Best Of 2017:Top Ten Supergirl Moments in Comics - #5 - #1

First I covered the non-comic Best of 2017 for Supergirl.

Then I covered the Best of 2017 Supergirl Comic Moments, Honorable Mentions and #10-#6.

So there's nothing left but to cover the top 5.

But before I get there, allow me a little space to comment on the main Supergirl title. One thing that I have appreciated from writer Steve Orlando (and now Jody Houser) is how he has really leaned into DC history and all Supergirl incarnations to make this new Rebirth book. So we get Psi from the Bronze age. We get Selena the Sorceress from the movie. We get Jeremiah, Eliza, and the DEO from the show. We get Belinda Zee from Cosmic Adventures. We get a connection to the Legion. We get a friendship with Batgirl. We get Strange Visitor and Our World At War. This is the sort of lush loam that great books grow from. I have loved all this and I have liked that recently we have a more streamlined feel to the book.

Back to the year in review, as I said earlier, this has been a very good year for Supergirl on all fronts. As I reviewed the year, I picked about 50 very good moments which needed to be boiled down to these five. And there is a sort of running theme through most of these top moments. It is about Supergirl being a hero. She's part of a family. She's sort of a kid still. She is ready to jump into battle if she has to. And she is there to protect everyone.

This is another year where the top ten is filled with these moments. And that makes me happy.

And all of these panels made me stop and pause. And when there is a pause moment for a grizzled comic reader like me, it means the creators have succeeded. These are massive moments that deserve accolades.

Here are the Supergirl Top Five Comic Moments of 2017.

Best Of 2017:Top Ten Supergirl Moments in Comics - Honorable Mentions & #10-#6

With the Best of 2017: Non-Comic Stuff behind us, it is time to look at how Supergirl fared on the printed page over the course of the year.

As has been the case, this has turned out to be a very good year for the character of Supergirl as she has appeared in a number of titles and in a number of incarnations. The main Supergirl book made its way through the end of the Cyborg Superman opening arc, into the Phantom Zone with Batgirl to fight a new Psi, and then battling a new Fatal Five. In the end, we were on new grounds with Supergirl out of the DEO, on the run, and trying to get settled in school.

We also had Supergirl Being Super, a sort of Elseworlds look at the struggles of balancing a super-powers and an alien heritage while dealing with high school. It was prestige format with great art by Joelle Jones and pulled all the YA heart strings.

This year wrapped up the first volume of DC Bombshells in a Supergirl-centric arc. Supergirl appeared in Injustice. We saw her play crucial roles in one-shot silliness like a Snickers mini-comic and Bugs Bunny meets the Legion of Super-Heroes. We even got to see the JLA 3001 Kara one last time. And I'm not even mentioning books I have passed on like the digital DC Superhero Girls and Garage Girls. She is a big part of both of those books.

You can imagine with this many credits, it was hard to pick the top ten, so indulge me three honorable mentions.

And so I give you The Best of 2017: The Top Ten Supergirl Moments in Comics, Honorable Mentions and #10-#6.

Best Of 2017: Non-Comic Stuff

2017 was certainly another good year in a string of good years for the character of Supergirl. I am still amazed at how much this character has shone over the last handful of years. I am always reminded that I started this site because I wanted to showcase how great the (then) underappreciated Supergirl was. Now she is everywhere and really trumpeted as a the wonderful character she is.

So over the next three days I'll be reviewing 2017 and Supergirl. And, as usual, I'll devote a little more time to the comic. The schedule will be as follows:

12/27 (today): Best of Supergirl Non-Comic Stuff
12/28: Best of Supergirl Comic Stuff: Honorable mention and moments #10-#6
12/29: Best of Supergirl Comic Stuff: #5-#1

This is my non-comic year in review. As always, I love to hear the things Supergirl fans loved about the year. So feel free to chime in.

On to the best of the year!!!

