Review: Superman/Batman #56

Superman/Batman #56, the conclusion of the 'SuperBat' story arc, came out last Wednesday, written by Michael Green and Mike Johnson with art by Rags Morales. You may recall missed the beginning of this arc, only getting issue S/B #55 because of a Linda Lang siting and some sweet Morales art.

The 'switched persona' or 'switched powers' idea has been done many times but I thought this story had a satisfying end. It nicely focused the differences in Superman and Batman's personalities as each struggles with their new reality.


The issue starts out with a bang as a recharged super-powered Batman get confronted on the moon by a phalanx of JLAers and Supergirl. Diana tells him they are bringing him in ... 'the hard way' if necessary. Despite the group's strength (2 Green Lanterns, a Kryptonian, an Amazon Princess, etc. ), Batman seems dismissive of them, asking them to get out of his way.

As I have said before, I really like Morales art and this panel illustrates that. Wonder Woman and Hal are exuding pure confidence. Kara on the other hand strikes a ready but less hardened pose, maybe realizing that fighting is the wrong thing to do here.


While that interaction is happening on the moon, Zatanna and Superman are searching the mystic realms for the Silver Banshee and the amulet which caused all the problems to begin with.

They find her in the Oblivion Bar, a hang-out for mystics. There is an old-fashioned bar room brawl happening until Zatanna settles everyone done. I don't quite understand why these folks were all fighting. I mean Blue Devil is pummeling Zauriel in one panel. But I bet it was fun to draw.

The human form the Silver Banshee has possessed is sitting in the corner of the bar. She is a decrepit woman of advanced age, something which seems to shock Zatanna. She deduces that while this amulet may give you your heart's desire, it also takes something as well. It is like a deal with the devil, there is always a catch.

Zatanna performs a magical exorcism, breaking the power of the amulet and releasing the Banshee. While the Silver Banshee is able to escape, at least the heroes have the amulet now ... something they will need to reverse the Superman/Batman condition.

It isn't going to be easy. Despite the firepower of the assault group, Batman is the superior combatant. He quickly neutralizes Diana, Jon Stewart, Firestorm, Red Tornado, and Hawkgirl. It is impressively quick and efficient.

Surprising and wonderful, Kara is the voice of reason here. She is the one that tells Batman that they will lose to him if they fight but that they can't let him go on doing what he is doing. People are getting hurt ... people like Selina Kyle and Dick Grayson.

Is there any stronger evidence that Kara's persona in the DCU has changed since Gates/Igle took over? Supergirl is the smart one here. She is the rational one. And she is strong. She will fight if she needs to but better to end this intelligently and peacefully if possible.

The Supergirl of 2 years ago ... the rave dancer, the 'crystal hell' Kara ... wouldn't have elevated herself above the fray like this. I like this Supergirl.

Distracted for a moment by Supergirl's impassioned plea, Batman begins to hear voices in his head telling him he needs help. With his super-hearing, he pinpoints the voices to Crime Alley.

There he is met first by ghost-like manifestations of his parents. Overjoyed by seeing them, and then saddened by their subsequent dispersion, Bruce begins to cry.

He is then confronted by Clark Kent.

An enraged Batman castigates Clark telling him that he wastes his time playing human reporter when he should be constantly ridding the world of crime. He drives the point home by beating on Clark a bit. Luckily the Batman-like suit he is wearing protects him from any lethal damage.

This allows Zatanna to fly in and use the amulet to again reverse the magic it has done. It rids Bruce of Clark's powers. And it rids Clark of his humanity.

Zatanna was nearby the whole time. In fact, she made the illusions of the Waynes to lure Bruce there.

Looks like everything is back to normal.

In a nice little epilogue, Bruce and Clark talk about what it was like to live in each other's shoes for a period of time. They also talk of how the amulet would give you one thing while robbing you of another. It gave Bruce powers but made him lose his mind. It gave Clark a 'normal life' but tried to rob him of it by having him get shot.

Clark has the best line though. "I know what the amulet really took away. Took away from all of us. It took you. But we got you back." Sure, Batman calls it a Boy Scout line. But it is more a Superman line. That just captures the essence of what Superman is about ... caring about people.

I have to say this was a simple but enjoyable read. Morales art suffers a bit from having different inkers throughout the issue, but it still shines.

