Review: Cry For Justice #4

So far Cry For Justice has been an interesting mix of beautiful art and somewhat overdone dramatics. It sort of reminds me of John Boorman's Excalibur movie. It was beautifully shot and had a lot of Arthurian drama ... but was a bit ham-fisted with acting and dialogue. Still I love Excalibur. I haven't loved Cry For Justice but I have been entertained, although sometimes more at its unintentional humor than the story itself.

Surprisingly, Justice League: Cry For Justice #4 was a decent issue without as much heavy dialogue and overly dramatic moments. Supergirl has some nice moments. And we finally have a Batwoman sighting.

As usual, Mauro Cascioli's art stands out as being spectacular.

As we saw a while back in the preview of the issue, Shazam was able to use a 'lightning flash' to disperse the force of the Clayface bomb leaving the Justice League alive and well. The League realizes that Prometheus probably has some sort of hold over some of the villains working for him explaining why Clayface would commit suicide.

And, as mentioned before, Supergirl appears attracted to Freddy as he explains how he saved the League.

Over in Paris, Congorilla and Starman have stumbled onto a couple of Prometheus' lackeys - Arak and Penny Dreadful (from the group Helix). Initially, the four skirmish but the heroes get the upper hand and have the villains down for the count.

Unfortunately, Congorilla flies into a rage and moves in for the kill. These villains slaughtered his people and he wants blood. It is only with great effort that Starman is able to stop Bill from killing the two villains in cold blood. Starman finally says the line that we all have been thinking ... vengeance does not equal justice. The heroes have captured these C-listers. That is enough.

Surprisingly, Arak does not seem to have the loyalty to Prometheus as others have. He starts telling Congorilla what he knows. Prometheus killed the majority of the ape tribe. Malavar was the target all along. Penny Dreadful was involved in the killing of Tony, Starman's boyfriend.

Before Arak can say anything else, Penny Dreadful lashes out at him, killing him.

As she aims her powers at Congorilla, Starman strikes. His energy immolates Penny Dreadful, killing her. Within seconds, both villains are dead on the floor.

Starman feels remorse for his killing and fears he is losing his humanity. Regardless, the trail to Prometheus for these two has suddenly gone cold.

It is an interesting scene. To see Starman want to do the right thing and bring the villains to the authorities only to lash out and kill one immediately afterwards shows just how hard it is to draw a firm ethical line. Things happen and snap decisions need to be made.

In the meantime, the golden age Flash continues to try to figure out exactly what overall plot is forming around the world. There is an excellent page of Jay touring the DC America and talking to the various heroes he runs into.

I really like that Jay is emerging as a major hero in the title. He almost could be looked on as the moral heart of the title as he from the beginning has been looking for the root of this evil the 'right way'.

His scene is immediately contrasted to another scene of the Atom torturing another villain. As he crawls around Deadline's mind, Green Arrow finally takes a stand. This torture has to stop. It isn't getting the League any closer to Prometheus. It isn't getting them justice.

How interesting that 'Gitmo' is thrown into Arrow's discussion. It is a jab at the current US military and implies that the military is as bad as the inquisition. I don't know if I quite agree with that. I also don't know if 'real world' politics should be inserted in comics like this. The discussion of the ethics and utility of torture could have been done as a metaphor for current practices without hammering home the US attempts to keep their borders safe. And to make this transparent, I agree that torture is reprehensible in the real world.

Green Lantern and the Atom still feel it is the right thing to do, to get information in any way possible.

Saying that torture is what villains do, Green Arrow decides to take matters into his own hands. Turning on some type of sonic arrow, Ollie incapacitates Hal and Ray. Luckily the two younger heroes, Captain Marvel and Supergirl know that infighting amongst heroes does nobody any good. They seperate the feuding heroes, Supergirl melting the sonic arrow with her heat vision.

The dialogue about torture needed to happen. We needed someone to finally stand up and say that the practice was wrong. So I am glad we saw it. What surprises me is that Supergirl and Shazam initially took more passive roles, watching the torture happen without comment. Maybe they felt that they were out of their league (no pun intended) and really couldn't state their opinions to the more veteran heroes.

