Review: Justice League United #3

Justice League United #3 came out on Wednesday and continues to be one of the best comics that DC Comics is publishing right now. Writer Jeff Lemire and artist Mike McKone have been firing on all cylinders since this book started. There has been the perfect mix of action and characterization. There has been silver age homages and tones in the midst of new 52 dismemberments. And there has been a wonderful sense that these heroes, brought together by chance and just a short time ago, are actually acting like a team.

Good characterization. Heroes acting like heroes, acting like a team. Silver age goodness in a modern story. These are elements that is rare in DC titles these days. And so this is like delicious treat.

And I have to apologize to Jeff Lemire. When he was promoting the book before the first issue, he talked about Supergirl being an angry loner, the opposite of the bright optimistic Stargirl. I worried that he might be taking Supergirl back a couple of steps in the progress we have recently seen in her. So far, that hasn't happened. Kara might be fiery and passionate, but she has her heart in the right place here. And Lemire gives her some very big moments in this issue.

But she isn't alone. All the featured characters have great moments here. I am loving this book.

And Mike McKone continues to shine here, adding little flourishes to panels that add so much to the story. 

The main action of the book is in deep space, around Rann and Thanagar. But Lemire keeps us up to date with Equinox, the new character he is bringing to the book.

Last issue, she was captured by a shape-changing Whitago demon. In this issue we see her iced up like Luke Skywalker in the Wampa cave in Empire Strikes Back.

A vision of her Grandfather shows up saying he is 'one of the seven'. And he says she has the Whitago inside her. He then changes shape into the monster we saw earlier in this arc.

For me, I am pretty excited for this character. I feel like I don't know much about her right now. But I like diversity in comics. I like being exposed to new mythologies so learning about native Canadians will be great. And it sounds like their might be a darkness within her powers she'll need to control. That's always adds nice friction to a character.

Last issue ended with Ultra awakening and Byth's facility exploding. Luckily Sardath activated his Zeta technology to pluck the Leaguers out of the blast. But Lemire adds an interesting wrinkle. For one, the beam grabs Byth and Ultra as well as the heroes. And second, the beam is erratic taking some to Sardath's lab and sending some out into the Rannian desert. Given how quirky Sardath has been, this seems plausible.

We don't exactly know Ultra's powers are but he seems to be able to lash out with force energies. And he seems to just be lashing out. Here he actually strikes the Zeta generator, leading to even more insanity.

Great art here. You can feel the blast as Adam Strange and aliens get blown back.

Out in the desert, Green Arrow, Animal Man, Stargirl, Supergirl, and Martian Manhunter skirmish with Lobo who also was grabbed by the beam.

After initially being dropped by Lobo, Supergirl rises and retaliates. I love this moment. I like that Lemire at least references the Kara/Lobo history by her commenting on her hate for him. Secondly, it is great that Supergirl is the muscle here. Nice left hook knocking Lobo out of sight.

Prior to this punch, there is a funny moment between Animal Man and Green Arrow where Buddy verbally jabs Ollie about his power set. I think this relationship is going to be a fun part of the book.

This is more a J'Onn moment than a Supergirl moment but I thought it spoke volumes of how Lemire is going to treat Kara. Initially Supergirl is going to fly after Lobo to continue to pound him. But J'Onn reminds her that there is something bigger they need to take care of - Byth and Ultra. Supergirl needs to decide is she part of the team and part of the big mission? Or is she out for herself and revenge and violence?

She makes the right choice and joins the team. Hurrah!

But I also love the art here. Again, I always wonder if I am overreading things. But by putting the whole team in silhouette, it really cements the concept that they are one unit, a team. This panel could have been drawn many different ways. But by making them all equal in weight on the page, they are a team.

Sprinting to Sardath's headquarters, the team is united with Hawkman and Adam Strange. The Zeta generator being damaged has been wreaking some havoc. Adam and Alanna keep teleporting and switching places. And more, when they are together, they can't seem to survive.

