Review: Action Comics #1057

Action Comics #1057 came out this week and was a solid read if imperfect. 

As usual, the main story by Phillip Kennedy Johnson and Rafa Sandoval is fantastic. The threat of the Blue Earthers and their leader Norah Stone finally manifests itself. Like many zealots, her message doesn't sound completely crazy but there is definitely some malevolence behind her extreme views. There is a mystery unraveling with Stone as well. She clearly is more than human. I have a theory. Johnson definitely knows how to bring the most out of this story. While Stone rants about the threat Superman is, we see him at his most down to Earth, a physical contrast to her words. 

While I have loved the super-family in Action recently, this issue is all Superman and I'm here for it. And it ends on a wild cliffhanger. 

It is the other stories in the anthology that aren't holding up the back end of the book. The Dan Jurgens/Lee Weeks young Jon story sort of ends with a whimper. It seemed like Jurgens realized that he had a handful of pages to wrap things up and so he sprinted to the end. The last story is a Conner story by Magdelena Visaggio and Matthew Clark and once again it is Conner struggling to find his place on Earth. Didn't he just get a whole mini-series? And he's wildly emotional in the story. Almost petulant. There is one thought provoking moment, but the whole thing ends on a complete downbeat note which made it all sour. 

Still, if you are a fan of the Johnson/Sandoval stuff, this book still sings. I am very interested in seeing where this goes. On to the particulars.

Back Issue Box: Adventures Of Superman #638

I am taking a break from my Matrix Monday series to take a different look into the Back Issue Box.

Today, I'll be covering Adventures of Superman #638, a fascinating Mxyzptlk story which borders on an Imaginary Story (aren't they all). Greg Rucka brings us a touching but also humorous issue. It also is a tour de force for artist Matthew Clark.

As always, I try to make my looks back somehow related to current stories, even if tangentially.

In Superman #9, Superman had a waking vision of the future including his daughter. I always like these potential family futures. You may recall that I covered possible future daughter Laura in my review of  Superman Family #200 .

But there have been other visions of other daughters out there as well.

Boston Comicon Recap #2: Matthew Clark

I continue my review of recent conventions with this look back again at Boston Comic Con this year.

I have been collecting commissions for about 13 years now and I have a couple of basic rules of thumb.
1. I have to like the style of the artist to get a commission
2. It is a bonus if the artist has a connection to Supergirl
3. It is a bonus if I consider the artist one of 'my favorites'
4. They have to be affordable

The top three is pretty easy to figure out. It is that last one that is the tricky one.

I saw that Matthew Clark was going to be going to the show and I pretty much knew I was going to target him for a commission. He drew a Doom Patrol book that I loved as well as the covers for Huntress Year One. I like his style a lot. And he did the Omens and Origins story in Supergirl #38 back in the Gates/Igle run.

And thankfully he was affordable. This three quarter body commission was something of a steal. Just gorgeous with all the copic work. I love the pose with one hand behind the back, adding a bit of innocence or maybe mild insecurity to the feel of Kara. And that expression is just great.

Really a great addition to the collection.

Boston Comic Con 2017: Overview & Tom Grummett Commission

<![endif]-->I wasn’t 100% sure if I was going to head to Boston ComicCon this year. I liked the more comic-centric feel this show has had since its inception. I knew that FanExpo had bought it out and that it would probably have a more corporate, more celebrity-fueled feel to it than in the past. Incredibly, the driving force for me to go was the ardent passion of my youngest two daughters have for Steven Universe. When they heard Zach Callison (voice of Steven) was going to be there, it was a foregone conclusion. We were going.

With that now a fait d’accompli I had to decide my mission for the con. There were a number of creators at the con that I definitely wanted to meet. Peter Tomasi, Tom Grummett, Matthew Clark, Jonboy Meyers, Ty Templeton, and Tom King were all new faces for me. And there were other creators who I had met before that I wanted to run into again, most notably Tana Ford and Joelle Jones. And I grabbed any commission sketches while there that would be gravy. I decided to go Friday by myself to get my stuff out of the way. This way Saturday was a family day.