Once again, Captain Marvel shows how handy the wisdom of Solomon is. Prometheus is probably setting up all these events as a way to psychologically break down the heroes, to force them to do unsavory things, to make them afraid. If Prometheus wants to be a villainous Batman then he would use tactics like that to make his enemies weaker.

If Jay is the moral heart of the story, Freddy is the moral compass of the League. Throughout this story he has been the one to point out what is right and just. He points out that this Prometheus plot has grown to big to be handled by this group alone. They need the help of the whole Justice League.

You almost feel like Freddy is growing into his role. He isn't pretending to be Captain Marvel, or filling in for Billy anymore. He is Captain Marvel.

And Supergirl can't seem to take her eyes off him. Good looks and brains! It is obvious to Green Arrow that Supergirl has a little crush on the World's Mightiest Mortal. And Supergirl doesn't deny it.

The group leaves Gotham but not before they are spotted and observed by Batwoman. Until this point I had forgotten that Batwoman was supposed to be in this book.

As for Kara, she decides to get to know Freddy a little more and he doesn't seem to mind the attention.

Back at home, Jay bemoans the fact that he can only sense that something large is looming. He hasn't been able to find out much. And he fears that the heroes haven't rebounded yet from Final Crisis.

Before he can even rest, The Shade shows up and tells Jay that he has information for the speedster. I thought the Shade saying he took his coffee black was amusing.

My best guess is the Shade was offered a place in this plot by Prometheus and turned it down. He now has information the heroes can use. Why he would help out them out is a question I need answers for.

Finally, the Cry For Justice group head back to the JLA satellite to fill their friends in on what they have learned.

The League doesn't seem to happy with what Hal's group has been doing. The shot of the League is quite stunning, although I don't recall Zatanna ever looking that much like a stripper.

With three issues to go we still don't know much of what Prometheus is planning. But this issue was much more character-driven than the others. This was about Hal coming to grip with the futility of what he was doing. He was losing sight of the forest (some major plot by Prometheus) for the trees (torturing a foot soldier like Deadline). While I think that the 'hero fighting hero' plot device is cliche, it was good to see the torture issue at least brought up. Hal never admits he was wrong but his silent acceptance of Captain Marvel's advice spoke volumes.

And unlike the last issues, there weren't many 'cringe moments' here. The issue didn't seem overdone. Add to that the burgeoning Supergirl romance and I was pretty pleased. This was the best issue of this mini-series so far.

Overall grade: B/B+

Jamal Igle On His One Year Anniversary on Supergirl

It’s hard to believe that it has been a year since the Supergirl renaissance in her title starting in Supergirl #34. Over on Jamal Igle’s blog, he posts about the one year anniversary of his time on Supergirl (http://jamaligle.blogspot.com/2009/10/supergirl-one-year-later.html). Here is his post:

Before I left for Jamaica, the day before I left I turned in the last seven pages of Supergirl #46. 12 issues ago I was announced as the artist of the series. In fact at the time I started working on it Catie was 4 months old, Karine had just returned to work a few weeks before and we were trying to figure out how to be parents.

I'm still trying to figure out the parenting thing however so much has happened. I came to the project with some preconceived notions and was happily disappointed, not just by Sterling's immense talent as a writer but the whole experience of working with the Superman characters.I want to say thanks to all of you who've supported our run. I want to say thanks to Nei Ruffino, Keith Champagne, Jon Sibal, Tom Chu, Pete Pantanzis and Jared Fletcher, I'm enjoying the work more than I have any project in a while and proud to have you guys as my partners. Thank you Matt Idelson, Nachie Castro, Wil Moss, Sean Ryan and Geoff Johns for giving me the shot. I was in Matt Idelson's office discussing what's going to be happening with issue 50 and it's gonna be nuts. It's just the beginning to Supergirl 2010 and I'm proud to be a part of it!


I was interested about Igle’s ‘preconceived notions’ about the title and was trying to think back that far. At this point last year, Kelley Puckett’s ‘Saving Thomas’ storyline had just ended with a thud. There were some high points to that arc (a suddenly caring Supergirl willing to bend the rules to help someone, some nicely timed humor, Drew Johnson’s art) but overall the Supergirl character felt lost.

She was still reeling from her characterization under Jeph Loeb and Joe Kelly. Their Supergirl was angry, angsty, apathetic to others, unheroic. She was, at least to me, unlikeable.

