Back Issue Review: All-Star Comics #58

We just turned the corner on April and that means we have officially entered the comic event of 2025, JSApril! Kudos to comic podcast legend, The Irredeemable Shag, for putting together the event, herding in over 40 podcasts and blogs to celebrate the first super-hero team, the Justice Society!

I definitely wanted to be part of the festivities. I wanted to remain true to this blog's core. So why not review All-Star Comics #58, the first appearance of Power Girl, the Earth-2 Kara Zor-L. 

In this current world or reboots and new #1's, it is pretty amazing to me that DC picked up the numbering of All-Star Comics. This book came out October 1975. All-Star Comics #57's release date? December 1950! A quarter century has passed!

But here we were in the mid-70s with DC deciding that not only were the JSA worth being on the racks, not only that we would pick up their legacy numbering, but we would inject the 'old-timers' with fresh blood ... The Super Squad!

Kudos to writer Gerry Conway for mixing this up. Yes, we get the veteran JSAers, right there on the splash page! But the Squad's make-up is interesting. A now grown-up Robin, a veteran in a way. The Star Spangled Kid, a hero from yesteryear but now thrown into modern life. And Power Girl, brand new and answering the question 'why isn't there a Supergirl on Earth 2'! They each add some juice to the proceedings but in different ways.

Power Girl is immediately effective and her personality is pretty much on display from the beginning. She is strong, smart, and very independent. This isn't the meek 'secret weapon' in the orphanage. She is ready to throw down and jump into the mix. This is who Power Girl is and always should be. 

The art is by Ric Estrada with great inks by Wally Wood. We all know that Wood is the one who ultimately pushes the envelope with Power Girl's particular pulchritude. But both artists give us solid representation of the JSAers. 

That is my copy's cover scanned above, signed by Conway and cover artist Mike Grell!

This is a fun new chapter for the Society and therefore a perfect book to celebrate JSApril. On to the book.

Rhode Island ComicCon Rundown

This last weekend I went to the Rhode Island Comic Con.

This is a relatively new convention and is a Comic Con in name only really. There is an artists alley. But the big draw seems to be the pop culture celebrities in attendance. I was heading there mostly to meet Mike Grell and Chris Claremont.

You might recall that last year there was something of a ticket disaster. The con was oversold. People couldn't get in. The floor was overcrowded. Things didn't seem to be run well.

This year, the convention seemed to answer a lot of those questions for better. Tickets were now plastic badges that were scanned to keep an accurate count. The attached Dunkin Donuts Civic Center was added to the floor plan, increasing floor space tremendously. That was the good.

Now onto the bad. If you bought tickets online, you were subjected to ridiculous fees which nearly doubled the price. It still felt oversold and overcrowded on the Saturday. And there was no map at the con. The show said there was an app to download which I did. But on Saturday, the second day of the con, many artists tables were still listed as TBD.

Okay, enough overall review.

I was thrilled to meet Mike Grell. I consider his Legion run to be my first comic books. I have loved his work all my collecting life. So I brought some issues to sign and hoped to get a sketch. As you can see from the first pic, I was successful. Given my predilection to 70s Grell, I opted for the hot pants costume.

I would have loved to talk to Grell all afternoon but his table was pretty busy. I was able to grab a handful of signatures (more talk below).

I also got to meet Chris Claremont. I am not a big Marvel person and certainly wasn't a fan of the Xmen in the 80s and 90s. But I still had a smattering of issues to get signed by him. That XMen/Titans crossover is a favorite issue in my collection.

It was also interesting to see how charging for comic signatures has sort of proliferated. Here is the breakdown of prices for signatures and then how many comics I got signed.

Neal Adams, $30 per signature. No books.
Chris Claremont, $5 per signature. 5 books.
Simon Bisley, $5 per signature (told to me). No books
Joe Rubinstein, $5 for Claremont/Miller Wolverine book, $3 otherwise. No books.
Mike Grell, $3 per signature. 5 books.
Rich Buckler, $2 per signature. 1 book.
 Ale Garza, $0 per signature. 5 books.

The one regret was not meeting Amy Jo Johnson. I was a big fan of the Pink Ranger. But she was in a sort of VIP room and the line to get in was huge. I didn't even get a line of sight on her.

I can't really complain. I met Mike Grell and got a Supergirl commission from him.

And thus ends Convention Season 2015.

Supergirl Bullet Points

Lots of stuff swirling around the internet these days. And unfortunately we need to wait a couple more weeks before we can read what is really happening to Supergirl in the DCnU.

Thought I'd take a break from the near non-stop recent reviewing and catch up on some things.

Comic Book Resources recently had a poll asking people to vote for their favorite DC and Marvel characters. Here is a link to the master lists so far: http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/2011/09/01/2011-top-100-dc-and-marvel-comic-book-characters-master-list/

Supergirl came in at number 43, which I think is a very good showing for the Girl of Steel. When CBR last ran the poll in 2007, Supergirl came in at 58, so that is a very nice jump. I'd like to think that jump was based primarily on the strength of stories we have seen in the old book, Cosmic Adventures, and in the JLA over the last couple of years.

DC has a lot of great and lot of wildly popular characters. I am thrilled Supergirl ranked as high as she did and gained some momentum. Of course, this was based on the 'old' heroic Supergirl.

