Review: Ame Comi Girls #3

With Superman Unchained and the digital Adventures of Superman print copies looming in the near future, my review schedule might become a bit bloated soon.

So the big question is ... should I continue to review Ame Comi Girls here?

Ame Comi Girls #3 came out in print last week and, as always, it was a very entertaining read. I guess the promotion to a monthly book has given writer Jimmy Palmiotti the opportunity to expand this series, opening it up to the entire DC universe (albeit the Ame Comi) one. So it is interesting to see new heroes and villains crop up. So to meet Jade and Star Sapphire is fun, especially Jade's origin. If only the costumes weren't so ridiculous. I mean it, I feel semi-embarrassed taking this book of the shelf sometimes.

Also, since this is a world without male supers, it is a fun read to see the interactions of 'normal guys' with these powerful women. So seeing Jimmy Olsen act as the human love interest of Power Girl is a great read, probably my favorite moment in this issue.

Santi Casas provides the art here and he seems to be a natural for the book. His anime influenced style is perfect here.

This being the Ame Comi world, the Green Lantern equivalent is nicely shunted into Jade. She is Jade Yifei, a blind rock climber. If not having fear is a necessity to be a Green Lantern, Jade Yifei has it. I like the fact that she is blind, showing that everyone can be a hero. And this isn't innate green powers like the classic Jade; we see her given the ring and is sworn to protect sector 2814.

Jade's father is prosecutor who has taken down organized crime in China. As a result, the family is attacked by 'The Flying Guillotine' a flying super-villain with a great costume design.

And I even like Jade's costume, especially the lantern-like head band. Despite just getting the ring, Jade utilizes it well, fending off the guillotine.

Since this is a new universe and the heroes have just formed a team, Power Girl and Wonder Woman announce to the UN and the world their intention to form a League of sorts, to help fight immense threats.

It is a good scene with the world reacting mostly in panic, wondering what rules the League will follow and who will they feel free to attack. I like how Power Girl, usually a bit edgy and fiery in the DCU, comes across as the 'Superman' here, trying to calm the leaders that the team will only be there to help.

I do worry that the 'warrior' aspect of Wonder Woman is a bit too prevalent in Ame Comi. Diana instantly turns on the crowd saying that the League could end all war if it wanted to. She also talks about the evils of man's world. I sometimes miss the Ambassador of Peace and Love parts of Diana's character. Recently it seems she is much more eager to wield the sword rather than say that they should be converted to plowshares.

And with China now boasting it's own hero in Jade, the country states it doesn't need the League's help.

In fact, the Chinese government wants Jade to turn over the ring so they can study it, maybe even mass produce it. Jade's father even seems on board with the plan.

So I loved this scene were Jade shows some internal strength and stands up for herself. She not only tells them she isn't going to give them the ring, she flies off.

How great is that? I like how this new hero has already found a moral compass to guide herself.

As I said above, Palmiotti and Gray are starting to expand this universe and so this issue seems to concentrate a bit on the Green Lantern Universe. First we meet Jade. Then we get some cryptic snippets about a fear based villain, someone we know from a future solicit is Sinestra.

And then we meet Star Sapphire!

I mean it. I wish the ridiculousness of the costumes was even just a smidge less. This costume takes the Ame Comi score to 11. I feel icky.

What I do like about this is that this Carol Ferris is a sort of Hal Jordan herself, a pilot and astronaut. We get to see her meet the Abin Sur equivalent Star Sapphire on a moon mission. Now Violet Lanterns tend to sway more towards the lust/passion side of love and it is hinted at that maybe it is our human nature that can't control the sapphire energy. Maybe the other Sapphires here are less obsessed.

As I said before, it is fun to see DC relationships under the switcheroo aspects of this universe.

So to hear Jimmy Olsen talk about his feelings of inadequacy in trying to be interesting enough and good enough for Power Girl, an 'angel who fell from the skies', was great. It is clear these two love each other as even his feelings are stated in a playful almost flirty way. But I can imagine that it must feel strange to be 'normal' and try to romance a super-hero.

This whole conversation (this being a snippet of it) was the favorite part of the issue for me.

As feared by the alien Star Sapphire, it seems that Carol can't handle her power and her ideas of love seems to veer towards obsession and possession. It seems that Jimmy is a 'Mr. Action' and has dated Carol in the past before a rough breakup.

Carol shows up at some sort of function and uses her powers to enslave Jimmy. And that doesn't sit well with Kara.

It leads to a nice brawl between Power Girl and Star Sapphire, punctuated by this choke slam by Kara. Nice! As noted in prior reviews, it is clear that Palmiotti and Gray have a soft spot for Power Girl. She really carries this book and is given the best moments.

In fact, Supergirl isn't even in this issue and is only mentioned once by Kara (at least she acknowledges she needs to save her cousin). Kind of a bummer.

I have to say Ame Comi Girls is a guilty pleasure for me. It is fun ... something that seems to be rare in super-hero comics these days. And it is always entertaining. I really hope that somehow Supergirl gets pumped up a bit in the book and treated the right way.

And I would not be against Santi Casas always being on art on this book. Perfect style for this story.