The uneven approach to Kara over the length of the series made the book almost unreadable. And sales showed that.

So I asked Igle what his preconceived notions were and got an eloquent response that pretty much mirrored my own thoughts.

Well the big one was, I didn't like what they had done with the character. I'm not a fan of Jeph Loeb's writing work, I just found her to be unappealing as a character. You have to like the characters you're working with or it's just not worth the effort. So when I was approached about doing it I asked who the writer was and find out it's some new guy I'd barely heard about named Sterling Gates. Not to sound egotistical but I've worked with some of the best writers in the business So Sterling had, at the time, a lot to prove to me. So when I read the script to issue #34 (which I can say now is the script that got him the job on the book in the first place) I was blown away by how good he was and how much love he had for Kara.

I'm old School, I've been reading the Superman books since I was 5 years old and while I don't have Mark Waid's encyclopedic knowledge I consider my self to be a huge Superman fan. I cried when kara died during Crisis, and as much fun as the Byrne relaunch was there were always things missing from the lore (Kandor, The Superpets, the connection to the Legion, The old school Lex Luthor because I hated the idea of Lex luthor having so much pull and being a corporate tycoon.) So when they brought her back as Clark's cousin I was thrilled until I read the first 5 issues of the regular series. It was a 40 year old man's concept of what an edgy teenage girl was supposed to be and it just didn't work for me as a fan.

All the things he says about the Kara that came before are exactly what I was thinking last year. I still think of that cover of a crystal gun wielding Supergirl standing over her dead classmates. Something was simply fundamentally wrong.

When the Gates and Igle team was announced, I thought to myself ‘it can’t get worse’ … damning with faint praise. I had never read anything that Sterling Gates had written. Would he try to bring back the Loeb version? Could a ‘rookie’ writer somehow save the book? I honestly thought the title was doomed for cancellation.

But the thing was, I can remember reading interviews with Gates when he was announced and he just said all the right things about Supergirl. He sounded liked he loved the character and wanted to bring her back to a semblance of the heroic Girl of Steel I grew up reading. After reading those interviews - many of which I covered here starting last June - I was suddenly, albeit cautiously, optimistic.

So here we are a year later … a year where Supergirl is suddenly a solid-selling title, a year where Supergirl as a character is suddenly a vital part of not only the Superman family but the DCU as a whole.

Funny how much can change in a year.

So, what were you guys thinking last year with Supergirl #34 just about to be released?

Back Issue #17

My thanks to blog friend Gene for telling me about Back Issue #17, published by TwoMorrows publishing. Back Issue (as well as TwoMorrows other magazines including Alter Ego) really does a great job looking back at comics past, specifically how it impacts current books. Here is the link to their site: http://www.twomorrows.com/

I have looked at Back Issue #34 which looked back at Crisis on Infinite Earths as well as the end of the current creative super-teams just before the Byrne Superman reboot. That was a very good issue. Back Issue #17 is even better.

Dubbed the 'super girls' issue, the book has many in depth articles about some characters and times that I really like and appreciate. There is an article about the de-powered Wonder Woman run from the 70s; one about the intricate origins of Spider-Woman.

And, of course, there are a couple about Supergirl.

The main article is titled Supergirl From Argo City To Legend and really takes a very thorough look at Supergirl's comic history from her Adventure Comics days through to Crisis on Infinite Earths. Specifically it looks at the editors, writers, and artists on her stories in those times and looks at each person's take on the character of Supergirl.

The historical review starts with Adventure Comics #397 which was the first for editor/writer/artist Mike Sekowsky. This period included the beginning of new reader-inpired costumes, the introduction of Nasty Luthor, and Supergirl losing her powers. Sekowsky was known for 'humanizing' his characters and so there aren't many outer space or super-powered villains in his run.

Starting in Adventure #409, comics legend Joe Orlando took over as Supergirl's editor and brought with him a new writer Steve Skeates. Skeates was a fan turned pro who wrote strong independent women.

That era closed when the decision was made to give Supergirl her own book and bring her back to college. Bob Kanigher editted this book with Cary Bates as writer and Art Saaf as artist. Her solo series was a brief 10 issues long and suddenly the Supergirl character was one of the Superman Family in the comic of the same name. She was put under the editorial umbrella of Superman editor Julius Schwartz and E. Nelson Bridwell. During this time Elliot S! Maggin wrote her early adventures followed by Jack C. Harris.