First things first. The venue, the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center was massive. It was big enough that people could line up inside and wait in the air conditioning as opposed to outside in the baking sun (like at the old venue). There was a lot of space so the con didn't feel claustrophobic (although the comic area did feel somewhat cramped). And there was a food court inside the building which made lunch easy.

The pass I got allowed me to enter the con space at 2pm as opposed to official opening of 4p. Amazingly many of the comic creators also filed in early. As a result I got much of the 'heavy lifting' out of the way.


I was also able to get a sketch book into the hands Tom Grummett. He signed issues for free. And a full body commission was very affordable. Despite being that early I was already something like 6 on his list so he told me to check in on Saturday afternoon.

Sure enough, the following day,  he presented me this fabulous commission. I am thrilled. There is a nice little feeling of mischief behind that innocent look. And she looks young, like the current Supergirl should.

I'll post the other commissions I got on later days. But I thought I would share some of the Supergirl specific issues I got signed.

Review: Superman/Wonder Woman Annual #2

A while back I decided to drop Superman/Wonder Woman from my monthly review crawl. The characters in that title were simply warped versions of the Superman and Wonder Woman who I have come to enjoy over my life of reading comics. Superman wouldn't be cruel or brutal. Wonder Woman wouldn't be a killing machine or a Stepford wife. But most of all, I didn't feel that the relationship this book was built on was ever portrayed in a way that made it seem realistic or plausible.

So why is Superman/Wonder Woman Annual #2 being reviewed here? Well, I picked it up because two creators whose work always entertain and who I think are being woefully underused by DC appear in the credits. K. Perkins and Sholly Fisch both provide stories here and, no surprise, tell very compelling stories.

But for me, this issue answered some questions I have had about this relationship. It dealt with one of the biggest stumbling blocks of these two being together. And it showed how this relationship has slowly sort of crumbled. And for that I thought I needed to give it some space here.

Peter Tomasi and Keith Champagne both write other portions of the Annual. And the art is a wonderful mix. Marco Santucci, ChrisCross, Ken Lashley, and Matthew Clark provide the pencils. The book is really beautiful throughout.

The book opens with Clark walking through the Kent farmhouse, thinking about how loving and supportive Martha and Jon's relationship was, and thinking he might have found that in Diana. We see him reach into Ma's jewelry box.

But this is clearly early in the relationship. It is those dizzying, electric, physical part of a long term relationship. After a battle, while in the watchtower, the two can't keep their hands off each other. Superman removes her boots and it is implied things get quite hotter. (In fact, pics did get hotter. Yanick Paquette did the layouts of this issue and showed a significantly steamier scene.)

Who hasn't been in this sort of torrid part of a relationship where everything is forever rosy and hormones are raging.

But this scene is sort of replayed a couple of times in this issue and that is key for understanding what has happened to this romance.

The first story, written by Champagne and drawn by ChrisCross, shows an early double date, with Clark and Diana having dinner in Atlantis with Arthur and Mera. The two women break off and talk about Di's new beau.

Yes, the two women only talk about the men in their lives. But they do it in such a familiar way, you sense they have had many other conversations. They are friends so, of course, Mera is going to talk about this new development.

Diana talks about being worried about how complicated a romance might be. Mera discusses the hurdles that Arthur and her have overcome. It shows how true love and respect can overcome a lot. And since this is the beginning of this relationship, I can see how this might be positive reinforcement for Diana to continue to be with Clark.

The art and color in this section is stunning. And I like how this again shows just how wonderful anything and everything can be in the early parts of a fling.

The next story is written by K. Perkins with art by Ken Lashley. And this was my favorite story of the Annual because it addressed one of my biggest problems with the relationship. How could Clark deal with Diana being the God of War?

Now I read and enjoyed the Azzarello/Chiang Wonder Woman run, but in my heart considered it an elaborate Elseworlds and not canon. But it was clear that DC did not think that way.

So we get a story where Superman and Wonder Woman fight Dichara, an angry demigod. Superman is surprised when Dichara stops the fight because of Diana's station.