I wonder if Lemire is setting up some sort of Ladyhawke relationship between Adam and Alanna. The are in love but can never be together. (Man, I am dating myself with my references.)

Sardath says the Zeta core is unstable and about to explode.

During the chaos, Byth grabs Ultra and escapes.

The Manhunter takes charge, splitting the team. He takes Supergirl, Stargirl, and Green Arrow with him to face Byth and Ultra. The rest will help with the core.

I love this moment. Initially Hawkman wants to join the fight with Byth but he is put in his place by J'Onn. It both shows the leadership of the Manhunter and how easily a soldier like Hawkman can be refocused by following orders.

I think J'Onn is going to be the tactical leader of the group. But I think Buddy is going to be the 'leader' of the team.

Approaching Byth and Ultra, Supergirl decides not to waste time with words and simply grabs Byth and flies off. It shows maybe a touch of impatience. Maybe a bit of feeling too invulnerable. But it also shows she is a young hero who maybe acts before she thinks. I thought it was perfect.

There is a great fight scene where Byth challenges Supergirl's resolve. He changes into her Red Lantern form, telling her she is filled with rage, and asking her to join him.

No such doing. In fact she is quite poetic as she rebukes him.

Great action. And I love that first panel with Supergirl just entangled and looking awkward.

Meanwhile, J'Onn tries to calm Ultra by entering the multi-alien's mind. Ultra is growing physically, now more like a toddler, and looking more chimeric like his Silver Age appearance.

But this moment where J'Onn says he will stop Byth from hurting Ultra, that he will help Ultra, is touching. Both telepathically and physically he hugs Ultra. It really shows the depths of the Manhunter, from brusque team leader to gentle empath.

Remember the Zeta Core is going critical and Hawkman decides the best way to save the city is to fly the thing as far away as possible. Unfortunately it explodes while still in his hands.

One last great Supergirl moment, all in 3 small panels.

Lobo comes and grabs Byth and two fly away. At the same moment, the core explodes. We see Supergirl see both events. She needs to decide what she is going to do. Is she going for the action? Or is she going to help?

She decides to help. Fantastic!

The issue ends with a great cliffhanger that I won't spoil here.

I can't help but reiterate how great I think this issue is. The characterization here is phenomenal. Supergirl and Martian Manhunter really get the spotlight (which is fine with me) but we see snippets of the others which are consistent and natural with their personalities. And it feels like this group would work together, despite how different they are. This feels like how a Justice League book should feel.

Add the new twists in Zeta tech, the Byth/Lobo team, the ongoing Equinox mystery, and some hard core action and this was completely satisfying.

Plus, Mike McKone and the whole art team of inkers and colorists really shine.

Overall grade: A+

Review: Justice League United #1

Justice League United #1 came out last week, the last of 6 issues from that week I needed to review. So I am a little late to the game. JLU will be on the review list because at some point Supergirl will join the team. We aren't there yet by writer Jeff Lemire is building the team slowly and showcasing some of the foundation of character interaction.

I definitely liked the zero issue of the book because I felt there wasn't the mean streak that I have seen in the New 52. These were heroes, brought together by chance, working together for good, with very little angst, paranoia, or negativism. Even the snarks between Green Arrow and Animal Man felt like good natured ribbing as opposed to anger or aloofness. As a result, it felt more like a Silver/Bronze age vibe dressed in modern sensibilities. That is definitely a compliment. I have talked about the mono-tone nature of the DCU. This book felt different.

For the most part, this issue continued that feel. Unfortunately there is a 100% New 52 nonsense moment in the middle of this book that it jarred me out of the story.  More on that soon.

Mike McKone continues to do a great job on this book. There is a slick clean feel to the book and McKone uses panel shapes and splashes to keep the reader engaged. Colorist Marcelo Maiolo uses the 'bright red' contrast background in this issue ... but maybe too much. I think it should be reserved for just 1-2 panels a book.