The Superman Family stories ended with Paul Kupperberg writing Kara's adventures. He easily rolled over as writer in her next solo book Daring New Adventures of Supergirl.

The article really does a great job reviewing all these periods, talking to as many creators as they could, with side panel articles about the editors and some of Supergirl's more nutty adventures.

One thing that stuck out in the article (much like it did in Back Issue #34) is Marv Wolfman and Dick Giordano's clear dislike of the Supergirl character. I can't believe that DC got more angry letters about Terra than they did Supergirl. And for Giordano to say most people didn't care seems like an overstatement. If no one cared, if her death wouldn't impact people ... why would DC stress the overall importance of Supergirl's death.

As someone who has most of these early issues, this article took me through some of the process that the creative teams had. But for me, the real treasure of the issue is an article about Double Comics, a proposed title which would have both Superboy and Supergirl adventures in it ... a title shot down when Crisis appeared on the horizon.

Luckily some of the first Supergirl script and art exists and so we can see a story that might have been.

Written by Paul Kupperberg and drawn by Eduardo Baretto, the story has Supergirl dealing with a variety of personal issues including the return of Dick Malverne into her life.

Struggling with her place on Earth, she returns to Rokyn to find herself. She actually gets a lot of support from Alura who thinks Kara needs to start finding her own place in the universe.

Judging from the pages we see here, Baretto would have been a fabulous artist for Supergirl. And in reading some of the script, it sounds like Kupperberg was really planning on establishing Supergirl as her own person, distancing her a bit from the shadow of Superman.

What a treat to take a look at this Supergirl issue that never was! That splash page is gorgeous!

I cannot stress how great this issue was ... certainly worth the price for any Supergirl fan. I highly highly recommend it. One thing I liked about TwoMorrows was the ability to buy a .pdf version of the magazine. It is worth looking over the whole website to see if any other of their magazines intrigue you. I recently got the Alter Ego dedicated to Bob Oksner and really like that one too!

Back Issue Box: Daring New Adventures Of Supergirl #9

With Hunt for Reactron halfway done, I thought I would take another trip into the back issue box and review Reactron's first appearance as a Supergirl rogue. I already reviewed the first half of his 2 part story a while ago ( http://comicboxcommentary.blogspot.com/2009/05/back-issue-box-daring-new-adventures-of.html ) and figured it was time to wrap up his story as seen in Daring New Adventures of Supergirl #9.


To catch people up, Reactron was a standard 1980's energy-wielding baddie who arrived in Supergirl's hometown Chicago and was planning on draining a nuclear reactor located on campus to increase his powers. Reactron had been on the run from the Doom Patrol, who had been chasing him cross country. Last issue ended with Supergirl confronting Reactron in the reactor control room.

Paul Kupperberg clearly has a love of Supergirl and makes her a powerful hero to be reckoned with.



On rereading these issue, one thing I really like is just how confident Supergirl is in her abilities. Reactron had showed of some impressive nuclear abilities last issue but Supergirl basically laughs them off here. She almost seems to be taunting him ... telling him his blasts are like spitballs.

In the meantime, Reactron speaks a sort of street level villain-speak which seems pretty in line with his current incarnation.

Despite clearly having the upper hand in the fight, Supergirl realizes that the tight quarters and the inherent dangers to the local environment from a fight inside a nuclear reactor control room only benefits Reactron. She decides to take the fight outside where she can get a better handle on him.

Once again, I have to comment on Supergirl's banter ... a mix of insults and put-downs which goad Reactron into following her. I mean 'Stop flapping your big mouth and let's see a little action!' is not a line I would typically think would be spoken by Supergirl. Sounds more like a standard Guy Gardner or Spiderman line to me.

Still, it is very refreshing to see Kara so comfortable with her powers, realizing that she is one of the most powerful beings on the planet.

Still, after a little more of the skirmish plays out in the air, Supergirl realizes that Reactron is an inexhaustible nearly unstoppable weapon. He can absorb any radiation ... cosmic rays, radio waves, solar radiation ... and throw it right back at his enemies. While she ponders her next step, the Doom Patrol shows up and brings the fight to Reactron.

