Even More More Convergence

DC just announced week 4 of the Convergence event meaning we know everything coming out that month. We know the titles. And, as usual, some of the titles announced are intriguing to a veteran reader like me. This week is all pre-Crisis universes. The titles were announced over the web but Newsarama has all the solicits here: http://www.newsarama.com/22861-dc-s-convergence-week-four-pre-crisis-multiverse-is-back-baby.html

For the first time, there is no book starring Supergirl. But as I said, there are a couple that look like fun.

ACTION COMICS
Writer: Justin Gray
Artists: Claude St-Aubin and Sean Parsons
Colorist: Lovern Kindzierski
Superman teams up with Power Girl, but can they stop a nuclear strike from Lex Luthor and Stalin of Red Son Moscow?

Nothing like some old-fashioned Earth-2 fun between Kal-L and Kara Zor-L. I especially like the original scoop neck shirt on Power Girl. And seeing the Daily Star building always brings a smile.

I like Justin Gray's work and Claude St. Aubin was strong on R.E.B.E.L.S. so this one sounds good all around.

SHAZAM
Writer: Jeff Parker
Artist: Evan “Doc” Shaner
Colorist: Jordie Bellaire
It’s Shazam versus Steampunk, as the world of Gotham By Gaslight takes on the Captain Marvel family and friends.

This book, featuring the Marvel Family, is the Convergence book I am most excited about. Parker, Shaner, and Bellaire are killing it on Flash Gordon right now so I can't wait to see their take on these characters. And seeing an old-school Marvel Family is great. I am a big fan of Captain Marvel Jr!

DETECTIVE COMICS
Writer: Len Wein
Artists: Denys Cowan and Bill Sienkiewicz
Colorist: Felix Serrano
Helena Wayne and Dick Grayson fight side by side in memory of Bruce Wayne as they decide who will become the next Batman. 

Lastly, while I am not a huge Bat-family reader, I am a Huntress fan. So seeing this Helena Wayne is fantastic. And Len Wein is writing! Perfect. But as a fan of the O'Neil Question book, I think the Cowan/Sienkiewicz art team is going to shine!

Superman Vs. Shazam Trade

Last week I splurged a bit and bought the Superman vs. Shazam trade which came out.

Boy am I glad I did!

There are several stories in the book including a wonderful DC Comics Presents 2-parter which ends with Hoppy the Marvel Bunny punching out King Kull. That is a beloved story from my youth.

But the main story is a reprint from a 1978 treasury comic called (of course) Superman vs. Shazam. I vaguely remember reading this story as a kid, actually borrowing it from a friend. But that means that I hadn't read it in about three decades, so it read as new.

What is amazing for me, something I had completely forgotten, is that while the two title characters slug it out for the majority of the story, Supergirl and Mary Marvel are the real heroes of the book. While the story is pretty wonky and full of holes, there is no denying that Mary and Kara are the stars.

The story, written by Gerry Conway with art by Rich Buckler and Dick Giordano, has a martian sorcerer/scientist Karmang trying to resurrect his people (which he accidentally killed eons ago) through science. But the only way he can get the energy to achieve that goal is to destroy Earth 1 and Earth S. (Sounds surprisingly like H'El's current plot). Karmang recruits (through torture) Black Adam and Quarrmer, the Sand Superman to act as agents. Adam, dressed as Captain Marvel, attacks Superman. The Sand Superman (as Superman) attacks Captain Marvel. And the true heroes are struck with a 'judgment ray' which makes Cap and Superman enraged and hope to kill each other. Meanwhile, devices are placed on the Earths drawing them together.

Get all that?

But let's highlight some Supergirl moments.

First off, when Black Adam first attacks (in disguise) Superman calls on Supergirl for help. Imagine that!!

And Supergirl? She accepts her responsibilities without question or concern. She too is a hero!

What a microcosm of what I would love to see in the DCnU. Supergirl has her own life. But loves her cousin and helps him when needed. She understands she is a hero. Fantastic!

Meanwhile, Mary helps Captain Marvel fight the Superman imposter.

When the action moves to Earth 1, Mary follows. And suddenly Mary and Kara realize that their out of control relatives have been duped, attacked by the imposters. And they also realize that Superman and Captain Marvel aren't in their right mind.

I love the fact that Mary and Kara are the voices of reason here. They don't immediately attack each other, instead talking it out. They are intelligent, figuring out who the imposters are. And they devise a plan.