I like the rougher feel to Lashley's art here. It works in the battle. And it works in the more raw emotional sequences too.

Wonder Woman goes to Olympus and then returns to Clark's apartment afterwards.

Notice that Clark is near naked in this whole story. Wonder Woman is post-battle and removes her costume to change into pajamas. But there isn't the flirty, sexy, physical ending we saw in the earlier story. The relationship is more serious now, more real, more complex.

Diana tells him she is the God of War. She didn't tell him because she knew it might come between them. Not exactly a solid relationship move to keep a major truth from your partner. And Clark reminds her how she questioned his 'other life' as Clark and that her title is probable on par with his secret identity.

He poses a thought, one I have asked myself since this all unfolded in the comics.

How can Clark, who fights for truth and peace, who loathes war, be with her?

And how can she be an ambassador of peace, a bastion of love, AND the God of War? She says all wars spring from love. And that is a pretty skewed view of the world.

This doesn't sound like Diana to me, the one I have read all these years. And that is a big part of the problem here.

And look at the cold nature of Clark in that second panel. He can't even look at her.

Clark here says that her life as the God of War is going to affect them. How could it not.
And she realizes that there is a lot left unsaid between them.

Finally, the two of them aren't acting like infatuated and titillated teens. This is real relationship work here, trying to find their way through problems, and realizing maybe things aren't meant to be. And the book is addressing, head on, how her role on Olympus is troublesome to this whirlwind romance.

The last panel of the story is Clark watching the news, hearing about the horrors of war around the globe, and staring ahead. This is her life. Not his.

The next story is by Sholly Fisch and Matthew Clark. It includes a cool Easter Egg, a movie poster of Rita Farr being in 'Brunch at Tiffany's'.

But it tells a story of an aborted date night. Clark, temporarily powerless from using his flare power, pre-The Truth, is cooking dinner for Diana. Unfortunately, a JLA emergency calls her away. She joins the team fighting the Galactic Golem. Clark is left behind.

The dinner remains on the table uneaten. Clark heads to bed. Diana returns.

Again, we don't see him cradling her calf and removing her boot. There aren't libidinous giggles. There isn't an amorous interaction. Things have changed from that infatuation stage.

Clark is angry he was left behind. He felt, even powerless, he could help. And Diana won't hear it. She thinks this is Clark's ego. He can't always be the hero. He can't always be involved.

It, once again, shows how these two might not walk in lockstep, or even understand each other. It also gives us some background into Diana's actions in The Truth when Clark is truly depowered.

These blips are part of the bigger canvas. We are reminded of The Atlantis War, Super-Doom, the Darkseid War, and everything else that has strained the couple.

It turns out that Clark has been holding that engagement ring from the opening pages all along, waiting for the right time to propose. But now he realizes that maybe he and Diana aren't Jon and Martha.

This all makes sense to me as someone who has questioned this couple from the beginning. But, of course, DC and Tomasi needs to add the grim-dark nature of the current DC universe. Clark wonders if he'll ever find love. And he thinks that might be a good thing. Yeesh ...

Still, I have to applaud this issue for showing us all the problems that might spring from this love affair. It shows us that early, physical, glittering love and how that can tarnish when deeper issues are dealt with. They each build on each other nicely, especially when we see the different endings of a post-battle adrenaline rush. And it focused on some of the problems I have had trying to wrap my head around this romance.

Overall grade: B+

Review: Doom Patrol #15

Doom Patrol #15 concludes the 2 part story where the Chief is able to obtain Kryptonian powers by experimenting on a prisoner of war from the War of the Supermen.

The fall-out of the War of the Supermen hasn't been touched upon in too many comics outside of Supergirl. It would seem that such a true world war would at least be mentioned here and there. Maybe the brief nature of the war made it easier to forget. At least Doom Patrol touches on it as least tangentially letting us know about the whereabouts of one of the Kryptonians that Superman could not account for when the war ended.