I always like the Negative Man and Negative Woman. The energy spirit is just cool looking. Here we see The Negative Woman try to take out Reactron by phasing right through him. Unfortunately, it has little effect on the villain.

While the Doom Patrol spar with Reactron, Supergirl thinks she has come up with an easy solution to the Reactron threat. Why not just encase him in lead, thus blocking all radiation from even reaching him?

Ahhh ... but that would be too simple. It turns out that Reactron's personal radiation acts differently on lead than all other radiations. In fact, lead becomes an unstable and explosive element when subjected to Reactron's powers.

The Doom Patrol's Tempest tells Supergirl this after she dumps the molten lead on Reactron. As a result, she needs to get Reactron up and out of the way as quickly as she can.

Up above the city, the lead coffin does explode, knocking Supergirl briefly unconscious. Unfortunately, Reactron has disappeared. When Supergirl awakens, she asks Tempest how he knew about the lead reaction. He reveals that he knew Reactron before his days as a super-villain when they both served in the military.

It turns out that this Reactron is just as much a sociopath as the current one. Tempest served in Vietnam with Reactron. Back then Reactron was Sergeant Ben Krullen. While on patrol, Krullen led a massacre on a small village of elderly and children. Tempest couldn't allow that atrocity to happen. While enraged, Tempest's powers manifested themselves for the first time. He lashed out at Krullen with his energy blasts. To his surprise, Krullen seemed uneffected.

Not knowing what else to do Tempest takes off, in essence deserting the army. He has been on the run ever since.

He does learn however that Krullen was exposed to radiation during the early experiments with atomic bomb tests and that must be how he became Reactron.

With the exposition out of the way, Supergirl suddenly realizes that her worst fears from the earlier battle has come true. Her initial fight with Reactron did indeed damage the nuclear reactor and it is now running out of control, radiation and energy spilling out.

Unfortunately that is like ringing the dinner bell for Reactron who laps up the energy, becoming more powerful than ever before. And, now juiced up, he plans to not just defeat Supergirl; he wants to kill her.

Kara still has the welfare of the campus and the city as her primary mission. She tosses Reactron out of the reactor in hopes of containing the radiation leak.

With Reactron situated above the leaking core, Supergirl crates a massive vortex which accomplishes two things. First it draws up all the remaining radiation from the reactor and force feeds it to Reactron in one big dose. Second, it then sends the overfed and suddenly unstable Reactron into space where he explodes into nothingness. This is really Supergirl at her best ... saving people, thinking on her feet, defeating the enemy.

Of course, we have seen Reactron survive two similar episodes already so I don't think we can label this Kara a murderer.

Alas, the results of that explosion are different for some reason. Supergirl now has contracted a case of radiation poisoning which is effecting even her Kryptonian physiology! How will Supergirl survive?? Cue the dramatic music!

All in all, this is a pretty action packed issue. Unlike last issue where the Doom Patrol dominated the fight scenes, this is clearly Supergirl's battle. And throughout the issue she is always working out solutions to the problems she is faced with.

Again, I have to say I love the confidence she radiates here both in action and words. Even the way she interacts with the Doom Patrol shows that she considers herself an established super-hero, not a sidekick or a novice.

As I have grown older, I have come to appreciate Carmin Infantino's art more and more. His angles and perspective are a bit skewed but overall I thought he did a great job here. Although I did not post any panels here, he definitely drew one of the lovelier Linda Danvers.

And how can you not like a Daring New Adventures of Supergirl cover by comic legend Gil Kane!

While the science and solutions are a little fuzzy, this was a fun issue when viewed in retrospect. As far as I know, Reactron was never seen again in the pre- or post- Crisis on Infinite Earths DCU until he was reintroduced in the current title. As he now plays a big role in the current Supergirl mythos, these 2 issues would be a good addition to any Supergirl comic collection. The issues can be found for about $3 a piece at conventions.

Overall grade: B+

Review: Superman #692

Superman #692 was released last week and seemed to be a sort of rest issue as we pick up on the many plot threads that James Robinson is weaving in this book. In fact, he even added a few more story lines in this issue.

If I have had a complaint about Robinson's run is that he is juggling so many plot lines right now that it is difficult to see if there is a grand plan, a method to his madness. As I have posted in the past, I find myself wondering why pages are being dedicated to certain plots and characters that seem minor to the overall arc when maybe they could be better spent on a bigger theme.

