The Supergirl: Cosmic Adventures in the Eighth Grade trade paperback came out last week, just in time for the holidays. I decided to treat myself to a copy as a Christmas gift.
I also bought a copy to give to the eldest Supergirl at home for her birthday which is in a couple of weeks. This will be her first trade paperback. It makes me well a little bit just thinking about it.
And I don't think I need to go into details about how much I enjoyed this miniseries when it came out. It really was just a wonderful comic and so I was very glad to see that DC recognized that and collected it in the trade format. Kudos to Landry Walker and Eric Jones for putting out such a great book.
One thing I always look for in collections like this are any extras that are added to create a better product. For me, I don't think that trades should necessarily just be a collection of the individual issues. There should be more. I don't care if that's a foreword or a cover gallery that includes variant covers or even the raw script that is turned into the comic itself. So I was very happy to see some early design images tacked onto the end of this collection.
Many of these have been posted on Landry Walker’s blog but not everybody may have seen them. In particular, as a huge Belinda Zee fan, I enjoyed seeing early renditions of her. And Walker's comments add some depth to the design decisions.
And then there is this version of Supergirl which was not used for the book. This Supergirl looks like she is more in the second or third grade. That would've been a very different book.
There is also an early version of the cover for Cosmic Adventures #6. I certainly think that this image of Kara flying over a multiverse is a great image. I do think that Comet’s face is a little bit too happy for the seriousness of this mission and therefore think that the cover that was ultimately chosen for the issue (where Comet has a sterner look) was the right one.
I will continue to hope that DC will recognize the winner that they had in this book and get Walker and Jones to come on board for a sequel.
Thanks for reviewing the sweet trade, Anj! :)
ReplyDeleteMan I swear that that Japanese anime style looking Supergirl (the first Supergirl concept design) seems like it would fit really nice on that Post-COIE era anime Superman toy Toy man themed cover that was done by Edd McGuinness even! :)
Anj wrote:
ReplyDelete"One thing I always look for in collections like this are any extras that are added to create a better product. For me, I don't think that trades should necessarily just be a collection of the individual issues. There should be more. I don't care if that's a foreword or a cover gallery that includes variant covers or even the raw script that is turned into the comic itself. So I was very happy to see some early design images tacked onto the end of this collection."
I couldn't agree more. Trades are like DVD sets, they should include bonus features instead of simple compilations. I am relieved that Eric Jones' sketches were included in this trade, and Landry Walker's comments are icing on the cake.
Can't wait for my two copies to arrive in the mail. I need to find out which conventions Landry and Eric will appear this year so they can autograph it.
oh i'm so gonna buy this for my friends' kids...who are 6 weeks old so it'll be a few years till they can appreciate it!
ReplyDeleteKudos go to editor Elisabeth Gehrlein and the DC production department for making room for the extra material. It was a last minute edition to the book that everyone worked hard to facilitate. I'm glad it worked out, I think that collected volumes should offer some insight into the creative process.
ReplyDeleteI'm also happy to see this version come out for another reason. We got to fix the majority of small errors that slipped in to the initial run, and make a few small tweaks to the dialog in key scenes.
Admittedly, these are little things that probably matter way more to me than anyone else. Another reason to thank the staff at DC. For having the patience to put up with my nonsense.
Kudos go to editor Elisabeth Gehrlein and the DC production department for making room for the extra material. It was a last minute edition to the book that everyone worked hard to facilitate. I'm glad it worked out, I think that collected volumes should offer some insight into the creative process.
ReplyDeleteI'm also happy to see this version come out for another reason. We got to fix the majority of small errors that slipped in to the initial run, and make a few small tweaks to the dialog in key scenes.
Thanks for the post.
I am glad DC allowed the changes to make it the best product possible. Hopefully trade sales will be robust!
Some of those concept sketches especially of Lena and Kara stray dangerously close to Chuck Jones territory, and I can pay the artwork no higher compliment.
ReplyDeleteI MUST buy this TPB....It is a moral imperative!
:D
John Feer
I'm so buying this asap and I hope DC's PTB give the green light for a sequel this year too! :D
ReplyDelete