The plot is split between two sites. One is Canada where the earth bound heroes have stumbled across an alien genetic lab and are battling a monster. The other is Alana and Hawkman on a planet near Thanagar.

I have always liked the 'teammates by chance' origin stories in comics, heroes brought together at random to fight an enemy. Here we see some members of the JLA with Adam Strange and Animal Man coming together as a team.

The creature seems unstable ... enraged and mutable. Blasts of cosmic energy by Courtney change it from fire to stone to wind and wood. I couldn't help but wonder if its forms are a subtle homage to the Appelax meteor creatures in the original JLA origin.

This is one of those red panels that seems a bit excessive.

Within the battle, Adam Strange finds a closet of rocket-suits within the lab. And just like that we have Adam Strange, hero of Earth. Nice splash page showcasing him.

I don't know if I like the fact that this is simply a mass produced uniform as opposed to something more special. And at least Lemire has Strange struggle with using it at first. He shouldn't be able to simply strap this thing on and be spectacular flying.

J'onn attempts to link to the creatures mind and we get a glimpse into its tortured past.

This is another failed experiment in this lab. It is an unstable creature, flipping between forms. Prior failures have been 'disposed' by Lobo. But this one was kept alive, probably for a reason like this ... to release as a weapon/distraction.

I have to say, it made me feel bad for this thing.

Note, another red panel. Could this be worthy of the extreme coloring?

And then the New 52 happened.

On the other planet, Alana is leading a prisoner revolt. Amid that, Hawkman fights Lobo. And then ... gasp ... Lobo cuts off Hawkman's arm!

It seems to be a running theme in the new 52, especially recently, that characters get dismembered. It has become such a standard operating procedure that it is simply no longer shocking. In fact I find it either depressing or laughable. Is there a quota? Do we need a one-armed Hawkman?

This New 52 moment is so different than the tone of the rest of the book that it felt out of place.

I do suppose that if one panel was going to have the red background, this would be the one.

Back on Earth, the creature takes off and the heroes need to give chase.

One thing I like about this book, even in its short history, is the relationship between Buddy and Ollie. They snark and tease each other leading to a nice crackle between them. That is made even more powerful when thinking of Buddy's eulogy in Futures End. You know these pointed comments at one point become more friendly barbs.

I love just how embarrassed Ollie is at needing to be carried by Buddy. Fantastic.

In the issue, Courtney really gets a chance to shine. We have heard that Lemire wants her to be the bright optimistic face of the DC youth and she sure sounds it here.

Sent on ahead since her cosmic staff is the only thing to effect this thing, Courtney really wants to prove herself. I am a fan of young heroes trying to live up an ideal and learning the ropes. So my guess is I will like Courtney in this book.

Blasting it into several forms (a red-paneled close-up of her face each time), she finally makes it into wood. And J'onn shatters it into so much splinters.

I do like that Courtney hugs J'onn afterward. She wants him to be proud of her. She is thrilled he is okay.

McKone does a great job here in that first panel - J'onn stiff, his hands open while she clutches him. He is clearly uncomfortable.

I wonder how J'Onn fans feel about this unemotional, distant reaction. I will admit I haven't read enough of him in the New 52 to know if this is consistent.

And I suppose it could be that he was switching amongst elements. But we saw fire, wood, stone ... was I reaching with this Appelax meteor idea?

Turns out I was, but I might have been on the right track. On Twitter, Jeff Lemire said his inspiration was another old JLA villain, The Unimaginable.

And on the moon near Thanagar, Byth has changed shape to be Adam Strange to try to lure Alana into his clutches. And it works.

I love this panel as he reveals himself. This multi-pseudopodded tongue is completely evocative of how Tim Truman drew him in Hawkworld. That Byth was scary-creepy. So this was fantastic!

And finally we get to the heart of the matter, what Byth has been trying to create with all these experiments. He has wanted to create a slayer of worlds ... and he has with Ultra, the Multi-Alien!!