Not bad.

Overall grade: B

Review: R.E.B.E.L.S. #2

R.E.B.E.L.S. #2, written by Tony Bedard and drawn by Andy Clarke, came out last week and guest starred Supergirl.

This comic is sort of like reading The Legion of Super-Heroes through a glass darkly. This isn't the bright colored utopian future society with a squad of young optimistic heroes striving to do the right thing. This is the grimy 21st century with heroes who have their own agenda. Whether or not that agenda is best for society is debatable.


Last issue ended with Supergirl and Brainiac 2 on the run from bounty hunters, including a telepath, a Khundian warrior, a cyborg, and a Validus-like creature. When Brainiac 2 downloads a program of Brainiac 5 into his mind, he slumps into unconsciousness.

The bounty hunters track them down leaving Kara no choice but to go back on the run.

The scope of the first story arc becomes clear when Brainiac 5 explains why he sent this program back in time with Supergirl. It turns out that history books have no records of Brainiac 2 after this point in time. Since Brainiac 5 needs Vril to survive to ensure the bloodline continues on, Brainiac decides to help out.

Brainiac 5 downloads all the specifics about the future Legion team and their villains so Vril can use it as a template to build a team. After all, the future Legion is a great model for diversity of powers and strength as well as being a bastion of good.

After the download, Brainiac 2 comes to and joins the fray. While Supergirl runs interference with Tribulus, Vril is able to make the Khundian warrior accidentally shoot and kill the cyborg Getorix.

It turns out that Getorix had a control module implanted in him which gave him some rudimentary control over Tribulus. With Getorix dead, Tribulus is free of his control. Tribulus goes berserk, lashing out at whoever is closest, in this case his fellow bounty hunters.

Brainiac removes the control piece from Getorix and asks Supergirl to do some quick surgery. She implants the device into Vril's brain giving him control of Tribulus.

His first command is to have Tribulus fry Kara with mental lightning. Brainiac tells her that her part in the story is over and flies off with Tribulus in the bounty hunter's ship.

It is clear that Brainiac 2 is a bit more cut-throat than his descendant.

Brainiac 5 calls him on that decision. After all, the LSH template says that the best team has a Kryptonian anchor. Indeed, Brainiac 5 thought that Supergirl was going the be the first recruit for the R.E.B.E.L.S. team.

But that is not what Brainiac 2 wants. Kara would ask too many questions, wouldn't blindly follow Vril's orders, and would probably disagree with his politics. After reviewing the files on Validus, Brainiac 2 would rather have the 'unquestioning and unmerciful' Tribulus be his first recruit.

And with that, Brainiac 2 begins to form his own twisted version of the Legion.

His next attempted recruit is the Omega Man Elu. Brainiac realizes that someone has taken over L.E.G.I.O.N.'s living computer Silica and that Elu could provide enough energy to shut her down for a hard reboot.

The Omega Men have a history with Vril and while they aren't enemies, they are certainly not friends. Elu decides to reject Brainiac's off the join the R.E.B.E.L.S. squad. Irritated by the decision, Vril pretends to be Getorix and calls in the L.E.G.I.O.N. troops to arrest the Omegans.

It is a silly moment that seems a little out of place in the middle of this story. My guess is this Omega Men squad are going to constantly interact with the R.E.B.E.L.S. and Bedard wants to build a little history here. I doubt the 2 teams will merge. My guess is they will be begrudging allies at times.

Vril has decided that some of the LSH template is worth exploring.

He travels to Star Haven to see if there is a 21st century equivalent of Dawnstar. The ability to be a great tracker and travel freely in place has not manifested in all the people yet. But one woman in the tribe called Wildstar does seem to have the sight. She talks about 'feeling' the vessels traveling in space nearby.

She is the laughing stock of Star Haven. The people think her visions are the sign of insanity. Her wings are small and do not allow her to fly. She is ostracized.

Sounds like the perfect person for Vril to domineer. He asks if he may run some tests on her to see if she has latent abilities. Star Haven's leader Night Sky allows Wildstar to leave with Brainiac in hopes she can be 'cured' of her insanity.

Brainiac has no intention on curing her. He wants her tracking ability and offers her her heart's desire ... to be able to fly ... if she will serve him.

