lana continues to become smarter and smarter. Somehow she is able to figure out that Brainiac is draining neurological energy from the populace of Earth. But it is a progression from higher thinking to the most primitive neurologic impulses until everyone is dead.

Now how an electrical engineer can figure out an alien genius' neurologic draining mechanisms I don't know.

Look ... I love this Lana. But let's not make her too unbelievable. I would have had less of a complaint if Shay Veritas said this line.

Superman realizes that he needs to head to the Fortress and reorganize the few troops he has left. So Steel, Lana, J'onn, and Superman all head to the north pole to try to figure out a plan.

In one of the nicer moments, Cyborg stays behind to hold off the tough Brainiac drones so the others can leave. It is a nice page and a nice moment ... albeit brief. Very quickly, Brainiac adapts his mechanism to drain Vic's half robot brain as well.

If you count it up, only 7 free minds remain on the planet - Superman, J'onn, Steel, Lana, and these three: Bruce, Diana, and Lois.

Batman realizes that it simply isn't enough to defeat Brainiac. They need help.

So I don't know why Lois is green here when she had her normal coloring last issue.

It would have been nice to see some of the other telepaths on the planet to see how they fared. The fact that J'onn and Lois can shield people makes me wonder why others couldn't do the same.

But if it is true that only 7 are free and they need more firepower there are only a couple of places they can turn.

Superman turns to the mentally caged Doomsday. Why not let the monster take control again? After all, despite issue after issue of hearing how the virus was spreading, how this was an infection, all it took was the Ghost Soldier to tell Superman that people believed in him for the Man of Steel to cure himself.

I am so confused about this infection. Is it an infection? Like a disease? A mental problem? How can good feelings cure it? How can Superman willingly suffer the relapse? This whole ending of the Doomsday virus threat weakens the foundation of the entire conflict of this arc.

I also don't know why Silas never drew Superman with pupils.

And Wonder Woman goes searching for more firepower by heading into the Phantom Zone. Looks like she will try to lure Mongul and Non out to help fight for the cause. I guess desperate times call for desperate measures.

And it looks like Wonder Woman is willing to use Warworld as a bargain chip to get Mongul into the fold. Boy, I know that Warworld is a Death Star analogue. But this sure does look like a certain 'fully operational battle station'.

Well, another chapter down. The plot moved forward a bit. And we are set up for the final part (outside of the Supergirl crossover issue). Superman:Doomed #2 will be out soon and this arc will be over. And I will be thankful. I am hoping this will erase the last bits of Lobdell plot threads from the super-titles. I am hoping that Greg Pak and Aaron Kuder can get back to the sort of stories they were doing before this arc. And I hope I never have to think about what this Doomsday infection was all about. Because my head hurts from trying to figure it out.

Overall grade: C

Review: Action Comics #34

Action Comics #34 came out last week, the third part of Superman:Doomed on the shelves and the first part of this chapter titled Last Sun. I was a bit harsh about the up and down Annuals which proceeded this chapter, a case where I felt I didn't understand much of the conflicts in the story well enough to be invested. How bad is the Doomsday virus? Was it cured by supportive feelings and well wishes? Why does it wax and wane?

Add to that a myriad of side plots and characters that have been lingering a bit without getting much advancement. Dr. Xa-Du, Harrow, the Cyborg Superman, and others have all sort of drifted in and out of the story, at times seeming to be key figures, at other times simply gone.

And then the lingering Lois storyline with the Brainiac involvement is the last big piece to this puzzle. Again, this seems to be a convoluted plot by Brainiac to eliminate Superman and then capture Earth for some reason. But how does Lois survive when other Twenties didn't? Why Smallville and Metropolis to start his plot ... to needle Superman? And why be doing this at all? And didn't the Kandor people wake up months ago?

I know ... I should roll with this. But this arc has taken on a lumbering pace and has gone on for months. The more massive the story, the more massive my expectations.

As usual, there are some nice moments in this book. And the art, mostly done by Aaron Kuder, is wonderful. I really like Kuder's stuff.

In the first annual, the Cyborg Superman has sent 'coma pods' to Earth, hoping to set up a network to boost the sleeping sickness across the globe.

Here, the Brainiac ship teleports into the solar system. Look at the size of that thing! It dwarfs Earth! I am probably going to date myself and probably not make sense to most of you, but this thing looks like a mini-boss from the old video game Darius.

