I am taking a small break from Matrix comic reviews this week to post some Matrix House Ads that I stumbled across this last week.
Supergirl was prominently displayed in two house ads from a comic cover dated April 1998. Supergirl #20, a Millenium Giants crossover of all things, was on the shelves. She was two issues out from sprouting her flame wings and really exploring the angelic aspect, something which had been hinted at throughout the initial issues.
I know how big my love of Supergirl is. And I know how fascinated I was with the Peter David series in the late 90s, a semi-Vertigo spin on the character with tons of references to her prior incarnation.
But what I don't know is how she was being accepted by the comic community at large. And I don't know how embraced this new concept of Earth Angel was either.
Still, I think it is encouraging to think DC thought well enough of her character to have her on the subscription ad. (Remember those days when comics were mailed to people!) Yes it is a double play on words on how hot the deal is. One, I suppose there are people who think Supergirl is 'hot'. Two, fire is a big part of the art here (replicating the cover from Supergirl #14).
Still, they could have come up with any other quip - 'super' deals, deals 'as good as Gold', etc.
Instead they chose Supergirl!
But there was another!
Remember, this was the late 90s. Not everything was repurposed into a trade. Not every arc was written to fit into a trade. In fact, only things 'worthy' enough to be a trade were collected.
Here is the ad for the Supergirl trade collecting the first 9 issues of the David run. I love that initial arc as it established the rules of the book, introducing us to a darker Linda Danvers and a Matrix trying to become something more than protomatter. But the big thing for me back then was it included the David/Dodson story from Showcase '96 #8, the prologue to the book that I had missed at the time.
The ad does a good job playing up the duality of the character, another aspect I love about this incarnation.
Alas, no other trade was made of the series ... back then. I am glad the David book is now being collected in its entirety.
I am trying to think about the next section of Matrix books to cover. Either early appearances post-Panic in the Sky, or a jump ahead to her mini-series.
I remember the first ad, but not the second.
ReplyDeleteI didn't like the Earth Angel idea - after Matrix, I wanted a pure Supergirl, with the regular suite of powers. But I loved the execution, Peter David and friends made Linda's story truly compelling. It was a terrific comic. Well, apart from Buzz, aka John Constantine meets Dick Van Doik.
And in the realm of 'be careful what you wish for', the next version of Supergirl was 'truer', but much, much worse, until Sterling Gates rescued her.
"But what I don't know is how she was being accepted by the comic community at large. And I don't know how embraced this new concept of Earth Angel was either."
ReplyDeleteFrom what I can gather, the book sold well enough to survive several years but it was not a "hot" book. I looked saled data up, and it is not good. If I remember correctly, the book usually sold in the 20,000 range. Nowadays those are low but acceptable sales; back then they got books cancelled.
(I am a Spider-Girl fan, so I should know)
Likewise, as lurking in online communities you can easily find 90's fans who are still sore about Wally, Roy, Cassandra, Kyle... being demoted, but it's way harder to find people who are outraged about Linda's disappearance or her book ending.
My take is PAD's Supergirl was a cult book. It drew old Supergirl fans who were craving for anything SG-related, and Peter David fans who would not have touched the book otherwise... but it was overlooked for most of comic fans who didn't care for Superman and/or his spin-offs, or for a non-Kara SG, and rejected by people who considered the book too preachy.
It's kind of like New Super-Man in that regard.
Anyawy I like seeing "old" comic ads, so thank you for showcasing them.
"Alas, no other trade was made of the series... back then."
There was a "Many Happy Returns" trade back in 2004... but I'm sure you already own the trade. It's noteworthy that only the beginning and the end of the run were collected.
"Either early appearances post-Panic in the Sky, or a jump ahead to her mini-series."
I vote for early appearances.
Interesting old ads.
ReplyDeleteComichron stats go back to 1997.
Supergirl #20 in Feb 1998 came in 48th, with 40,422 copies.
By #29 it was down to 87th, with 31,709 copies.
#74 - 107th at 20,183 (pre-Many Happy Returns)
#75 - 88th at 22,968 (Kara Zor-El on cover)
#76 - 110th at 21,109
#77 - 98th at 21,786
#78 - 82nd at 24,258
#79 - 73rd at 26,812
#80 - 67th at 28,195
My thoughts are that sales weren't at first really rising all that much, despite what Peter David has lamented. (He thinks sales rose too late to save the title.) But #75-#77 didn't sell much better than #74, despite Kara Zor-El appearing on the covers.
Is it because the title was ending that people got interested? Usually sales drop when a cancellation is announced. At least they don't go up.
Or was it the "Artgerm effect" of the last 3 covers? You had Ed Benes and John Romita on those 3.