Oh my god! Ultra the Multi-Alien repurposed for the modern comics! I have said that there is this delicious fudge ripple of Silver Age embedded in this book. And is there anything more Silver Age-y than Ultra? This is inspired.

So no Supergirl but still a very entertaining, fun, and beautiful comic. If only that dis-arming didn't happen!

Overall grade: B/B+

Review: Justice League United #0

I am still catching up on last week's comics as it was a Supergirl and super-title heavy week. I will never complain about that.

The last book on the review pile is Justice League United #0, by writer Jeff Lemire and artist Mike McKone. I am thrilled that this book finally came out because I am sick of wondering about it. My brain was starting to hurt. I consider myself a Lemire fan, enjoyed his Animal Man and love his Green Arrow. The team make-up seems quirky enough to be a lot of fun and engaging. And the hints of the stories Lemire has given makes me think there will be a dash of cosmic and a hint of Silver Age to make this very pleasing.

All that said, his comments about the 'bull-headed loner' Supergirl who is the opposite of 'bright' has given me pause. It seems clear Supergirl is the dark foil to the sunny Stargirl and the inexperienced Equinox.

And so we get to the book itself. For an opening issue it does it's job, introducing us to the main characters and setting up a story with several decent hooks. Lemire also does a nice job revamping the origin of Adam Strange (at least what we see of it).

I have always like McKone's work. His style is clean and precise which works well here. He does get moodier and inkier at the right moments as well.

Lemire does a nice job bringing the reader into the book, dropping us into the middle of a fight in some eugenics lab outside of Thanagar. The battle scene ends with a nice cliffhanger, one of the baby aliens in this lab unleashing some devastating attack. It is a nice little technique to grab me. What is this place? How did these heroes get here? How did they team up? It makes me curious and wanting more.

Don't blink though or you'll miss Supergirl's part in this issue. She only appears in this scene, silent and battling.

We also meet the new Alanna, now a young person of color. Is she still from Rann? I hope so. Her origin is as crucial to Adam's story as his own.

Of course, we know have to answer those story questions. So we flashback 3 days to a super-hero convention in Canada where Animal Man and Stargirl are signing autographs. I wonder if this would actually happen ... conventions for heroes.

One of the people in line to meet the heroes is Adam Strange who asks for their help. He is an Anthropology professor and on a recent dig with Alanna she simple disappeared. For readers in the know, it sounds like Zeta beam technology.

The fact that Strange seems surprised by this makes me think his origin has been significantly tweaked. (I suppose he could be lying.)

I also chuckled a bit at the scene as it sounded a bit like a comic con. People are nervous. There are cosplayers. Others are angry when Adam talks to the two heroes for too long.

It also makes me think the security at these things is a little lax. Strange not only shows them an alien skull from the dig site. He also brings out a rather Kirby-ish looking device. This could have been a bomb! The device seems to self-activate in the presence of Courtney's staff, briefly teleporting them elsewhere.

It is enough to make the heroes agree they need to investigate.

I know I am the wrong demographic. But do we really need to update Adam Strange's origin?

Elsewhere in Canada we finally meet Miiyahbin (or Mii for short).

Walking into her home, she is confronted by someone begging her for help, to stop what is happening. He then transforms into a monster saying the Whitago is her. Threatened, she seems to activate her powers and blasts the thing. After a battle (where the thing morphs into a monstrous version of Equinox) it disappears leaving her home perfect.

There is very little about Whitago to research even on the internet!

But this scene is more mystery. We meet Mii and see her in action. But what are her powers exactly? What are the Whitago? Is this connected to the Strange story? I am intrigued.

And I like Equinox' costume more and more. It also has some Kirby elements to it. Feels cosmic.

Nearby, at the dig site, aliens appear out of the ground and end up attacking Courtney and Buddy.

It turns out that Courtney activated her old JLA communicator, asking for help. I forgot about that JLA. Green Arrow and J'Onn show up.