This is classic Brainiac 2. He looks at people as tools to accomplish his goals and knows just how to manipulate them.

He reads Wildstar perfectly. She agrees to do whatever he wants if he provides her with new wings. She looks at a suit which seems meant for her.

Despite agreeing, Brainiac seems to be aiming a gun at her back in the last panel.

Now why would he kill her? It is clear that this device is going to be used to remove Wildstar's vestigial wings from her back so she can wear the suit.

We have seen the suit bristling with 'Kirby dots' in some of the promo pics for the title. My guess is the suit has some energy powers. Thus Wildstar is an amalgam of Wildfire and Dawnstar. For an old timer like me ... a guy whose favorite Legionnaire is Wildfire ... I like that idea. Original and retro at the same time.

So it seems that this arc is going to lay the groundwork for the political climate of the cosmos while also showing Dox build his team. Not a bad little premise.

I thought this issue was interesting enough with its weaving of Legion lore into current times to make me pick up the next one. I don't know if I am on board for the long run. But Bedard is clearly comfortable with Brainiac 2's voice. He comes across loud and clear as a controlling, arrogant fascist ... hopefully with good intentions.

The art is very interesting and is different than most of what I see out there right now. At times it looks absolutely amazing. At times it looks just a little off. Still, this is not the cookie cutter art that dominates the market. Clarke has his own style which works for the most part.

Overall grade: B-

Supergirl #39 Preview

Can't wait until next Wednesday to read Supergirl #39? Wondering who is Superwoman now that we can cross Thara off the list of suspects? Then go to Jamal Igle's blog ( http://jamaligle.blogspot.com/2009/03/supergirl-39-preview.html ) and read the first few pages in their entireity.

Overall it looks like it is going to be a great issue. But here are the preview panels that had me thinking.

So Reactron's ex-girlfriend lives on Mooney Drive? Somewhere Jim Mooney is smiling. But look at Superwoman. She is in a hurry to leave before the Science Police arrive.

Is that because, despite her claims, she is Kryptonian and knows that the UN decree is being enforced?

When Reactron tries to kill his ex-girlfriend before leaving, Superwoman jumps in front of his beams. Rather than have them strike her, she blocks them with her weird looking eye beams. That seems odd to me.

But the eye beams are stranger. These are not the usual straight lasers of heat vision. These are different. Maybe she really isn't Kryptonian.

One thing we do know ... she is evil.

I don't care if General Lane is blackmailing her and ordered her to kill this woman, this is evil. This is worse, in my mind, than killing Agent Liberty. At least there you could say there was a military feel to it ... that they were soldiers on opposite sides.

This woman was helpless and was murdered. That is chilling.

Look at those eye beams again. I hope this isn't flame vision. Please do not let this manipulated murderer be Linda Danvers. I don't know what I would do.

And did you notice the sound effect again? The 'vzzt' when the vision is shot? Is that the beam itself or is it (like the radio crackles before) a clue that she is more machine than organism?

Here Superwoman flies off with Reactron while the woman's apartment explodes. Brrrrrr ....

So are there any clues in these pages that help us solve this mystery that Sterling Gates and Jamal Igle are telling?

I don't know what to think anymore. And, as I have said before, that is the sign of a good mystery!

Review: Action Comics #875 - Guess Who Isn't Superwoman?

The year without Superman got kick started on Wednesday with the very entertaining Action Comics #875, written by Greg Rucka and drawn by Eddy Barrows.

I have been pretty interested in this title since we first met Nightwing and Flamebird in the New Krypton storyline. Back then, my initial thought was that Nightwing and Flamebird were Connor and Linda under the masks. Their mystery took something of a back seat to the Superwoman one so I haven't been scrutinizing the clues of their identity as closely.

Luckily, Rucka lets me off the hook, revealing who they are relatively early on. And what a reveal ... it definitely impacts the Superwoman mystery.


I like to see small touches in books that add to the experience, flourishes that show the creative team cares enough to do the little things. For example, the mini-origin of Nightwing andFlamebird we see with the credits. I like that these are legendary figures who arise when the time is needed. In some ways, it acknowledges not only Kara and Karen's time as Nightwing and Flamebird early in Supergirl but also the Silver Age stories. This was as nice a touch as Kara's little origin blurb where they state she fights for 'truth, justice, and the Kryptonian way.'


