November Solicits Part 1:Another New Supergirl Creative Direction

The November solicits for DC Comics came out earlier this week and had major implications for the Supergirl book.  Because in November, Supergirl has new writers ... again.

In fact, that news is so big that I am splitting the solicits post into two. There will be this one covering just the Supergirl solicit and one later this week covering the other books. To look at all the solicits, here is a link to Newsarama's coverage: http://www.newsarama.com/21907-dc-comics-full-november-2014-solicitations.html

So here is the solicit for November's Supergirl #36 including the news of a new writing team.

SUPERGIRL #36
Written by MIKE JOHNSON and KATE PERKINS
Art and cover by EMANUELA LUPACCHINO

The new writing team of Mike Johnson and Kate Perkins enroll Supergirl in the Crucible Academy! Against her own will, Kara has been selected to join the mysterious academy, which promises to train her and other beings of cosmic importance to serve the forces of good in the universe. But who’s pulling the strings behind the academy? And what are Kara’s chances of survival if she decides to drop out? Guest-starring Superboy!

Where to begin.


Let's start with the new team:


Kate Perkins is a name I don't know from comics and has no list of prior works on comicbookdb.com. There is a very brief blurb about her on CBR which describes her as a New York playwright breaking into comics. I am glad that DC is bringing a woman onto the book. And on her website, she does have an interesting CV. While these works can't be read or viewed directly from there, the blurbs about them sound interesting.


Mike Johnson should be a familiar name to everyone as he returns to this book after a being away for a  year and a half. I really felt like Johnson was turning the corner with the character, making her more heroic and more likable on his own before that vision was completely derailed by Scott Lobdell and H'el On Earth. I have to say I'm happy to see him back.


I wonder if Perkins is the main driver on this team with Johnson bringing some experience in comic writing to keep things moving along.


Now on to the solicit itself:

Kara is now joining a cosmic super-school called Crucible Academy. Certainly, putting Kara in a school solves one major problem the book has suffered from - lack of a supporting cast. I am sure we are going to meet friends, enemies, frenemies, and all sorts of professors. And the concept of a school training heroes is an interesting one. 


Now I have hoped beyond hope that the New 52 Supergirl would one day embrace Earth and become a hero on the planet. I somehow don't think that a cosmic super-school will be located on Earth-0 which means Supergirl is going to be off-planet again. While making Supergirl a more intergalactic hero is a fresh take on the character ... even expanding her horizons, I still prefer the idea of Kara as a young hero, growing into the role on Earth. I don't know if we will ever get there.

Still, it is completely different. I will go in open-minded and optimistic.

Lastly, I just have to wonder if this completely new direction is somehow coming off the overwhelmingly positive buzz on the new 'Batgirl of Burnside' direction over on that book. I can imagine the conversation sounded something like this:

DC editor 1: Wow, everyone is talking about Batgirl and Gotham Academy. How can we cash in even more on this topic immediately making it less fresh and unique?


DC Editor 2: Well, Supergirl is a young female protagonist. Why don't we send her to school?


DC Editor 1: I know! Let's make it a school .... wait for it .... IN SPPPAAACCEEE!


DC Editor 2: And if it doesn't work, we can always make her angry, angsty, pissed off, and disaffected again!


Maybe I am wrong. But it seems weird to suddenly take on yet another completely different take on the title, another creative direction, just as the last one was finally moving forward. And it seems so spur of the moment, like when Charles Soule said 'let's make her a Red Lantern' at a meeting and it suddenly changed everything Tony Bedard was hoping to do initially.

Which leads me to my next topic.

The Big Picture and Tony Bedard:

I literally just did a post where Newsarama interviewed Tony Bedard who talked about his long term plans about Supergirl. So this seems to imply that he didn't know that things were changing so soon. Why would he talk about the future after Futures' End issue when he is off the book after that crossover?? I can't help but be reminded of Sterling Gates' piece in Superman #700 where he laid out his plans for the next year (!!) only to have Nick Spencer take over the book shortly thereafter.

Much like Mike Johnson in his first go around, Bedard finally seemed to be bringing the ship around, set on the direction he wanted the book to go, only to have the book taken away from him. The whole Red Daughter story arc seems less important now. Part of that storyline was to rid Supergirl of this unnecessary rage DC saddled her with, to have her finally look at Earth as home, to finally have her patch up her relationship with Superman. It was supposed to be the beginning of a new life. We even had subplots bubbling - Veritas, Siobhan and her roommate, and Blaze.

And now, if this Crucible Academy is in space, none of that seems to matter. Once again she isn't looking at Earth as home. She isn't having a family relationship with Kal. She isn't being a hero on Earth. So Bedard's future stories of a well-adjusted Supergirl being a young hero in Metropolis are now in the 'what might have been' files.

From afar, this completely new direction makes the book look like it is once again on shaky ground despite sales being remarkably stable. Let's look at the 36 issues of this book and the writers: Green/Johnson then Mike Johnson then Frank Hannah then Mike Johnson then Scott Lobdell then Tony Bedard and now Perkins/Johnson. 6 different writers and writing teams in 36 issues! Compare that to the stability of Wonder Woman, Batgirl, the Green Lantern books, Justice League, and Aquaman. There have been one or two writers and directions on those books. DC has let those creators tell their stories. DC seems to know what to do with those characters. And yet, they seem to flail with Kara.

What I want on this book is some stability ... some consistency. I want Supergirl to be likable, heroic, and optimistic. I want her character to be at the center of things, not some crossover which takes the emphasis off her. I want a rogues gallery, a supporting cast, and character growth. And we haven't had that on this book. Unfortunately when there was consistency, it was the angry bitter Kara. Now just as she seems likable and heroic ... finally ... we are going somewhere else. Now maybe ... hopefully ... Johnson and Perkins build on what Bedard did and don't take a step back.

But to put it simply, I just want a Supergirl book that truly is a book about Supergirl.

Now the Perkins/Johnson run may very well be fantastic. In fact, I hope it is going to be fantastic. And if they are reading this, understand this isn't a comment on their story or direction. This semi-rant is a comment on DC and their treatment of this character and this book.  

I am looking forward to reading this story. I am hoping Kara isn't the angsty  angry brat that has weighed her down these three years. 

See you all in November.