2014: Year in Review Non-Comics

The next stop on my 2014 Year in Review is to look at all that happened to her outside of the comic book world.

Let's face it, the biggest Supergirl news ... maybe since Kara Zor-El was brought back in 2004 ... was the revelation that there was going to be a live action Supergirl show on CBS. Produced by Flash/Arrow gurus Greg Berlanti and Ali Adler, the show seems poised for the 2015 season and sounds great. The publicity machine around the show has been chugging along revealing things about the Supergirl character, her supporting cast, and possible villains.

Here is how Kara is described:

For Kara Zor-El aka Kara Danvers, the show is eyeing Caucasian females, age 22 to 26, to play 24. As the series’ mythology goes, Kara at age 12 was sent from her dying home planet of Krypton to Earth, where she was taken in by the Danvers, a foster family who taught her to be careful with her extraordinary powers. After repressing said skills for more than a decade, Kara is forced to bust out her super moves in public during an unexpected disaster. Energized by her heroism for the first time in her life, she begins embracing her abilities in the name of helping the people of her city, earning herself a super moniker along the way.

I don't know if, in my wildest dreams, I ever thought that Supergirl would be a TV show on a major network. So this seems like the best possible Christmas gift a Supergirl fan could ever get. It is only made better by the fact that Berlanti and Adler seem to 'get' DC characters. I love the Flash. And while I don't watch Arrow religiously, when I stumble on an episode, I think it is well done. I hope Supergirl is more like the Flash, a brighter hero story.

I also like that she is with the Danvers, has an older sister, and will run into the Toyman and Hank Henshaw. It all sounds almost too good to be true.

We had one casting rumor (Claire Holt) which seems to have been just that ... a rumor. I will hold on to hope that Molly Quinn will play Kara and Alexandra Daddario will play her sister Alex.

But no doubt about it, this is probably the biggest Supergirl story of the year.

A Supergirl live action television show ... INCREDIBLE!!

As for merchandising, Supergirl continued to be a popular subject.

In April, a Kotobukiya statue came out which looked wonderful. I liked the pose, the metallic sheen to the costume, and her expression of confidence on Kara here.

And I am not a big fan of the New 52 costume. But I have to admit, it looks pretty good here.

In September, a New 52 Supergirl figure was released by DC Direct.

Like the statue, the figure actually makes the New 52 costume look pretty good. The expression on this figure is a bit wide-eyed and crazy. But otherwise, this is a great figure.

And then, for those of us not rich enough to afford the original Mego figure, Figures Toy Company came out with a Superman line of retro faux Mego figures. And one of those was this Silver Age Hot Pants action figure ... in ballerina slippers no less!

The hair is a bit bouffant-y. But there is such nostalgia, such a classic feeling, that I love this figure. And the packaging is just beautiful too! There isn't much merchandise in this costume, so I am glad to have this in my collection.

2014 was also the year of the Bombshell. While I liked the Wonder Woman and Black Canary bombshell look, this Supergirl costume didn't grab me.

That said, it was made into a t-shirt, a statue, a print, and even a tumbler glass. I don't have any of that in my collection.

So Supergirl remains a decent seller on the merchandising side of things and 2014 continued that trend with high quality pieces.

 I was able to grab some commissions from the conventions I made it to this last year. This is a great batch by Marcio Takara, Cat Staggs, Chris Burnham, Daniel Govar, and Mitch Gerads. Nice additions and every one of them beautiful!

Lastly, I will close out my review of the best of 2014 by saying thanks to Mike Maihack again for continuing to produce Batgirl/Supergirl comics that are fantastic and fun. There were several this year but this one, poking fun a the lunacy of Kara being a rage-filled Red Lantern is my favorite. Just great.

So that closes my Supergirl review of 2014!

I'd love to hear from everyone what they thought about the year! What did you like best?