Review: Convergence Justice League #2

Convergence Justice League #2 came out this week, the second part of this brief 2 part story linking the pre-Flashpoint League with the Flashpoint Aquaman.

I'll start off this review by saying, in general, I have enjoyed the second issues of the Convergence mini-series more than the first issues. It seems like the need to establish the story and include the 'dome coming down' scene may have stifled things. Because so far this week, every second issue has been better. Not perfect! Better. And Justice League fits that bill as well.

Writer Frank Tieri ramps up the action in this issue, having the League go and try to rescue the kidnapped Mera. Some of the problems of the first issue, especially the seeming lack of powers and presence in Mera, persist. But this issue is a smoother story, a punch-em-up finale to a quick arc.

Artist Vicente Cifuentes adds a very polished look to the proceedings. The overt cheesecake from the last issue is subdued here, maybe because the characters are in their costumes as opposed to the teeny tiny evening wear they were in last issue as they were out hitting the clubs.

The violence runs a bit extreme here, a staple in DC comics these days. That said, this is the Flashpoint universe we are dealing with. Things are supposed to be dark.

Last issue, the Mera of the pre-Flashpoint universe was snatched by the Atlanteans from the Flashpoint world. That universe's Aquaman is obsessed with getting any version of his queen back.

The League isn't going to stand for that and so invade the waters of the nearby and recently domes Atlantis to find and free their friend. I don't know if these Earths were pitted against each other by Telos (the whole rules of the tournament are extremely loose in all the books) but a brawl will be happening regardless.

I thought this was a nice opening splash page showing the League members underwater and engaged in fighting the Atlantean army and their leader Aquaman.

Now why Mera, with all her strength and water-controlling powers and pride, isn't trying to free herself? I can't answer that.

I do like that she recognizes that Vulko is an upstanding person no matter the universe. She wonders why he would go along with this.

He issues the dreaded 'I am following orders' defense for his actions. You sense he doesn't agree with this kidnapping. But he must obey his King.

In a nice twist, we learn that the 'Aquaman' leading the Atlantean army and summoning monstrous Krakens from a mystical rift is Ocean Master.

Now you would think that a Green Lantern, Flash, and Superman team would not be deterred by infantry and sea monsters. Add Zatanna and this should be a walk in the park. But it isn't so. This is a pretty even fight in the beginning.

Now here is some of that over the top violence of the issue.

You may have noticed that Vixen was not part of the ocean force fighting the army. She, using absorbed abilities from the aquatic animals around her, slips into Atlantis undercover to try to free Mera via espionage and duplicity.

She confronts Aquaman in his throne room and actually holds her own for a short time. However, in a bit of 'comic book science', Aquaman is able to control Vixen since she is tied into the undersea animal web. And he commands her to kill herself ... which she does.

That is simply brutal and gratuitous. Now I know that the Flashpoint world is a dark, bitter, evil world. But we didn't need to see this. And Vixen fans, happy to see her again in this story, must be pretty sad to see her go out this way.

I will say that I love Supergirl in this issue. She definitely plays the muscle in this group. There isn't much space for characterization or subtlety. She basically is the tank here.

But she is a glorious tank.

The rest of the League is defeated by a huge kaiju and ultimately captured. So Kara comes streaking in for the rescue. She bashes her way into the throne room and we get several pages of her kicking the snot out of Aquaman.

I mean it looks like this is going to be a short fight.

But take a close look at this Supergirl.

I am a huge advocate of the red skirt for the Supergirl costume. So even though the skirt color is wrong continuity-wise, I love it.

And look closer!

There they are!

Bike shorts under the skirt!!!

It is hard to believe that we are going back 6 years when bike shorts was the hot topic for some corners of Supergirl fandom.

I love the bike shorts!

Somewhere Sterling Gates and Jamal Igle are smiling and nodding slowly like Mr. Miyagi at the end of Karate Kid.

Of course, nothing is that easy.

Aquaman has been studying this League and noticed Supergirl had attributes similar to some rocks on the ocean floor. He has fashioned a Kryptonite trident for just such an occasion!

This is the one part of the plot that stymies me. When did Aquaman have time to do all this research? The dome was impenetrable prior to being dropped. That was just a couple days ago at most. So he has somehow, from a distance, linked Kara to Kryptonite, forged for it and found enough in the limited water from the dome to find enough and make a trident?

