Review: Supergirl #16

Supergirl #16 came out this week, the first chapter in the Kingdom of Zod crossover. While I am thrilled that the opening chapter is in the Supergirl book, perhaps bringing more eyes to the title, I have to say this story starts off a bit rushed and confusing. 

I don't know if I quite understand what Zod is trying to accomplish here. I don't know why he isn't impacted by a ton of Green K around him. But that is more a commentary on the overall story. Let's concentrate on this issue. 

Sophie Campbell does a solid job showing how Kara is trying to grow into her role of Heir to the House of El. How Kara is trying to be a leader for the El family in Superman's absence. But it isn't going to be an easy transition so seeing Kara doing her best to keep the team together on a dangerous mission into El Caldero is great characterization for our title hero. This is a Super-event so there are plenty of other characters here but Campbell really has Supergirl in the spotlight.

The art is a mix between Joe Quinones and Paolo Villanelli. The styles are quite different with Quinones being a more smooth style and Villanelli being more thin-lined, angular, and a bit rougher. The result can feel a bit jarring and I don't know if that is the best way to start an event either.

I honestly hope I understand Zod's plan at some point. But I don't yet. On to the issue.

Review: My Adventures With Superman S3 E8 'Vae Victis'

My Adventures With Superman, Season 3, Episode 9, titled 'Vae Victis' came out last weekend and was an incredible penultimate episode leading us into what surely will be a tremendous finale next week. From top to bottom, for me, this has been the best season of the show. It has been the blend of fun, whimsy, emotional growth, and character development that we have seen in the prior seasons. But this season has had more drama, more danger, and more action than the prior. Somehow all of those elements have been perfectly mixed.

Last episode, an unstoppable, ever evolving, Eradicator defeated our heroes and took off into the time stream. A powerless Clark went to the Fortress with Bizarro to try to regain his powers. Things look grim.

And so comes 'Vae Victis' which means "Woe to the Vanquished". What  heavy title.

It clearly can be the title for Lois, Lara, Jonathan, Jimmy, Kara, and even Lex. They have been beaten badly by the Eradicator. They are about to face him again, knowing it wants to conquer them. They all have to handle their own insecurities to be prepared. Those insecurities have been building over the season. It is good to see some of them put behind our heroes as they are about to fight for their lives.

But it really has weight with the Superman half of this book. Superman has been cast into a virtual reality by his Fortress guards (led by a 'docile' Brainiac) and told to repeat Krypton's conquering past as a way to prove he deserves his power. Will Superman vanquish? And why did Brainiac give him this task? We find out in the end in an incredible revelation.

We end on two cliffhangers! Bring on the finale of this wonderful season. On to this episode.

DC Comics Solicitations - October 2026

The October solicits for DC Comics came out recently. Here is a link to see all of them. 
https://aiptcomics.com/2026/07/25/full-october-2026-dc-comics-solicitations/

DC does seem to be firing on all cylinders with a creative explosion that feels similar to the Legends-era explosion that came out of the Crisis on Infinite Earths era. This goes beyond the Absolute universe and includes things like the recent JSA, Firestorm, and even this Supergirl book. But we are seeing it build on itself with a next wave including Doom Patrol, Deadman, The Demon, and Vertigo books. There also feels like a true plan for the main universe building off of KO. A vision for the universe!!!!

Moreover, I feel like there is a reverance to DC's history in these books. Instead of saying 'we need to change', these creators seem to be saying 'we can use the past to innovate and update'.

I mean, the cover for Deadman #5 is a clear homage to a key page in the Alan Moore/Steve Bisette/John Totleben Swamp Thing Annual #2, a huge issue back then and part of a celebrated run. Old timers like me will recognize it immediately. But even more than this homage, the solicit seems to say this issue of Deadman is a sort of riff on that book with Deadman journeying through the DC afterlife. This grabbed me and made me think that maybe I should check this title out, something I wasn't planning on doing. 

But on to the super-books.

SUPERGIRL #18
WRITTEN AND ART BY: SOPHIE CAMPBELL
THE HEIR OF EL! After the battles in Kandor and El Caldero, Supergirl has now achieved a reputation as the Heir of the House of El. Granted access to a Fortress all her own, she and the Super Force are excited to move in and explore their new home base. But for weeks Supergirl's been hearing a mysterious voice calling out to her, and that being is now ready to make itself known.

I have always had a worry that Sophie Campbell was going to make a Supergirl book into a team book. And now the 'Super Force' has made me worry a little more. We are adding more characters. I like the idea of Kara being the Heir to El. I like the idea of a separate Fortress. And as a fan of the PAD Supergirl, I like the return of Matrix (even if it is another new character). I do like the cover mirroring that of Superman #21, a sort of arrival of that Matrix. There is that leaning into history.

Are more worries about this being a team book being felt by others?

On to the rest of the books.

Review: Absolute Superman #22

In what feels like a fast turnaround, Absolute Superman #22 came out this week, a mere 2 weeks after the last issue came out. It also starts a new arc for the book with Superman trying to track down Brainiac and, it seems, running into new villains on the way. 

