A Couple Of Interviews

I read a couple of interviews on-line that I thought I should share here. Some good stuff.

The first is an interview on the Superman home page with Sterling Gates. Here is the link:
http://www.supermanhomepage.com/news.php?readmore=8102

As always, the whole interview is worth reading, so I advise going to the site. Here are a couple of things that stuck out.

SM: Bizarro Supergirl first appeared in 1960, will you be paying homage to that version? Or are you coming from a completely different direction?
Gates: I wanted to present a different spin on the typical Bizarro, making one more scary and unpredictable than ever before. I don't like when Bizarros are only played for laughs or as jokes. I think Bizarros should be dangerous and slightly twisted, and BizarroGirl fits that description to a "T."

As Supergirl is dealing with a whole slew of emotions coming out of the "War of the Supermen" and trying to keep them all internalized, BizarroGirl is letting all of her emotions fly. She's constantly changing emotions, one per second, keeping nothing in check. She screams, she fights, she drools. She's like a wild animal with the worst ADD you can imagine, and she has no idea what her own strength is like.

To sum that up, she's a monster. And she's come to Metropolis. But why? Is it random? Is it a concerted attack from Bizarro World? Did Bizarro send her? You'll have to wait and see!

The description of a monstrous Bizarro is intriguing to me. Bizarro has most recently been portrayed as being confused and easily manipulated but not necessarily evil or rabid like BizarroGirl sounds like. Interesting.

Given that this arc is called 'Who is Supergirl?', this out of control, overly emotional, and unstable BizarroGirl sounds like everything Kara doesn't want to be. Maybe this 'dark reflection' of herself is going to lead to introspection.

SM:Coming out of "War of the Supermen", how much of that saga will impact on Supergirl's story?
Gates: I don't think you can put Supergirl through all of that and not show how it affects her emotionally and physically. New Krypton - and its destruction - has a massive, long-term impact on Kara. She was given her greatest wish, to be reunited with her people, and she watched it fall apart around her. You can't put her through all of that and expect it not to affect her as a person and as a hero.

Not to mention, she's wrestling with a lot of residual guilt. She was the one responsible for transporting Reactron back to New Krypton, and he destroyed the planet. Does that make her responsible for killing everyone? So she's going to be attempting to come to terms with a lot of these problems even as she has to battle BizarroGirl through the streets of Metropolis and back to Bizarro World.

This is the part of this arc that I am most curious about. I can imagine that Supergirl's response to the tragedy that has befallen her would be to hold on more tightly to those in her life ... people like Clark and Lana. But I also can imagine that she might feel because of this tragedy that life is random and meaningless. Supergirl could easily enter a dark period. And I also can imagine her doing both of those things as she struggles to try to find a meaning in everything that has happened.

Perhaps most importantly, it sounds like Gates is really going to address it. What happened in War of the Supermen could not simply be swept under the rug. It has to impact Kara. I can't wait to read this. Gates and Igle have matured Supergirl; how will she respond?

SM: Kara doesn't really have a supporting cast of her own. Is that something you're looking to rectify?
Gates: I disagree with that statement. I think we've gone to great lengths to establish Lana Lang as a main supporting cast character for Kara, as well as Cat Grant, Inspector Henderson, Alura, Flamebird. You could even make the argument for Batgirl and Superboy.
Two of the people closest to Supergirl are gone now, though, so I'm planning on bringing in some new cast members in Supergirl's future. New faces to the DCU. Oh, and Jimmy Olsen and Natasha Irons will have roles in the book, as well.

But I plan to continuing to foster Lana and Kara's relationship. I think that relationship is extremely important, especially in light of Supergirl losing her mother in the war.

I think that with the end of New Krypton and with the title being 'self-contained', the supporting cast's presence will definitely grow.

Nice little interview setting the stage for the near future.

And then I read this one which gives a little bit more detail of what to expect.
http://scifichick.com/2010/06/18/scifichick-com-exclusive-interview-sterling-gates/

I would definitely read all of this one. It also has some bio information on Gates which is pretty cool. Here are some comic relevant blurbs.

