The Red Daughter of Krypton trade paperback came out this week. It includes Supergirl #26-33, Red Lanterns #28-29, and Green Lantern #28. It is a shame it doesn't include Red Lanterns #30-31 because Kara plays a pretty big part in those issues. Still that is 10 issues for $17.99 and for a great arc.
I always hope that there will be extra matter in these trades. This trade includes the covers as well as the uncolored versions of the covers if you want to see the line work.
But there are 2 pages in the back that I would say is true new material. At least ... I don't think I have seen these elsewhere.
First off, here is Kenneth Rocafort's Red Lantern design for Supergirl.
I think Rocafort's style is visually stunning, beautiful. And I have to say, I liked these designs. For one, it eliminates two parts of the Supergirl costume I don't like - the red crotch panel and the knee-holed boots. But I think the mix of red and black is slick. And I am glad she wore a mask, as I think this whole trip to the Red was sort of a mask, a role Kara was playing to get away from her life.
We also get a page of Yildiray Cinar's design of Blaze.
It's funny, I don't know if we ever saw Blaze in a panel with someone else. So to see her towering over Shay Veritas puts her in a whole new perspective. She looks like she's 12 feet tall here.
I also like this look as Blaze looks totally demonic. Her arms are thin, her legs stocky; both are wiry. Her torso is emaciated. And that frizzed hair and huge horns. This is the look of a devil. And it works.
As I have said, I didn't go into Red Daughter a happy fan, thinking it was going to be terrible. But it worked wonderfully as a redemption story. I was glad to pick up the trade for easy re-reading.
Great pieces. Isn't the trade missing some of The Red Lantern tieins?
ReplyDeleteYes. It is missing RL 30-31.
ReplyDeleteToo bad. There were great Bleez moments in them.
Like you, Anj, I was aghast at having Kara become a Red Lantern. I had actually posted on DC Comics a very calm and collected post as to why she wouldn't be, and I also gave the reasons why it's not some veteran fan who can't handle change. I had a friend who backed me up. Both our posts were deleted.
ReplyDeleteI declared that that was it, and if I wouldn't pay for bad fanfiction (who so much of DC is nowadays), why would I pay for this. In fairness, I downloaded a torrent to see how bad it was, and I was pleasantly shocked. I bought the actual comics and was almost sad when it ended as Kara had been portrayed so well, and I wasn't sure how long that would last.
I'm in agreement with the costume; the crotch shield was gone, as were the bare knees - both things I've tried to look on in a positive light and just have a tough time doing.
It's cool there is a sketch of New52 Blaze; she's very recognizable as the character who was before but with an extra amount of the demonic and sinister. That she is so tall makes her appear all the more formidable and creepy.