That said, I didn't mind those moments this issue. After Codename:Patriot, we needed an issue to catch up with everything that is going on. More importantly, I thought it was good pacing to see the responses to the 'Metropolis 3' attack on the city and the presumed death of Mon-El.

Still ... another plot line? I don't know if I can keep up with them all.



The issue opens with a group of super-heroes trying to fix the destroyed Metropolis sewers so that water can again flow in the city. Unfortunately, as Dr. Light tells us, the bomb used to destroy the water system including nanotech which undoes any repairs performed on the pipes. And that tech is clearly from John Henry Irons' Ironworks factory.

Irons is alive but in a coma. Again, I wonder why Lane or Atlas would leave Irons alive when they could have easily dispatched him. It makes even less sense if they were going to implicate the Metropolis 3 for the attack on him. Why not implicate them in his murder? Maybe I am more ruthless than General Lane?

The effect of the lack of water is shown in some detail as we listen in to another episode of The Edge of Reason. There isn't enough water for hygiene. There is barely enough for survival.



The haggard appearing Edge then goes into pure propaganda mode, talking about General Lane as a normal man who will save the world from the super-human Kryptonians. Throughout this rant, Lane is shown in incredibly patriotic images while Supergirl and Thara are shown thrashing hte military.

I find it interesting that Lane's influence can reach into a private sector celebrity like Morgan Edge. I hope we learn if there is some back story between the two.

Meanwhile, Mirabai is shown interrogating Zatara.

The more I read, the more I am worried that Mirabai isn't going to always be a good little soldier for General Lane. I wonder if she has her own agenda and working for Lane is just serving a purpose. I mean now she calls herself 'Mirabai the Forlorn' as she playfully twirls a rather nasty looking axe. Her powers seem to have no limit. Even here she has magically silenced Zatara as she questions him telepathically.

Mirabai begins her discussion by telling Zatara that the Mark Merlin he met was actually the Parasite in a false form trying to worm near the magical power source of General Lane's satellite. I think this is a lie. I think that that truly was Merlin.

More interesting is her revelation about who is the power source of the satellite. It is not Prince Ra-Man. In fact it is someone people won't know 'in a thousand years'. That reference to 'a thousand' and all the Legion members running around this comic make me think the source is a magical character from LSH.

You may remember that when Mirabai was underground in the sewer system with Reactron and Metallo she talked about how those close quarters were unnerving to her. Back then I wondered if her claustrophobia meant she was somehow related to Mordru. Now she drops this nugget of information. I know I am not the first on the 'net to say it but I think Mordru is the power source.

The scene ends coldly with Mirabai casting a sleep spell on Zatara and telling him that when he awakes he will serve her in her court. Mirabai may very well be the big bad in this story arc.

Back in Metropolis, The Guardian reveals that Johnathan Kent was in fact Mon-El and that the troops should all raise a glass in his honor.

Jamie Harper looks astonished that Mon was her partner.

I am more astonished at The Guardian. Mon-El is invulnerable. There was no body found. Heroes get resurrected every other day. I am surprised that Harper would reveal the secret identity this early. It seemed a bit incongruous.

In what I thought was a good character development scene, Guardian then tells Jamie how proud he is of her and all her accomplishments. It is a nice moment between a clone and his (?) descendant.

Robinson does a good job of keeping the development of his characters moving forward, of creating three dimensional players out of even the most bit player. I still wonder though if this cast is too large.

And here is yet another character driven scene. Harper's lieutenant Officer Wilcox talks about how she is recently widowed and that her heart is cold right now.

When I first read this scene I wondered why Robinson was giving us more back story on another small cast member. I mean ... am I supposed to care about a Science Police squad leader, the equivalent of a red shirted landing party member in Star Trek?

Well ... it turns out that yes I should care.

Wilcox is later shown in her apartment talking on the phone to someone. As she hangs up she picks up a picture of Princess Projectra and Karate Kid and says 'Val' sadly.

The next panel we see her crying, a Sensor Girl costume in the background. Wilcox is Princess Projectra somehow active in the past! Wow! I didn't see that one coming.