And I love ... LOVE ... that Quarrmer is here. Sand Superman is one of my favorite little known characters. Heck, it's my avatar here! Even here he is forced into working for Karmang who threatened to destroy Quarrmer's dimension if he didn't help in the scheme. In the end, he helps out Mary and Supergirl.

Of course, at this point, Supergirl and Mary don't realize that Karmang is pulling the strings, so instead they go after the other villains.

Supergirl tracks down Black Adam in Egypt. He is trying to steal the Earth 1 version of the Ibistick from the pyramids. Supergirl quickly turns the tables, grabbing the stick and using it to activate the magic lightning which turns Black Adam back into Teth-Adam.

Nice use of powers and smarts on Supergirl's part (even if it is a weird and easy fight). But I love how strong she is in the last panel!

Apologies for crummy scan.

With the info gleaned from Adam and Quarrmer, Supergirl and Mary take off for Mars to fight Karmang. Since his powers are more magic than technology, Mary takes the lead in the attacks. Meanwhile, Supergirl uses some mental chicanery to trick Karmang into revealing how to defeat him.

And just like that, with the press of a button, Karmang is flung into limbo, Superman and Captain Marvel stop fighting, and two Earths are saved.

So just let me reiterate here.

Superman and Captain Marvel spend the bulk of the story out of their minds and fighting each other. Meanwhile, Supergirl and Mary Marvel fight the bad guys, learn the underlying plot, take the fight to the boss, and save two universes.

Fantastic!

In an interesting side plot, Mary is quite smitten with Superman and basically throws herself into his arms. Supergirl decides to show her how foolish it looks by doing the same to Captain Marvel. Embarrassed by the revelation, the group simply laughs.

But look, they part as friends!

So no doubt this is a nutty story. But it is amazing and wonderful that Supergirl and Mary Marvel carry the story and are the real heroes here.

I will add that I love Rich Buckler's Supergirl so I find the art very pleasing here.

But mostly, I love the characterization of Supergirl here as a hero willing to risk it all to save the universe. I love that she is the first person Superman calls when he needs help. And I love that she answers without question.  I can only hope that this sort of characterization returns.

Review: Justice League: Cry For Justice #6

Talk about feast or famine. Last week, no super-title came out at all. This week there are 5 books! Supergirl, Superman, World's Finest, Superman Secret Origin, and Justice League: Cry For Justice all came out.

With Supergirl #49 being a bit spoiler-iffic, I figured I would wait a day to review that issue.

And so, let's start this review heavy week with Justice League:Cry for Justice #6. I can't believe there is only one more issue in this mini-series! It seems like it has been on the DC radar screen for almost 2 years. Delays have dogged this book.

Surprisingly, the significant delays haven't been significant enough to allow Mauro Cascioli the time to complete the series. This issue's art is done by Scott Clark. I simply don't know what to say anymore about creators and deadlines. As it was, this book's release was postponed for an inordinate amount of time to allow Cascioli time enough to get on top of the book. And yet, here we are with a guest artist. This storyline takes place before Blackest Night! And that book might finish before this one! Am I being too sour as a fan?

Clark's work is nice although not as polished as Cascioli's. In fact, when I read the book the first time, I thought it was still Cascioli ... just rushed. It looks a little rougher than the earlier work on this book. It was only on second look that I saw Clark's name on the cover.

From a writing point of view, I thought this was one of the stronger issues of the book. I don't know if that is faint praise. Mostly, I think Robinson did a good job of showing how cunning a foe Prometheus is.

Remember last issue ended with Supergirl squaring off against Captain Marvel. The book opens with Supergirl showing how she figured out who was the real villain here.

First off, Supergirl realizes that the 'shield made from magic lightning' Freddy made to deflect Prometheus' Clayface bomb (a power I questioned when it happened) would have fried her if it was truly magical. Secondly, Captain Marvel figured out everything too quickly ... too neatly. And it always seemed to lead the group to one place, the JLA satellite.

But most importantly, Supergirl realized that somewhere along the way Freddy said the word 'Shazam' and didn't change. It all adds up to one thing, Freddy is Prometheus.

I like that Robinson had Supergirl be the one to figure the whole thing out (albeit a little too late). I also thought that Supergirl falling for someone who turns out to be the villain played off of many similar stories from the Silver Age. At least this time she realized it before the reveal. She even sounds confident as she asks how Prometheus plans to eliminate her.

It turns out he is prepared for dealing with a Kryptonian. He has a 'magic bullet', a casing forged from Olympian metals. It might only be a shoulder wound, but it dispatches Supergirl for the rest of the issue.

I don't know off the top of my head if Olympian metals alone resonate enough magic to do this. But it shows some advanced planning on Prometheus' part.