I suppose if I can buy undersea kingdoms, flying aliens, green women, and even the concept of the city of planets, I have to just accept this part.

Just as Aquaman is poised to kill Supergirl, Mera decides to use her feminine wiles to get close to him. She lures him in with words of love and a kiss. But once in close, she guts him like a fish, stabbing him in the abdomen. She leaves him to die, bleeding to death on his throne.

So the portrayal of Mera in this book is the weak link. She should have her powers back and should be using them. I doubt she would be docile with her abductors. And this use of fake romance to move in for the kill feels pretty cliched.

Add to that the relatively ease with which Zatanna, Jade, and Jessie are caught as well as the humiliating death of Vixen and this book isn't without its warts.

But I love the Supergirl in this book. She was the red skirted, bike short wearing, muscle of the team! That alone lifts this book up a couple of notches.

Overall grade: B

The Costume Revealed!!!

Okay ... I will try not to ramble or be ridiculous here. But get ready for me to gush.

I had planned to post today about the Supergirl show and even a little blurb about Gotham but it became clear yesterday at 4PM that that post would need to be delayed until Monday.

At about 4PM yesterday, the costume for the upcoming Supergirl show was finally revealed! We got two great shots of the suit designed by Colleen Atwood, two great shots of Melissa Benoist in costume, and one very very happy Anj. The news was everywhere but here is the article from Variety: http://variety.com/2015/tv/news/supergirl-costume-revealed-photos-melissa-benoist-cbs-1201447987/

And when the news broke, my Twitter feed almost collapsed as friends We're tweeting me links and wondered what I thought. I will say that people who know me well knew that I would absolutely love this costume. It is basically a variation of the Helen Slater movie costume (done in the comics as the Matrix costume). It is my favorite Supergirl costume.

Let's see:
Red skirt? Check!
Pointy yellow belt? Check!
Full shirt? Check!
Classic S-shield? Check!

I like the yellow piping on the S-shield with the blue background. It isn't the comic version with the full yellow background but that's okay. This will be her S-shield. It is still the El crest. but it's hers not Superman's.

And then the brilliant addition of tights under the skirt, a simple way to avoid the bike shorts controversy!
And with Slater on the show, the whole look of the costume is a nice nod to the movie and Slater's legacy!

It does look a little muted here but this is a dark shot. My guess is it will be a bit lighter in real life.

Seriously though. This is brilliant. I love it. LOVE IT!

But wait there's more!

There was a second shot of the costume with a close up of Melissa Benoist.

And look! She's smiling!!!

This looks just how Supergirl should look!

This isn't the dark grim Snyder universe! This is a brighter place with a smiling hero!

Seriously, producers Greg Berlanti and Ali Adler have the Midas touch. Everything seems right.

I said it yesterday and I'll say it again here.

I live in a world where there is a Supergirl show in production and it looks and sounds like it will be great!

Unreal!

Jamal Igle And Supergirl #34

A while back I mentioned that Jamal Igle is planning a retrospective look at his work on Supergirl over on his blog. I was pretty pumped to see what Jamal had in store. Well, he started that series and if this first entry is any indication of what is coming up, this is going to be fantastic.

Here is the link to the first entry, looking back at his (and Sterling Gates') first issue Supergirl #34:
http://jamalligle.blogspot.com/2011/12/from-vaults-supergirl-34.html It is well worth reading in its entirety, so please head there.

This was the beginning of a reworking of Supergirl's character and Igle starts out by discussing his initial approach to Supergirl and the other characters of the Superman universe. It is pretty interesting to hear his thoughts about how he planned to draw them and who he was trying to invoke.

But for a process nut like me, these things will be the real treasures of a series like this.

Here are the thumbnails of the first 8 pages of the issue. It's fascinating to see these quick sketches and how they match up to the real deal.

And, of course, the most 'controversial' aspect of the issue was the updating of Supergirl's outfit, lengthening the shirt a bit and adding the bike shorts that got the comic world twitterpated. We haven't had bike short talk here in a while!

Here is Igle's concept piece on his changes to the costume including the skort! Igle has always said that his initial plan was for the costume to be a skort and not separate bike shorts. It was a coloring error that implied the shorts! Wild! And there was almost a red skirt! Here are Jamal's thoughts:

I had also pitched an alternate costume design which would have incorporated elements of previous Supergirl costumes. Particularly a variation of the boots and red skirt from the 1980's/Matrix Supergirl. It was decided however that they didn't want to stray from the then current costume as designed by Michael Turner. I did however take some elements such as the new cape attachment and the ...well...

