Review: Wednesday Comics #12

Wednesday Comics #12 was released yesterday, the last issue of the ground-breaking retro series of serial strips. It was sort of a bittersweet release for me. I had become quite accustomed to flipping through the paper each Wednesday night, catching up with the characters. I definitely had a nice feel of nostalgia for me.

On a completely different level, the format was conducive to some good Daddy moments. I also read the Supergirl strip to the supergirls at home each week as well. When I would come home with my bag of comics they always asked if Wednesday Comics had come out. And while not every strip would be suitable for them, they all read most of Superman and the eldest read Green Lantern with me as well.

I was very pleasantly surprised to see Supergirl as the featured strip this week. The super-cousins acted as bookend stars on the cover, Superman being showcased week one. Entering this week, the four strips that had not been in the 'big circle' were Supergirl, Teen Titans, Demon/Catwoman, and Batman. I would have bet that Batman would have been in the the big star here.

That said, the Supergirl strip has been routinely listed as one of the best strips in the anthology over the internet so maybe Kara earned first billing.

Unlike prior weeks, the opening panel featured the super-pets rather than Supergirl. This week's emotional theme seems to be 'satisfied' and both Krypton and Streaky appear quite pleased with themselves. I think it is appropriate that the pets be seen here. In some ways, they are the stars of the strip.

I also like the Kryptonian pet tags seen here. Translated they say:

My name is {Krypto or Streaky}. If found, please contact Kal-El or Kara Zor-El, Planet Earth.

Last strip ended with Supergirl being pummeled by the aliens weaponry while the pets flew in for the rescue. This week we see Supergirl slip into unconsciousness as Krypto and Streaky disarm the aliens.

When Supergirl comes to she sees the aliens talking to the super-pets. Krypto and Streaky have somehow explained to the aliens how their dumping of their waste into the sun is effecting Earth. Aware of the harm they are doing, the aliens agree to move elsewhere.

In fact, the waste the aliens are unloading are actually the weapons from their world now that the races on their planet have finally achieved peace.

I love the upper panel with three small inset panels of Supergirl. One thing I have loved about this strip is the expressive art of Amanda Conner. I love how Kara runs the gamut so quickly there.

Once Supergirl, Krypto, and Streaky fly off, the aliens take off their helmets and talk about their interaction with the Earth-based heroes. The 'warring races' on their planet were cats and dogs. They assume that Streaky is Queen of Earth and Krypto is the King of Earth. Even better, they think Supergirl is their pet.

That is just a nice cute twist to this adorable comic.

The strip ends with what may be my favorite panel of the serial. After their zany adventure, Supergirl and the pets head home for a quiet evening of television. Looks like Supergirl had some ice cream, Streaky had some tuna, and Krypto enjoyed a steak. I love how they are all curled up into each other. This was the perfect ending.

What can I say? From the beginning Jimmy Palmiotti and Amanda Conner said they wanted to do a cute, adorable, funny strip and they succeeded. I also think that, unlike some of the other strips, each week's Supergirl page had a it's own mini-story, advanced the overall story, and ended with a bit of a cliffhanger. That is what a weekly comic should do.

And I would feel remiss if I didn't mention the excellent coloring on the strip by Paul Mounts. Whether it be the space backgrounds or the multicolored sky at sunset with Aquaman or even the subtle color changes on the couch seen above giving it texture and depth, this was a superior job on coloring.

I really have loved this strip and have just become enamored with Conner's interpretation of Supergirl. Kudos to the whole creative team!

As for the rest of Wednesday Comics, the strip all had to come to an end and many of them included one last spectacular panel to take advantage of this unique format.

All along Kamandi has been one of my favorite strips. This ending huge panel is phenomenal. Its composition really evokes a feeling of isolation with Kamandi. He is the last boy on Earth ... or is he? I went into Wednesday Comics with no interest in Kamandi at all. Gibbons and Sook put together a great story here and got me wrapped up in the character. That is a sign of good art.

And Strange Adventures and Green Lantern were just as good, producing a great strip week in, week out.

Deadman also had a huge panel worth showing as well. I really liked this one where Deadman has to face the facts that he screwed up when he killed Kalak, the demonic jailer of the female spirits.

As I have said before, some strips really rallied and were overall very good stories. In particular, Hawkman, Batman, Superman, and the Flash all really improved over the weeks and formed the middle tier of stories, the silver medalists of Wednesday Comics.

Metamorpho, Wonder Woman, Teen Titans, Metal Men, and Sgt Rock never really grabbed me at any point although each had nice moments.

I think that DC really had a winner here and I hope that they consider another volume of Wednesday Comics. Assuming the creative teams were of equal artistic weight, I would definitely be there.

Overall grade (Supergirl): A
Overall grade (Wednesday Comics): B+