Jamal Igle's Review Of Supergirl #54

Over on Jamal Igle's blog, he continues his personal review of his time on Supergirl. While I haven't discussed all of them here, I had to comment on his recollection of Supergirl #54. Here is the link to his blog and that discussion: http://jamalligle.blogspot.com/2012/01/from-vaults-supergirl-54.html

Now Supergirl #54 is where the BizarroGirl storyline really started to pick up. As I have said countless times, I think the BizarroGirl story arc is one of the best Supergirl arcs of all times, just a wonderfully emotional story about Kara learning to let go of some of her pain and to emerge from the tragedies of New Krypton stronger. But those are hard lessons and initially she depressed and unwilling to act. If you want to see what I thought of Supergirl #54 when it came out here is the link to that review:
http://comicboxcommentary.blogspot.com/2010/07/review-supergirl-54.html

Now the thing I am really loving about this series of posts Igle is doing are the process pieces he is including. From thumb nails to concept art, from pencils to ink, we are really being treated to the creation of the art.

Since I love the BizarroGirl arc so much, it is no surprise that I love BizarroGirl as a character. Here Igle let's us see his design pictures for her. Here is concept work for the ultimate design for BizarroGirl. I like that it is a mix of the Silver Age solid blue shirt/skirt with the gold trim of the current incarnation.

But this was also a treat. Here was a concept piece for BizarroGirl that wasn't used. The red shoulders have a sort of Crisis-era feel to them. Igle was going for an Alura feel here and I can see that.

In the end, I like the idea that was ultimately used more. This 'feels' very different from the Supergirl uniform of the time. And part of the power of that arc was that Kara and BizarroGirl weren't opposites, but reflections of each other. The familiar feel of BizarroGirl's final uniform added to that feel.

But there was so much in this issue that I loved. My favorite page was the 'closet of solitude' page, first sneak-peeked in Superman #700. At the time, I had a blast deciphering what the items were. Here is that link:
http://comicboxcommentary.blogspot.com/2010/06/supergirl-preview-page-in-superman-700.html

But there was the splash page homage to Superman #1, the Dr. Light orbiting laser trick, and the decision to help BizarroGirl, an emotional stand-in for Reactron and New Krypton. Wonderful.

All these issue reviews have been great so please go to Jamal's blog and peruse. He recently announced there that he is no longer a DC Exclusive talent and so we may see him all sorts of books. But I will always cherish these Supergirl issues.