DCUO Supergirl

A short time ago, I reviewed DC Universe Online Legends #9 noting that Supergirl was portrayed in her more classic Matrix style costume of red skirt and full blue shirt. Some folks including poster Azaketh clued me into the fact that that is not the costume that Supergirl wears in the game. Tracking alternate Supergirl costumes is something of a hobby.

Above is a picture of how Supergirl looks in the DCUO game, sporting the belly shirt as well as a red skirt. This is a combination that hasn't been used too much in the past.

If you look around the internet, you can see clips from the game. As described by Azaketh in their posts, Supergirl is something of a mini-boss in the game. You have to trick her to get close to either Kryptonite or a red sun cage to damage her. So ... yes ... you have to battle (rather than team up with) Supergirl when you play. Most of the clips are players trashing her since they want to show their skills.

I did like that Summer Glau provides her voice in the game, reprising the role from the Superman/Batman:Apocalypse movie.

But looking back at the costume design, here is the Supergirl DCUO production sheet. At least here, the costume is the same as in the comic. So I wonder where along the way the skirt changed colors.

I wonder if that change was known at the time the Terry Dodson Women of the DC Universe Supergirl bust was in production. This is the only other place I have seen the red skirt/belly shirt combination.

I also think it fascinating that DC is changing the costumes in the September relaunch so wildly. You would think they would want to streamline the look of their characters so people who play the game would know what to look for in the comic book store. Or maybe the comic readers would want to see the same costumes in the game. If DC wants to bring in new audiences, they should make it easy.

As always, I am not commenting on the portrayal of Supergirl in the game or book. Neither sounds particularly great.

Review: DCU Legacies #8

Earlier this week DCU Legacies #8 was released, covering the next time period in the history of the DC universe. The issue sports a very solid cast of creators - Len Wein, Dan Jurgens, and Jerry Ordway are all on the main story, while Scott Kolins continues to draw the framework pages.

I freely admit that I am probably enjoying this more than most. I am DC history nut, and something of a continuity nerd, so I am really thrilled to see this timeline laid out before me. In particular, these last few issues have been fantastic for me, retelling the stories I grew up with, that I collected when I began to increase the scope of my collecting.

This issue covers the Knightfall storyline where Batman finally defeats the Jean Paul Valley Az-Bat. But the bulk of the issue retells the Funeral for a Friend and Reign of the Supermen stories which came after Superman died at the hands of Doomsday.

This time period in the Superman mythos is a very fruitful one with some excellent arcs. I thought the Death of Superman issues, the actual fight with Doomsday, were pretty pedestrian. But Funeral for a Friend and Reign of the Supermen were both very good. And not only did this time introduce us to Doomsday, but also major new characters - Steel, Superboy, and  the Cyborg Superman.

But one thing that stuck out for me in the earliest parts of this issue which covered the funeral portion of the story was the complete lack of the Matrix Supergirl. Supergirl was a major player in the Superman books back then (even if she was romantically linked to Lex). Heck, she was even a pall bearer at the funeral.

I was thinking 'if the pre-Crisis Supergirl got a couple of panels to shine in Legacies, why not Matrix?'

And then I saw this panel!

Hooray!!

Sure, it is one panel and no lines, but she is there. And if Matrix exists then it stands to reason that the Linda Danvers/Matrix Supergirl exists too!

Anyways, I am happy that we got this panel ... at least an acknowledgment that Supergirl was a major player in the Reign of the Supermen and Superman in general in the late 90s.

Here are a couple of Supergirl moments from Reign of the Supermen.

First off, here is the Legacies scene as it played out in the story. From Superman:The Man of Steel #25, written by Louise Simonson and drawn by Jon Bogdanove, here is Supergirl dealing with the presumed threat of the Kryptonian Battlesuit.

No one knew Superman was in the suit as it walked out of the ocean so this was pretty daring of Supergirl. I always thought that Bogdanove's 'in your face' style was an interesting and appreciated contrast to the other artists on the Reign of Supermen run.

Maybe my favorite Supergirl moment in Reign is this one from Action Comics #691, by writer Roger Stern and artist Jackson Guice. When Superman first returned he only had a fraction of his powers and was pretty vulnerable. Still, he leaped headfirst into battle without fear.

It is revealed that Supergirl was with him all along while he was in his weakened state, invisibly tagging along and protecting him. It showed just how much Superman had come to trust in Matrix. Clearly she was a key part of his strategic plan to defeat the Cyborg Superman. In a perfect little nod to the pre-Crisis Supergirl, this story is titled 'Secret Weapon'.

I always loved Guice's Supergirl. She seemed so graceful when he drew her.

Anyways, at least for one panel, that incarnation still exists in the current DCU. Much like the pre-Crisis Supergirl panels, I think DC simply wants to acknowledge the breadth and complexity of continuity. Some people may have vague memories of people who simply no longer are around. Congratulations to Len Wein for putting this story together and celebrating the DCU.

And I didn't even mention the Frank Quitely drawn New Gods second story! That was a great second feature and a sympathetic look at Orion; it would have been worth the cover price itself.

Overall grade: A

Review: DCU Legacies #6

DC Universe Legacies as a series has really been a love letter to the DCU, reviewing all the major storylines of the Universe from the eyes of 'everyman' Officer Paul Lincoln and his family. As an old-timer and amateur DCU historian, I have really enjoyed this series.

Now the series has temporally caught up with me, reviewing the major plots of my adolescence. It really has been fantastic to look at these major events again, from a different angle, and with a slightly different slant. Legacies #6 continued to look at the events of the Crisis and beyond and sported this fantastic COIE cover by George Perez. I mean what could be more fantastic than seeing Anthro stabbing Starro with a spear?