Are opinions mixed about Leonard Kirk's art? Really not my cup of tea. Sort of the anti-Benes. Or Benes was the anti-Kirk.
It wasn't just the covers - Ed Benes's interior artwork was also much more dynamic than Kirk's.
T.N.
Advert One, is using Supergirl's "good looks" to sell DC Comic Books...(Boy whatever happened to thru-the-mail subscriptions to comics, are they even offered anymore?)
ReplyDeleteAdvert Two, is hyping Peter David's hot new DC Book...
So to me at least, Supergirl is almost incidental in either advert, the first could just as easily being given over to Batgirl or Lady Blackhawk if either were being published at the time, the second is signaling Peter David's fans to ingather on his DC title...and as I've said before he could've just as easily have used aforementioned Barbara Gordon or Zinda Blake as a the crux of his narrative.
JF
"So to me at least, Supergirl is almost incidental in either advert,"
ReplyDeleteHmm... I think you're right.
Let's think of, the first doesn't even mention Supergirl. The emphasis is on "Buy our comics because hot chicks", and the unnamed hot chick in question wears a mini-skirt as ridiculously short as those Ian Churchill would draw six years later. And the second ad places more emphasis on buying PETER DAVID's newest hot book. It being a Supergirl book is pretty much incidental.
DC didn't seem to trust Supergirl to lure readers in. Or Matrix/Linda.
I can see the point about the first ad - it's using Supergirl's depiction to advertise subscribing to a whole bunch of DC comics.
ReplyDeleteBut I don't grasp anyone's conclusion about the second ad. It makes no mention of Peter David except along with the other creators - his name in the same font as the artists. It says "SUPERGIRL" in big letters. The text is about the Supergirl story - "Two lives - one hero." This is about the Supergirl TPB, not about Peter David.
Why should David's name not be listed along with Frank, Smith, Dodson and Story?
The text below the name Supergirl isn't "Look what Peter David has been up to!" It's "The first nine issues of Supergirl's explosive" -- something, I can't read it -- "plus the 10-page Showcase prelude..."
Seems to me the second ad is sincere and more about the character and story than about the auteur.
Thanks for great comments.
ReplyDeleteMart, I also wasn’t initially keen on Earth Angel either. That said, great stories win everything. I ended up loving it, especially the first 50 issues.
I knew about and do own the MHR trade. I meant no trades continuing the series like now.
I like Leonard Kirk well enough. Benes is very stylized. Often cheesecake. I thought Kirk fit the early stuff more.
Great info on the sales figs. PAD always says how sales blossomed and could’ve saved the title.
I think the second ad showcases the character and writer. Both are sales points.
"But #75-#77 didn't sell much better than #74, despite Kara Zor-El appearing on the covers."
ReplyDeleteThose useless numbers don't include the reprints. The "Many Happy Returns" story arc sold out its initial print run IN DAYS (which was set purposely low, since DC didn't have enough faith it would sell at the time). Second print run of the first few issues also flew off the stands, which then prompted DC to issue a TPB collection rather quickly, since they had already canceled the title.
"From what I can gather, the book sold well enough to survive several years but it was not a "hot" book. I looked sales data up...."
...which is a really stupid way of proving a subjective point of reader acceptance for just about anything, especially comics. Why? Because that so-called 'sales data' is merely estimates gathered from select retailers in the Direct Market. Doesn't have anything to do with who really picks up the books and buys them. Never has....because DC Comics NEVER issues actual sales data of their products. Neither does Marvel.
Being one who was ACTUALLY THERE at the time when the PAD Supergirl series was being published, it was a different comics marketplace than the quick buck, event-driven, roller-coaster erratic sales pattern of diminishing returns that it is today. First issue of the PAD run went through at least three reprints. How do I know this? Because I BOUGHT EVERY ONE OF THEM. Still own them today.
Generally the title was always a steady and moderate seller with an equally steady, devoted audience; and the publisher, at that time, was mostly content to let PAD run with the Supergirl character 'off in her own self-contained corner' of the Superman line, with few interruptions for crossover event distractions. The ending result is still the longest running Supergirl comics title in history, so there is something to be said for creative consistency here.
Only when editorial decided to graft the animated Supergirl's belly-shirt look onto the comics Supergirl (beginning with issue 51) did sales begin to truly falter. More integration with the rest of the comics DCU at the time also didn't add any heft to sales, and THAT is how the 'Hail Mary' pass of "Many Happy Returns" actually came about. Ed Benes was known as 'the hot chick artist' on Birds of Prey at the time, so he was tapped to finish out PAD's run. First half of the six-issue run of MHR didn't sport his artwork on the cover, though.
It's always ignorantly convenient for today's comic book fanboys (just as it is for blockbuster action movie fanboys) to point merely at sales figures and mis-believe that they can suss out the true nature of what happened and what was successful during a time well before they were actually paying attention. Sorry, but that's not how any of this actually works.