THE SHORTS

The Shorts, the shorts, the infamous shorts. Since there's no way to get around it, I'll tackle it head on. The first thing i need to say is they were never intended to appear as a separate pair of shorts. the whole idea was that they were supposed to be a skort, which is a popular item with female athletes. What happened is,Nei Ruffino had accidentally colored them red with a gold trim rather than the blue they were supposed to be. We went with it and most people didn't notice, until I did the interview with Newsarama that was picked up by NPR.

Hopefully I am not picking the scab of the bike shorts again. Maybe that discussion has scarred over.

Thanks to Jamal Igle for sharing these things with the Supergirl audience. I am looking forward to the rest of these posts (his post on #35 is already up on his site)!

Supergirl Costume Changes?

 The 'new' DCU continues to be discussed all over the internet and, as usual, Bleeding Cool is breaking a lot of the news. One of their stories states that there is now an editorial edict that female characters wear 'practical clothing'.  Here is the link: http://www.bleedingcool.com/2011/06/01/flashpost-dc-women-to-wear-trousers/

 Now there might be a bit of baiting with the headline. The story says 'practical clothing', not 'only trousers'. But one quote from the story mildly irked me.

But the likes of Supergirl will be redesigned so they aren’t running around in a little skirt flashing their panties at every available opportunity either. Female superhero characters will have their legs covered.

I mean, why drag Supergirl into this conversation? Doesn't he know about the great 'Bike Shorts' debate? There hasn't been a Supergirl panty shot (at least in her own comic) in years.

Anyways, the pants headline is sure to rattle some people's cages. And it isn't like Supergirl hasn't worn pants before.

She wore red shorts from much of her career. This is the costume a lot of people think of when they think of Supergirl.

And in the 70s when she sported many costumes, some of them had pants like this one on Adventure Comics #412. There is almost too much happening on this cover to discuss at length.

And she sported pants in the Elseworld's Finest book by Barbara Kesel and Matt Haley.

Of course, we still don't know if there is a Supergirl book, let alone if her costume has been tweaked.

I am sure more news will be coming soon.

Jamal Igle Interview

There is a really great 2 part interview with Jamal Igle over on www.ustownhall.com.

I highly recommend listening to both parts but you should know that each port is just under half an hour long period so brew a cup and settle in. Here are the Links:

http://www.ustownhall.com/USTH-RealStories-Igle01.html

http://www.ustownhall.com/USTH-RealStories-Igle02.html

The first part revolves mostly around Igle's early career and artistic influences.

A lot of his favorite artists also fall on my list of favorite artists. In particular, I am a huge fan of Steve Rude and Brian Bolland.

The second part of the interview is almost exclusively about Supergirl and the Superman families. It really touches on a lot of topics and is actually quite meaty.

He talks about coming on to the title, first working with Sterling Gates, rehabilitating the character, and touching on the bike short controversy again.

But then he also drops a lot of hints about the upcoming year. Those hints include:

1) the origin of Lana's illness being found in Kurt Busiek's run on Superman

2) the importance of Nightwing and Flamebird to the overall story of War of the Supermen

3) Kara's interaction with Brainiac 5 in the upcoming crossover. Querl might recognize Supergirl from her prior incarnation?? Ooohh ... juicy!

4) Supergirl crossing over in R.E.B.E.L.S. again (most likely in the Brainiac crossover again).

So lots of tidbits to mull over. It feels like 2010 will be a strong Superman and Supergirl year.

One Last Bike Shorts Post

I know I promised to not initiate anymore talk about this topic, a change in Supergirl's costume I completely love.

But this is from my post on this blog from November 21, 2008 ( http://comicboxcommentary.blogspot.com/2008/11/review-supergirl-35.html ):

I show this panel for one reason.

That's right, there are bike shorts under the mini-skirt! I, for one, think it makes sense for Supergirl to wear them given all the flying she does. And, thankfully, it takes away the potential for the pandering and gratuitous panty shot we sometimes have been subjected to. It also eliminates the need for the skirt to defy physics and always stays down.