Well, I know what is more fantastic ... seeing that Supergirl flying into the fray, ready to lay the smackdown on the Anti-Monitor.

Even if it is in the background or a tiny piece of the cover, it was great to see the Earth-1 Kara again. She was such a hero in Crisis and yet she 'never existed'. So how could she be seen here?

I think writer Len Wein does a great job sort of sliding over the inconsistencies that sprout from trying to force the events of the Crisis into the current timeline. Since the Crisis muddled with time, everyone doesn't remember it's events exactly the same way. How could there be a second Superman? A Supergirl? That Wonder Woman? There really can't be. But people probably have some vague notion or memories of those heroes. It is a nice little way to recognize the acts of those heroes without saying specifically they were there.

This issue wrapped up the retelling of the Crisis, touched on the Detroit JLA (although the timing seems off, they were formed pre-Crisis), and then did a good job reviewing the events of Ostrander and Byrne's Legends mini-series, an underrated and oft-forgotten 'event' that I love.

But the best part of this issue was the back-up story by Len Wein and Keith Giffen and starring the Legion.

In a replay of a very important scene in the DCU, we see the classic original Legionnaires showing up in Smallville to recruit Clark to join the Legion. I have read this story many times, seen it in many comics. I thought this was going to simply be the origin of 'Superboy and the Legion'.

But then the story takes a very amusing turn, as other versions of the Legion also show up at the same time. Here, the current, older Legion arrives trying to convince Clark to not go to the future. It is funny to see multiple Saturn Girl's trying to take charge. While it seemed out of character, I especially loved the younger Imra wondering why she would ever sport that buzz-cut hairstyle. I mean, this can't be in continuity ... a little levity is okay with me.

The parade of different Legions continue to show up with more and more time bubbles arriving and more and more Legions asking Clark for help.

Even the Waid reboot Legion arrives with Supergirl trying to recruit Clark. I sort of miss that Ayla costume. Funny how Supergirl is in a Silver Age sort of uniform here.

The Legions then begin to bicker about which version Clark should go to the future with. Supergirl thinks the 'S shield' trumps all the others and that Clark should return with them. The younger Legionnaires think he should join them because they were there first. It is absolutely silly.

The story has a great ending with Superboy refusing them all. I think he was sort of turned off by all the in-fighting. How can the Legion be champions of some high ideals when they can't agree amongst themselves? Maybe this is the beginning of the Legion streamlining their beliefs, or even starting the constitution.

Or maybe it's just an amusing way to acknowledge all the Legion reboots and eras. I thought it was a very nice read with a humorous tenor. Certainly this was a slick contrast to the review of the darker chapters of the DCU seen in the front half.

I am not blown away by this book but I have consistently enjoyed it.

Overall grade: B+/B

DCU Legacies #5 ... Whoa!

As a long time DC reader, I am really enjoying DC Universe Legacies and its stroll down the history of the DC Universe. Unlike the History books produced by Wolfman/Perez back in the day, Legacies isn't just a rattling off of the major events of the DCU, instead anchoring it to a perspective of an 'everyman' police officer Paul Lincoln.

That narration by Lincoln also means that we aren't going to see Anthro or Oa or (I assume) the Legion. This is the Earth-based history of the DCU running basically from WWII to the present.

Now as a comic reader for over 3 decades and an amateur comic historian, one of the best things about this issue is seeing stories that I have read before again, albeit in a new light or a new focus. So to see the original Hawkman telling Congress that he won't have the JSA unmask themselves, I can nod knowingly. I can't remember where I first read this scene, but I can remembering reading it and see it in my head with Joe Staton's art. And when I see a one page homage recapping the Fleisher/Aparo Spectre stories from Adventure Comics, it makes me want to pull those issues out of the long boxes and reread them. I love this sort of stuff.

DC Universe Legacies #5 came out last week and began to show how the DCU was becoming thematically darker. It also reviewed one of the seminal events in comics, Crisis on Infinite Earths. I was in my early teens when Crisis came out and can remember waiting for the next issue to come out as DC was rewriting history. Heck, back then I walked to the local drug store to spin the rack and find the issues.

We all know what happened in Crisis on Infinite Earths #7 and how after the 'one universe' was created in Crisis on Infinite Earths #11 that Supergirl was basically erased from history and the minds of the characters in the DCU.

So it was a twinge of both nostalgia and melancholy and a smidge of happiness that I saw this panel in Legacies #5.

Yep, that's the headband wearing 'Earth One' Supergirl, saving people with help of the Metal Men!

It's hard to know what this exactly means ... if anything. If  Lincoln recalls this Supergirl, does everyone? Or is Perez a big fan of that Supergirl and wanted to shoehorn her in (remember we saw several incarnation of Supergirl in Final Crisis:Legion of Three Worlds #3)? Or is Perez not as big a continuity nut as me and remembered Supergirl was a big part of the Crisis and didn't think people would make a big deal of this cameo?

The bottom line is I have always thought that that Supergirl was sort of erased from continuity rudely, DC's version of throwing the baby out with the bath water. So it was nice to see her again, acting heroically and saving people ... even if it was in one tiny panel.

Now don't get me wrong. While I couldn't say it early on, I have come to love the current Supergirl, looking at the current Kara as the Supergirl, putting the past behind me and realizing the current Supergirl is a worthy reboot of my favorite character and well ... the heir of the Supergirl legacy.