Review: Superman Unlimited #2

Superman Unlimited #2 came out this week, the next chapter of a new Kryptonite Everywhere storyline by Dan Slott and Rafael Alburquerque. For a second issue, this pushed the plot of the arc forward a fair bit, showing us the implications of Green K being a lot easier to get as well as Superman's new power, a riff on an old 'new' power.

I have said before that I like Dan Slott's She-Hulk and Silver Surfer books. The She-Hulk book for sure was a humor book first. The Silver Surfer book was a sort of Dr. Who-esque tour of the Marvel U, filled with romance and sentimentality but also with a healthy dollop of humor. So I wasn't surprised to see Slott insert some fun into this book. What I didn't know, and what tickled me, was that the humor would come in the form of the Creeper. I think it is well known that I love the Creeper so Jack Ryder being in Metropolis makes me happy.

Despite the humor, Slott plays the superheroics and Superman pretty standard. What is it like to be Superman when your average punk, Marty from Hob's Bay, has a Kryptonite knife. And what do you do to defend yourself? Add to that a look into El Caldero, the nation that benefited from the massive green K meteor, and you have a solid issue.

Rafael Alburquerque brings some dynamism to the action, with speed lines and stylized bodies. I think his Creeper is a little scrawny, the red shag shoulder rug a bit small. I still miss his smoother earlier style than this looser, rougher style. 

On to the book.

Review: Superman Unlimited #1

I am back from vacation and so catching up on reviews, the most prominent one being Superman Unlimited #1, written by Dan Slott with art by Rafael Alburquerque. This is the first newly titled,  planned monthly Superman book in a while and signals the beginning of the Summer of Superman, tied into the release of the upcoming movie. 

We have known from solicits for some time that Slott's plan was to have a storyline with an abundance of Kryptonite suddenly being on Earth. We saw what I thought was a prologue in the  FCBD DC All-In #1 book from Free Comic Book day. But it turns out that those 10 pages are reprinted here, the beginning of an over-sized first issue. So click that link to remind yourself about that story and the changes Slott is bringing to the supporting cast. 

I will remind people that this 'new status quo' of excessive Kryptonite can't last. So I think this is probably some backdoor re-imagining of the Kryptonite Nevermore storyline from the 70s. The facsimile of that story's first part, Superman #233, being recently released made me pause. The introduction of a new Edge family member is another nod given Morgan Edge first appeared in that earlier arc.

But I think Slott does an interesting thing with his first issue here. Yes, we see the giant Kryptonite meteor plummeting to Earth. And in the end, there is a lot of Green K on the ground. But the bulk of this issue is a sort of primer on Superman's history. Given pre-Crisis, Byrne's era, the New 52, Rebirth, and all the other soft reboots, it is hard to know what is and isn't canon. Slott gives us a decent timeline here and pulls from the Golden Age to the Donner films to give us this story. Hey, it's a number one and might be someone's first Superman story. Why not fill in some background?

Rafael Alburquerque's art just seems rougher than I remember it being in the past. There is sort of a lack of polish that I associate with his name. It is still solid art, especially given that story covers basically all of Superman's history. 

On to the book.

Back Issue Box: Action Comics #284

Last week I reviewed Action Comics #283, the first part of a crazy Red Kryptonite story where Kara exposes herself to 6 Red K meteors and therefore must undergo 6 transformations. 

Today I wrap up the story with Action Comics #284, which turns out to be a relatively important story for Supergirl’s history. ‘The Strange Bodies of Supergirl’ is written by Superman creator Jerry Siegel with art by classic artist Jim Mooney. We’ll get through three crazy transformations for sure. But we’ll see some continuity from Superman’s history. We’ll get a character from Supergirl’s supporting cast re-appear. And we get an announcement from Superman at the end of the story which changes the direction of this ongoing back-up moving forward.

Mooney continues to shine giving us a perfect young Supergirl as well as a touch of horror, a pinch of Sci-Fi, and a wonderful happy ending.

So if you are looking for some Silver Age insanity and some Kara history, you are in the right place.

I’ll add that the front end of the issue has a Superman story where he also is affected with Red K, turning into a toddler. What I love about that story is that he does it on purpose, exposing himself to a ‘youth restoring’ Red K from a prior Supergirl story. So there is some continuity in that showing how Supergirl’s life can impact Superman.

On to the book.

Back Issue Box: Action Comics #283

Last week I reviewed Action Comics #303, a Silver Age classic with a healthy dose of Red Kryptonite fun. I got a lot of great feedback for that review and I feel that I have been so busy with current reviews that the Silver Age stuff has been missing a bit from here. I also try to have my back issue reviews somehow relate to current storylines and with Superman dealing with a Red K injection in Joshua Williamson's Superman book, I thought I would look back again to one of the wackier Supergirl/Red K stories from 1961. (For transparency, these scans are from my Supergirl Archives Vol 2 book.)

