Baltimore Comic-Con: Discussion With Sterling Gates and Jamal Igle

Supergirl #50 autographed by Sterling Gates, Jamal Igle, and Cliff Chiang

One of the coolest parts of the con was being able to talk to Sterling Gates and Jamal Igle at length about Supergirl, both the character and the title.

I did my best to remember not only what I was supposed to ask but also the questions that some of you posed here. Unfortunately, some of the fanboy in me bubbled to the surface so I may have forgotten some.

I tried to organize the information I got at the con into topics. The information comes from the DC Nation panel, DC Sunday conversation, and my discussions with the creators.

1) Jamal on art: Jamal is currently scheduled to pencil Supergirl #59. There was no official word on who is art duty on Supergirl #60.

2) Proud moments: Sterling was extremely proud of Supergirl #47, feeling the complex nature of Alura coupled with her outpouring of emotion and regret in that is issue was powerful, therefore one of his favorites on the title. He added that he could rattle of a long list of other favorites, citing Zor-El's death (Supergirl #36) and Supergirl's 'Closet of Solitude' (Supergirl #54) as two other examples.

Jamal's favorite moment was also the death of Zor-El scene.

3) Alura’s death: Alura’s death scene in War of the Supermen was initially going to be longer with more dialogue. But in the end, it was decided to be abrupt and without heavy prose, a contrast to the Zor-El death scene.

4) Cutting room floor: There were a few other ideas for scenes in War of the Supermen that didn’t make the final cut. There was going to be a true Reactron origin story, fleshing out his backstory just before his death. Another idea that was floated around involved Supergirl fighting Doomsday through the streets of Metropolis, but that was nixed early.

5)BizarroGirl storyline: Supergirl #57 is being drawn by Bernard Chang and concludes the BizarroGirl storyline. This includes an appearance by the Bizarro Justice League.

The thematic idea of BizarroGirl being a dark reflection of Supergirl is played up in the conclusion as recent events in Kara’s life are played out imperfectly on Bizarro world. This helps Kara come to grips with her own issues.

Jamal slipped a Bizarro Sterling Gates into Supergirl #56. The Bizarro Sterling sees Supergirl and says ‘she am so ugly’.

6) Supergirl Annual #2: The story establishes Supergirl’s relationship with Brainiac 5 and shows how and why he comes to care for her so much. For fans of this relationship, this book sounds like it is going to be great. When I mentioned the concern over Brainy's comment about Supergirl's death in Supergirl #52, Sterling reminded me that Brainiac 5 is from a thousand years in the future and would know more than us about not only what would happen to Kara but when it would happen.

There will be several ‘Easter eggs’ in the Annual, homages to Silver Age Supergirl/Legion stories. I can’t wait to go hunting.

The decision on whether Supergirl (and even Superboy) will be recurring characters in the Legion book is up to Paul Levitz and the Legion creative team. It is hard to know how that would impact a potential ongoing Supergirl/Brainiac 5 romance.

7) Future: Supergirl #58 and #59 will be the much-anticipated Cat Grant/Toyman storyline that has been building for some time. That story includes a new villain as well.

I have to say it was pretty cool to be able to talk to the current creative team of Supergirl for so long and to hear their passion for the character.