Mark Waid On World's Finest Supergirl

I recently reviewed World's Finest #18 on the site. This is a flashback story, looking further back in time than the usual 'recent past' time this book lives in.

Given Superman's dialogue of being the only Kryptonian on Earth, I set this book pretty early, before even Supergirl arrived on the planet.

But then I remembered that in the Silver and Bronze Age, Supergirl was put in an orphanage by Superman. She was even told to hide her powers so she could be exploited as a 'secret weapon'. 

So maybe she is on Earth. It's just she hasn't been revealed yet.

No way to know but to ask Mark Waid himself. And, amazingly, he answered.

Review: Knight Terrors Action Comics #2

Knight Terrors Action Comics #2 came out last week, a split issue telling us two stories. One story is the extended Super-family fighting the Cyborg Superman in a horrific tale of despair and blood. The other is Power Girl fighting her Symbio-ship and herself to escape a sterile environment. 

I'll start off by saying the Super-family story by Phillip Kennedy Johnson, Mico Suayan, and Fico Ossio is incredible. Knight Terrors isn't exactly a must-read event. I don't know if this story will ripple into the main Superman books. But it is a great character piece for Otho and Osul. There is a brutal ending to the Cyborg Superman, showing us his greatest nightmare. It ends with a Wizard of Oz homage. And the art by both artists is just incredible. This is a horror story first and foremost, something I can't say about all the Knight Terrors books. This is terrifying. Fantastic. And the art is the right mix for this story. I'll be gushing throughout.

I'll also add that Johnson reminds us of a couple of things which came out of the Warworld saga which have been pushed a bit to the back regarding the twins. So I just ate this up with a spoon. 

The Power Girl story, by contrast, seems to fall flat. I honestly don't know what writer Leah Williams is doing with 'Paige' anymore. We went through a back-up story in the main Action Comics book where Power Girl seemed to come to terms with who she is. She even changed her name to Paige. She was a troubled, lost soul not the confident Peeg I am used to. But I thought at the end of that story we were in a better place. Instead, this issue plays up Power Girl's self-loathing. A self-loathing Power Girl?? I have never seen that .. ever ... in all her history. Vasco Georgiev's art is subtle and slick. But this seems way wrong.

The Superman Knight Terrors books have been, for the most part, successes in my mind as they have probed into the characters' minds in a way that builds on the main books. The Johnson/Suayan/Ossio story is so spectacular, it elevates this whole issue.

On to the details. 

Review: Dark Knights Of Steel #12

Dark Knights of Steel #12 came out this week, the end to an entertaining Elseworlds maxi-series written by Tom Taylor and drawn for the most part Yasmine Putri. Putri is on art here.

For me, Taylor seems to shine the most on these Elseworld books where he can re-imagine DC characters or nudge them down a path he wants. One of my main issues with his 'in continuity' books is his very heavy-handed agenda driven stories. This book pretty much shied away from that. This was simply 'what would the DCU be like if it was thrown into a Game of Thrones style world'. There are good people and bad people. There are people who are ethically gray. It had character beats, side stories, a main plot, and a lot of action. It worked.

This is issue wraps up the story rather neatly. Taylor has to do a couple of things. Bring together our heroes to brawl with White Martians. Set things up for a sequel since, I think, this has been a successful book. Wrap up the side stories. Set up the next villain. And he does all that. The brawl takes a sort of back seat as the fight ends quickly, using a crutch that DC has been leaning on for 5 years. 

But what I really like is the time that Taylor gives to the characters here. This could be the last time we see these folks. Taylor gives us some great closing moments for all the characters, even the secondary ones. My favorite moment is with a supporting characters. This really felt like a fleshed out world and therefore I will miss it.

Putri work here feels a little bit less polished than her work in the earlier issues. But her work is so strong and powerful that it is still powerful and bold. I hope we see her work in other places. Put her on 4 issue minis or specials. But keep her in the fold.

I'll say it now. If there is a sequel, I'll be on board.

On to the details.

November 2023 DC Comics Solicits

The November DC solicits came out last week. Here is a link to check them out:
https://aiptcomics.com/2023/08/18/november-2023-dc-comics-solicitations/

DC continues to churn through events hoping one will catch fire. From Dark Crisis to Lazarus Planet to Knight Terrors to now ... Beast World? I have become a bit more choosy with which things I buy when it comes these things nowadays. Knight Terrors I only picked up a couple of the minis. This one I think I won't be getting anything outside of the Metropolis special seen below. 

I'd love to hear if this grabs anyone. On to the books.

