Convergence: Supergirl Matrix #2

I know the Supergirl show trailer has hit and I promise coverage is happening tomorrow!

Convergence: Supergirl Matrix #2 came out this week and I enjoyed this issue more than the first one. Writer Keith Giffen totally embraces a sort of Looney Tunes look at the DCU here, visiting the more insane corners of the place. He also ramps up the cartoon humor of Ambush Bug, a Giffen favorite. I don't always find Giffen's humor humorous but I  will admit I chuckled a bit while reading this book.

But Giffen also does a good job of showing some character growth in this Matrix Supergirl as she responds to the inane Bug, shows some self-esteem and some intelligence. And we finally see a moment with Lex that made me smile. Alas, Giffen still has her calling herself Kara in this book, a pretty big gaffe in my mind.

If you are looking for a serious look at Earth-6 vs 90's DCU, you should look somewhere else.

The cover by Howard Porter, riffing Action Comics #252, makes me ready to read JLA 3001. Porter drawing Supergirl monthly will be a joy to see. The inside art is done by Timothy Green III. The art is slick and stylized. And while there are some brokeback moments for the exceedingly thin females in the issue, it isn't as nonstop as it was in issue #1. And, after thinking about it, I have decided I love how he draws hair, like a mess of prehensile tendrils.

Last issue we saw that Matrix was going after Ambush Bug and his teleportation technology, hoping that Lex can use it escape the planet. We start out with the Bug and Matrix hashing things out over a cup of coffee. The Bug definitely shatters the 4th wall, talking to the readers, knowing this is a comic book, and even producing a script at one point.

There is a running gag that Ambush Bug thinks Matrix smells like plaster, touching on her 'protoplasm' structure of the time. Matrix would often shift to a purple gloppy mess when injured at this time of her character.

As I said, Bug has some 'comic book knowledge' and seems to be able to tap into some of the nonsense.

He equates this meeting with something from a cheesy romance comic and for a second, the book shifts into that mode. Amazingly, it seems to actually happen in the book as Supergirl wonders what happened.

Silly I know. But I chortled here.

Bug teleports to the Kamandi world where he shares a pint with a rat and brags about his 'relationship' with Supergirl. The rat seems impressed until he learns it is only the 'Matrix Supergirl'. Does everyone know about the other realities?

Supergirl isn't happy about this and again tries to corral the Bug back to Lex.

Before that can happen, Lady Quark arrives. Her world has been pitted against Matrix's by Telos.

But here we have a little bit of that Supergirl intelligence. It is true that Telos said they needed to fight. But he didn't say when. The two of them have time before they throw down. They can investigate answers to escape ... like the Bug.

A brief truce is called.

Unfortunately before the Bug can be captured, he blips away again.

He ends up on the Extremist Earth briefly where chats with another hero, Louse-Man. He is a Spider-Man analog, bitten by radioactive lice. Again, a laugh.

But I also loved how Matrix and Quark are both squeamish around him. Who likes lice??

The end joke of this scene is truly funny. Louse-Man comments on how beautiful Matrix's hair is. Does he have a lice-like obsession with burrowing into hair?

And then we go on a quick tour around the DCU.

We end up on the Legion world at the time of Legion try-outs. Giffen has Matter-Eater Lad (a Giffen favorite) mock the applicants. And then Bug mocks him.

Giffen visiting this time, in this try-out setting, and including Tenzil felt right.

Then we head to the Futures End world. The Binky world.

Then they finally back to Matrix's Metropolis. It is actually a strategy by Ambush Bug. When they arrive, Quark is waiting. And Bug says that Supergirl forced him there to use his powers to escape alone.

Quark thinking that she has been double-crossed restarts the fight.

And then the moment that made the book for me, probably elevating it a full grade.

Lex, seeing the battle, calls Matrix a shape-shifting cretin. That is the last straw.

Kara pauses the fight and then, off-screen, apparently beats the tar out of him.

It is always a good moment when Matrix shrugs off the yoke of people who have been using her. After last issue, where she seemed meek in accepting his abuse, I loved seeing this. Loved it.

But with Lex battered, Matrix and Quark go back to brawling.

The book ends almost too quickly. Bug calls himself a stinker, a classic Bugs Bunny line, and walks away. Outside of the Luthor beatdown, there is no closure here.

After a rough first issue, I decided to throw sensibility away. This is a Giffen book. I should accept the zaniness and embrace it. Between the romance page, the Binky world, and the Lex beatdown, this was an upgrade from last month.  It showed Supergirl in a better light. And the art was engaging.

Overall grade: B/B+

Back Issue Box: Supergirl #16

The Convergence event for DC Comics is about a half a year away and one of the solicits that caught my attention was the Keith Giffen written issue starring  Matrix and Ambush Bug . I have some concerns about Giffen's approach to Supergirl and I know his love of Ambush Bug might make Supergirl the butt of any number of jokes and ploys.

But this won't be the first time Supergirl met Ambush Bug! They met way back in late 1983 in Supergirl #16.Writer Paul Kupperberg does his best to keep this a light-hearted story with Ambush Bug providing some yuks along the way. But also in this issue is one of the most bizarre villain plots I have read.