In fact the next several pages show exactly how prepared Prometheus is as he wades through pretty much every JLA member.

It is a decent sequence showing how his computer analyzes the threat and then feeds him the best option. He takes out Zatanna's ability to speak, Plastic Man's ability to control his molecules, etc.

And it isn't only having the right weapon for the right hero, it's also having the battle technique. Here I like how he deflected Dr. Light's beam the appropriate angle to eliminate the Guardian. He does something similar to take out Hawkgirl.

He takes out Hal Jordan by weakening his will enough to grenade him.

He even turns the table on the Atom.

When Palmer tries the 'sinus headache' attack, Prometheus' nanobyte defenses turns the table.

I thought this was a pretty gripping panel with parts of the Atom shrunk and other expanded. That just looks painful.

Hawkman, Starman, Firestorm, Starfire, Green Arrow, Jay Garrick, The Shade ... they all fall.

So it is clear that Prometheus is prepared. This really reminded me of the Prometheus we saw in Morrison's JLA, the Prometheus who almost took out the JLA singlehandedly.


He didn't do enough to take out Donna Troy though however.

He had crucified her to a wall earlier but she has the resolve to pull herself off the wall and go after him. She then viciously batters him, coming close to killing him. I would say this was absolutely gratuitously bloody but this is nothing compared to the Red Arrow maiming panel from last issue.

I do like that it is Donna who ultimately defeats him. It would be too easy to have one of the big names be the hero. I always like it when one of the less famous heroes in team books gets some attention. I think it would be less interesting to have someone like Green Lantern save the day. We have seen that so many times already.

Shackled to a chair, Prometheus begins to monologue about his plan.

Rather than destroy the heroes' home cities, he would teleport the cities into other times, spaces, dimensions. In this way, he did not kill the citizens, merely displaced them. The heroes would be perplexed and devastated that they could never find their people.

It is an interesting plan, focusing on the mental weakness of the heroes. But it seemed kind of flat after all the build up over the title. This was his plan? To cause the heroes mental anguish? I know there would be millions of lost people ... but he wants to hurt the heroes feelings?

This was his master stroke? Wouldn't it be better to just kill the heroes?



I did like that his monologue was only buying him time to have his master stroke actually commence. This panel reminded me a bit of Ozymandias telling Nite Owl that he wouldn't tell his master plan if he hadn't already triggered it. I know ... how could I mention Watchmen in the same sentence as Cry For Justice.

With the plan in play, Prometheus starts to bargain for his freedom. He'll turn off the device if the League lets him free.

Will the League make a deal with a terrorist? Remember, this was the team that tortured people for information earlier on in the book. Will they simply let him free? Green Arrow, often the liberal voice of the JLA, demands that they not free him. It will be interesting to see where the political pendulum of this group swings.

But Prometheus has one more surprise ...

To prove that his device is active, Star City has started to be teleported away. I like the picture here with skyscrapers being ripped apart. Looks like something from a disaster movie.

I think just about everything that can be said about this title has already been said. At times the dialogue is stiff. The art can be beautiful. The action is good but can veer towards the gruesome. The book is late and now had a guest artist. A guest artist in a 7 issue miniseries!?

But as a fan of Prometheus, I did enjoy this issue's portrayal of him as he casually walked through the gauntlet of the League. Even if the plan seemed a little off, he did seem cool and calculated here.

Lastly, I was hoping that some of the text piece in this issue would be about Supergirl. Instead Robinson talks about Jay Garrick and Batwoman. I think Batwoman appeared in a handful of panels in this book.

One more issue in this series which I will have to sift into the DCU timeline. How outrageous will it be?

Overall grade: C+

Review: Cry For Justice #5

It was a very busy week for the Super-titles with four books coming out on Wednesday. World's Finest, Superman, Superman Secret Origin, and Justice League Cry For Justice all came out. It was a difficult choice deciding which title to review first. And while I feel that Superman Secret Origin was the best of the lot, Cry For Justice #5 had a couple of big moments which made me decide to review it first.

Of course, as a Supergirl fan, I have been interested in reading about her growing relationship with Captain Marvel. It has been a while since Kara had a legitimate love interest and Freddy seems like a natural fit. So when I saw the cover for this issue, I thought that their relationship would go from one of coy flirting to something more significant.

Unfortunately, this is the classic "tease cover" since this kiss does not happen within the book.

As has been the case throughout this miniseries, James Robinson's script has a few odd and off-putting moments in it. It is as though he feels that some moments that could be played in a quiet manner need to be exploded into something super-dramatic.