The relationship between the Chief and the Patrol has always been edgy and dysfunctional since the Kupperberg/Lightle reboot so many years ago. It always seems to reach a breaking point where Caulder and the group comes to blows. Last issue we saw that the Chief felt as though his influence over the team was waning and that if he needed to accomplish his goals he would need to do it himself. Grasping the powers of the Kryptonian, he became addled, lashing out at his team and advising them not to try to stop him. Hmmm ... was he protesting too much?

Much like R.E.B.E.L.S., Doom Patrol is a low-selling title that is really high quality. Writer Keith Giffen and artists Matthew Clark and Ron Randall walk the fine-line between mainstream heroics and surreal Vertigo nonsense while keeping the core characters true to their origins. I hope that this title sticks around for a bit longer.

The setting for the book is Oolong Island, the high-tech island nation which formerly housed all the mad scientist super-villains of the DCU. The Chief and the Doom Patrol live on the island and use it as their base of operations, flying from mission to mission.

I always wondered exactly what Oolong got out of the deal. As we know, metahumans like the Patrol tend to be a magnet for disaster. Now I know. Caulder left a clause in the living agreement that in times of danger, the Patrol could be nationalized, becoming a part of Oolong's military defense. Unaware of these details, the Patrol are shocked to find that they have been enlisted to help keep the island safe from the chief.

The Chief has bigger things on his mind than just the island. Suddenly infused with God-like powers, he decided to push the envelope. Sweeping over the world, he gathers all weapons and dumps them in the arctic. Not just nuclear weapons ... not just weapons of mass destruction ... ALL weapons. We see huge piles of missiles, guns, and bombs. It is all very  retro-Superman. How many time have we seen Superman try this stunt (usually just the nuclear warheads). He laughs at how easy it was ... and wonders why anyone with super-speed (Supergirl included) wouldn't do this.

Despite that this may be a cleansing of some sort, the Chief realizes that the super-hero community won't allow it. Most heroes agree that they cannot dictate the ways of humanity, only defend what is decided upon. Knowing that these 'heroes' will only re-distribute the weapons, the Caulder knows he needs to take a few more steps.

Throughout the story, the Chief slips into Kryptonese spouting some hackneyed Superman quotes. Here he slips in a Mighty Mouse reference ... 'Here I come to save the day!'

If the heroes won't act against the will of nations, the Chief goes to the nations themselves to try to keep the weapons where they are. Crashing into the UN, he tells the leaders of the world to not thwart his will. If they do, he will strike back.

He says he is 'the will and the way' in Kryptonian. Smacks a bit of hubris.

Back on Oolong, the Patrol has recovered enough from the Chief's earlier assault to be back in the action.

There is a tense scene on Oolong as the Patrol and the Oolong government try to come to grips with what to do next.

Professor I.Q., a D-list tech-villain living on the island, notices the Kryptonese statements and wonders if the K-transfer not only included powers but fears or psychological trauma as well. Maybe that is why the Chief is acting so erratically.

The Patrol realizes that in many ways the Chief is their responsibility. Gearing up to fight him, Robotman asks President Cale for whatever weapons she has to take down Superman. In a nice bit of continuity, Cliff says he knows the island has such weapons because of Black Adam. Remember, in 52, Black Adam razed Biayla and then flew to Oolong to battle. Oolong was prepared.

Ambush Bug teleports the Chief to the war-torn landscape of Biayla to face off against the group.

Amazingly, Cliff first tries to end this diplomatically, trying to talk him down. But the Chief wants no part of it. He has an agenda and he doesn't need foot soldiers any more.

I love how he says 'Kneel before Caulder' in Kryptonese. Maybe some Kryptonian traits really have sunk in?

When Caulder tries to flee, the heroes do attack.Cliff once again gets beheaded after trying to give the Chief vertigo with sonics. Larry sends the Negative Being into Caulder to try to disrupt his neural pathways only to have his shell body threatened. Rita takes a heat vision blast to the face.

It is clear that the Chief could end this in seconds but seems to be holding back. He begins ranting about the nature of family, how children always rebel and leave the home. In his own weird way, the Chief is telling the Patrol that he loves them. I doubt he would pull punches with any other group. My guess is he would have no problem with immolating the Teen Titans.

