Supergirl Best Of 2019: Comic Honorable Mentions

Happy New Year's Eve and welcome to part 2 of my annual Supergirl review. Yesterday I looked at all the non-comic events with Supergirl in 2019. Today I turn my eye towards comics. I'll take a look at comics in general and showcase some Honorable Mentions for the best Supergirl comic moments of 2019. Tomorrow I'll announce my top ten Supergirl moments for the year.

As always, settle in. These end of year posts tend to be long! I have 12 months to cover!

 First off, from a blog point of view, there were two secondary threads which were highlighted this last year on the site.

First off, I ran through the early history of the second incarnation of the Supergirl character in a segment I called Matrix Monday.

I'll say that it was pretty fun to look back at the growth of that Supergirl character over time, from her initial concept to her time as a Luthor lover to ultimately embracing her role as hero. I hope folks like that run.

Less Supergirl-centric but just as fun for me was my coverage of Event Leviathan and my various Leviathan Theories. Turns out I was wrong this time. But breaking down the comic for a variety of clues both overt and subtle was really fun for me and kind of re-energized me.

In fact I was so enmeshed that writer Brian Michael Bendis caught notice. And now I will be an agent of Leviathan in this February's Leviathan Dawn special. So look out for my comic debut!

But enough about the blog! Onto the Honorable Mentions for the best Supergirl Comic moments of 2019.

Supergirl Best Of 2019: Non-Comic Stuff

Hi all!

Hard to believe but I am about to embark on my 11th end of year analysis of all things Supergirl at this site! I have been doing this for some time! As always I can't thank the audience that comes here enough! Without the interaction on the site, this would be a dull business. I have made so many friends here. Thanks again!

In a bit of housekeeping, I'll just say that 2019 has been a bit tumultuous for me personally n case folks didn't notice the blip in social media presence in October and November. But things are looking up. I am in a better place mentally as I transition to a single life. So thanks for sticking with me and for all the well wishes that came my way as I hinted at the upheaval on Twitter and here.

Anyways, we are here to look back at the year for Supergirl and as usual I will start with a look back at the non-comic happenings for our favorite Girl of Steel. Tomorrow I'll give my Honorable Mentions for the 2019 best comic moments. And then on New Year's day I'll post my Top Ten 2019 best comic moments.

Overall, 2019 was another good year for Supergirl and from a non-comic viewpoint, it starts with the show.

In the beginning of 2019, we saw the end of the fourth season of the show. While the season started a bit shakily, it really stuck the landing. By bringing in an incredible Lex Luthor, somehow played to full intensity by Jon Cryer, the whole season ended with a whirlwind of activity and energy.

The slogging plotlines of Agent Liberty and Red Daughter all rolled into each other in great ways. We had wonderful flashback episodes looking into tying the events of the season together coherently. And, of course, the exclamation point was Lena shooting Lex in the chest who then revealed Kara's secret identity.

I mean it, the beginning part of the season four seemed like it was walking through molasses. But the last 5 episode just exploded. So nothing to complain about there.

DC Superhero Girls: The Good, The Bad, & The Bizarre

Life has been a bit busy for me these last few months so some Supergirl stuff has slid by without commentary. One of those has been the Lauren Faust led DC Superhero Girls show. There have been some great episodes with some quality Kara moments that I hope to eventually cover.

We’ll start with the most recent episode “#TheGoodTheBadAndTheBizarre’. Of course, for comic fans the title hints strongly at who the villain of the piece will be.

One thing that I have liked about this version of Supergirl has been her sort of irascible personality, ready with a snarky remark and a left hook at all times. She’s fun and way less saccharine than the last DCSHG Supergirl we had.

I don’t even mind her sort of familial rivalry and semi-distaste for Superman in this universe. Here Clark is played up as being perfect and (perhaps appropriately) narcissistic.

This episode plays up both of those aspects of her character.

But we start on a good note.

After months of feeling overlooked and being overlooked, Supergirl is now the darling of Metropolis, considered a hero worthy of bus tours and endorsements. And after feeling bad about herself or ignored for so long, Kara wallows in it a bit.

So you know it wasn’t going to last.

Bullet Review: Doomsday Clock #12

It took a long time ... a very long time ... but Doomsday Clock finally finished this month.

My hope is to reread it in its entirety, in one sitting, at some point soon.

In the end, it is a Superman story.

It is a love letter to DC Continuity.

In many ways, it is a love letter to Watchmen too.

And it goes a long way to say a simple message, Superman is the heart of the DC Universe and he always will be.

The Watchmen shouldn't be the template upon which the DCU is built.

It is Superman and all he represents.

Now did we need this heavy, sometimes clunky, perpetually delayed book to get us there? To tell us what many of us already know? Will it matter to the powers that be as we continue to be mired in the Year of the Villain, a time when this message sat next to Batman/Superman #5, an issue where six of the best heroes are corrupted?

I can only hope.

Because every Superman fan should read this story or at the very least this issue. I'll let others pore over the panels and the plots in detail.

Moreover, every Supergirl fan should also read this issue as well.

Merry Christmas!

For those who celebrate, Merry Christmas!!!

Hope everyone has a happy holiday season!

I'll be back tomorrow with a Supergirl Christmas gift, tucked away in a recent comic!

Review: Legion oif Super-Heroes #2

It is a conundrum that DC has been dealing with for the last 2 decades ... maybe 3.

How do you update a continuity heavy IP like the Legion that will both bring in new readers and satisfy the old guard? The threeboot? The retroboot? None have been able to figure it out.

Somehow you have to acknowledge all that has come before and not ignore the old stories. Because the Legion fandom (what exists of it) is very particular about continuity. And yet, you also can't drown the new readers in a dense pre-existing world that probably no longer exists.

Now I'm not ready to anoint the Brian Michael Bendis/Ryan Sook take on the team as that bridge but Legion of Super-Heroes #2 was another good step in that direction. And our point of view character is Jon Kent. I mean 'Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes' has a nice historic ring to it. The Legionnaires we have met all seem to be close enough to their historical counterparts to have a ring of truth. But with a true Legion of characters, we have barely scratched the surface.

So here we are with a team of 'the best of the best', acting as an independent peace keeping force bound by their own code, recognized by the UP but perhaps in a grudging way, trying to do what's right. But they're also kids figuring stuff out. I like it.

Add to that the stunning art by Ryan Sook and so far I have little to complain about.

So let's look at this issue.

Review: Batman/Superman #5

Batman/Superman #5 came out this week, continuing the semi-ridiculous story of 'The Infected', the secret six heroes who have come under the influence of the Batman Who Laughs. I have been following along to keep track of Supergirl here. But this isn't exactly a storyline that has grabbed me.

I have never been a fan of this Batman Who Laughs character, the embodiment of the 'grim and gritty' nature of comics as well as another interpretation of the infallible, unstoppable Batman. I have never been a fan of corrupting good characters, especially when the darkened characters are the brightest. So seeing Supergirl and Captain Marvel made evil (again) doesn't make me happy. And poor Donna Troy; she can't catch a break.

Add to that this storyline of the Batman Who Laughs (heretofore denoted as BWL) bringing his JLA satellite to Earth-0 to make the whole world dark is pretty silly.

But there are also a couple of moments here where writer Joshua Williamson leans so deep into the these things I don't like that I just shook my head.

The one high point of this series is the art by David Marquez. There is a smoothness to his art, a clean kinetic style that elevates the book. Heck, even his Insane Clown Posse Kara looks as good as she can.

Let's take a look at some of the particulars.