'The Six Red K Perils of Supergirl' was the back up story in Action Comics #283. Written by Jerry Siegel with art by Jim Mooney, we get to see Supergirl dealing with a new period in her life and struggling with a major Red K exposure. 

I really feel like this period of Supergirl's stories are a major turning point for the character and worth a look at. There is a long, multi-issue story where we meet one of Supergirl's arch-enemies, Lesla Lar. She loses her powers. She regains her powers from an odd source. And then it all culminates two issues from this story in Action Comics #285 in which Superman reveals Supergirl's existence to the world. That issue is one of the most key issues in Supergirl's history. 

But we are here, now, in Action Comics #283 so settle in for Silver Age goodness. From character progression to zany Red K transformations to detailed super-brief side plots, this issue is a hearty meal. And guess what? It is only part one.

Settle in!

Back Issue Box: Action Comics #303

Back in Action Comics #1081, Phantom Zone villain Ras-Krom summoned Zanchyroia dragons.

I'll be honest, I thought for a second they were an updating of the Kryptonian kaiju from Action Comics #303. Turns out, I was wrong. This creature is a Kryptonian Drang. 

Then in Superman #21, we learned that Superman's Red emotional storms are the result of a Red K injection from Pharm and Graft. I remembered Action Comics #303 again for its Red-K centric main story.

Between a flying Kryptonian dragon and the Red K connection, I thought it would be fun to formally review this story here. As a plus, Supergirl has a small role in the story. Besides, it has been a while since I have gone back to the Silver Age for something completely silly and fun. 

'The Monster from Krypton' was written by Edmond Hamilton with art by Curt Swan. It sports a pretty eye-grabbing cover of Supergirl riding the one-horned monster while the US military fire Kryptonite bullets at it. But perhaps the most interesting thing about the cover is that it gives away the twists. The monster IS Superman, changed by Red Kryptonite!

Well, settle in for a silly ride! Here's some Kryptonian Kaiju and Red K hijinks!

Yildiray Cinar On Supergirl

Shortly after the announcement that he was starting on art on Supergirl, artist Yilidray Cinar posted this snippet of a sketch on Instagram.

I am pretty amazed at how quickly I became more optimistic of this book once the new creative team was announced. And this picture did nothing but bolster that.

I know it is hard to believe ... but that is a smile on Supergirl's face!

And what a classic pose, busting through chains like this. It is iconic.

Is this a warm-up sketch? A splash page? A cover? What does the rest of it look like?
 

It immediately evokes the classic cover of Superman #233, the first part of the Sand Superman 'Kryptonite Nevermore' storyline. This cover has been riffed on by lots of artists. But Supergirl doing it is pretty rare.

I hope Cinar puts up other sketches and sneak peeks as the solicit date approaches!

Review: Supergirl #18

Supergirl #18 came out this week, the first issue post-H'El on Earth and the penultimate issue before new writer Michael Alan Nelson comes on board. I was, of course, eager to read this issue to see just what the post-H'El landscape for Kara would look like. Would she be vilified for her early alliance with H'El? Would she finally realize that Krypton isn't coming back? Would she be sad? Or angry?

Like Superboy #18, some of the bigger plot points from H'El, some fallout from the arc, are ignored in this issue, hopefully just being put on the back burner. The biggest plot point, the K-poisoning that Kara is suffering, takes center stage. That plot point does seem to plug Supergirl more firmly into the Superman mythos and I applaud that move.

This issue isn't without its quirks. And that starts with the original solicits and the expected creative team.

You might remember that the first cover solicit was Supergirl crushing the world, the thematic opposite of the nurturing cover of All-Star Superman #10. I talked about the original cover here. That sentiment, an angry Kara squashing Earth, is nowhere to be seen in the issue so I am glad it got scuttled. Frankly, I don't want that image to be how Supergirl is written, drawn, or marketed.

And, despite being on the cover, Mike Johnson did not write this issue and Mahmud Asrar did not draw it. The writer is Frank Hannah. Apparently this is his first comic ever, at least according to comicbookdb.com. There are some highs and some lows here but overall a strong first issue.

The artist is Robson Rocha whose work I know best from his work on Demon Knights. His work is fine-lined and very different from Asrar's. It works fine here.

As I said above, one thing that I like about this issue is that it starts to establish Supergirl as a part of the Superman Family. Before I get killed, I don't want Supergirl to be under Superman's control, subservient to Superman, or have her act as 'Superman in a skirt'. But there is no denying she is his cousin and she should run in the same circles that he does.

