2022 In Review: Best Of Supergirl Honorable Mentions And Non-Comic Stuff

Welcome to day 1 of 3 of my end of year review about Supergirl and the site. 

What a difference a year makes! 

Look back at last year's review (here and here),  you'll be reminded that 2021 was a tough year for Supergirl. The television show was canceled. The main book was Supergirl Woman of Tomorrow, a comic that was beautifully rendered but was a terrible take on the character. 

This year, I got to read two comic books that featured a Supergirl that I truly wanted to read. Mark Waid's Batman/Superman World's Finest showcases a wonderful Supergirl, a strong, pro-active. competent, bright, and caring. We also get to read a Supergirl in Phillip Kennedy Johnson's Action Comics, where Kara is a leader within the El family, a voice in the room, and again a competent hero. Two books!!

Add to that, Supergirl plays an important role in DC Vs. Vampires book. She was a wonderful addition in the World Of Krypton mini-series as well. 

That's a lot of solid Supergirl in 2022. I cannot complain.

I'll say that I hoped she would play a bigger role in Dark Crisis, although her last minute stepping in for Mary Marvel made it unlikely. Also given the muddle nature of that book, it is probably a blessing.

And I'll say up front that I did not include Zala, the Kara analogue in Dark Knights of Steel in this review because technically it isn't our Supergirl. 

Okay, now some business. This will be a three day review because I want to make sure I give all the top ten moments some space to breathe. Today I'll review some non-comic stuff as well as the honorable mentions. Then over the next two days I'll count down the best of the best.

On to the year review!

Wicked Comic Con Wrap-Up and Ben Templesmith Commission

This last Saturday I went to the inaugural Wicked Comic Con at the Westin Seaport in Boston.

I had a blast.

This show was put together by some of the organizers of the original Boston Comic Con and definitely had a 'primarily a comic show' feel to it. As such, I felt completely at home. I went armed with a heavy backpack filled with books to be signed by the great creative roster at the show and with the hopes of maybe landing a commission or a key book. 

I definitely had a budget I had to keep to and I had not set up any commission beforehand. So this was something of an old-fashioned crap shoot with me heading to the tables of creators I was hoping to get a sketch from without knowing if they were sketching or how much one would cost. 

But I don't want to underplay just how great it was to head to a comic show, meet some creators and talk about their works, and just browse. I'm very thankful.

On to some of the specifics!

Review: Batman/Superman: The Authority #1

The Batman/Superman title may have been canceled but DC Comics has given us one more bite at the apple with the Batman/Superman Authority Special #1 which came out last week.

I suppose it serves any number of purposes. The Warworld Saga is about to start in the pages of Action Comics and this acts as a bit of an hors d'oeuvre for that. With Batman prominently displayed on the cover, I bet DC is hoping fans of the Dark Knight might pick this up and get intrigued with the Warworld arc and head over. The Superman and the Authority mini series also just wrapped up. While that seemed very trippy and self-contained, it did indeed lead here. So maybe DC is also hoping that folks who enjoyed that title and are mulling over reading Action Comics might also give this a try and get hooked. 

But specials like this usually don't figure into the main plots they are teasing in a major way. So as a stand alone story, they better be worth it. Luckily, this one fits the bill. Outside of one significant 'how did that happen' moment at the end, this is a pretty interesting tale which hints at being a prologue of its own.

Writer Philip Kennedy Johnson has already shown a deft touch for creating potential families for major characters having given us the House of El lineage. Here he gives us the Dark Universe evil progeny of a major DC character that needs to be foiled by the World's Finest and the Authority. This plot grabbed me more than I thought it would. (I have avoided Metal and Dark Universe stuff as much as I can.) In particular, the Batman and Midnighter moments stand out.

And given this is a story told in two universe, we have two very different artists. Ben Templesmith brings his unusual style to the Dark Universe proceedings with a nice dark palette of murky colors. Trevor Hairsine does the work in the main universe. The contrast works very well.

On to the particulars.