Monday, August 13, 2012

'H'El On Earth' Crossover


We have heard for some time now that the three Super-books were going to have a crossover at some point. And those same hints talked about how the three weren't going to necessarily enjoy each others' company. Supergirl would be fearful (and maybe want to kill) Superboy. Supergirl and Superboy would reject Superman as a mentor. And Superman was a 'loner' incapable of mentoring anyways.

Over on the Source blog we finally got some information about the crossover, dubbed 'H'El on Earth'. Here is the link: http://www.dccomics.com/blog/2012/08/10/announcing-hel-on-earth

And here is some of that post.

“H’el on Earth” will put these super-beings into battle with the maniacal alien, H’el.

Fresh from the events of SUPERMAN #13, Superman’s deadliest new foe comes after Kon-El!

Picking up right there, Supergirl too meets the villainous H’el. But what happens when Kara finds herself agreeing with his pro-Krypton/anti-Earth plans? SUPERGIRL #14 is written by Mike Johnson and illustrated by Mahmud Asrar.

And in SUPERMAN #14, written by Scott Lobdell and illustrateed by Kenneth Rocafort, the Man of Steel himself will be forced to come face to face with the gang’s worst nightmare: a creature of unknown Kryptonian origin who is not only more powerful than Superman, but is also smarter than Supergirl and more lethal than Superboy. How will Superman combat a threat of this magnitude?

So the first thing that I noticed was that this 'maniacal alien' seems to be a mix of Bizarro and Match. There is no denying the more crystalline/clay look to him or the backwards 'S' on the chest. I do find it pretty much par for the course that in the new DCU, Bizarro might be call H'El. It sounds sooo much edgier. But is this really Bizarro? Or something new?

I do think that 'El' being part of the name makes me think he has some connection to the the super-family. And a pro-Kryptonian plan, being a creature of unknown Kryptonian origin ... is he a Kon-El, a deadly clone? Is he some sort of World Killer experiment, the content of the 5th tube in the Argo City lab? Some Eradicator-effected being? Or something different. So I am interested.

But the thing that caught my attention the most about this blurb were the adjectives used to describe the super-family members.

More powerful than Superman? I can understand that.

More lethal than Superboy? Is that the best adjective for Superboy? Do I really want a lethal Superboy? Has he been lethal?

But 'smarter than Supergirl'? That made me smile. The best adjective for Supergirl was smart. Not angry. Not aggressive. Not edgy. Not misanthropic. Not isolated. Not alienated.

Smart.

This is the first promotional blurb that has spun Supergirl in a positive light and more in line with what has been happening in the comic. Thank goodness!

The cover for Supergirl #14 (at the top) is a nice action shot.


Here is the cover to Superman #14. I have to say, Kenneth Rocafort draws a great Supergirl, even if she is trashed and hanging from a lamppost.


And I am glad that RB Silva is back on art duties in Superboy. Weird cover for Superboy #14.  though. I wonder what it all means.

Hopefully we will see the three heroes work together against this threat. I am glad that the three will interact on any level as I still can't fathom how Superman hasn't talked to Supergirl a second time.

7 comments:

  1. Here is a link to a Scott Lobdell interview on Comic Vine it has a few tidbits about what is going to happen in the H'El storyline.


    According to Lobdell DC is still struggling to decide which character H'El will be, a rebooted character or a original one.

    Plus there is a 2nd part of the SL interview where some details will be revealed about Superboy, the Teen Titans, and other DC info later today on Comic Vine


    http://www.comicvine.com/news/interview-scott-lobdell-on-superman-existing-villains-and-catching-speeding-bullets/145039/

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  2. H'el is Match,from tge first pod shown in the superboy book.imo bizzaros,atleast not ones from the actual biazzaro world will be like this,look messed up,but be more powerful than kryotonians.fits with what kara told kon about clones being homicidal.

    Im mostly looking forward to seeing kon and kal meet up,and throw in kara to make it even more fun.

    I like all the covers.

    Maybe h'el learned about krypton because of his genetic memory .

    Oh and kon only killed once,that was when he was being terminated innthe first issue.

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  3. Here is a link to a Scott Lobdell interview on Comic Vine it has a few tidbits about what is going to happen in the H'El storyline.

    Thanks for the link. That answers some questions!

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  4. Oh and kon only killed once,that was when he was being terminated innthe first issue.

    I forgot about that.

    Lethal just didn't make sense for me which is why I wondered why they picked that word.

    Match vs Bizarro vs someone new. I would actually prefer Match overall.

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  5. Yup and there is is defeated and humiliated as usual on the cover of Superman # 14. Good thing she is wearing The Right Costume or certain On Line Commentators might rise up in high dudgeon about this outrage....

    JF

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  6. Er...all I can say,is wow.Actually both interviews are great and I liked Scott's part about Superman.

    Also,Supergirl = smart is pure win on that part.:D

    Finally,the lethality of Superboy...actually it fits him.His own limitation is his imagination and concentration,so to speak but that doesn't make his powers any less lethal.So it kinda fits him...I guess what branded him was the way he killed that...thing on issue nine.That was kind of overkill,yet the only way to survive that encounter.

    I'm betting that H'El guy is a clone under Zor or Jor-El's juristiction,one of the experiments,otherwise,why would he know so much about Crypton?And the cover of SB is like it's saying that the new guy is the real "Kon-El",that SB is just a flesh and bones copy ready to be torn down.

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  7. I worry Supergirl #14 will be the start of is Kara going to be evil or not storyline Johnson and Green heavily implied in their interviews. I dearly hope not. I plan to read it and see how it is.

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