The presence of the ship is enough to blanket the world in the coma-wave as we see anyone on planet who is not telepathically/psionically shielded suddenly go limp, brain waves shooting up to the Brainiac ship.

First off, great art here. So cool to see Kuder play with some other characters in the DCU during this book.

But if your ship is that big, and Superman is off planet, and almost everyone is effected ... why send the coma-pods two books ago. Now that seems like a waste of time.

Despite being comatose/mesmerized, the people of Earth seem safe. Planes are not crashing. Cars are not careening. For some reason, Brainiac wants everyone alive.

Here we see a super-powered but not enslaved Lois helping the team.

I like the description of her as a fighter.

Lois and Superman head to the Watchtower satellite to team up with their allies.

Last issue Superman was cured of his Doomsday affliction (apparently) by hearing that his friends like Baka believe in him. So this whole issue, he is back to being himself. This seems like a bit of a deus ex machina.

I thought this was the most awkward-feeling scene I have read in a long time. I still think there is some pulse of romance between Superman and Lois. Here, after their nice little telepathic moment last issue, Lois stand by while Diana plants a wet one on Superman's lips. Lois isn't exactly smiling back there, is she.

And the hug from Diana?

I was cringing just reading it.

So why is Brainiac doing all this? Superman thinks he is trying to covert Earth's brain power into some kind of weapon.

I really am trying to understand all of this. If you have a ship bigger than a planet and the power to put an entire population to sleep, how much more power do you need? How much more power could the Earth give him? Are we that high-minded??

And the steps Brainiac needed to go through to have this happen are insane. Do you think there is another world more easy to take over who have thinkers?

It looks like all is lost so the heroes come up with an insane plan to try to save the world.

First they need to 'distract' Brainiac. So Harrow releases her ghost soldiers to attack the ship.

I love this splash page. I love seeing Kuder drawing all sorts of soldiers. It is beautiful.

But the ship is enormous! Is this like a gnat attacking us? They are quickly dispatched.

The plan is insane. Superman will head to the sun to power up and then use his heat vision to super-power the Phantom Zone projector. Then Shay Veritas will use the projector to shunt Earth and Brainiac's ship into the Zone. While there, in stasis, everyone will be safe and stable while the heroes figure things out.

Now this is a crazy plan. I guess desperate times call for desperate measures.

Of course Brainiac isn't going to just let that happen. He destroys the projector stopping the transition.

Somehow a side effect of this attack on the Fortress is that the mother ship starts to fall onto Earth. I don't know why this happens. I don't know how a ship that looks to be 5 times the size of Earth can fall onto it.

And I don't know how Superman and Martian Manhunter can somehow hold it up so it doesn't crash into Earth. Just how strong are they???

Again, much like the past issues, so much happens so fast that I really have to just roll with it. Earth comatose, ghost warriors, phantom zone gambit, falling ships ... that's a lot of stuff. It is the opposite of decompression. It is compressing too much into this.

And then, to make my head spin even more, Pak introduces 2 more elements into this story. With the Fortress crumbling, Non and Mongul escape the Phantom Zone.

Whew ...

I don't like issues where nothing happens. But this whole Doomed arc suddenly feels like there is just too much happening and I can't understand why things are happening. Or why characters are acting like they are. Or what is a real threat and what isn't.

And I think we have 4 more issues!

Love the art. Like Lois being herself (although hope she loses her powers). But other than that, I feel like too much is being thrown at me.

Overall grade: C

Review: Superman/Wonder Woman Annual #1

Superman/Wonder Woman Annual #1 came out yesterday, chapter 3 of the Superdoom portion of Superman:Doomed. It was also one of three parts of the Superman:Doomed storyline that was released yesterday, a glut of this story. And, unfortunately, I think it was too much all at once.

I have been sort of teetering about this whole story arc recently. While there have been some interesting scenes and small moments of characterization that have shined, over all it just hasn't grabbed me. Now it is true that I don't particularly like the idea of Superman as Doomsday, as a feared being, as a monster. I don't know if he has been established enough in the New 52 as a pure hero where such a devolution would have a strong impact. But more importantly, I think the story has become too big, with a lot of moving parts, all that need to be accounted for. As a result, sometimes I have to make a leap of faith in understanding what is happening. I just don't know if I 100% understand exactly what is happening right now. And that is never good.

Now this book and Action Comics Annual #3, in theory take place simultaneously, which is an interesting way to try to market the books. It also means something big happens at the end of this book that doesn't make sense until I read the Action book.