That immersion into Superman's world starts with her catching the attention of Lex Luthor. Inside this tesseract device, embedded in his eyelid, the imprisoned Luthor keeps tabs on the world with his underlings. It is a nifty idea, explaining how Luthor seems to know everything that is going on outside his four walls.

His 'generals' are an odd mix. 'Alphine' is this Ursula-like octopus robot-woman. Appex is the blue energy construct; he might be the Blue-K member of Vyndktyvx's Anti-Superman Squad. And the last looks like the General Eiling/Shaggy Man amalgam.

As for Supergirl, Luthor is intrigued by her Kryptonite-devastated condition and so he wants to keep a close eye on her, follow her treatment, etc. It seems just a bit off. Luthor pocketed Kryptonite "5 years ago" in Action, created different colored Kryptonite waves, and created the Kryptonite Man. So he should know about how it works ... unless this is the 'worst case' of K-Poisoning he has seen.

Kara, in the meantime, is trying to burn the Kryptonite poisoning away. Standing on a satellite designed to focus yellow sun energy, she is bathed in energy.

And clearly she feels physically fine.

The captions here are a bit heavy but get the point across that she isn't only suffering physical from K-poisoning. She has been suffering mentally from all the loss in her life.

This treatment has been arranged by Dr. Veritas who I guess has taken the role of Emil Hamilton or Jenette Klyburn in the New 52. Despite Kara feeling wonderful, Veritas knows that this isn't a complete cure. Kara needs more testing. Kara objects and actually storms off, taking out a few robot drones in the process.

What I love about this scene is Kara's words in that first panel. She almost says she wants to go home before catching herself and saying she wants to head to Earth. It is the first time that we have almost heard her call Earth her new home. Sure, she hung out with Siobhan. But this means that reality is really starting to set in ... even if she backtracked. Nice.

What I didn't love about this scene? The complete absence of Superman, even by name. Couldn't there have been a line from Veritas saying 'Your cousin has been asking for you?' Or couldn't Supergirl have said 'Tell my cousin I will be in touch.' Or couldn't Superman have been there? The last image of the two in H'El was him cradling her in his arms. I just think this was a missed opportunity to again show their relationship was improving.

If that 'almost home' moment was my favorite moment of the book, this was my least favorite.

Karen Starr is watching news footage of Supergirl fighting H'El (of course which labels Supergirl as brash and unstable). And she wonders why she feels a connection with Supergirl.

She wonders why she feels a connection with Supergirl??

She WAS Supergirl on Earth-2. Of course she should be familiar with herself. This read really off.

But this also makes it sound like this is the first time that she has even seen Supergirl. We know this isn't true.

We know she has a grasp of this Kara. She doesn't want to meet her (as seen in Worlds' Finest #6). And that small caption box implies it is something that she has thought about and has avoided.

So that curiosity about Supergirl by Power Girl just read wrong for me.

Kara ends up heading back to Earth and realizes that the K-poisoning hasn't been burned away from her body by the concentrated sun rays. While she feels incredibly powerful, she also has a bout of dizziness and lightheadedness as well as weakness.

In another classic comic book coincidence (like Plasmus robbing the same bank that Superboy is in), Supergirl decides to fly through magma flows underground. And, in her weakened state, she is surprised by the lava woman from Superboy #3. Why she chose to fly through lava and just happened upon this woman is a question for the comic book gods.

In Superboy, this unnamed woman cursed all Kryptonians and so it is no surprise she attacks Supergirl.

And, weakened by the Kryptonite poisoning, Supergirl is defeated by this lava woman. But when troops show up to retrieve Kara, the Magmaid decides that escape is the better part of valor. Remember, she was a prisoner in a N.O.W.H.E.R.E. facility. She knows what might be in store for Kara and she wants no part of it.

This skirmish has been being watched by Luthor as well. Could Alphine be the 21st century Nasty Luthor?

And Karen Starr seems to be connected to Kara's condition. Once before, and now here at the end, when a surge of K-poisoning symptoms weakens Kara, Karen is effected as well. Hopefully we will have more of an explanation on this. I don't want them linked like the Corsican Brothers. I don't want them to 'short circuit' in each others' presence like they did early in the last series. So hopefully we hear just why this is happening here and why it hasn't been happening over the last months that both have been active on the planet.

So, overall, I think this was a decent issue. Yes, Supergirl stormed out of Veritas' care. But she also almost called Earth home. The fight scene is standard fare although it was nice to see Supergirl continue to fight despite being nearly incapacitated by the Kryptonite poisoning. The inclusion of Luthor and his generals into the story is a welcome addition.

The only moderate complaint was Karen's comments. Maybe I am reading it wrong?