Review: Super Sons #11

Super Sons #11 came out last week, part two of Super Sons of Tomorrow, a story in which a possible future Tim Drake comes to the past to kill Superboy so some cataclysm will be averted. I wasn't as thrilled with the opening chapter as I hoped to be. This second chapter kicked things up a notch and definitely had a cliffhanger which thrilled me and had me heading to the back issue boxes. That's always a good sign.

Writers Peter Tomasi and Patrick Gleason bring a bit more whimsy to this chapter. There is a lot of fun Titans stuff in the middle which lightened the mood a little. Because the bookend Tim Drake moments are definitely a bit darker. This isn't the Tim I loved reading in Red Robin or even in the post-Rebirth early Detective. This is a driven killer. And that's a bummer.

The art is by Ryan Benjamin, a name I don't know. His art strikes me a little like Jonboy Meyers. That works with these characters, bringing just a hint of anime to the proceedings. And I definitely love this moody Dustin Nguyen cover. That's striking.

But once again, I am left feeling a little wanting. I am hoping the excitement I felt at the cliffhanger means this story is going to kick things up a notch.

On to the book.

Merry Christmas!

Totally chilling out on Christmas Day ... family, good will, and lots and lots of egg nog!

The presents under the tree were well protected by the Super-Cousins!

Hope everyone is having a wonderful Holiday season.

See you here tomorrow with the usual content!

Review: Superman #37 [REVISED]

Superman #37 came out this week, the first part of a crossover arc titled Super Sons of Tomorrow and involving a time displaced Tim Drake trying to stop a future disaster in the present. And while the premise is interesting to me, mostly because of other characters promised to appear later on, I wasn't exactly hooked by this first issue.

That doesn't mean I didn't enjoy it. I did. But I always hope a first chapter is really going to set the table and leave me clamoring for more. And my response here was a bit more tepid.

For one, the first half of the book is really a Batman book. And the book is Superman. I know, this is the first half of the first part of a story that will crossover into multiple titles. And the opening scene is important for the set-up. But still ...

Next, I'm not quite sure about some of the characterization as portrayed in the issue. Is Batman still the paranoid plotter with secret anti-hero plans? Did that change? Is Superman really the sort of person to say he is going to teach a 'lesson in pain' while having angry red eyes?

But lastly, I just read a story in Detective of a time displaced Tim Drake trying to stop a future disaster by manipulating the present. Did the two offices know about the similar plots? At least it is mentioned here.

The art is done by Jorge Jimenez who brings the usual slick style I love. His action sequences flow well. No complaints there.

On to the book.

Review: New Super-Man #18

New Super-Man #18 came out this week, a book with the cover dress of 'End of an Era!' And it sure felt like it. Reading between the lines on Twitter, writer Gene Luen Yang hinted that this was supposed to be the last issue of this book. Next issue it is called New Super-Man and Justice League China, in theory a new book. And this issue also tied up almost all the plotlines which have been bubbling in this book since the beginning. End of an era? Maybe?

The truth is the Batman and Wonder Woman of China have been crucial parts of this book since they were introduced early on. Kenan has been the straw that stirs the drink for sure. But this has read something like a team book. So the title might change but my guess is the feeling of the book won't.

Is it the end of the I Ching/All-Yang storyline? Yes. Is it a pause on the Freedom Fighters and the Ministry of Self-Reliance? Yep. Is it the realization of New Super-Man as a true, fully powered hero? Yep.So perhaps next issue having a 'bold new direction' banner would be appropriate.

Brent Peeples is back on art and continues to grow into the being the main artist. There are a couple of panels here which really grabbed me and I'll make sure I point them out.

I'm just glad I get to read a little bit more. I went into issue #1 of this book figuring I'd give it a shot but already thinking that I would drop it somewhere between #3 and $4. And yet, the book grabbed me. The young bully turned into a hero. His tragic background. The Western hero analogs. The infusion of Asian culture. It all worked, the perfect blend of super-heroics, teen angst, new characters, and philosophy .