Lastly, I actually like most of the artists listed on this book. And there are a lot of them - Tony Daniel, Ed Benes, Cliff Richards, Pascal Alixe, and Jack Herbert. But there are so many that I think it sort of was distracting. It is a stunning cover by Tony Daniel. I think it is a shame he is heading to Deathstroke.

The book opens up with a recap page of the electronic version of the Daily Planet. I do like that there are more '404' errors on the page, maybe showing that Brainiac is coming nearer?

But this paragraph puzzled me. I wondered why Smallville has become comatose, why it was targeted. Now this paragraph says Superman has 'centered his activities' there.

Has he? When in the New 52 did Superman establish himself in Smallville?

Last issue ended with the Cyborg Superman leading a fleet of Brainiac ships to Earth. I thought this might be an introduction of the Cyborg as a Superman rogue. But turns out, this was something of a feint.

Superman rips off the Cyborg Superman's arm while the fleet flies by. The Cyborg says he was there to simply delay Superdoom from trashing the fleet before it made it to Earth. Superman leaves him and tails the ships.

We see the Cyborg Superman again ...

I wonder just what is going to become of this Zor-El Cyborg. He is a slave of Brainiac. He is Supergirl's dad. Can he ever become someone I am interested in?

Part of the moving parts is Steel and Lana, in deep space, tracking the Smallville brain signal but now turned around and streaking back to Earth.

I don't mind Lana being feisty and strong and part of Superman's life. But I don't necessarily need her to be pumped up too much. Here she notices that Brainiac's ships are landing in a specific pattern, most likely to boost the coma-signal to encompass the whole planet. Steel patches her through to the gathered resistance (Wonder Woman, Batman, Cyborg, Harrow, Ghost Soldier, Shay Veritas, and Luthor).

So one of the most talented electrical engineers can recognize and intergalactic despots fleet placement? Maybe too much?

Regardless, 36% of the pods need to be destroyed to snuff out the plot.

Throughout Doomed we have had these internal monologues between Clark and Doomsday. Here is one moment of good characterization. Clark knows that he can destroy the Brainiac probes but to do so means entering the K-cloud surrounding Earth and therefore losing control. The Doomsday virus would take over.

The Doomsday persona actually wants to go to Earth knowing that he will win. I don't know if it is flattery or a sarcastic jibe, but I like how he tells Clark that Pa Kent would be proud of him.

The fact that the internal monologue is Clark and not Superman, the fact that Jonathan Kent is an important part of him ... these are important parts of a Superman I want to read.

Clark wins out and Superdoom flies to Earth.

Meanwhile, Earth's heroes are swarming to destroy the probes as well. Humanity's fighting nature is enough to impress the Cyborg.

While not strictly cheesecake, Diana is nearly falling out of her top this whole issue.

But the coma-pods also seem to be a Brainiac feint. Or maybe he has a plan B?

Because while the probes are being knocked out, the Cyborg is constructing some kind of Star-gate near Earth.

Steel feels he has no choice but to try to stop the Cyborg even though he is hopelessly overpowered.

I am beginning to think that John Henry Irons is starting to get some feelings for Lana. While I doubt he is about to say 'I love you' (he just met her), he might be saying that he cares or would like to know her better if they survive. We'll see if I'm right.

Superdoom and the heroes on Earth start to make some headway against the probes, but Superdoom does indeed gain the upper psychological hand. He is about to wade into a small town in Romania, killing the inhabitants with his killing field.

There isn't anyone who can stand up to him except Wonder Woman in her God-mode.

Didn't we already see a scene like this in this arc. When I feel like we are retreading things within an arc, it might mean it is too long.

Wonder Woman fighting Superman. The internal monologues where Clark says he will prevail. Superdoom reverting from full Doomsday to completely normal to just a couple of horns. It seems like we are walking in place sometimes.

Steel does indeed get thrashed by Cyborg Superman such that Lana has to fly into the fray, firing phasers at Cyborg.

The Cyborg is pretty much unscathed by simple lasers. He rips the ship apart. Luckily Steel can fly to the rescue and spread his skin over Lana to rescue her. I do sense some romance here.

But the coma-nodes begin to self-destruct? It is odd. And it also seems like a forced plot point that in the end doesn't matter. Sort of a maguffin.

That's because the Brainiac mother ship, which is bigger than Earth (!!!), arrives through the stargate.