 Suddenly the Patrol gets some help from Millicent, the AI computer that the Chief has been using.

She tells the heroes that Caulder is basically insane from stimulus overload. She can help them defeat the Chief if they can keep him nearby.

Larry, picking up the 'jilted father' vibe from Caulder's mad speech, calls Niles' "Dad" stopping him in his tracks. But it is clear that Chief is mad. At first he embraces the Negative Man, then threatens to destroy him, swinging from love to hate and back in seconds. It's funny but this is probably the closest we have seen of the 'real' Chief even if he is insane. All the things we are seeing have been in him even if buried beneath his brusque facade. I think he does love the team as children even if he does send them on suicide missions routinely.

But he is insane.

He feels emotionally abandoned by the team (remember we have seen him watching films of the team talking about how they have begun to hate the chief). He feels he is the groups savior ... their god. In a great panel (I should have posted it), he yells that he created the Patrol in his image (God complex) but the panel shows the scarred visage of Rita. Is that the Chief's self-image? A damaged ugly freak? I love it when words and art mesh in comics.

Finally, the Chief picks up Cliff's head to have a final quarrel. It is hear that we see how the Kryptonian's trauma has effected the Chief. He begins saying how he lost his world and couldn't bear to lose his last friends. Some of his feelings are the Chief's ... but some are this unnamed Kryptonian soldier's.

Luckily, the Chief built in a fail-safe device in Millicent to take himself down if he should ever lose control. With Cliff so close, his optics emit the shut down code, rendering the Chief comatose. It is a bit deus ex machina ... but how interesting that the Chief was self-aware enough to know he might need to be removed some day.

Like Vril Dox, the Chief is a wonderfully layered and not very likable character that I love reading about. He must be fun to write.

Despite all of what has transpired, the Doom Patrol actually defends the Chief, arguing that his madness was more from the Kryptonian influence rather than from within.

Really? Man, there is a whiff of Stockholm Syndrome here ... willing to go to bat for this man who has done so much damage to them. Yes, the Kryptonian definitely had an effect but there was definitely some Caulder in this episode.

But there is one last wonderful twist here. As Caulder's catatonic body is pushed into cold storage, we get to read some of his journal entries. He realizes that the Patrol has begun to hate him, even wondering if he was responsible for their personal disasters (a wink at Morrison's run). 

To stop the Patrol from wallowing in self-loathing, he has been stoking the fire of their hating him. A common enemy would make the team stronger. So ... was all of this ... the weapons, the understated 'fight', the 'shut-down switch' ... just a ruse to help unite his 'children'? Or was their Kryptonian madness? Or was their real madness? Or some melange of all of it? Who can say ... but it sure is fun to think about.

I have said it before and I'll say it again. I thought Grant Morrison made it impossible for me to like any other version of the Doom Patrol but his. Kudos to Keith Giffen for letting me read and enjoy new stories of these characters I love so much. If only DC will keep the title afloat.

I think Matthew Clark and Ron Randall do a good job tag-teaming the art in this issue (as they do each issue). I wonder if it would be possible to have each do alternating complete issues. I'd like to see that.

Overall grade: B+

Review: Doom Patrol #14

 I have sung the praises of the current Doom Patrol title in the past over here. I thought the content of Doom Patrol #14 was just Kryptonian enough to warrant a post and review here.

As a long time fan of the group (especially the Morrison stuff, although the Drake/Premiani stuff stands up), I have suffered through reimaginations and reboots of the team. But none have grabbed me post-Morrison until this version.

Specifically, I think Keith Giffen understands that the Doom Patrol needs a couple of things to work with. They need to have bizarre adventures and there needs to be a sense of fatalism, a sense of impending doom as it were. Giffen has put those things into this book. And rather than shying away from the team's confusing and often contradictory history, he embraces it. How can there have been so many versions of the Negative Man? How can there be so many incarnations of this team? How can all of their stories fit into current DC history? Who knows how? Who cares? This is the Doom Patrol ... that is all the answer you need. Bizarre stuff happens. And that is how Giffen sees it. We see bits of Morrison here, but also Arcudi, and Kupperberg, and even Drake. The Doom Patrol's continuity is a soup. Deal with it!