And, as has also been the case throughout, Mauro Cascioli's artwork is unbelievably spectacular. One thing that bothers me somewhat is that he seems to favor two body types: overly muscular men and very sexy women. Almost every man has 20 inch biceps. And while his artwork nears cheesecake at times, it is lovely to look at.

The issue opens with Congorilla and Starman visiting Animal Man's house. Congorilla had teamed with Buddy in the past when they were part of the Forgotten Heroes. Knowing that Prometheus is planning something so huge and realizing that his trail had gone cold, Bill turns to Animal Man to see if he and Starman can get some help.

As luck would have it, they arrive at the house on the same day that Starfire and Donna Troy are visiting and frolicking by the pool. I do like that Robinson is acknowledging the fact that Starfire and Buddy have a special relationship given the time they were alone together in space in 52.

The poolside scene seems like a convenient excuse to let Cascioli paint the two Titans in their bathing suits. That said, there was nothing overly sexual or prurient in their positioning or this scene. They look the way two beautiful women would look at the beach. I applaud Cascioli for this. I can only imagine how this scene would have looked if someone like Ed Benes did this book.

When Congorilla explains what he has uncovered, the decision is made to go straight to the JLA.

Hal and Ollie also realize that their group needs help with this Prometheus plot. So they decide to go to the JLA for help. The current JLA agree to helps this splinter group.

Supergirl is definitely painted quite lovely in this miniseries. But her dialogue is so wooden. Remember in an earlier issue she said "I'm not bad. I'm good." Here she gets to say the awful line "Yeah, plus he's gotten his hands on weaponry and science." Supergirl being in this book is the dreaded double-edged sword. I am glad that Supergirl is represented here as it exposes her to new readers. And from an action point of view, she actually has been shown to be quite strong. But that dialogue... yeesh.

Anyways, the actual JLA has also noted that something isn't quite right. They have noted that some super villains are acting strangely. They are attacking different cities and different heroes. The Justice League has wondered if there is an underlying pattern.

During this discussion, we finally get a Batwoman sighting. I had forgotten that she was supposed to be featured in this miniseries.

She joins the discussion saying that she stopped a super villain named Endless Winter in Gotham. Unfortunately, before this 'Killer Frost wannabe' could answer any questions, she was killed from afar with a Suicide Squad embedded brain bomb.

I guess that Batwoman telling Supergirl that she saw the Cry For Justice group in Gotham but was not seen gives her a little bit of street credibility. She is that good.

As reports of B-list superheroes fighting C-list super villains pour into the satellite, one catches everybody's attention.

The Guardian has stopped a villain named Plunder from setting up a device in Metropolis. As this whole plot involves super-technology, the JLA decides to bring the machine on board for further study.

The League's scientists decide that the machine is a massive teleporter that could dump a large area, even city sized, anywhere in time, space, or other dimensions. But it would require a massive amount of energy and computer power to work.

Hmmmm ....

Where do you think Prometheus will find that amount of energy and computer technology? Maybe on the JLA satellite? It seemed to me almost immediately that the Justice league are getting played here. They are bringing the big weapon to the only place it would work ... their own headquarters.

And as if to pick at a scab that was just healing, we get to see another headless Supergirl body shot.

While this huge conspiracy of super villains is being uncovered, Robinson decides to show us the more human side of being a superhero.

He shows that Black Canary is still hurt by the fact that Green Arrow left with Hal. She feels betrayed by him.

He retorts by telling her how productive his group was. His group actually caught a number of villains. Still, she seems stung by the whole incident, even more so when he reveals that he would not have come back if not for the Prometheus plot.

It does seem like an odd time to begin this discussion but I suppose that if Dinah is hurting that much, she would bring it up then.

Before the conversation can continue however, Animal Man arrives with Congorilla, Starman, Starfire, and Donna Troy. Almost immediately, Congorilla smells something he doesn't like it goes off. At the same time, Supergirl has gone off looking for Captain Marvel who has gone missing.

Unfortunately, while Supergirl noted Freddy's disappearance a few pages earlier, he is shown in the middle of a group shot right after animal Man arrives with his comrades. It is those small gaffes that bother me.

Supergirl and Congorilla meet up in the hallway and join together in their hunt.

There was really no reason to post to this panel other than to show how fantastic Cascioli's Supergirl is.

Unfortunately, before they find Captain Marvel or whoever Congorilla sensed, they come across Red Arrow whose arm has been ripped off!!!