KET
"I didn't like the Earth Angel idea..."
ReplyDeleteA lot of folks who merely wanted a warmed-over, repeat version of Silver Age Kara didn't either. In fact, this vocal group were quite vehemently opposed to any revision. But for those who had more open minds about the Supergirl concept (which was always meant to be an evolutionary idea), one could see where PAD had brought in elements that went right back to Supergirl's 'debut story' in the May 1959 issue of Action Comics. The initial notion of Supergirl as angel comes right out of that story, with Kara exclaiming as she flies over her adopted city, "Midvale is a pretty little town! I love it already! Maybe I can still do super-deeds for worthy people without being seen, like a sort of 'guardian angel!'" Other elements, such as Richard Malverne, or a companion named Comet, are rather easy to parse...but how many knew that Lord Chakat (from the first two PAD issues) is actually a twisted take on Streaky?
The Earth angel concept of the Schekinah is derived from the Kabbalah, the Jewish book of mysticism, and it refers to the role of the Feminine in one's work and life. So naturally, this aspect is part of what made PAD's Supergirl a personal work for the author, but also ties the concept back towards Superman's creators as well...two Jewish boys named Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.
KET
‘...A lot of folks who merely wanted a warmed-over, repeat version of Silver Age Kara didn't either. In fact, this vocal group were quite vehemently opposed to any revision.’
ReplyDeleteAnd other comments.
KET‘, I like to hear what you have to say but - and I realise I’ve asked this previously - would you cut out the condescension, and stop presenting statements as Gospel eg: ‘... the Supergirl concept (which was always meant to be an evolutionary idea)...’? Or can you provide citation that Supergirl wasn’t originally simply an extension of the Superman concept paying particular attention to the perceived interests of the little girls in Mort Weisinger’s neighbourhood? Yeah, Kara grew up but do you really know what was intended?
We’re all fans of Supergirl, can we not keep the tone friendly?
"Those useless numbers"
ReplyDeleteThat hard data, you mean.
"don't include the reprints."
And you know this how?
"The "Many Happy Returns" story arc sold out its initial print run IN DAYS"
Proof?
"(which was set purposely low, since DC didn't have enough faith it would sell at the time)"
Proof?
"Second print run of the first few issues also flew off the stands"
Proof?
"...which is a really stupid way of proving a subjective point of reader acceptance for just about anything, especially comics."
No, it is not. Sales data is the only objective, tangible way we have to measure success. It's certainly more reliable than a random internet guy's opinionated statements.
"How do I know this? Because I BOUGHT EVERY ONE OF THEM. Still own them today."
So... No proof, then?
Your buying every issue is completely irrelevant. And I KNOW you were there. Back in the day you used to post in PAD's blog, making incredibly ignorant statements and putting down comics you never read in order to do PAD's run look better.
"Generally the title was always a steady and moderate seller with an equally steady, devoted audience"
I reiterate: Proof?
The only objective evidence we have available says otherwise.
"The ending result is still the longest running Supergirl comics title in history"
So what? Spider-Girl's title lasted over one hundred issues and it was always a low seller. And should the reboot have not happened, SG's fifth volume would have beaten the fourth one.
"Only when editorial decided to graft the animated Supergirl's belly-shirt look onto the comics Supergirl (beginning with issue 51) did sales begin to truly falter."
Once again: Proof?
And you hadn't just said sales were steady good? Now you are claiming they faltered?
"It's always ignorantly convenient for today's comic book fanboys"
You are making a HUGE number of assumptions here. As far as you know, the other posters are older than you and have been reading for longer.
"Sorry, but that's not how any of this actually works."
Sorry, but this is precisely how all of it actually works.
"A lot of folks who merely wanted a warmed-over, repeat version of Silver Age Kara didn't either."
You have no idea of what Pre-Crisis Supergirl fans wanted.
"In fact, this vocal group were quite vehemently opposed to any revision."
Assuming those were their actual thoughts, they weren't wrong to do so.
"But for those who had more open minds about the Supergirl concept"
Whoever doesn't think like yourself is close-minded. That is literally your argument.
"(which was always meant to be an evolutionary idea)"
For the umpteenth time: PROOF?
Your next paragraphs are, to put it bluntly, mental gymnastics at Zach "Look, I've proved I'm profound by (mis)quoting a Greek philosopher!" Snyder's level. I'm sorry, but you're really reaching here in order to legitimate the Earth Angel version.
Seriously, you've written a long rant only because you can't handle the fact that you like something that wasn't a success. Your two posts can be summarized with two phrases: "This thing I like was successful because I say so. Objective data claiming otherwise is irrelevant, and anyone who disagrees with me is stupid."