Oh, one other thing you need from the Doom Patrol ... you need the Chief. And more and more, in more and more versions of the team, the Chief has been portrayed as a master manipulator, convincing people to act as his agents, all while being a boor. He is willing to put anyone on the front line and in peril to achieve his goals. Sounds a little like Vril Dox, doesn't it? I wonder what it says about my personality that I like reading books with these sort of Machiavellian leaders.

But unlike Dox in R.E.B.E.L.S., the Chief doesn't 'stir the drink' here. No, in this book it is the members of the Doom Patrol that I want to read about. I care about these characters. And in this incarnation, the team is the original three - solid Cliff 'Robotman' Steele, crazy Larry 'Negative Man' Trainor, and traumatized Rita 'Elasti-Girl' Farr. Rita just recently learned she is more like Proty than human. While Crazy Jane, Danny the Street, and Bumblebee have all been in the book, the stories have revolved around the inital team members. So while I want to see Dox scheming and victorious in R.E.B.E.L.S., I want to see the Doom Patrol triumph despite the Chief.

Doom Patrol #14 starts with a general recap of recent issues in to form of a Beverly Hillbillies style ditty sung by fourth wall busting Ambush Bug (another erstwhile team member and the obvious comic relief on the team).

Immediately we see how Giffen acknowldges and accepts all that has come before. From Morrison's run, Mr. Nobody (now Mr. Somebody) has possessed Mr. Jost, the benefactor from Arcudi's run.

These recaps are usually best done in issues where I expect there to be an influx of new readers ... an event cross-over, a new art team, a bold new direction. So it seemed strange to see it here. I think the same 11K readers have been with this title the whole way.

The most sympathetic character in the book is Rita. Not only has she learned that she isn't necessarily human but rather a blob of malleable protoplasm in the shape of Rita Farr, resurrected/cloned by the Chief, but she also has learned that her ex-husband Steve Dayton, the telepath Mento, has been using his powers to make Rita perform ... unsavory ... acts. Overwhelmed by the truth of her origins and outraged by these violations by the perverted Dayton, Rita lashes out, nearly killing Mento. Only a timely save by Cliff stops Rita from becoming a murderer.

The issue before this one was a great introspective on the character of Rita and is worth reading.

Watching from afar ... always watching from afar through the hardwired eyes of Cliff ... the Chief replays a recent conversation that the team has had after surviving their fight with Jost's/Somebody's Front Men team.

It is clear how much the members of the team love each other, how despite the chaos in their lives they rely on each other, love each other, rely on each other, look to each other as a foundation upon which to build their lives.

It is charming and natural to see how they have become a family. Thrown together in combat situations, the relationships forged are tremendously strong.

And yet the Chief is put off by this. At one point, he was the thing holding the members' lives together. They needed him. Now with this vocalized loyalty and support to each other, the Doom Patrol doesn't need the Chief. And without his 'minions', the Chief is suddenly powerless. Maybe he is jealous that he is shut out.

The Chief speaks with such for the team, as if their friendship with each other is a burden to him.

Suddenly, without operatives, he needs a new plan. And so we are made privy to just how diabolical the Chief is.

We heard at the end of War of the Supermen that maybe some Kryptonians were unaccounted for. Now we know about one of them. Vivisected, this poor Kryptonian has become a lab rat for Caulder.

This is horrific. Villainous. Evil. Inhuman. Suddenly we are looking at the Chief in a new light ... a terrible light.

The reason for the experimentation is clear. The Chief wants to learn the 'how's' of Kryptonian physiology in hopes of obtaining their power.

Interestingly enough, the Chief's analysis shows no major difference between human and Kryptonian cells. There is no obvious cellular reason why Kryptonian cells should absorb yellow sun rays and become gods.

With no difference in form, there can only be a difference in essence. Yeah, I don't understand it either.

And ironically, Caulder's computer knows what he doesn't. The Chief cannot live in a vacuum. He needs the Doom Patrol.