Of course, Projectra became Sensor Girl after Karate Kid (her husband) got killed in combat with Nemesis Kid way back in the Levitz/Giffen Legion of Super-Heroes in the mid 80's. For a while, the Sensor Girl mystery was a hot topic as many thought she was Supergirl, brought back in a clever way by Paul Levitz.

Now I am very interested in why all these Legionnaires are hanging out in the past and what part they play in this arc. And I like Sensor Girl so I am intrigued to see what Robinson is going to do with her. But now I have another big plot line added to this already complex tangle of threads. Is it too much? Will Robinson be able to bring all these subplots together into a grand finale?

The issue ends on a high note as we see General Lane walking through Project 7734. We see some of the different areas within the headquarters and some of the metahumans and creatures he is assembling. We are shown a genetics division. We see the Creature Commandos. And we see this robotic are.

GI Robot? A Manhunter? The original Robotman? Mekanique, the time travelling robot from the early JSA adventures? This is like a wonderful buffet to a DC fanatic like me.

It is clear Robinson also likes the dusty corners of the DCU. When you add these characters to Sensor Girl, Prince Ra-Man, Atlas, etc ... you see that no character cannot be reclaimed and refitted for his story ... for the current continuity.

The last shot is of an angry Mon-El, alive and in captivity in the bowels of Project 7734.

Overall, I actually liked this issue a lot. The more character driven scenes are written well and move the individual stories of these characters forward. No one is a two-dimensional character here; everyone feels fleshed out.

And while no major step forward in the World Against Superman storyline was made, enough bay steps were taken to make me feel that this wasn't a glorified rest issue.

I have to add that I have mixed feelings about the Sensor Girl reveal. I am glad she is back but I wonder if we have room for a new major character in this book.

Fernando Dagnino's art is solid here. I think he enjoys drawing Mirabai; that scene seemed to crackle a bit more than the rest of the book.

So I think the book isn't treading water in terms of plot progression. But it isn't doing the free style either. It feels more like a doggy paddle.

Overall grade: B/B+

Justice League:Cry For Justice #4 Preview

A preview of the first pages of James Robinson and Mauro Cascioli's Justice League:Cry For Justice #4 has been posted on the DC blog The Source and it has an interesting wrinkle for Supergirl fans. Here is the link: http://dcu.blog.dccomics.com/2009/10/01/the-heroes-take-a-dark-turn-in-cry-for-justice-4/

As usual, the art is really fantastic.

You may recall that last issue, Clayface detonated a bomb within him to try to kill the heroes. Somehow, Captain Marvel was able to use a 'lightning flash' as a way to deflect the force of the bomb.



Clayface's willingness to detonate a suicide bomb seems to stun the heroes. They are not used to Prometheus being so well prepared.

Kara remembers that Clayface spoke of a daughter and wonders if Prometheus may have a hold over some of the villains he is working with.

The heroes also wonder what Prometheus hoped to accomplish with a bomb attack against some sturdy JLAers. Hal's ring analyzes the bomb and sees that it included nanobytes as well as both Kryptonite and some of Jordan's DNA as a way to bypass and injure some of the tougher heroes. Only Freddy would have easily survived. And it is only with Freddy's manuveur that they all are unscathed.




And here is the Supergirl wrinkle.

When the Atom calls Freddy special, a rather smitten-appearing Supergirl quickly agrees.



And so we flash back to February's Supergirl #37 and the Origins and Omens story in the back.

Remember when we saw this glimpse of things to come ... one of which was Kara kissing someone. I am pretty sure that some astute folks guessed Freddy right off the bat. Looks like they might have been right.

I think Freddy actually makes an interesting love interest for Kara, both of them wearing the emblems of greater more established heroes. I hope this storyline gets picked up in the main comic too.

Back Issue Box: Action Comics #304

I love it when small pieces of Supergirl's mythos pop up in unexpected places. It is this dissemination of information that might bring new fans into the fold.

Imagine my surprise when an old seldom seen villainess from Supergirl's Silver Age showed up in Super Friends #19, written by Sholly Fisch with art by Dario Brizuela.

In the book, a villain named Headmaster Mind opens up a school for teens to train them how to be super-villains.



And look at how one of his proteges is ... a Kryptonian called The Black Flame.

So let's take a look into the back issue box at Action Comics #304 and review one of Supergirl's original rogues ... The Black Flame!

