Monday, August 18, 2008

November Solicitations - Time To Give Thanks


Some early November solicitations have been released and it looks like it will be a good month for Supergirl fans.

First off, we knew about Supergirl #35, part of the New Krypton storyline and whose cover is seen above.

But we also get this description of Final Crisis #6 (cover below).


FINAL CRISIS #6
Written by Grant MorrisonArt and covers by J.G. Jones and Carlos Pacheco & Jesus Merino

As the entire world turns against them, the last of Earth's Super Heroes must face the unstoppable power of the Gods of Apokolips for the final time. Supergirl vs. Mary Marvel! Superman vs. Darkseid! The fate of the Flash! And the incredible return of the New Gods! The End of Days has come and the ultimate war between good and evil will at last be decided on the battlefield of a broken world!And as the skies bleed, as the walls between universes crumble and fall, the ultimate threat to life makes its presence felt as an evil beyond imagining arrives to claim its prize. Mandrakk the Dark Monitor is coming and the DC Multiverse will never be the same again!

Looks like we finally get the see the Supergirl/Mary Marvel throwdown. Given the timing of the fight, my guess is Kara comes out victorious. I am giddy with anticipation.

And then this surprise!


SUPERMAN/SUPERGIRL: MAELSTROM #1-2
Written by Jimmy Palmiotti & Justin GrayArt and cover by Phil Noto

A vicious Apokolptian villain known as Maelstrom has arrived on Earth to kill Superman so that she might become The Bride of Darkseid! Superman and Supergirl join forces to battle the villain but at what cost to Metropolis? From Earth to Apokolips and beyond, Superman and Supergirl face unexpected challenges in this action-packed tale examining what it means to be a hero.

Both issues are shipping in one month. Nice!

But, there is good and bad here.

The good is the art of Phil Noto who I absolutely adore. Noto has a great unique style. His painted covers are wonderful and often evoke a retro advertisement feel. Here is one of many great Birds of Prey covers of his.


While I have posted it before, here is the spectacular Supergirl commission he did for me in Baltimore last year. Well worth a second post.


The bad news it is written by Jimmy Palmiotti. Now I will be honest, I have enjoyed Palmiotti's work in the past, most recently on Jonah Hex. But he also was responsible for this, perhaps the worst characterization (and therefore the worst issue) of Supergirl ever.

I can only hope that Palmiotti doesn't write Supergirl as a superficial, uninterested, Rave girl. I can only hope. I also wonder if I need another Darkseid story smack dab in the middle of Final Crisis.
Still, overall November looks like another great month to be a Supergirl fan.

17 comments:

  1. november will be good fun. can this story start already???
    i'm looking forward to the mary marvel/supergirl fight. i do wish they hadn't made the changes they have to mary marvel, but what can we do...
    and, yes, maelstrom is a big surprise. i'd not heard anything at all about it. and, yay for phil noto. i, too, enjoy his art. i look forward to this. i have enjoyed palmiotti and gray's stories, though. i think the only story of theirs that i've missed out on, since they moved to dc, has been their 'monolith' (??) series. but, i do intend to get it, someday... being a one-shot creative team, i didn't pay too much notice to supergirl 12. it simply seemed like an advertisement for their upcoming 'terra' series. that's taken long enough to get here...

    big yays for alex ross' 'new krypton' covers...

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  2. being a one-shot creative team, i didn't pay too much notice to supergirl 12. it simply seemed like an advertisement for their upcoming 'terra' series. that's taken long enough to get here...

    Thanks for the post.

    Maybe I should take your approach and just try to forget about this issue, or look at it as a Terra commercial.

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  3. #12 is a breath of fresh air compared to what follows it (the "Joe Kelly is a sick f&@#" arc). Yeah, Kara is sort of annoying, but the story is mostly light and fluffy, and Amanda Connor's art is always welcome.

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  4. #12 is a breath of fresh air compared to what follows it (the "Joe Kelly is a sick f&@#" arc).

    Very good point ... as usual.

    Still it is trying to pick the lesser of 2 evils: disinterested party girl or homicidal school shooter.

    Neither of them are good versions of Kara. At least Palmiotti's was over in one issue.

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  5. full solicits have even more kara. Finally a Barbara/kara team up issue in tiny titans. I need more of those two. Maybe thats just my pre crisis love showing but by COIE they were shown to be best friends. I need more of that even if its not canon and really lighthearted.

    As always kara fans should look out for her in action and superman as well. It will be a gloriously expensive supergirl month. the best kind of month there is!

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  6. well, a lot of hate for that supergirl issue...and the funny thing its one of the few things that justin and i have gotten a lot of raves on...so to each their own...but i hope you give the superman /supergirl book a shot and the terra book as well. both artists have done a beautiful job and we are trying our best.


    Jimmy Palmiotti

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  7. full solicits have even more kara. Finally a Barbara/kara team up issue in tiny titans. I need more of those two. Maybe thats just my pre crisis love showing but by COIE they were shown to be best friends. I need more of that even if its not canon and really lighthearted.

    As always kara fans should look out for her in action and superman as well. It will be a gloriously expensive supergirl month. the best kind of month there is!


    Thanks for the comment.

    I will review the entire solicitations soon. The Tiny Titans issue does look very cute. As I have said before, I think 2008 is the Year of Streaky.