Overall grade: B/B+

Review: Ame Comi Girls #5: Supergirl

Ame Comi Girls #5, featuring Supergirl, came out in print form last week and the cover isn't kidding when it says the women of the DCU are reimagined here. This is about as Elseworlds-y a book as you can get.

Outside of the heroes only being women, and ridiulously dressed to boot, writers Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray threw a major curve ball into the plot this week with revelations about this universe's Krypton and its destruction.

Unfortunately, despite featuring Supergirl and initially casting her as the hero of the issue, Palmiotti and Gray take a step backwards and have her end up working for the villain. I am sure that there are a number of reasons why Dark Supergirl is so alluring, not the least of which is promoting the Dark Supergirl Ame Comi statue. But in a week when Supergirl is the main villain in H'El on Earth, a book where she threatens to kill Superboy, I was pretty disappointed in this turn of events.

One of the reasons why I like this book is that it is simple fun and entertainment. There is a feeling of irreverence here, a world not bound by continuity or even sanity. I suppose I should just ride the wave and not be so caught up in a Dark Supergirl sighting here.

Santi Casas provides the art in this book and brings a very heavy anime feel to the book which works well given the material. Casas also does a good job with the crazy battle sequences here, changing perspective and panel size nicely to capture some of the kinetic energy of the fights.

On to the review.

The book starts in flashback, just before the destruction of Krypton, with the brothers El ... Jor and Zor ... defending themselves before a tribunal of some sort. They warn of an impending disaster on Krypton and, per usual, are ignored. I kind of like the idea of the two working this closely together.

And again, this looks amazingly like the Donner films Kryptonian justice system. Those films are 30 years old! But there influence is incredible.

It turns out the threat isn't some internal instability of Krypton or her sun. The threat is Brainiac.

Now I don't quite know how I feel about this next part. It turns out Brainiac created Krypton as well as Earth. When the tribunal rejected the Els, the two brothers decided the best answer was to detonate Krypton's sun in hopes of taking Brainiac out with it. They hoped to save the universe by sacrificing their world. Of course they save their daughters. And they fail in stopping Brainiac.

So, in essence, Jor and Zor are guilty of genocide. I suppose Brainiac would kill the Kryptonians anyways. But it seems a bit too off.

Kara was sent to Earth to stop Brainiac here. She has to face Brainiac herself. Sounds like she might be the hero in this story.

And Power Girl has her role to play as well. She needs to shut down the central Brainiac mainframe in the center of the Earth.

At least for now, and for once, the two Karas are acting together ... like a team.

One things I appreciated here is that this massive battle of Manhunters, Kryptonians, and Brainiac drones does not go unnoticed by the other heroes we have seen. Steel, Robin, Flash, and Catwoman all show up and dive in, buying Supergirl and Power Girl some time to get the heavy lifting done.

I have to say, these costumes are ridiculous. 

While the other women remain on the ground battling the drones, Supergirl streaks towards Brainiac's ship.

On board are the villains we have encountered before - Duela Dent and Poison Ivy - as well as a barely covered and rather buxom Brainaic. I guess I shouldn't be surprised by Brainiac's look here.

And, an unfortunate leftover from the Loeb/Churchill Supergirl stories is Black Kryptonite.

And much like in those Loeb Supergirl stories, Black Kryptonite transforms Supergirl into Dark Supergirl. At least in those Loeb stories, Dark Supergirl sprang from Supergirl creating a good and bad version of Kara.

Here, unfortunately, Supergirl is basically overpowered by the Kryptonite, becoming a pawn of Brainiac.

Kind of a bummer that ... and this seems to be true everywhere right now ... Supergirl isn't even a hero in her own book.

Because once she is brainwashed, Kara heads down to Earth and starts to battle the heroes of the planet.

So Supergirl, who shows up as the only person who can save the Earth becomes a pawn of the villain just a few pages later. Logically, the other heroes are confused.

And outside of Power Girl, none of these heroes are in Kara's league.

Luckily, there is another hero, someone I have been waiting to show up again, Wonder Woman. Nice cliffhanger.

And ... in another odd coincidence ... Wonder Woman will battle a Supergirl who is a pawn for a world destroying villain ... just like in Supergirl's own book!

So I look at Ame Comi as a fun comic in my pull list, a book that is fun and entertaining but not tied down to any continuity. And the prior issues fell nicely into that sort of niche. There is a lot of action, some fun re-imaginings, and definitely more humor than is in your normal comic. I have enjoyed these way more than I thought I would.

That said, this was, for me, my least favorite issue. Between the questionable genocide maneuver by Jor and Zor and the corruption of Supergirl, this book just struck some beats that I don't want to revisit anymore. And I think it was made much worse that it just happened to come out in print form the same week of Superboy #17 which showed a similar patsy Supergirl. After Superboy #17, I was looking forward to Ame Comi as a sort of piece of candy to eat after vomiting, something to get the bad taste out of my mouth. Unfortunately, it just didn't work that way.

Still, this book is a sort of whirlwind ride through this version of the DCU. And, it remains a fun and wacky book. There barely is a moment to breathe in this book, the pace is so swift. Hopefully, Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray will allow Supergirl to shine at some point.

And, again, the anime influenced art by Santi Casas works well here.

Overall grade: B