The issue starts off with the CEO of an Australian communications conglomerate talking about Cat Grant and how much he would like to get her on his payroll.

Before we can get too far into the conversation, Nightwing bursts through the ceiling and punches the man. We see him plummet from his penthouse office through the floors of the skyscraper.

Shockingly, he flies back relatively unscathed and confronts both Nightwing and Flamebird.

A right hook shatters the mask of Flamebird's power suit revealing a familiar brunette underneath.

As the battle continues, Nightwing says that he knows the CEO to be a Kryptonian named Tor-An. Tor-An claims to have been a sleeper agent on Earth for eighteen months and is irate that his cover is blown. He thinks that Nightwing and Flamebird are merely humans in power suits and plans to kill them. But that all changes when Nightwing speaks Kryptonian to him.

On a side note, I am glad that the editors put the subtitles for the Kryptonese in the panels. A scene like this should crackle with energy. Having me look back and forth at the Kryptonian alphabet key would have slowed down the pace of the action. I do like seeing the foreign language written rather than merely translated into english and the words put between chevrons .

Tor-An seems shocked enough by this that he is easily captured in a block of ice by super-breath. Before he can melt his way out, Flamebird captures him in some sort of shrinking/imprisoning gun.

After the battle, Nightwing is giddy proclaiming that they have captured one of six targets.

He then approaches the unmasked Flamebird tenderly, this after jumping to her defense in battle. It is small things, like his hand on her face, that make me think that Nightwing has feelings for Flamebird.

But most importantly, Flamebird is revealed to be none other than Supergirl's friend Thara Ak-Var !! I guess the red hair when they were in their original costumes was a wig. The red hair was a red herring. That was the only reason I was thinking it was Maxima.

There is no way that Thara is both Flamebird and Superwoman. No way! So I guess we can cross her off the Superwoman guess list. My condolences to all who thought Thara was under the cowl.

We learn more about Thara's motivations later on.

Of course, when an Australian businessman is 'abducted' by super-powered beings, the world takes notice.

Somehow the portion of the fight where Tor-An was flying around is not filmed but Nightwing and Flamebird's retreat is. As a result, they are now suspects for the abduction of 'David Carter', Tor-An's human identity.

We see Lois looking at the news reports suspiciously. You can almost feel the wheels of her mind turning that only Kryptonians could create such property damage.

And she isn't the only one thinking that way. General Lane is also wondering if the two are Kryptonians and therefore in violation of the UN decree outlawing Kryptonians on Earth.

We cut to New Krypton where we hear Alura and Zod talking about Thara while we see Ursa dressing for battle.

Alura reveals to Zod that Thara, Head of Security, has been missing for nearly a week. We also learn that Thara has been having dreams and hearing a voice - that of a young boy in the Phantom Zone calling out for help. That same voice was warning Thara about Zod and Ursa. And Thara's parents, it turns out, served under Zod in the Kryptonian military.

Zod puts it all together. The voice Thara heard was 'Chris' Lor-Zod. Chris may have told her about Zod's sleeper agents, part of a plan he has for (presumably) conquering Earth. Thara released Chris from the Phantom Zone and now they trying to sabotage this master stroke.

Zod tells Ursa to head to Earth to clean up the mess, implying that harming Lor-Zod is an option if necessary.

And, if that wasn't intriguing enough, there is this little exchange where Ursa says she remembers how Thara's parents died. To me that means they died by Ursa's hands. Adding a personal layer to this story only makes it that much spicier.

The Fortress of Solitude has become the headquarters of Nightwing and Flamebird and we see Tor-An captured in an energy ring suspiciously similar to the imprisoning device seen in the Donner Superman movies.

Thara tells Chris that their new outfits, their power suits, are a decoy to keep people from thinking they are Kryptonian. They have a job to do - rounding up Zod's agents - and being in violation of the UN decree would make it dificult to achieve that goal.

We then see the list of sleepers Thara is gunning for.

I recognize the names Jax-Ur and Quex-Ul from Silver Age stories but I don't know their current histories or any of the other names. Does anyone have any info?