There is some nice friction between Ollie and Buddy. Each seems to enjoy teasing the other about the limits of their power sets. As someone who grew up with an ornery Ollie in the JLA, I don't mind this. It felt a little classic.

As I said before, the makeup of the team is a little quirky. Unlike the 'Big 7' all of whom are heavy hitters (you can decide yourself if Batman is a heavy hitter), this team has layers of abilities. So I liked how McKone shows how useful that is. Depite there being a cosmic weapon, someone with animal abilities, and a juggernaut telepath, it is only Ollie who notices tracks and fresh snow.

This leads to the discovery of an underground lab similar to the one we saw in the opening.

And then we get another wrinkle. They were planning on J'Onn arriving. The 'master' has something special for him. A huge flame spirit wraps J'Onn up and takes him out.

But this is clearly some big operation, preparing for specific heroes and multi-centered.

Hmmm. Lots to consider.

And it looks like some of these aliens costumes look similar in design and color to Equinox. Maybe I am reaching?

Then we learn who the master is. Byth is at the other lab, in the Thanagar sector. As an old school guy, I love that Byth is in the mix here. The shapeshifting alien has always been a classic Hawkman rogue. I wonder if he is making some genetic cocktail which will explain his power set.

But he discusses a 'birth' as well. Maybe that is the baby alien from the first scene?

But Byth! Hurrah!

The prisoners on this lab that Byth has been experimenting on are no longer needed. So Byth sends his 'main man' to eliminate them. That's right, the all-new Lobo is working for Byth and will do the wetwork.

Except one of the prisoners is Hawkman. Looks like we'll have a brawl!

I do like that Alanna, teleported there, seems to have been trying to organize a revolt. Nice!

Anyways, I always talk about what certain issues should do ... the first issue, the second to last issue of a big arc, etc. This issue did what a first issue should do. We have plenty of hooks to get me curious. I want to come back and see where this goes. And we have the players on the chess board.

Add to that the very polished art of McKone and this was a winner.

But what will Supergirl be like??

Overall grade: B+

Supergirl In RotWorld

I am always on the lookout for Supergirl appearances and cameos in the DCU and was surprised to find her in a couple of interesting places this last week.

I have been getting Animal Man since the relaunch and have found it to be as dark, twisted, and insane as it ever was under the Vertigo imprint. It has been something of a slow burn as the story of the war of the nature realms - the Red for animals, the Green for vegetation, and the Rot for the dead of both. Slowly the pieces have been moving to a confrontation and it looks like the Rotworld arc which starts here in Animal Man #13 is that finale of this first arc.

The Animal Man book has been doing a good job of riffing and interweaving some elements from the Morrison run which is never a bad thing.

In this issue, Animal Man finds himself flung a year into the future and during that lost time, the Rot has taken over the world. All living things have become infused with the evil of the Rot, becoming decomposing zombies serving the avatar of the Rot, Anton Arcane. Only 2 small strongholds for the Red and the Green exist, holding off the rest of the world.

In a flashback describing the Rot taking over the world, we see a zombified Supergirl (complete with decaying jaw and gnarled clawed hands) killing Batwoman.

So was this specifically in writer Jeff Lemire's script? Or did he give Steve Pugh some leeway scripting something generic like 'one zombie hero killing another'. And if so, did Pugh have a reason for picking Kara?

Why Supergirl?

The other end of the story, the fight the Green is bringing to the Rot is told in Swamp Thing #13. I have not been getting this book although I have heard great things about it. The elements of this book I have seen played out in Animal Man make me think writer Scott Snyder is also weaving some elements of Alan Moore's run into this book which is never a bad thing.

In much the same way, Swamp Thing has been flung into the future and hears about the takeover of the Rot. And, once again, in a flashback, we see Supergirl ... this time being possessed by the Rot rather than killing someone.

