Cover Run: The DC Comics Art Of Adam Hughes

I am an Adam Hughes' fan.

There I said it.

I know that there are folks out there who find his stuff too cheesecake. But his stuff just pops off the page. I almost always love the composition of his art, the playfulness of his subjects, and ... yes ... the beauty of his work. In particular, I really loved his run of Wonder Woman covers. His Diana was always beautiful, happy, and strong.

So I was pretty excited to hear about 'Cover Run: The DC Art of Adam Hughes; a beautiful hard cover book showcasing his work in the DCU and including preliminary sketches and commentary from Hughes himself.


Of course Hughes did the phenomenal variant cover for Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes #23, one of the best variants I know of and a truly iconic cover for this incarnation of Supergirl.

Like many of his more famous covers, this one gets its own entry with more detailed information.


First off, here is the sketch of the cover.

Sorry for the crummy scan. That is the best I could flatten the page on the scanner.

And here is the commentary by Hughes. It sounds like Hughes likes drawing Supergirl!

I also like the direction that DC gave him. "Make sure she is pretty and you can see her Legion flight ring." ... not much there for guidance. So kudos to Hughes for coming up with this design from thin air.


I figured I would include the Valor cover Hughes is talking about as an inspirational cue.


And I figured I would also include my favorite Hughes Wonder Woman cover. This perfectly captured Hughes. She is beautiful, strong, and sexy.

There was often a playful happy feel to his Diana as well; she isn't always the grim faced warrior. I like seeing that aspect of her as well and Hughes was able to capture it.

The book is $40 and a relative steal if you are a fan of Hughes' work. The book also includes sections on his Catwoman run, his Power Girl issues, and his work designing busts and statues for DC Direct. If you like Hughes, I highly recommend it.

Review: Supergirl 1-28

Let's review the Supergirl issues so far.



1-5: A decent opening story, picking up where the Superman/Batman origin story ended. Jeph Loeb did a decent job of showing how difficult it was for Kara to find her way on earth initially. And there is always some guilty pleasure in seeing a Kryptonian/Lutho smack-down. The 'split persona' plot twist is a little tired, and the seeds of the 'I am here to kill Kal-El' thread were planted here though. Grade: B



6-8: One year later and we have 3 inscrutable issues taking place in Kandor with Kara again being mind-controlled. After an aborted rebellion and fiery speeches, Kara takes off for Earth to possibly search for Argo. Even Greg Rucka knew this was so bad, he left after 2 issues. Grade: D




9-12: The beginning of the Joe Kelly experiment. A series of one shots which are hit or miss. The high school issue, where Kara tries to have a secret identity only to leave after she sees how cruel teenagers can be, is a brief shining light. The Outsiders issue (11) and the Terra (12) issue do little to move the title forward. The Outsiders issue in particular seems more interested in cheesecake art than story. The Terra issue shows us a shallow Kara rave dancing rather than saving people. It was here I began to feel some dislike to the character, who had yet to show much heroism and instead was sort of a jerk. Overall grade: B, might have been higher without the Terra issue.



13-15: The Power Boy arc. Some nice art here. And a decent message against abusive relationships of any kind. Still, Kara seems flighty and shallow here again. And the seeds of the 'kill Kal-el' plot as well as the 'crystal powers theme' start to put down roots here. Grade: C-




16-19: It ends with Kara asking Kal to forgive her and become part of her life again. Whew! Unfortunately to get there we have to see a demented Zor-El experimenting on Kara, leading her on a Colombine like rampage in her high school where she mows down students with a crystal gun, and Kara killing her mother. There is some obsfuscation where maybe these memories were planted by the dark herald of the Monitor. But who wants to read about a murderous Supergirl with crystal powers and a genocide streak. In particular, issue 18 seems a slap in the face to older Supergirl fans where a 'sweet as pie' Silver Age Kara tries to rough up the current one. It read more like Kelly trying to show some fans that a heroic Kara is the wrong direction. It didn't work. Grade: F




20-22: Amazons attack cross-over. Two Countdown crossovers. (shivers). Enough said.




23-28: Kelley Puckett and Drew Johnson come on. Immediately out of the gate they do 2 things that revitalized my interest in the comic. One, they made Kara act like a hero again. The first issue shows her trying to help Superman in some intergalactic war. She wants to help!! Second, they completely erase the 'mad Zor-El, kill Kal-El, crystal hell' thread, showing actual visions from Krypton of a loving Zor-El and a scientist Lara. Hurrah hurrah!!




Next, they bring in a old school Kara villain, Reactron, last seen way back in Daring New Adventures of Supergirl issues 8 and 9, a nice touch for the old-timers.




But the most intriguing plot has been the cancer plot. Kara promises a young cancer victim that she will save him despite the dismal prognosis. This has always been an undercurrent in super-hero comics. Why stop Blackstarr when instead you can plant crops and feed the hungry? Build shelters for the homeless? Turn deserts into plains? Kara asks the question 'maybe curing cancer is a better use of my time than stopping crooks.'


While the actions she does to bring this about (find Resurrection man, break a noted evil scientist out of jail) seems silly, it makes sense for the character. Kara is a teenager; she is going to be impulsive and do things that seem silly. Still, it is for a good cause.


Some bloggers/message board pundits have complained about this run. They say Kara is too passive. That she is constantly being bailed out by Superman and seems subservient to him. That she has no guts or spirit. I think quite the opposite. This is the best version of Kara I have seen so far in this title. Now if only Drew Johnson could have drawn all the issues so the art would be consistent, it would be fabulous. Grade: B+



And now that we are caught up ... from now on ... monthly reviews.