Thara hears Chris scream from the other side of the Fortress and flies to his aid. When she arrives he looks older. When put in the Phantom Zone, I would put him around 8 yrs old. Early in the issue, he looked to be more around 15. Now I would put him in his early twenties. Chris says the aging episodes happen in spurts and wonders if it has to do with his time in the Zone.

I can't imagine that is true since others, including Mon-El and Zod, were in the Zone for longer and are not so effected. Accelerated aging never works out well in comics. At this rate, Chris will be dead from old age by the end of the run.

This would be a suitable cliffhanger for this opening issue but Rucka decides to top it.

Ursa is in the Fortress and plans on an old-school execution! Nice!

Now this is just what I was hoping for in this issue.

Rucka does a great job of leading us into this story arc by starting us out with an intense action scene. It set the tone, got my blood going, grabbed me as a reader.

We then learn of the overall story of the arc, the hunting down of Zod's sleeper agents on Earth. As readers, we knew Zod was not as magnanimous as he has acted in World of New Krypton. This shows he still has Earth in his sights.

Add to that the Thara and Chris identities and the personal ties they have with Zod and Ursa, and you have a cauldron of conflict for the coming year.

And what better way to end a new storyline, an opening issue, than with a great cliffhanger to suck readers back for the next chapter.

I have to admit, I was questioning DC's decision to remove Superman from his titles just when he was getting some momentum. I worried that readers might jump ship. I still worry.

But this issue is a prototype for what first issues should be like, laying out the main plot, the subplots, the points of conflict, and sprinkling in some action and suspense. This was a very nice job by Greg Rucka to get me excited for relatively new characters headlining a huge DC title.

Added to this is some great Eddy Barrow's art. Occasionally in Teen Titans, Barrows' art has seemed rushed or distorted. This issue was clean and slick. I usually don't comment on this but Ursa was chillingly sexy.

I simply did not expect to like this issue as much as I did. Wonderful!

Oh yeah ... and Thara isn't Superwoman.

Overall grade: A+

Billy Tan Supergirl Commission

Here is the latest commission in my collection, drawn by Billy Tan at the Boston Comic Book Spectacular last Sunday.

Tan is best known for his work on Uncanny X-Men and now New Avengers. He said that he struggled with this Kara commission because he is not used to drawing DC characters. His manager was there and said Tan erased the page 5 or 6 times while drawing because he was having a hard time getting things just right.

I think it came out great. There is a cute strength in this commission with Kara looking out of the corner of her eyes, hand in a fist on her hip. This is a nice addition to my growing collection.

Supergirl #42 Cover

A sneak peek of the cover of Supergirl#42 has been posted on Josh Middleton's blog ( http://joshuamiddleton.blogspot.com/2009/03/supergirl-42.html ).

Looks like Kara is streaking back to New Krypton. This is another interesting composition with Kara's face hidden due to the perspective chosen.

I wonder what has happened in issue #41, the first issue post-Superwoman to prompt this high-speed visit. I bet it's to pack her bags and move back to Earth.

Here is what Middleton wrote about it:

Here is the cover for Supergirl 42. Supergirl is heading to the pink energy-domed city of Kandor. The logo and other trade dress will obscure a fair amount of Supergirl on the published comic, which was my intention.

I made several complete planets in separate files before combining a few to create the small portion seen here. Now I have plenty of extra planets should I need them.

I was confused why covering Supergirl with the logo would be Middleton's intention but he clarified.

Cover artists always have to be aware of how much room the logo, issue number, upc symbol, etc. will take up so they can plan accordingly. In some cases, you end up drawing stuff that will be obscured simply because something has to be behind the logo. In this case, I had to keep in mind that Supergirl would have to be overlapped by the logo, so I composed my image accordingly.

Sounds like the composition of the cover with Kara flying in from the top was designed knowing the logo would be there. My guess is Middleton had to work hard on getting the right angle, perspective, and size of Supergirl on the cover knowing a big DC and the title would be there.

I continue to be very impressed with Middleton's covers on the title.

Review: Superman:World Of New Krypton #1

The 'year without Superman' on Earth officially began last week with the first issue of Superman:World of New Krypton, written by Greg Rucka and James Robinson and drawn by Pete Woods.

This first chapter was a good beginning, telling up a lot about Kryptonian culture and Kal's place on New Krypton.

