Action Comics #1076 came out this week. This included the seventh part in the Mariko Tamaki Supergirl story.
And once again I have to say I am frustrated. Because once again, the story goes nowhere in this chapter. It once again makes little sense. It once again has Supergirl doing pretty much nothing. And it is horribly padded with 5 of the 10 pages being splashes or near splashes that don't warrant that much story space.
We are 70% done with this story. Think about that. And even Supergirl doesn't know what her mission is or how this prisoner is.
I can't rail against Tamaki any more. I have to accept that this is her writing style: slow, plodding, confusing, and worst of all boring. Now maybe this will wrap up in some amazing way. But knowing what I know of prior Tamaki works I doubt it.
I can't rail against Tamaki any more. I have to accept that this is her writing style: slow, plodding, confusing, and worst of all boring. Now maybe this will wrap up in some amazing way. But knowing what I know of prior Tamaki works I doubt it.
The person I really blame is editor Brittany Holzherr. Someone should have recognized the mess this story is. It is a shame. Because it doesn't shine a light on how great a character Supergirl is.
Of note, Skye Patridge is not on art for this chapter, replaced by Meghan Hetrick. The two artists are close enough in style to have the feel of the story remain consistent.
The prisoner is shown to be passed out on a bed on the escape ship. Remember that the prisoner blasted the guards with fear last issue.
While the prisoner is out, the protocol droid says that the prisoner is charged with destruction of worlds.
I don't know exactly what this panel is supposed to be telling me. Specifications on the prisoner's helmet? The charges brought against her by 3 different survivors from destroyed planets? Something else?
Sueprgirl seems as confused as I am.
This 'destroyer of worlds' hasn't done anything violent or aggressive the whole time.
But once more we hear how she has no idea why Superman chose her to go on this mission. She truly doesn't why she was sent.
I'll say it again. We are 70% done with this story and I don't know what this story is about. And apparently, neither does the main character.
We do get one piece of information.
This being has destroyed 157 planets.
So the threat is real.
The prisoner then awakens and makes a beeline for the cockpit of the ship. This is the second time they have tried to run or escape.
You might remember a couple of issues ago when the prisoner seemed more threatening to Kara. Remember the reaching out their hand and trying to 'join with Kara again'?
Well now it seems much more sad.
It grabs Kara and looks at her in the face.
Here is one of those splashes. And the split look gives some hint about some connection between this being and Supergirl. So perhaps this unknown connection is why Superman sent Kara?
The problem is we know nothing ... NOTHING ... behind this. So this panel becomes one more inscrutable image for this story. It could mean something. It could mean nothing.
And then this panel, where the prisoner begins a plea for Supergirl to kill them.
So this is another page that I am trying to figure out what it means.
This looks like maybe ... maybe ... there were two beings, with some interlocking glove pattern? And maybe the fought and one died and blew up a planet? Is this how it destroyed 157 planets? Is this prisoner actually two creatures in one? One that seems more menacing? One more sad?
I simply don't know.
7 chapters of me saying 'I simply don't know' AND 'Supergirl did nothing'.
Maybe you all can explain it to me.
I know I haven't mentioned Meghan Hetrick's art too much. She isn't given much to do here. Her close-ups of Supergirl are quite nice.
Anyways, as always the biggest losers here are Supergirl fans who hoped this would be a spotlight on her that would lead to something bigger like a solo title.
Overall grade: D
Picking up directly from my comments on the last issue. Maybe Tamaki thinks her script shows that Supergirl is an inquisitive detective, though she's wrong - her Supergirl is a boring idiot. But here comes a litany of questions from Supergirl again, which form around 75-85% of her dialog.
ReplyDeleteShe asks:
What are they?
What were you told about their identity?
What exactly did the records say?
Based on what evidence?
How many worlds did they destroy?
How is that possible?
What am I supposed to do?
What are you doing?
Do you understand?
What are you trying to say?
What -- is this ...
What, indeed?! Did Tamaki or her collaborators actually read this out loud? This is just such a bizarrely written story. Of course, the story itself is awful. But the dialog is -- unspeakable.
And, I know it's Hetrick on art this time, but whether her or Patridge, the book just has this dreary look to it. You can like the way Supergirl is drawn (I think it's really nothing special. Don't get confused between quantity (lots of panels) and quality. I can't think of any recent artwork where she didn't actually look better), but what of the scenes, the backgrounds - there's just nothing there. A few lines. Very minimal, boring backgrounds. It's barely finished. It's hard to seriously look at any page and not think it's just sketches. It's extremely undercooked, just like the story, just like the dialog. One big empty mess of nothing. I'd say the only significant work put into the art is that the prisoner's robe requires that some effort be made drawing the natural drape of the garment.
T.N.
I believe the reason Skylar Patridge isn’t on this issue is that she fell asleep.
ReplyDelete