Over on his site, Mahmud Asrar has posted some commissions he has been doing for an upcoming convention. Here is a snippet of a Steampunk Supergirl he did as well as the link to the page:

http://mahmudasrar.com/post/9919846186/commissioning-ii

Here's hoping he posts the whole thing some time, either on his blog or DeviantArt site. I think the art on the Supergirl book is going to be very good. I can still hope that the costume gets tinkered with a bit.

Lastly, I occasionally guest post over on the DC Bloodlines blog. Recently, Bloodlines began a series for blogger's comic resumes. Here is a link to mine: http://dcbloodlines.blogspot.com/2011/09/comic-resume-anjs-origins.html

I cut my comic teeth on the Mike Grell era Legion which might explain my lifelong love for the team. It also might explain why I think Grell's version of the Shrinking Violet outfit might be my favorite Legion costume of all time.

It Came From the Back Issue Box: Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes #204

With comics delayed for a day due to Labor Day, I figured I would do another back issue review. And I have to admit that my recent review of Legion of Super-Heroes #16 made me a bit nostalgic for Kara's Legion days and her relationship with Brainiac 5. As a result indulge me in my review of this issue, Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes #204 (actually this is considered an issue of Superboy's solo title and only 'stars' the Legion).

The cover highlights the first story in the issue, but the Supergirl story is the second feature aptly titled 'Brainiac 5's Secret Weakness'. The opening panel lets us in on this not-so-secret weakness right off the bat: his love for Supergirl.

The story opens with Star Boy and Brainiac 5 leaving Legion headquarters for some much needed R&R. In particular, Brainiac states he feels absolutely physically exhausted with no clear reason why. So the two head off on vacation and what better place to find that much needed rest and relaxtion than Recreation Asteroid 7, a domed paradise floating in space.

During the long flight, Brainiac's mind wanders to Supergirl. Despite it having been years since Kara had joined them on a mission, he can't get his mind off of her. She was the only girl who he ever loved and despite the passionate kiss pictured here, he never knew if she loved him back.

Well, shockingly ... who is waiting for Brainiac 5 on the Recreation Asteroid but Supergirl! And she is all too willing to declare her love for him even stating that life is meaningless without him. Supergirl quickly convinces him to quit the Legion and take off into space with her, presumably for a life 'happily ever after'. And Brainiac 5 doesn't need much convincing, he immediately tosses his flight ring to Star Boy and tells him to say goodbye to everyone.

But happiness is cut short as the Legion Cruiser Brainac 5 and Supergirl are flying away on is bombarded with lethal zotron rays, powerful enough to vaporize poor Brainiac. To save him, Supergirl wraps him tightly in her invulnerable cape and plans to ride out the storm.



Once danger passes, Brainiac is unwrapped and to his surprise sees not only Supergirl but a female robot malfunctioning on the floor. Supergirl tells him that she just arrived to save him by wrapping him in *her* cape, not the synthetic cape this robot had cocooned him in. The real Supergirl had just happened to travel to the future and was in Legion HQ when Star Boy called in what had happened to Brainiac 5.

But if this Kara is the *real* Kara ... then that means .... that's right! The Supergirl declaring her love was a robot! And not just any robot, a robot that Brainiac 5 built!



No wonder he was exhausted! He had been sleep-walking for weeks building the Supergirl robot in his lab because he yearned for Kara so much. He never was the most stable guy, was he? As mentioned before, he has had psychological breakdowns throughout his Legion career. The robot then tells Brainiac 5 that he programmed her to be a Supergirl to fill the void in his life and to love Brainiac completely. A bit creepy I think ... a bit cringe-worthy.




The robot's circuits were damaged beyond repair by the zotron rays and so shuts down, but not before Brainiac 5 cradles her in his arm in a panel that mirrors The Pieta.



I wonder if Michaelangelo knows how often The Pieta is copied in comics?

But why was the real Kara there to begin with? She hadn't worked with the Legion in years, right? Well it turns out she just wanted to officially leave the Legion; she could not cope with being even a part-time Legionnaire.



But she also wanted to at least temporarily end her relationship with Brainiac 5. She leaves the chance for restarting their relationship a bit open, saying she hopes to return and pick up where they left off.

I am an absolute sucker for these Mike Grell drawn issues of Legion. These were some of the first issues I ever read as a comic reader when I was just a little kid. As a result, there is always a glow of nostalgia and magic in them. In fact, the Legion is probably the first comic I ever collected. By that I mean that if I got a quarter and walked to the local convenience store to buy a comic, I always looked for the Legion first. If I couldn't find them, I would peruse the spin rack and pick the coolest cover to buy. Talk about simpler times!

So this issue works on both levels for me, both Grell Legion and Supergirl. And boy, I think he draws a very lovely Supergirl here. Just beautiful. It is almost enough to let me overlook the creepy storyline of an obsessed Brainiac making a Supergirl 'love-doll'. Kara seems to be able to gloss over this, despite my thinking that most women would find it a bit too perverted, a bit too distasteful to ignore.

The art gets an 'A'; the story gets a 'D' (although I am putting 21st century views onto an early 70's comic book aimed for kids). It might be worth a couple of dollars at a convention just for the Grell Supergirl.

Overall grade: C