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  8. well, a lot of hate for that supergirl issue...and the funny thing its one of the few things that justin and i have gotten a lot of raves on...so to each their own...but i hope you give the superman /supergirl book a shot and the terra book as well. both artists have done a beautiful job and we are trying our best.

    Well, I can't thank you enough for visiting the blog and leaving a post. I am stunned and thrilled.

    As I said, I have really enjoyed your work in the past most recently with both Uncle Sam minis and Jonah Hex.

    Your issue of Supergirl just didn't work for me.

    I will certainly collect Maelstrom. The Hex issues you did with Phil Noto are some of my favorites in that title, so I am expecting great things.

    Thanks again!

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  9. Actually I didn't mind that issue of Supergirl. Disinterested rave girl was a step up ... a biiiiig step up from what we got at that time.

    I too adore Phil Noto's art, even if a lot of his characters look like Courteney Cox.

    Hmmm ... Courteney Cox as Supergirl. Now I'm really looking forward to the issue!!!

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  10. Actually I didn't mind that issue of Supergirl. Disinterested rave girl was a step up ... a biiiiig step up from what we got at that time.

    So everyone keeps reminding me! :-)

    There is no denying that I disliked the Kelly issues too.

    It just seemed weird that Terra, who was making her first appearance ever, was a bigger hero than Supergirl. This in an issue of Supergirl no less.

    Regardless, let's look into the future and not the past.

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  11. all good like i said. Its a funny thing when you work on a series that someone else does regular. and yes, the issue of supergirl was a tease for terra...and it would have worked fine if dc kept in check with what they were suppose to do with terra till the series came out...but alas, things changed.

    good or bad, i am just happy people like yourselves actually read the books and discuss them. for me, i read blogs like this and get a better understanding of what you guys see in the characters and try to apply it.

    for the superman/supergirl mini series, we wanted to show that supergirl had things to learn from superman and put them somewhere where their powers were equal, and they had to use their heads.

    its an idea justin and i had for a while to flush out the character development side of each of them.

    but again, glad you guys are here and keep being vocal!

    jimmy p.

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  12. good or bad, i am just happy people like yourselves actually read the books and discuss them. for me, i read blogs like this and get a better understanding of what you guys see in the characters and try to apply it.

    I started this blog because my friends said I had too much to say about Supergirl and they were sick of listening.

    With the vastness of the blogosphere, I can't believe that it has found a small audience and even reached a professional in the field! Seriously, I am pretty geeked out that you found the blog and commented. So thanks again.

    for the superman/supergirl mini series, we wanted to show that supergirl had things to learn from superman and put them somewhere where their powers were equal, and they had to use their heads.

    You won't hear any complaints from me about this. Kara is still new to Earth and to super-heroing. I am sure that she has a lot to learn from Superman.

    It sounds like a fun read and I am looking forward to seeing some Noto Supergirl.

    Again, thanks for the kind words about the blog and for commenting.

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  13. ACK! *Clutches chest and drops to floor after having seen amount of goodies on offer for Supergirl come Nov as well as seeing Mr. Jimmy Palmiotti HIMSELF having had literally posted here* :P

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  14. ACK! *Clutches chest and drops to floor after having seen amount of goodies on offer for Supergirl come Nov as well as seeing Mr. Jimmy Palmiotti HIMSELF having had literally posted here* :P

    Trust me ... I needed the defibrillator too!

    Cool beyond words.

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  15. Wow a pro on the blog, nice, mega ditto props for our host and Mr. Palmiotti as well.

    I agree with Anj though, SG#12 was freakin' Ibsen compared to the berserkoid work turned in by Joe Kelly. Blase' Raver Kara beats child-killah Kara by a country mile.
    When it comes to Superman and Supergirl there are three points of conflict as I see it:
    1.) There is their weird age gap, once she was oldest now he is senior.
    2.) There is the obvious experience gap leavened by their difffering approaches to the job, Superman IS the job, Kara LOVES the job...big diff in my book.
    3.) There is an intellectual gap between them as KAl El was raised as a human and sees things from that perspective, Kara has the ADVANTAGE of a Kryptonian education and outlook.
    I don't see these conflicts in terms of them arguing or feuding, but they should have different outlooks on the same situation...always.
    I'll certainly give Mister Palmiotti another shot at the Girl of Steel...I wouldn't say that about Joe Kelly or Bob Kanigher for that fact.
    :D

    Okay enough from me.

    John Feer

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  16. Wow a pro on the blog, nice, mega ditto props for our host and Mr. Palmiotti as well.

    Thanks!

    3.) There is an intellectual gap between them as KAl El was raised as a human and sees things from that perspective, Kara has the ADVANTAGE of a Kryptonian education and outlook.

    I think this is the key difference between the two and will most likely be the impetus for conflict between them should it occur. But I agree, it shouldn't spiral into feuding.

    We saw this in her fight with Reactron in her own book were they approached that situation differently.

    Heck, Johns even has her fighting for 'truth, justice, and the Kryptonian way' in her little origin icon.

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  17. I think of it this way: Captain Kirk has a great faith in the power of inituition and "hunches"...his friend Mister Spock is suspicious of such unscientific and illogical notions. Doesn't stop them from working together and being great friends, but is it is source of "conflict" after a fashion.
    So should it be with Kal and Kara her education asymetrically balances his experience.
    :D

    John Feerr

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