I am completely okay with it.But I know that when Renato Guedes added them to Kara's costume in his issues, the negative feedback about it was unprecedented and (I feel) unwarranted. Buckle up Mr. Igle ... my guess is the same folks might complain again.

I know that even a broken clock is right twice a day but I knew that this topic might become a flashfire.

But even I could not foresee that the story would get so big that it would be covered by a mainstream site like NPR ( http://www.npr.org/blogs/monkeysee/2009/07/let_there_be_bike_shorts_a_gee_1.html )!!!!

I think this is 'any publicity is good publicity' especially since the site talks about how good the title has been of late. From the article:

But things have been looking up for her of late. In her current series, the fantastically named writer Sterling Gates is doing good work supplying the character with depth and intelligence while downplaying some of the vampy-trampy aspects she got saddled with upon her return.

Meanwhile, artist Igle has given her a real, physiologically plausible body, outfitted in a costume that is growing steadily less, in the artist's words, "hoochie."

And that article led to more internet discussion including posts on popular comic sites like The Beat ( http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/2009/07/06/supergirls-guide-to-short-skirts-and-the-active-lifestyle/ ) and CBR's Robot 6 ( http://robot6.comicbookresources.com/2009/07/the-panty-shot-decree-heard-round-the-world/ ).

Unfortunately it is clear that a lot of the people who are posting responses there haven't read the book recently and are disparaging the character. That irks me to no end.

Anyways, I am pro-shorts and always have been. I am happy they are there. And I (again) promise to not initiate discussion on this topic again.

WHAT !!! More Bike Shorts Talk !!!

One of the things I am really really really surprised about is how polarizing the bike shorts under Supergirl's skirt are in the Supergirl fanbase. We already are a tough group to please but this seems to have taken root with people choosing sides.

This is definitely more polarizing than the 'for or against the secret identity of Linda Lang' argument ....

Maybe even more polarizing than the 'Loeb/Kelly or Gates' argument ...

The topic that seems to come up time and time again on message boards is the presence of those red shorts under the skirt. In fact, some Supergirl message board topics have started out talking about one thing only to derail into a 'panties vs bike shorts' discussion. And people can get quite angry and defensive about their position.

I confess I have been part of the problem. I have always been pro-bike shorts and I have talked about the 'panties vs bike shorts' topic here now and then. It's like picking a scab!

Now incredibly (!!) ... almost absurdly ... the topic has become so huge that it was the lead story on Newsarama late last week. A whole column devoted to Jamal Igle talking about the decision to put bike shorts under Supergirl's skirt ( http://www.newsarama.com/comics/060926-Supergirl.html )!


Since they were added, I haven't seen any lurid up-skirt shots in Supergirl. The last panty shot I recall was in Final Crisis #6. The bike shorts just makes sense to me. But the topic has continued to fester.

I already mentioned how it was a point of discussion at the DC Nation panel at Heroes Con.

As always, the whole Newsarama column is worth reading. In particular, Igle really sounds passionate about his concerns of the over-sexualization of the Supergirl character and that adding the shorts was just one thing he did to help curb that look.

Here are some blurbs:

“One of the reason why I went with the shorts rather than just draw the skirt in a way where it was either longer, or I never showed it flying up was that I wanted freedom of movement,” Igle said. “With the fight between her and Reactron on the rooftop in issue #40, she’s doing martial arts and moving around. It makes sense that if you’re doing martial arts, you’re going to have something that’s going to cover you a little, especially if you’re wearing a skirt.”

Yeah, the whole flying around and fighting in a skirt thing makes me think that bike shorts are simply more functional. No one seems to complain about Stargirl wearing bike shorts as her actual uniform.

So I don't know why it is such a big problem here. And then this tidbit ...

While the shorts have become an official addition to Supergirl’s costume, Igle said that there is a more changed version of Supergirl’s costume “floating around the DC offices” that he and Gates keep going back and forth on in terms of adopting.

Now that is interesting. I have heard murmurs of a 'new costume' being introduced in issue #50.

Could we be moving to something more in the vein of the Crisis-era Supergirl or the Matrix Supergirl ... a leotard with an overlying skirt? I have never hidden the fact that I prefer the full shirt/red skirt look.

What do you all think? For or against the bike shorts? Time for a new costume?