The tone is a bit more somber than the Gary Frank cover conveys. Here Superman is grinning with his arms out, practically embracing his native world. But we know the story leading into this isn't so sunny. Kal has issues with Alura, with Zod, with how the Kryptonians have been acting on Earth.


Those feelings are much better conveyed on this variant cover by Ladronn.

Look at how small Superman is on this cover. I think thematically this cover evokes two feelings. One it shows that on New Krypton, Kal-El is Kal-El, not Superman. He is not the larger than life figure he is on Earth; he is just an average man here.

But I also get a sense loneliness. Despite the bustling happening in the periphery of the cover, Superman is surrounded, engulfed really, by negative space. He is a stranger here, isolated. This cover better fits the mood.



The book starts with Superman's arrival on New Krypton. Alura reminds him that if he wants to stay on New Krypton he needs to completely renounce Earth and all its ways. He accepts.

Look at how happy Alura is. She is a very tough character to read. I really thank she has been scarred by her time on Brainiac's ship, by the loss of Zor-El. She acts like she has her people's best intentions at heart but her methods seem so deluded.

But this smiling Alura is so different than the angry Alura that told Superman he was unwelcome on the planet initially. It is hard to jibe those two unless you say she is psychologically unstable with labile moods.



One of the first things that Kal-El has to decide on New Krypton is which guild he will belong to. His father was in the science guild. His mother was in the labor guild. But there are others: the military guild, the artist guild, etc.

A member of the labor guild is assigned to escort Kal around New Krypton, taking him to a meeting with Zod.

The members of the labor guild appear to be more like slaves. It is interesting that Lara was a member of this guild.

Something I did like was the creative team associating different version of Kryptonian garb from comic history with the different guilds. For example, the Byrne outfits are worn by the science guild.

The caste system seems to bother Superman. It certainly isn't the American Way to have a whole section of society treated as slaves. We even learn that the labor guild has no voice in politics. This member seems to be resigned, maybe even content, with his role in life.

But Kal is reminded of the troubled past of America and the Civil War that erupted. My guess is that, in the end, Kal becomes something of a rallying figure for the labor guild maybe even leading them to further rights.

On arrival to the military guild's headquarters, Superman is attacked immediately by Non. The fight is short with Superman disposing of Zod's henchman pretty quickly.

He then shows the rest of the military troops that while they are still learning how to use their powers that he has had a lifetime of training. So if any of them are thinking of trying to face off with him they should be ready for a fight.

Finally we see Zod.

Zod actually compliments Kal on his strength and experience, noting that he should help train the troops.

The conversation is civil if not brusque. Zod again states that he has no interest in Earth now that he has a New Krypton to protect. Superman isn't so sure.

And Kal certainly looks concerned when he is denied even a glimpse of 'Chris' Lor-Zod.

Could Zod be trying to brainwash/re-educate 'Chris' to reject what he learned on Earth?

Superman goes back to Alura. I noticed that Alura's garb is more akin to a military uniform now than the flowing dresses she has been seen in before. Has she switched to the military guild? Can you switch guilds? Or is your lot in life determined early on.

When pressed on which guild he will choose, Superman initially chooses none. He finds the fact that slavery is allowed in Kryptonian culture distasteful. After all, he was raised to strive for truth and justice.

Alura quickly reminds him that whatever his Earth upbringing, he is on Krypton now. He needs to be in a guild and if he doesn't choose one then one will be chosen for him. It is something of a power play by Alura but if Superman has 'renounced' Earth to stay on Krypton, he needs to be part of this new culture.

He decides the military guild, working side by side with General Zod. While his skills may be best served in the military guild, I think this is more of a 'keep your enemies closer' plan by Kal.

Overall I thought this was a good issue to begin this mini-series. The writers needed to set the stage. We know little of Kryptonian culture. This tour of the guilds and this understanding of society's norms on New Krypton is crucial to the reader. We need to see how Superman is reacting to the ways of his native world.

Of course, this isn't a class on Kryptonian history. We also need to see what plans Alura and Zod have for ruling this place, for interacting with Earth. With that in the background, I like the fact that Kal decided on the military guild. What better place to obtain important information.

I really enjoyed Pete Woods art here. It seemed less rushed than his work on the last few issues he had done in the 'New Krypton' story arc.

Overall grade: B