The look on the Chief's face is priceless when he is called on it. He knows it too ... maybe he doesn't want to admit it, but he knows he needs them. To him, it is probably weakness that he needs them. But that silent panel is great, speaking volumes.

But with only a metaphysical cellular 'essence' standing in his way to co-opt Kryptonian power, the Chief is able to grasp it. He suddenly becomes Super-Chief. The flood of information ... sensations ... now that he has Kryptonian abilities seems too much to comprehend, to process even for a mind like Caulder's.

This read a bit like Morrison's Luthor at the end of All-Star Superman. Lex was bombarded when obtained Superman's capabilities as well. But there, Lex seemed to ascend. Here The Chief descends into madness. It was interesting for me to compare the two responses.

But insane and drunk with power, the Chief lashes out at those he feels have betrayed him.

In short order the Chief immolates Larry, beheads Cliff, and bisects Rita.

Brutal and scary. How the heck did we win a war with 100K of people like this?

The Negative being rushes to a spare Larry-body the Chief has held in stasis. Cliff's head and brain are still operable. Rita has no internal organs but is on the ground. It is amazing that they all survive. But that survival also takes away some of the ability of Giffen to create suspense in the future. If the Doom Patrol can survive this, what can't they survive? What cliffhanger will now leave me hanging, worried about the team?

I suppose the Chief could finish them off but he doesn't. Maybe some of that unrecognized, unacknowledged love for his friends is still in there despite the madness.

An insane Chief with Kryptonian powers is a cool concept. But somehow this felt a little premature for this to play out in the book. It took Grant Morrison over 3 years before he showed Caulder's true colors, showed him to be the villain he was. Here we are only at issue #14. How do you come back from this storyline with the Chief still part of the book? Why would any of the team let him back into their lives? I like the friction between the Chief and the team ... but not like this.

Of course, with poor sales it might be now or never for Giffen. This is a good issue NOW. I'll have to worry about the future of the title later.

And I am enjoying this title. It isn't Morrison's Doom Patrol, a run revered by me. But it is a good version of the Doom Patrol and I can't ask for more than that.

The mixed art of Matthew Clark and Ron Randall is fine here, although Clark's line work is a bit more suited for the warped world of this book. That vivesection scene was gruesome.

Overall grade: B+

Review: Supergirl #38

We hit the halfway point of the 'Who is Superwoman?' arc in Supergirl #38, released last Wednesday. What was interesting about this issue was that we not only moved the Superwoman plot forward with a some mind-numbing reveals but we added a few new plot threads to the mix.

All that and an 'Origins and Omens' look at Supergirl with a few interesting peeks into the future.


Newsarama already showed us the first few pages with the mid-air brawl between Supergirl and Superwoman.

What I find compelling about this interaction is that Superwoman seems to have the best intentions in mind for Kara but is going about it the wrong way. Throughout the fight she just keeps telling Kara that she wants to return her to New Krypton because 'who knows what is happening there'.

The fight isn't very long with Superwoman getting the upper hand and knocking Kara unconscious. But not before Superwoman says 'I told you not to come back here. No matter what your mother said!' Kara recognizes the line as pretty much the conversation Thara had with her in Supergirl's room on New Krypton.

Could Superwoman be Thara?

But before Superwoman can return Kara to New Krypton, she is contacted by General Lane. She is ordered to dump Supergirl's body right there and pick up a 'stray dog'.

Superwoman follows the orders and dumps Kara into the ocean. Eventually we see Kara limp home to Lana's apartment, covered in bruises and clearly dazed.

We cut to Metropolis where Inspector Henderson is performing the autopsy on Agent Liberty in hopes of downloading the memories from his integrated super-suit. Before much can be done, Lucy Lane shows up with government orders to turn over Agent Liberty's corpse to the feds.

Lucy is curt and cold, pure military bravado.

But despite losing the body, it appears that Henderson's initial work might be fruitful. The suit's memory downloaded successfully.