So I have the same questions here. Did Snyder's script say 'random hero taken over'? Or specifically mention Kara? And if he didn't specify her, why did artist Yanick Paquette pick her?

Why Supergirl?

Well, the glass half full Anj says it is to show how strong the Rot is. If it can take over someone as pure as Supergirl it has to be powerful. It is to shock the reader. When you see something as innocent as Supergirl corrupted, it means something.

But maybe that is too much of a Silver Age or Gates/Igle Supergirl concept for this DCnU.

The glass half empty Anj thinks that the understanding of DC is that Supergirl is the disinterested, isolated, 'Hell on Wheels' Supergirl and maybe that Supergirl would be the first to succumb to an evil force like the Rot (even if she hasn't been portrayed that way in her own book).

Now both books have other panels of characters fighting the Rot, but none so prominently displayed as Supergirl. I still find it curious that in both books, she is the one showcased as being a victim of the Rot's power.

I would love to ask both books creative teams about this.

And by the way, the overall story is quite good. If you were thinking of picking up either book this might be the right time.

The Rest Of My Week One DCnU Purchases

I figured I would comment on my pull list/purchasing decisions for at least the first month of the 'new 52'. Things are in flux and I have to decide who stays on the long haul', the 'short term' and the 'better grab me' lists. These won't be in depth reviews, more broad strokes.

As I said before, I was a fan of the Morrison, Milligan, and Delano runs on the old Animal Man book. I also enjoyed Jeff Lemire's weird take on Superboy. When I read that this new Animal Man would be something of a horror book, I put it on my 'short term' list.

While I don't know if this issue really floored me, it certainly showed a lot of promise, laying down a lot of mystery while showcasing who Buddy Baker is, who his family is. There is enough weirdness going on that I think this book stays on the 'short term' list. I definitely want to read the next issues to see where all this is going.

The one thing that I thought was lacking here was the art. Travel Foreman's work is so sparse in places it looks unfinished. The lack of backgrounds at times was jarring. While there is some interesting panel construction (like above), I thought the art sort of detracted from the book.

Initial placement: 'short term'
Verdict: On board for now

The beauty of a 'buy 4 DC #1's get one free' promotion at my local comic store was that I was able to pick a book I wasn't intending on reading and give it a shot.

As someone who thinks that the loss of Oracle is the biggest travesty of the DCnU (as well as someone who thought Miller's Steph Brown Batgirl was a fantastic comic), I was planning on staying as far away from Batgirl as possible.

Then I read on line some positive comments and since it was 'free' I figured I'd give it a shot.


Gail Simone has a nice understanding of the Barbara Gordon character and her comments of feeling alive again and feeling lucky in combat ring true. But the other aspects of the book, the PTSD piece of Babs persona now, the goofy roommate, the inconsistent caption boxes (sometimes dialogue, sometimes internal monologue) took away from the book.

Some of the dialogue is a bit heavy handed, like here where Babs comments 'he pointed his gun at my spine and I froze!'

The art from Ardian Syaf really is slick, detailed and dramatic, it was the best thing of the book.

Initial placement: Not buying
Verdict: I think I am going to buy one more issue and make a decision. My gut tells me I am going to drop it.

Justice League International was really the comic I was on the fence of buying. As I said before, I am not a big Booster fan. It was really going to take something special by Aaron Lopresti to get me to keep coming.

And Lopresti's art is as beautiful as I thought it was going to be.

But this first issue didn't do much more than that to grab me. We see how the UN has decided to form their own super-hero team, not necessarily based on power or chemistry. Instead, it seems like the team was picked to appease political pressures as well as to heroes easily controlled.

Guy isn't happy. Booster wants to be leader but doesn't seem in control. And Godiva is a saucy lass.

Despite Lopresti' work, nothing about this team or their dynamics interested me. I am not surprised.

Initial placement: 'Better grab me'
Verdict: Not grabbed. One and done.