The end of the book has the Kryptonite in the air suddenly disappear (we need to read the Action Annual to see why). As a result Clark can overcome the Doomsday persona. But on one page an artist has him being mini-horned. And this artist has him being completely normal and not shedding the Doomsday death field at all.

I just can't wrap my head around Doomsday virus and what it is doing. The complete mutation and significant death field to completely normal switcheroo seems to be almost variable. If, this many chapters in, I don't have any idea about the threat of this infection or cannot anticipate how it can effect Superman, I feel frustrated.

Add to that the feints of what is a threat and what isn't and I am starting to feel a little bored, despite all the action. It makes me wish that this story was ending sooner than it is.

And there were 2 more chapters released yesterday.

Overall grade: C

Tony Bedard Says All the Right Things on CBR

With Red Daughter hours away from being behind us, I was hoping that DC would plug the Supergirl book again, now with her back in the classic S-shield costume and back on the right track.

And lo and behold, there is publicity! There is an interview with Tony Bedard over on CBR. And Bedard definitely says a lot of good things to say. Whether it is reflecting on Red Daughter, hinting about the future, or talking about Supergirl in general, Bedard made me feel some optimism.

As always, I will recommend reading the interview in its entirety. But here are the questions and answers that grabbed me ... and my usual commentary.

CBR News: Kara is currently a Red Lantern, and over these past issues we've seen her fit in with the group, act compassionately and, ironically, keep her temper better as a Red than she did as a lost Kryptonian. Do you think being in the Red Lanterns is good for Kara? Would removing her from that team be a detriment to her?

Tony Bedard: The biggest surprise for me about the "Red Daughter of Krypton" storyline has been that Kara has had more fun and upbeat moments as a Red Lantern than as a misfit alien on planet Earth! A lot of the credit goes to Charles Soule's truly entertaining run on "Red Lanterns." He's tapped that book's potential in a way I never anticipated, making it a thoroughly fun read. And having Kara as part of that group gave us a chance to see her through fresh eyes. More important for her, she went from being an outcast to belonging on a tight-knit team, and I think it did her some good. But, long term? I don't think Kara should be defined by Rage. She's better than that.

Bang! Just like that, in the first round, we get all sorts of great stuff!

First off, nice acknowledgment by Bedard about how great Kara was in Red Lanterns. As bizarre as it sounds, it's true. Kara really has sounded her best in Charles Soule's Red Lanterns. She has been heroic, friendly, and reflective on a what a life of rage would be like. I still can't believe I am writing that!

But the best line is the last. Kara is too good to be a rage-driven red. "She's better than that!" I think he definitely showed that in Supergirl #33.

CBR:Along with Kara you've gotten to write many of the other Red Lanterns -- are there any Reds that stick out to you as the most fun to write or to have Kara interact with?
TB: I think that Zilius Zox and Skallox are my favorite duo on the Red Lanterns. The way they play off each other in their own book is terrific, both for action and for laughs. Having them react to Kara was great fun, and those scenes just wrote themselves. It was also fun to write Kara with Bleez, since in a way she represents a cautionary tale for Kara. Giving herself over to Rage completely would make Kara just like Bleez in the worst way.
The scenes with Kara and Guy Gardner were another thing entirely, since Guy is the one Red Lantern who knows what Kara should be -- a positive, inspiring hero like her cousin Superman. Gotta say, though, that writing Atrocitus and Dex-Starr was a unique pleasure. They are perhaps the greatest odd couple in the DCU right now. Once again, hats off to Charles Soule for leading the way on reinventing the Red Lanterns.

I loved how great the scenes with Bleez were in Red Daughter. It is interesting to note how in Red Daughter, Bleez seems almost sympathetic. She bears her rage like a weight on her soul. She doesn't embrace it. And that painful existence shouldn't be what Kara wants.

And imagine Guy Gardner, of all people, recognizing that Kara should be positive and inspiring like Superman. I mean ... in the New 52, even Superman didn't realize that!