TITANS: BEAST WORLD TOUR: METROPOLIS #1
Written by NICOLE MAINES, JOSHUA WILLIAMSON, ZIPPORAH SMITH, and DAN JURGENS
Art by MAX RAYNOR, ANTHONY MARQUES, and EDWIN GALMON
Cover by MIKEL JANIN
Variant covers by CLAYTON HENRY and CULLY HAMNER

As the ramifications of the Titans’ battle with Starro reverberate across the globe, Metropolis is hit with an unexpected surge of electricity from…is that—? No. It can’t be. Livewire? BUT SHE’S A—A—okay you’re going to have to read this one to believe it. Meanwhile, Supergirl and Dreamer take on the terror of the Flamebird, Power Girl is no longer, and amid the chaos a threat continues to grow on the horizon. All signs point to a major new shift in the world of Superman in Beast World Tour: Metropolis!

This is the month after the Supergirl Special so I am hoping her being here for this means she doesn't decide to go off-world again. 

Poor Power Girl. She has a big spotlight on her these days but is still transmogrified into a phoenix!

Every month we seem to hear that there is a major shift in the Superman world. Given Jon's appearance on the cover and the complete lack of mention in the solicit, I wonder if something is going to happen to him.

Review: World's Finest #18

Batman/Superman World's Finest #18 came out last week, starting a new arc and focusing on the first meeting of Superman and Batman. This book remains an extremely entertaining read. This new take on the origin of the World's Finest team is a fun new wrinkle to continuity.

Writer Mark Waid has been pulling a sort of Bob Haney Earth-B continuity in this title. He has been writing stories which take place in the 'recent past'. All of his writing has been incredibly fun and just perfect comic book super-heroics. But is it in continuity? I don't know if I can fit a Supergirl who lived in an orphanage and has a red shouldered costume in the current DCU. 

Frankly I don't care. Bring me good stories.

This story is just as fun and just as good. Waid is trying to show how Superman and Batman who became friends. I have read this story many times before. So why not another take? And, given this is their first adventure, we are even further back in the 'recent past' and Waid gives us visual cues and clues to help cement that.  It is Waid's forte to dive deep into the DCU. Throw in the Riddler and a Superman specific villain at the end and it all sings. 

Dan Mora gives us the split cover, linked by the hand shake at the bottom. Travis Moore is on internal art and gives us a solid take on a very very classic World's Finest and their early costumes. There isn't a ton of action here, focusing on the mystery. But it flows well and Moore keeps the action moving smoothly. 

Everyone should be buying this book. On to the details. 

Review: Knight Terrors: Superman #2

Knight Terrors: Superman #2 came out this week and was a fantastic story for fans of  the super-family. In particular, this issue really did a great job showing how close Superman and Supergirl are, at least in writer Joshua Williamson's mind. To see the super-cousins working together, talking to each other like colleagues, and saving the day. There's even some fun Lois moments. And Aquaman and Mera are the real heroes!

As I have said recently, the last year has been wonderful for me as a Supergirl fan. The bad taste that Tom King's Woman of Tomorrow mini-series has sort of been cleansed from my psyche by Joshua Williamson and Phillip Kennedy Johnson. Kara often seems wiser beyond her years, 'the smartest person in the room', and a fierce fighter of injustice. We get a ton of that here, as I'll show. But there is an unfortunate downside to all this upside ... more on that later.

The art by Tom Reilly works well with the story. There is something rough and ready with the art which amps up the nightmarish parts of the story. It has the feel of Chris Samnee, very much a compliment. I love his take on all the Supergirl variant zombies. The cover by Gleb Melnikov works well with the cousins getting ready to throw down.

I don't know if I needed Knight Terrors as an event. It makes little sense overall. But the two Superman mini-series have really utilized this little break to explore the characters and their motivations in a way that can only help the main titles. I enjoyed this a lot, especially as a Supergirl fan. 

On to some details.

Bullet Review: Amazing Spider-Man #306

I have already talked about my fantastic time at Terrificon and the creators I met and interacted with. 

But I didn't mention any of the books I bought. Today I will focus on the main book I bought, Amazing Spider-Man #306.

Now I know what you are thinking, what is a Spider-Man book doing on a Supergirl blog? I should thank Twitter friend @gcmcallis for telling me about this issue. 

Amazing Spider-Man #306 was written by David Michelenie with art by Todd McFarlane right when the artist was making major waves in comics. I won't review the whole issue just the parts that make this worthy of being mentioned here.

We can start with the cover, clearly an homage to Action Comics #1, with McFarlane giving a hat tip to Siegel and Shuster next to his name. Perhaps this alone should have let Superman fans that some cool Superman homages are inside!