Well I have to say that this was a big surprise. Grisly. Shocking. Almost unbelievable. And I suppose that is what Robinson was hoping for. It certainly grabbed my attention.

Of course after that initial shock, the continuity nerd in me took over. I am trying to figure out exactly where this miniseries takes place. It is after Final Crisis. It is obviously before Blackest Night as multiple people who have been killed there are present in this story. So now I'm trying to remember if I have seen Red Arrow with a robot arm or no arm in Blackest Night. I know... I know... I shouldn't be so hung up on things like that.

Still, it was a shocking moment ... a good moment in this book.

Congorilla makes sure that the two heroes stabilize Roy before tracking down whoever did this to him. Kara quickly cauterizes his arm with her heat vision.

Bill lets out a loud battle cry and that you take off. His scream alerts the rest of the League that something has happened. They go to investigate and come across Roy's body.

This is where one of those odd moments really took away from the issue.

When Ollie discovers the body, he is obviously distraught. He clutches the body and initially he states that he won't leave it. Dinah convinces him that they need to find the person responsible.

So that part I can understand. Roy has been like a son to Green Arrow. Of course, seeing him like this would stun anyone. I can understand why he would momentarily pause before taking action.
But would the rest of the heroes just stand there while Ollie dealt with his grief? Wouldn't they continue on to find whoever dismembered Red Arrow? And as if to hammer home the point, we actually see a shot of Starman, Starfire, Hal, and Donna standing there with their arms crossed. Wouldn't that group be fanning out looking for the villain? Even if that moment was only 5 seconds, isn't that 5 seconds too many?

These are veteran heroes who I think would realize that while Dinah and Ollie should stop, that they should move on.

The issue ends with a great cliffhanger.

It looks as though the villain is Captain Marvel! Or at least someone who is disguised as him.

I love this shot of the Supergirl about to engage with Freddy, Congorilla and The Flash battered behind them. Supergirl looks furious, eyes glowing. I love it! I can't believe it's actually Captain Marvel. So is it Prometheus? Or one of his agents... someone like Black Adam or maybe another shape shifter?

There is something almost nostalgic about this ending. Here was Supergirl's love interest who suddenly turns out to be the villain. As someone who has read a lot of Silver Age Supergirl stories, that was an ongoing theme. If she fell in love with someone he usually was some space criminal.

Too bad, I was actually looking forward to a Freddy/Kara relationship.

So we are nearing the end of this miniseries and the overall technology plot has been moved forward a bit here. There are some dramatic moments. There are some overly dramatic moments. Supergirl plays an important part in this issue. She also has some pretty lousy dialogue.

And, the artwork is just stunning. I can understand why DC would be willing to wait for Mauro Cascioli to complete the artwork here. The finished work is wonderful.

So I guess this is another up and down issue in an up-and-down miniseries. But I think this one was more up than down.

Overall grade: B

Justice League:Cry For Justice #4 Preview

A preview of the first pages of James Robinson and Mauro Cascioli's Justice League:Cry For Justice #4 has been posted on the DC blog The Source and it has an interesting wrinkle for Supergirl fans. Here is the link: http://dcu.blog.dccomics.com/2009/10/01/the-heroes-take-a-dark-turn-in-cry-for-justice-4/

As usual, the art is really fantastic.

You may recall that last issue, Clayface detonated a bomb within him to try to kill the heroes. Somehow, Captain Marvel was able to use a 'lightning flash' as a way to deflect the force of the bomb.



Clayface's willingness to detonate a suicide bomb seems to stun the heroes. They are not used to Prometheus being so well prepared.

Kara remembers that Clayface spoke of a daughter and wonders if Prometheus may have a hold over some of the villains he is working with.

The heroes also wonder what Prometheus hoped to accomplish with a bomb attack against some sturdy JLAers. Hal's ring analyzes the bomb and sees that it included nanobytes as well as both Kryptonite and some of Jordan's DNA as a way to bypass and injure some of the tougher heroes. Only Freddy would have easily survived. And it is only with Freddy's manuveur that they all are unscathed.




And here is the Supergirl wrinkle.

When the Atom calls Freddy special, a rather smitten-appearing Supergirl quickly agrees.



And so we flash back to February's Supergirl #37 and the Origins and Omens story in the back.

Remember when we saw this glimpse of things to come ... one of which was Kara kissing someone. I am pretty sure that some astute folks guessed Freddy right off the bat. Looks like they might have been right.

I think Freddy actually makes an interesting love interest for Kara, both of them wearing the emblems of greater more established heroes. I hope this storyline gets picked up in the main comic too.