CBR: While we're heading to the conclusion of "Red Daughter Of Krypton," Supergirl is also involved in the "Superman: Doomed" crossover as well as appearing in the "Red Lanterns" and "Justice League United" ongoings. As the writer of her solo title, how do you handle the various timelines and stories she's appearing in? Is everything happening to her concurrently, and will she continue to tie into so many different books after September?
TB: I think right now she's having a spike in appearances across the DC Universe, which will soon settle down, but I think it's great for Supergirl that she'll continue having a presence in "Justice League United." I'm looking forward to seeing how Jeff Lemire handles her. We all try to coordinate as much as possible, but we also leave a lot of latitude for everyone to tell their own story. Consequently, events in "Supergirl" may not hit the stands in perfect lockstep with those in "Red Lanterns" or "Justice League United," but at the end of the day, I think it all adds up to one big, coherent saga.

I remember when Supergirl starred in her own book by Sterling Gates and in Justice League of America by James Robinson. In Gates' book, she was suffering with survivor's guilt from New Krypton and was in a morose state, giving up her life as Supergirl.

In Justice League, she responded differently, becoming Dark Supergirl and wallowing in a little bit of darkness that turned out to be a defense mechanism.

Those stories happened simultaneously. But the tone of the character, the overall feeling of her, was congruent enough that I thought it was fine. I am hoping that Lemire and Bedard talk enough to each other to bring some degree of similarity without necessarily being carbon copies.

It certainly isn't happening in Doomed.

CBR: Looking ahead to September, what can you tell us about your "Supergirl: Futures End" story? Does it have any ties to what's happening in the comic now?
TB: It's a pretty major moment as we'll be seeing a reunion for Kara and her father Zor-El, currently known as Cyborg Superman. It also ties into some Grant Morrison issues of Action Comics, but it's a story that pretty much stands on its own.

A Morrison tie-in!!

I am so excited.

That said, I hate Zor-El as the Cyborg Superman.

CBR: Is the issue entirely set five years from the DC present, or will we see some of contemporary Kara?
TB: It's all five years from now, and Kara will have undergone some very dramatic changes. We'll also learn that she had a major romantic interest who will play a big part in her Futures End issue. You can try to guess who, but you won't get it right, I guarantee you.

I'm guessing right now. The Captain Comet we saw in Morrison's Action Comics.

CBR:With the end of "Doomed" and "Red Daughter," where does Kara go from here? Will events in "Supergirl: Futures End" or her involvement in "Justice League Unlimited" impact what happens in your book beyond September?
TB: No, I think Supergirl has had more than her share of crossover action recently. It might be time to let her book settle into a new groove before we link up with another series or event again.
Instead, I think perhaps a little romance needs to come into her life, don't you? The poor girl can't catch a break!

Remember when New Krypton took over the super-books and it took a while for Sterling Gates to get some momentum on the solo book. I agree with Bedard here. This book needs some time to breathe on its own with the 'new' Kara. No H'El on Earth. No Krypton Returns. No Doomed. Nothing ...

Well ... except a crossover with the new Batgirl.

Anyways, there is a lot to cheer for here. Make sure to read the whole thing!

Review: Superman/Wonder Woman #10

I have waxed and waned on my enjoyment with the Superman:Doomed storyline.

From a story point of view, the good has included Clark struggling internally with the Doomsday persona crawling around inside him as well as the inspiration of Superman making heroes rally to help by asking 'what would Superman do'. From an art point of view, I have continued to be blown away by the work of Aaron Kuder and Tony Daniel.

The bad has included completely inconsistent characterization of Supergirl, some dangling plot lines which have gone weeks without being addressed (Dr. Xa-Du hasn't been seen in 4 issues), and while not started in this arc, the shabby treatment of Lois Lane.

Unfortunately, Superman/Wonder Woman #10 seems to fall more into the latter than the former. Writer Charles Soule, who has shined in Red Lanterns and She-Hulk, continues to miss on this book with me. Part of that may be that I still don't have a great grasp or understanding of this relationship. It still doesn't seem right to me and the stories of this romance haven't persuaded me otherwise.

And while I like the art of both Paolo Siquiera and Pascal Alixe, I missed Tony Daniel on this book. We have heard that Daniel is moving on to a new Deathstroke book. I will miss him on this book.

Last issue ended with a great cliffhanger, the Cyborg Superman leading Brainiac squidies to Earth. Between the two is Lana and Steel in their spaceship. Meanwhile, Superman gave in to the Doomsday darkness as he battled Halak.

With their ship in danger, with the squidies battering them, Lana calls out to Superman. And luckily, Superdoom hears them and arrives. He saves the ship by ripping apart the Brainiac swarm.

Now this should be a great moment, Superman saving his friends from a cold death in space. But then Steel says that Superdoom may be just what they need, God help them.