Our tour of Metropolis continues as we see Cat Grant gleefully writing a story on the UN's decree that all Kryptonians outside of Superman are banned from Earth. Of course Cat is going to love this story. It means Kara is now banished.

Cat then gets a package from her 'tiniest fan.'

The package holds an old-fashioned appearing sock doll of Supergirl. Cat dismisses it and tosses it in the trash.

But there has to be more there. And Cat, given her history, should be wary of this package. While she might think this is a prank from Kara she should really be worried that it is from The Toyman. And what better visual cure for readers than the shot of Cat's desk in the first panel. There is a picture of her son who was murdered by The Toyman.

Maybe this (presumed) eventual storyline will be the way Kara helps Cat and lessens the venom between them.

Ahhh, but then the big reveal! Or is it a red herring?

The 'stray dog' Lane mentions is Reactron who has gone after his ex-wife. Superwoman breaks into the apartment and grabs him. Reactron opens his chest revealing his gold Kryptonite heart and blasts Superwoman assuming it will kill her.

She chuckles that it tickles and then says 'whoever said I was Kryptonian?'

Whoa!

Now I don't know what to think!

The clues have been mounting in my mind that the best fit for Superwoman is Thara. She is a bit more physically mature than Kara. Her hair is short enough that it could easily fit under a form-fitting cowl. She would know Kryptonese and would have these powers. She might not want to obey Alura but would wish that to be hidden so she could maintain her station. As a result, she could be blackmailed by Lane.

But she should be effected by Gold K, which she clearly is not. Maybe enough of her suit os lead lined to protect her?

But if Superwoman is not Kryptonian, who else fits the bill?

A Daxamite might, but we know it is a lead-lined uniform. Unlikely.

A robot?

Maxima? She actually fits. But I think she is dead. And she hasn't been see in this storyline and Igle recently said that the character is someone seen in the arc. And I think Maxima is Flamebird.

I doubt Superwoman is Lucy Lane. How would she have powers and know Kryptonese? Why would General Lane need to blackmail his obedient daughter?

My latest off the wall guess (and I guess I am still stuck on 'evil clone') would be a clone of Alura. What if the Kryptonite poisoning bolt that struck her included Black K. Remember Kara was subjected to multiple types of Kryptonite. Maybe the bolt effected her as Black K has done in the past and split off another Alura.

That might explain some of the contrary statements Alura has made. Some made by Alura A; others by Alura B. She would be a member of the family of El. She would want to protect Kara. She would hide out on New Krypton, staying in a dusty abandoned room. And maybe Black K clones aren't effected by Gold K somehow.

At this point, I don't know what to think. I guess that is the sign of a great mystery.

After that reveal we have a great 'Origins and Omens' story, written by Gates and drawn by Matthew Clark. The opening shows just how conflicted Kara is bewteen Earth and New Krypton. She has a nightmare where she is literally pulled apart by the people of the two worlds.

There is a great scene with Lana where Kara discusses just how alien New Krypton seems to her now. She doesn't think she fits in but feels obligated to stay with her mother. It shows just how mature Kara has become during her time on Earth. There is the old saying 'You can't go home again.'

Lana grabs her chest and spits up a small amount of blood but hides it from Kara. She tells her that Linda Lang should move home again.

Looks like Lana is sick and is going to need someone to help care for her. That might be the hook to have Kara move back to Earth. Of course, given the UN declaration, she will have to stay hidden. Can anyone say 'emergency secret weapon'?

But look at the visions shown in the Book of the Black Lanterns. Looks like we have a very intriguing year coming up.

1) Kara and Inspector Henderson back to back in battle formation.
2) Silver Banshee
3) Zod, Ursa, Non, and Alura
4) Superwoman and 3 hidden figures
5) Lana in a hospital bed, Kara watching over her
6) Kara kissing someone!

Looks like the Silver Banshee is going to be added to Supergirl's rogue's gallery. And a love interest? Who is that guy she is kissing? So interesting.

This issue felt like a set-up issue for the rest of the year but there were enough reveals to make the Superwoman storyline go from simmer to boil. I thought this issue was great.

Overall grade: A