Heroes Convention 2009

It's the beginning part of convention season with 2 of the bigger cons happening simultaneously t his weekend. One was Wizard World Philadelphia. The other was Heroes Con in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Most comic book sites had live feeds from the conventions so news was easy to come by. As usual, I tried to pick and choose the best bits to talk about here.

First off, the DC Panel at Heroes Con was covered over on Newsarama. Here is the link:
http://www.newsarama.com/comics/090620-heroes-DC-universe.html . Supergirl's own Jamal Igle was one of the panel members. Here is some of what was reported.

Moving to Supergirl, Igle said that “Guiding Day” is the next Supergirl story coming up, in which Supergirl celebrates her birthday, and must choose a Guild on New Krypton. That story will lead to the Codename:Patriot crossover which will kick off with something that happens in World of New Krypton #5.

My guess is that this is a typo and the story should be 'Guilding Day'. Knowing what we have seen in her room, my hope is that Kara will join the Artists' guild. It also would be a nice tribute to Zor-El since we learned he was one the of scientists in the Artists' guild. I hope, for once, Alura supports Supergirl's decision instead of trying to force her into choosing something else.

I also wonder if the choosing of guilds will be explained. Who would ever choose the labor guild? Or are you only given the choices of your parents?

A fan thanked Igle for adding the shorts to Supergirl’s uniform, the artist thanked her for liking them, noting how a simple pair of short under a skirt was very divisive among Supergirl fans.

I wonder if Igle ever gets tired of talking about the shorts? I know I have.

The cool thing is that question was asked by a big Supergirl fan. One of the blogs I always read is 'Adventures of Comic Book Girl' ( http://nevermore999.livejournal.com/ ) and it looks like she was the one who prompted Igle to talk about it. Better yet, she did a nice review of her day at the con and further interactions with Igle.

From her blog:

I also took the oppurtunity to assure Jamal Igle that I adored Supergirl's shorts, and he shouldn't listen to what anyone says about them. I kind of wish I hadn't now, because it became a running joke at the panel. Igle had to explain to Sattler what the deal with the shorts was. He also said he "had never seen such a divided between fans over an article of clothing." He said he'd gotten angry emails on the shorts and they were all (predictably) from guys.

I am glad that she echoed support of the shorts to Igle. I have always preferred them.

Other juicy tidbits from the con.

Supergirl will be wearing Kryptonian clothes next issue...

I look forward to seeing what styles of clothes Igle has designed.

He was very pleased when I told him his and Sterling's work had made me like Supergirl, and when I complimented how normal-weight, strong and expressive her drew her, and how he made it possible for me to relate to her and be interested in her. He said that was the best thing I could have said to him.

I hope all fans of the current direction who are at this con (or any con that Igle and Gates are attending) let them know how much the title is appreciated. I hope I have the opportunity to do it at a con sometime soon.

Supergirl #40 - Jamal Igle's Costume Changes

Thanks to everyone who pointed out to me Kara's costume in this flashback panel with Batman. It was something I glossed over in my first reading of the issue.

Given this is a memory of her training with Batman, the assumption is that this panel takes place during the early days of Supergirl's time on Earth.

And Jamal Igle lets us know that by putting her in a costume more in line with the earlier issues of the book.



Notice how the shirt and skirt are a little bit smaller.

And can't you read her body language here? Bored/frustrated look on her face, hands on hips. It just speaks a bit more about the K-poisoned irritated angsty Kara seen in the first 19 issues of the title.

Contrast that costume to this panel which showcases some of the subtle changes Igle has made in the costume. Notice how the shirt covers a bit more of her ribs now, a strip of blue now evident under the S-shield.

And the skirt also rides higher and is little longer as well. We don't see the lines of Kara's pelvic bones anymore.

Lastly, I thought I would show the most controversial change Igle made, the inclusion of bike shorts under the longer skirt.

I did not put this post up to necessarily discuss the merits of the costume changes (although I like the changes Igle made).

Instead I posted it to show how the current creative team is doing the small things to put out the best product it can. The Batman panel shows that Sterling Gates and Igle care about details like costume continuity in flashback scenes.

And as I said way back when they took over in issue #34, I was glad that they weren't ignoring everything that had happened in the book prior but instead were recognizing and reacting to it. This was a 'soft reboot' with Kara's history (outside of her muddled 'Kill Kal-El' origin) kept intact.

As a reader I appreciate it when the writers and artists care enough about the character to get the small details right.