I think it is a sad comic world where Superman's friends think they need him to be a monster to stop a threat like Brainiac. They don't trust Superman to succeed as a person? As a hero? As someone with ethics?

Yes, Brainiac and the Cyborg are huge threats. Isn't that what Superman is used to fighting?

For some reason, that one line, Steel glad that Superman is a monster, really did not sit well with me.

Meanwhile, poor poor Lois.

With Metropolis in quarantine, its citizens comatose, she wanders into the town and embraces her Brainiac possession.

Okay, it is a nice near splash page.

But do I really need Lois as a villain. Let alone as a simmering villain for a year?

Will we ever get an explanation why she seems to thrive with this possession while 'The Twenty' all mutated into monsters and died?

Will we ever get an explanation why Parasite drained her memory of Superman's secret identity but not much else?

It leads to a conversation and confrontation with Wonder Woman who apparently promised to watch Metropolis in Superman's place. Diana recognizes Lois and so approaches initially as a friend.

Okay, at the very least, Soule is planting the seeds that Lois is not herself. She may or may not be aware of all the things she is doing. She later says she is like a reporter in her own body, observing what she is doing without actually doing it. I assume that when she eventually gets cured of this affliction that she will conveniently forget everything she's done.

Lois/Brainiac seems pretty immature in talking about relationships, reducing men and women to caricatures. The man makes a mess, the woman cleans up.

Last issue, I had a bit of a complaint in wondering why Steel would bring a civilian like Lana Lang along on a dangerous space mission. At least we get an explanation here. It was Lana who discovered the brain signal from Smallville into space. She has the most expertise in defining the problem right now.

Steel, while keeping his distance from Superman's death field, Steel tells about the threat to Earth. Hearing his home is in danger, Superman flies off before Steel can dissuade him.

Hmmm ... will we ever get an explanation why Smallville was chosen? Does Brainiac know Superman's secret identity? I suppose if Lois/Brainiac knew that at some point, he probable does.

With the niceties over, Lois decides it is time for battle and psionically attacks Wonder Woman by showing her the painful parts of Diana's recent past. Most of these are scenes from the main Wonder Woman book.

Very nice art here worth showcasing.

But then things get a little silly.

Lois uses her powers to somehow resurrect John Corben as Metallo. She creates a body and psionically puts his persona into it. He then attacks Diana.

But the words Lois says here is crazy. She calls John Corben her man? Her soldier boy? She talks about how Brainiac took him from her?

Umm ... I am pretty sure she rebuked him in the past. She wouldn't describe him in such loving terms.

It is, again, some wonky characterization.

If there is a glimmer of Lois, she wouldn't talk about Corben or Superman or relationships this way.
If she is completely possessed by Brainiac, would Brainiac resort to this sort of 'my boyfriend is better than your boyfriend' sort of yapping?

Of course, she is controlled by Brainiac so I suppose all of this can be rationalized away as madness. But it there on the page. And it is disheartening for both characters.

At least we get some progression of the main Doomed storyline. With the Cyborg speeding to Earth we get an important little nugget of information.

The Doomsday Gambit was a engineered by Brainiac and Dr. Xa-Du. So maybe Xa-Du isn't going to help things. Of course, we haven't seen him in several issues so I don't even know where he is.

But it hasn't worked completely well. Superman is still a bit in control and flying to intercept this Brainiac fleet.

I don't know if Brainiac, who wants to collect information and life and store it would think putting out a death-generating monster on a planet he hopes to gather from would be the best idea.

While Diana defeats Lois/Brainiac from creating a device to ramp up the coma-field/Brainiac signal, Lois continues to talk about her love of Corben. Yeesh.

In orbit, Superman meets the Cyborg Superman for the first time.

I like how the Cyborg rightfully says that Superman is more polluted and less worthy of the S-shield than he is.

It is clear, to defeat this threat Superman will have to completely let go and let Doomsday take over.

But is that true? Is that best? If he lets Doomsday take over, won't he be a death-generating uncontrollable monster plodding around Earth? Wouldn't that save Earth only to then have him kill it? Can't he remain partially in control and mobilize the super-human community to help him ... sorta like what we saw way back in Panic in the Sky?

I don't know. The opening chapters of this Superman:Doomed story seemed like it had more potential than this. There is so many plot and character cracks that are making this less enjoyable for me. And the treatment of Lois still irks me.

How many more months do we have of this?

Overall grade: C