Since we know that Michael Alan Nelson's first issue features Power Girl in her Supergirl outfit and Kara 'dying', it looks like this story will simply meld into Nelson's run. In some ways it keeps the title feeling seamless as we move forward. On the other hand, I would have loved a sort of epilogue issue by Mike Johnson, wrapping up his thoughts on the character.

Overall grade: B

Adam Hughes Variant Cover For Action Comics #900

Action Comics #899 comes out today which means we are one month away from Superman returning to Action! And DC is doing its part to celebrate the historic Action Comics #900 and the Man of Steel's return. It is going to be an over-sized issues with stories by Paul Cornell, David Goyer, Damon Lindelof, and Richard Donner. And there are going to be variant covers by Alex Ross as well as Adam Hughes.

The Hughes cover was just unveiled over on the DC Source blog here:
http://dcu.blog.dccomics.com/2011/03/28/superman-man-of-steel-finds-its-lois-lane-adam-hughes-covers-action-comics-900-and-more-superman-news/

What a great cover ... majestic, iconic. And I love how the chain links form the number 900.

The cover is clearly a riff on one of the more iconic Superman covers, Superman #233.

I have said before that the Kryptonite Nevermore' storyline is one of my favorite Superman arcs and Superman #233 is one of my all-time favorite Superman issues. I have been lucky enough to run into Denny O'Neil, Neal Adams, and Murphy Anderson at a variety of conventions to sign my issue.

The Hughes cover seems even more evocative of Action Comics #485, another Neal Adams chain-bursting cover. Action #485 reprinted the opening chapter of 'Kryptonite Nevermore'.

So Adams was doing an homage cover to Adams!

I know I always say I am 'against' variant covers in theory. But I think I'll be at least trying to get this Hughes cover.

New Bizarro Girl Theory?

This Wednesday, Supergirl #53 comes out, the first part of the 'Who is Supergirl?' storyline, an arc we know includes the new Bizarro Supergirl or BizarroGirl.

We have learned a lot about BizarroGirl recently as Sterling Gates has talked about her around the internet. Here is a recent quote from the Superman Home Page interview:

BizarroGirl is letting all of her emotions fly. She's constantly changing emotions, one per second, keeping nothing in check. She screams, she fights, she drools. She's like a wild animal with the worst ADD you can imagine, and she has no idea what her own strength is like.

To sum that up, she's a monster.

That doesn't necessarily sound like your typical Bizarro. This isn't some fundamentally innocent creature who is misunderstood and confused. So I wondered if BizarroGirl might have a different origin than just being a Bizarro Supergirl from the Bizarro world.

Now I had a theory about her origins a while back. Initially I wondered if BizarroGirl might have been a failed attempt by Alura to clone Kara. I thought maybe, in her grief, while still imprisoned on Brainiac's ship, that Alura might have wanted her daughter back so badly that she would try to clone Kara, instead creating an imperfect duplicate. A monster she kept hidden from everyone until New Krypton exploded. Being a Bizarro, she might not be effected by Gold K and therefore would survive New Krypton's explosion.

This certainly would have been a rich psychological terrain to create stories around.

But now I have a different theory.

BizarroGirl sounds like a rabid cauldron of emotions, a chaotic creature with extreme mood swings all covered with a crystal coating. Hmmm ... sounds like another character I read once.


Remember this character?


This Supergirl? The one with the crystal blood ... the non-hero ... the provocative one cursing in bars late at night ... the one who wanted to dance instead of save people in danger? The one plagued with visions of gunning down her classmates? The one dealing with a nonstop compulsion to kill Superman?

I didn't like this Supergirl but that sure sounds like BizarroGirl.


Remember how Zor-El described Kryptonite poisoning? Wild mood swings. Shifting personalities. Inability to concentrate.

Sounds like how Gates described BizarroGirl, right? He describes her as emotional labile with ADD.



Okay, now here is where I might be getting too 'Vertigo' for Supergirl.

Remember that all that Kryptonite poisoning, all that negative energy, was drained from Kara in Supergirl #35. For a while I thought Alura absorbed it, explaining her mood swings.

But what if that Kryptonite poisoning, what if that energy was so great that it coalesced ... gained life.

What if BizarroGirl is the physical manifestation of Supergirl's longstanding Kryptonite poisoning?

Even her appearance, that crystal look, makes sense given the growths we saw on Kara when she bled while still afflicted.

Now maybe 'a hate so powerful it gained consciousness' is too Grant Morrison for the book. But wouldn't it be a great plot element? Wouldn't Kara figure out 'Who is Supergirl' a little faster by looking into this mirror darkly ... by seeing all that she once was?

For all I know, maybe she is just a Bizarro Supergirl from the Bizarro World. Maybe there is no complicated background story. But I love trying to figure out what the creators are up to.

I guess we'll find out about BizarroGirl soon enough.