SFC: What can you tell us about the latest Supergirl story arc?
Gates: It’s a dark time for the Girl of Steel. We’re coming out of the WAR OF THE SUPERMEN, an arc that featured the destruction of the planet New Krypton and the death of Supergirl’s mother, Alura. So she’s in a pretty dark place, both physically and emotionally. She’s been away for a few weeks, just getting her head back on straight, and she’s just returned to Metropolis and moved back in with Lana Lang. Lana acts as a big sister-type to Kara, helping her in ways that not even Superman can. And that’s where we pick up.

Kara’s dealing with the loss of her people, and coming to terms with what she perceives as her culpability in their deaths. That’s a lot for a teenager to handle, even if they are a superhero, so she’s got a lot to think about.

The next arc is about responsibility and dealing with regret and remorse, though. It seems like a romp though the streets on the surface, but there’s a lot going on there emotionally and physically for Supergirl.

Hee hee. I guess Kara is entering a dark period. I cannot tell you how happy I am for the re-introduction of Lana to be confirmed in this interview. I also think that it makes sense for Kara to be in a 'dark place'. It can't be easy for all this to have happened to her.

Again, the name of the arc is 'Who is Supergirl?' I think War of the Supermen and this storyline are going to define who Kara is for the future.

SFC: Can you tell us about any new villain(s) Supergirl will be facing? Any spoilers?
Gates: Well, coming out of New Krypton, I wanted to start adding new and different villains to Supergirl’s rogue’s gallery We’re introducing a completely new “cosmic” villain to the DCU in the BizarroGirl arc, and then I’m dusting off an old Legion of Super-Heroes villain for Supergirl Annual #2, which is out this fall.

After that, there are a couple familiar faces coming, and a couple new ones that I’ve been setting up since I started writing the book. Long time readers will be rewarded for their patience!

Hmmm ... I already said that I thought the cosmic villain could be Xenon from Many Happy Returns. But Gates says this villain is completely new. And who do we think the LSH villain is going to be? How about Starfinger?

It sounds like Gates has had long term plans for the book since he took over. That's very encouraging.


And on Newsarama, Mark Bagley does an interview discussing his approach to JLA and JSA. Here is the link: http://www.newsarama.com/comics/mark-bagley-jla-jsa-100617.html There is a lot of information here about Bagley's pace and style, his favorite characters, and his struggles. It is a very good interview.

Here are the Supergirl specific comments.

Nrama: The team you're drawing for this JLA is a little different from Trinity, so are you getting to explore some new characters on that team?
Bagley: Yeah, this is definitely different. I enjoy drawing most of them a lot. Donna Troy is great. Jade's fun to draw too. Batman is, of course, fun to draw.

I actually enjoy drawing Supergirl a lot. She just entered the book. She's kind of young and fresh, and I think that's fun. I tend to do young characters well anyway.

I got to do that big punch-up between Power Girl and Supergirl last month and that was just a blast. You get to show off the differences in figures and the body types. I'm not one of these artists who draw five different characters with the same body type. At least, I don't intend to. It's always fun challenge to have that highlighted that way.

I drew a really nice panel in an upcoming issue of Supergirl, Power Girl and Donna Troy standing next to each other, and that's fun.

I actually like drawing Jesse Quick. She's the daughter of Johnny Quick that has taken his costume. And it actually looks really good on a running figure. I was bound and determined to redesign it when they said she was in the book, but once I started drawing it, I thought, this works fine!

I liked Bagley's 'Intercepter' Supergirl in Trinity, so I have been looking forward to seeing how he handled her with the big red S. Bagley does do younger characters nicely; I didn't collect Ultimate Spiderman but I flipped through enough trades and issues to see that he had a handle Peter Parker and his cast. That work is solid.

I liked how she looked in JLA #45 and the preview page above is a very nice. There is almost a hint of John Byrne in there.

I am happy to hear that Bagley tries to individualize the characters' body types. The panel he describes above with Karen, Donna, and Kara should showcase that. It reminds me of the classic Perez issues of Teen Titans where Kory was bodacious, Donna was very natural and athletic, and Raven was almost gaunt. Varying the characters like that makes the book feel more real.

And I really like Jesse Quick in the Johnny Quick outfit. I never really cared for the Liberty Belle costume.