Released in September 1963, the Supergirl story was the back-up story, written by Otto Binder and drawn by Jim Mooney.

"The Maid of Menace" opens up with a great panel of Black Flame lording over a powerless Supergirl, denying her water, as the Phantom Zone villains look on in delight. "More cunning than Lesla Lar, more evil than Luthor", somehow the Black Flame has exposed Supergirl to Gold Kryptonite, vanquishing the Maid of Might.

The issue starts with Supergirl perplexed by the sudden arrival of a new super villainess who begins thwarting international police and going on a crime spree. She even has some serious technology with her. For example, she has a mind ray which can control Comet, forcing the super-horse to destroy some monuments of popular heroes.

Calling herself the Black Flame, she taunts Supergirl into following her so she can reveal her origin.

Black Flame shows Supergirl a time bubble that includes a 'mento dome' which can download historical data into a person's mind.

When Kara dons the helmet, she learns how The Black Flame is from the future and in that time she is the evil ruthless queen of a pirate planet, the head of an intergalactic crime empire. What's worse ... she is the descendant of Supergirl. And since the Black Flame is universally hated, Supergirl is as well. Black Flame is currently hiding out in the present to avoid a police sweep on her planet.

Devastated at how she is ultimately perceived in the future, Supergirl flies home despondent.

Luckily, Edna Danvers gives Linda some good advice. She tells her super daughter to stop moping about this story and investigate it instead.

Flying into the future, Supergirl finds no evidence of Black Flame in any historical documents. And Supergirl is even able to see that she is still a beloved figure, even in the future.

Realizing that the Black Flame is lying, Supergirl begins to investigate what her origins can be in the present.

Since she displayed Kryptonian like powers, she might be from Kandor. There is a good suspect on Kandor ... a girl named Zora who was a friend with Lesla Lar no less. Unfortunately, Zora is shown at her job in Kandor during Black Flame's day of destruction. She can't be in two places at once, can she?

Heading back to Earth, Supergirl finds Black Flame and decides to take matters into her own hands.

In order to stop the Black Flame from developing super powers in the future, Supergirl exposes herself to Gold Kryptonite. By stripping herself of her superpowers, Kara cannot pass any of them on to the next generation. But wait ... didn't Supergirl learn that Black Flame isn't really from the future?

Once Supergirl is powerless, Black Flame reveals her true origins.

She is indeed Zora from Kandor. The Zora in Kandor during Supergirl's trip was a robot double. Zora was Lesla Lar's friend and vowed to take up Lar's quest to belittle and defeat Supergirl.

To achieve her ends, Zora flew through a red Kryptonite cloud which luckily restored her to normal size. She then concocted the whole future story to trick Supergirl into removing her own powers.

With the Phantom Zone villains looking on, Supergirl slips into quicksand and drowns.

At the same time, Zora's shrinks back to Kandorian size, the 48 hours of red K induced size suddenly over.

Well, it turns out that Supergirl was faking the whole time. The chunk of gold Kryptonite is actually a regular rock wrapped in her gold belt (check out the above panel again and note to lack of a belt on her costume). By faking the gold K incident, she was able to trick Black Flame into revealing who she really was.

When she tunneled out from the quicksand into the ocean, Supergirl found some minute grains of gold Kryptonite. Too small to effect Kara, she scoops them up and exposes Zora to their radiation, turning the tables on her enemy. Now Zora is powerless.

How did Supergirl realize that the future story was fake? She noticed a filling in one of the villainess' teeth. Why would an invulnerable supervillain have a cavity. Of course, in Kandor, the Kryptonians are powerless and can succumb to poor dental hygiene. Zora is returned and placed in the Kandorian jail.

Black Flame was seen a couple of time after this. In Adventure Comics #400, she nearly defeats with Supergirl with Gold K again. That issue reads like a drug trip with Zora teaming up with a Kryptonian leprechaun, using giant bowling balls to try to crush Supergirl who is trussed up as a giant headpin, and ultimately being defeated by toys that Supergirl is mentally controlling. Bizarre! She also tries to trap Supergirl on Rokyn as it is phasing away in The Krypton Chronicles.

Since Black Flame is a recurring Supergirl villainess, I would rate this issue of medium importance to a Supergirl collection. It can probably be purchased for around $20 in decent condition.

Overall grade: B+