The last arc with Superman fighting Black Adam alongside Hawkman and Steel was a beautiful brawl spanning the world and the moon. This issue, writer Jason Aaron continues to keep the action at a high level with Superman fighting Metallo, the mutated and tortured Christopher Smith Peacemaker. Indeed, the bulk of the issue are these two going at it, blood-soaked and brutal.

But much like the Black Adam story, throughout the brawl, Superman is hoping to make a connection, the de-escalate, and to help Metallo. I think that this is Absolute Superman's biggest strength. In this dark world where Metallo is a mentally addled young man tortured by Brainiac into being a weapon ... a sort of poster boy for the Absolute universe ... here is Superman trying to lift up, not punch down. 

Juan Ferreyra is back on art and brings it. Yes, the violence is gloriously rendered. But the character design is great too. And there is a page layout in the middle of the book that really reminded me of the power of comics, where words and images can mesh. Ferreyra is the perfect partner for a 1-2 punch art combo with Rafa Sandoval for this book. Sandolval does a great job on the cover with the looming Brainiac staring over the impending battle.

This almost felt like a rest issue rather than an opening chapter and was a bit of an exhale after the intensity of the Adam story. On to the book.

Review: Supergirl Survive #3

Supergirl Survive #3 came out this week and was another interesting chapter in this Elseworlds where Kara Zor-El has survived the nuclear destruction of Krypton and is trying to safely raise her baby cousin Kal-El.

I can't help but feel that writers Ethan Park and Griffin Sheridan got the idea for this issue from the famous Swamp Thing #55 'My Blue Heaven' issue by Alan Moore and Rick Veitch. In that issue, as in this issue, the hero is lost in space, living on a blue world of their own design, trying to forget their emotional trauma, until someone lifts them out of their fugue. In Swamp Thing, it was a flower John Constantine. In this, it is Ms. Mxyzptlk.

But here, Kara is burying her own issues under the surface in hopes of giving Kal a better life. Mxy shows our hero that it isn't sustainable. Is Mxyzptlk a good catalyst for the story? Or the right one? We have to get Kara off this planet for her story to continue and there is no way she would leave on her own without a nudge. But this felt a little out of the blue ... pun intended.

Still, the story is showing how responsible Kara feels towards her legacy and her charge.

Rod Reis continues to impress me with his art on the book. Here he has to bring a sort of painterly approach to things given the sheer amount of blue in the book. 

On to the book.

Review: My Adventures With Superman S3E8 - It's Reigning (Super)Men

My Adventures With Superman Season 3 Episode 8, It's Reigning (Super) Men, came out last weekend and it was superb. It was jaw-dropping. It was gob-smacking. It was insane. It was perfect.

I am running out of superlatives for this show this season, walking a tight rope of silliness, comic homages, character growth, and epic action. How can it be all things and do them all well? How ?!? 

Three weeks ago, we had a brutal action episode, Superman and his allies fighting the Cyborg Superman. The action was huge in scope and destruction. I did not think it could be topped.

This week we have a similar high action episode but this one even bigger in scope and destruction and emotion. Our heroes and some new allies fight an all-powerful Eradicator, a mix of Superman' powers, Lex's evil mind, and (I assume) some Doomsday evolution powers. This Eradicator is like Doomsday in that he is seemingly unstoppable, violent, murderous, and always gaining new abilities. But it is also like Lex, devious in the end. Like episode 5, this is Dragon Ball Z meets Zach Snyder.

And yet, in all this brawling is intense character development. Lois worried about her future as a mother, wondering if she'll be any good at the role. Clark still suffering from his lack of powers and watching his family being injured, obviously pained by his helplessness. The future children of Lois and Clark are cold and focused, lacking any of the love their parents should give them and willing to kill.

The character that steals this episode is Supergirl. I bristled at her last season being a weapon for Brainiac. But her growth this season, loving Earth, loving Superman, realizing she can decide her future has been brilliant. Her fierceness and hope are pure classic Supergirl. And what she does in this episode, stepping up as a hero, defending her family and her future, and sacrificing herself is just perfect. This is Supergirl. 

Enough intro. On to some moments worth savoring.

Review: Batman/Superman World's Finest Annual 2026

Batman/Superman World's Finest Annual 2026 came out last week and was a fun sort of diversion issue. We have seen in this book a World's Finest duo of Supergirl and Robin. We saw Jimmy Olsen and Batgirl. So why not Pa Kent and Alfred.

Writer Mark Russell and artist Clayton Henry handle this main story where Pa and Alfred share their take on being a father to these heroes. In fact, part of this is story is Alfred wondering is he a butler or is he a father figure when he at times he feels like both. But what I like here is how these two have to save the World's Finest heroes. Funny.

Henry has such a polished look. I have enjoyed his stuff whenever he is on the super-books. But here, he sort of ratchets up the emotion and the humor.

There is a back-up story by Mark Waid and Tyrone Finch with art by Pat Boutin. In this short story, Superman is jealous of Batman when Bruce Wayne has to take Lois Lane out on date to keep an eye on her. It is silly, seeing Superman use super-breath to stymie Bruce's efforts to impress Lois at a carnival. And it is amusing to think of Batman as wanting to rile up Superman by play-flirting. The art by Boutin is close enough to Adrian Gutierrez to feel right at home.

Not a bad 5th week book, a summer annual of breezy fun.