This is early Ambush Bug though, back when he was labeled a super-villain. Here he feels more like his daffy current self, trying to be a hero and generally annoying all who cross his path. It also is a time when his teleportation powers were limited by having a remote 'insect' drones somewhere to act as a receiver.

The art is done by the usual team on this book of penciller Carmine Infantino and inker Bob Oksner. I think Oksner cleans up this late Infantino work very well. But what intrigued me more is the cover by Giffen and Oksner. Giffen created Ambush Bug and so it is appropriate for his art here. But it is the pictures of Superman and Supergirl around Bug that grabbed my attention. They look like the character design art by Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez, or at least Giffen's version of them. Certainly the two of the 'floor' of the cover look very familiar.

"Bug-Out" starts with an elevated train derailing in Chicago forcing Supergirl to jump to the rescue.

I included this opening splash because I think the design is interesting. Supergirl is really a small element in this page, streaking in on the left side. The bulk of the page is the huge train plummeting onto tiny people and cars.

I think by positioning everything like this it makes the threat feel bigger. We know that Kryptonians are more powerful than a locomotive. But by keeping Supergirl small and by putting so many potential victims in the picture, the drama is ratcheted up a notch.

Throughout this book, initially Daring New Adventures of Supergirl and then just Supergirl, Paul Kupperberg has written Kara as being a bit more mature, a bit more assured of herself. We have seen her tell Superman that she is stepping out from his shadow. We have seen her be proactive, taking on Reactron and Blackstarr with confidence and maybe even an edge.

So it was weird to read this internal monologue here, Supergirl saying she is surprised sometimes at what she can do. That inside she still feels like 15 year old Kara on Argo City. Odd.

Maybe she is talking more about her personality or humility.

But if there is one thing I always applaud Kupperberg for it is setting up a true supporting cast in this book. And using them!

Here is a whole scene with Linda Danvers having lunch with her current beau (and Chicago Philharmonic conductor) Phil Decker. Supergirl ... in her secret identity ... having a conversation with a non-super human ... about everyday stuff. It is refreshing. These scenes make all the characters more three-dimensional and helped build up this relationship.

I don't need a whole issue of small talk. But this is great.

But wait ... doesn't this issue guest star Ambush Bug? Isn't he supposed to bug Supergirl?

Well, in a scene I don't cover, we see Ambush Bug escape from a prison transport. I think that might be one of the few times we see Bug without his costume. And using his tech, he blips to Chicago where he decides he'll stick around after he sees Supergirl fly by.

Of course, this being a slapstick issue, we see things such as pratfalls off skyscrapers.

And the Bug decides to turn over a new leaf and become a super-hero.

But rather than take on the big foes, he decides to start small with civic minor offenses.

So people who litter get throttled.

And people who smoke where it isn't allowed get frightened, battered, and eventually hog-tied.

Eventually the two cross paths ... but by chance.

Supergirl is tracking down her/Linda's missing boyfriend. First one of the philharmonics priceless Stradivarius violins has been stolen (one of many priceless instruments that has been pilfered across the nation). And then Phil has gone missing.

Now Ambush Bug is supposed to be addled and crazy. It is part of his charm. So here he confuses Supergirl with Superman! He assumes somehow that they are the same person and that something nefarious has both changed Superman and wiped his memory. That is crazy ... and maybe a little forced?

I love Supergirl's response here. She is busy. She doesn't have time for nonsense. So she asks him what he wants.

One thing worth mention is that page layouts in this comic are very well done including things like inset panels as seen above.

At least Supergirl remembers who Ambush Bug is. But he is annoying, and what she needs least of right now. In an interesting move, Supergirl decides Bug needs to be her priority. Even though he seems relatively harmless, he is an escaped convict with super-powers. There is more of that maturity.

Now remember way back in the intro of this review when I said there was a bizarre villain plot in this issue? Well here it is revealed.

Phil has been kidnapped by this unnamed man. This criminal has been the person stealing all the valuable and antique instruments all over the country. And here he has set all those instruments up ... in the hands of mannequins ... so he can hear how beautiful they sound. Completely insane!

And any mannequin orchestra needs a conductor to bring out their best and so this man kidnapped Phil. He wants Decker to conduct them ...

Now that is bizarre.

Luckily ... maybe serendipitously ... Ambush Bug leads Supergirl right there. Supergirl has been following the Bug all over town.

Within two panels Supergirl is able to bring this whole crazy adventure to an ends. First she disarms the kidnapper. Then she puts boxing gloves on Ambush Bug, interfering with his ability to move his fingers and activate his teleportation tech.

An mannequin orchestra? Boxing gloves put on at super-speed to stop a villain? This is one loony issue.

As the cops sort out the whole mess, Supergirl leaves and re-arrives as Linda to see that Phil is okay.

But the Bug has the last laugh. He recognizes that Linda is Supergirl! He now sort of knows her secret identity!

By the way, check out the next issue blurb! A new haircut for Supergirl! That's right! Linda's hairstyle remains the same but Supergirl's hair gets downright curly next issue!

Will the Convergence issue be as insane as this? Will Supergirl be portrayed as well as she was here? Time will tell.

Outside of Ambush Bug, there isn't much that makes this a key issue in Supergirl history.

Overall grade: B