Other people have recommended other titles I didn't try: OMAC, Swamp Thing, and Detective (long sold out at my LCS). We'll see if I decide to pick anything else up from last week.

Streaky In Grant Morrison's Animal Man

I have mentioned plenty of Streaky sightings on this blog over the course of the years. I am surprised that I hadn't posted this one before, a sighting I was reminded about recently.

In Grant Morrison's fantastic run on Animal Man, the multiple tweaked origins of Buddy Baker are explored, including some great fourth wall busting scenes where he comes to realize he might be a character in a comic book.

Part of the conclusion of Morrison's run was a showdown in Arkham Asylum where the Psycho Pirate is letting all the DC characters in limbo as well as some new incarnations of classic characters spill into continuity.

One of the first characters to materialize is Streaky. Here he is just forming from the mist, so I guess I can forgive the colorist showing him as a gray cat. As he 'streaks' away, we see the more classic orange hue complete with yellow lightning bolt.

I also love the original Owl Man, sort of phased out, trying to convince himself he exists.

Later we see Streaky taking matters into his own paws when it comes to dinner, burning open some cat food with his heat vision. It is this sort of craziness in the midst of some heavier metatextual stuff that makes me love Morrison's work.

Anyways, I could go on forever about Morrison's Animal Man. At one point all the characters realize they are ... well ... characters and try to break out of the book into the 'real world'.

This is just a small sample of that part of the story, Ultraman feeling a panel's edge and pushing through it.

Morrison's Animal Man run is collected in three trades and just mind-bending fantastic stuff. And you can't go wrong with Streaky getting some screen time.

For a more recent story where Morrison broke the fourth wall, I would highly recommend his Seven Soldiers:Zatanna mini-series which includes this fabulous ending. For a more in-depth look at this ending, I wrote about it on the DC Bloodlines blog here: http://dcbloodlines.blogspot.com/2011/07/grant-morrison-breaking-4th-wall.html

Will there be a Streaky in the DCnU? My instinct tells me 'no'.

Grant Morrison on Final Crisis and Supergirl

There is a fabulous interview with Grant Morrison on ign.com in which he talks about Final Crisis, his story writing style, and Batman. As a Morrison geek, I highly highly recommend reading the whole thing so you can get an idea of how Morrison approaches writing and certain characters.

Here is the link: http://comics.ign.com/articles/902/902992p1.html . It is a long interview, a whopping 6 pages long, and makes me jealous of the interviewer who must have had 20-30 minutes to just talk to Morrison about comics. I would love to just have a pint with Morrison and just talk comics with him. My buddy paid $200 at last year's New York Comicon to have a 10 minute conversation and get 3 books signed. I wish I had my buddy's disposable income!

Anyways, I am rambling in a fanboy way.

After discussing Final Crisis and his proposed reboot/rethinking of Aquaman, Morrison gets asked specifically about Supergirl. Here it is:

IGN Comics: And what about Supergirl? She's had a lot of trouble connecting with readers since her return a couple years back. How do you plan on making her work in the story?

Morrison: Well as far as I'm concerned, I have her in Final Crisis to fight Mary Marvel. That's the main thing she's in there for. [laughs] But I know that Geoff and James Robinson have a big role for her in the Superman books. So I don't want to get into anything they might be up to with the character, because I don't actually know.

My take was inspired by a really nice story in the DC Bizarro anthology - you know, the one where they brought in a lot of alternative comics people in to tell DC superhero stories. And there's some really brilliant stuff in there. There was a great story with Supergirl, written by Dylan Horrock with art by Jessica Abel, I believe. And just the way they presented it, it was really sort of childlike and charming, like a story for a ten year-old girl. I thought it was a great way of doing the character. There's one panel where she's standing there painting a landscape, and she's got all this cool stuff in her room. And I suddenly thought there's something that maybe we can play up here with Supergirl, the idea of her being really creative and into all kinds of stuff. So we see her room, and she's playing the guitar, and she's got a sewing machine, and a laptop and she's got all these designs for new costumes, and she paints and draws and likes to make things and learn things.

It was my way of visually filling in backstory in a way that made her slightly more appealing, because they haven't really gotten a handle on her over the years. They've tried to do her as this bratty teenage girl, and then they tried to do her like a nice teenage girl. And I just thought, let's think what a real super-powered teenager might be like with that Kryptonian brain. I just figured she'd get bored easily and be into a lot of different stuff, and would be really well read and witty, and cool and self-assured as a result. And that's already a more appealing take on Supergirl. So the idea in Final Crisis was to present her as that cool, kind of switched-on, connected young girl up against Mary Marvel, the insane, threatening, f**ked-up, shaved-Britney girl. And let them fight it out.

Well what can I say? That was just about as great a response as you can get. Of course on this blog we have already talked about how great that panel of her apartment was, how it spoke more about Kara's personality that most of her current title. That panel alone remonded me of why I have loved this character for so long. Nothing in Morrison's comics is there by accident. He thought about her needing to stay busy because of her Kryptonian mind and so has her dabbling in the arts and probably told JG Jones to draw in the guitar, the easel, the sewing machine, etc.

And he thinks Supergirl should be well-read and witty, cool and self-assured. Isn't that better than the angst-ridden, short-fused, arrogant, self-centered girl we saw in Loeb and Kelly's run. That's even better than the heroic, learning, determined Puckett Kara, a version I liked.

Lastly, he now sets her up as what a super girl should be, setting her against everything they should not be encapsulated in the Female Fury Mary Marvel. (sigh) Final Crisis #6 can't get here fast enough.

Now I know that not everyone is a Grant Morrison fan, but I have been since way back in his Doom Patrol and Animal Man stuff. He can be maddening sometimes with his nonlinear style of writing. Sometimes his stuff can be inscrutable. I freely admit that I did not understand Seaguy, The Filth, or much of The Invisibles. While I could follow the individual mini-series in Seven Soldiers, I get the sense I missed many of the connecting threads and came away from the actual Seven Soldiers issues feeling a bit confused.

All that said, even when I haven't followed everything perfectly, the issues themselves were interesting and thought provoking.



The thing is, he can do more mainstream straight-forward super-hero fare. His JLA run was absolutely spectacular and included mega-stories like Rock of Ages and World War III, both of which had many characters even outside of the JLA roster and seemed like cross-over events when read. He even got me to buy a couple of years of XMen, a group of characters which have never caught on with me.

The problem that some people seem to have with Final Crisis is that it is hard to follow, that so much is unsaid, or happens off-screen, or is hinted at but not explained. The other knock is that without an encyclopedic knowledge of the DCU, and coupled with his writing style, no newer reader could ever follow this.




I think much of the first complaint is done purposefully. Part of the scariness of Final Crisis is that there is a sense of doom, a sense of an impending apocalypse. The heroes can sense it. But they don't know who the threat is, where it is coming from, when it is happening. So for me, when we simply get quick glimpses of things that are happening around the universe, I get a sense of what the heroes are thinking. I can see a lot of puzzle pieces but I don't even know what the picture is. Things are slowly coming into focus over the first 3 issues, but by the time I even have a grasp of the big picture plot by Darkseid it's too late; evil has already won. I have really liked Final Crisis, but given the rancor on the web I get the sense I am in the minority.

I often got that sense of impending disaster, of larger threats, in Doom Patrol.



It might not be an easy read ... but since when is that mandatory? As intelligent readers, we should be able to piece this together. And this isn't random comic poetry like how The Invisibles or The Filth read.

As for the new reader knock, I think the same argument could be made about any cross-over. Would a brand new reader be able to pick up and fully comprehend Crisis on Infinite Earths? Infinite Crisis? House of M? Secret Invasion?

Enough from this Morrison apologist. The bottom line is I love everything he had to say about Supergirl. He wanted to make her more appealing, and it looks like he will!