Bullet Review: DC Bombshells #16

DC Bombshells #16 came out in print last week and was another great issue in the this run. Writer Marguerite Bennett uses the issue to flesh out the back story of several of the Bombshells, giving us an understanding of their motivations and fears. The back half of the issue is focused on Mera and her origin, looking at her exile from Atlantis and her dysfunctional family.

As I said, this issue really added some depth to these characters. It is one thing to have an image of Kate Kane smiling and swinging her bat in her Batwoman costume. It is another thing to learn that she has witnessed tragedy and how it has scared her. We have moved a long way from simple pin-ups by Ant Lucia. We have fully formed characters now.

As usual, Mirka Andolfo and Laura Braga bring some beautiful and powerful art. Andolfo is artist on Huntress/Batwoman pages in Europe. I love Andolfo's style which can seamlessly veer from the silly (Harley pages) to the serious. And Braga brings some weight and fascinating page layouts to the Mera pages.

My one complaint? No Supergirl and no Wonder Woman ... again. I'd love a check in with those characters. This will be a quick review.

Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes #27

This week on the Legion of Super-Bloggers, I review Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes #27. Here is a link to the whole piece:
http://legionofsuperbloggers.blogspot.com/2016/08/threeboot-supergirl-and-legion-of-super.html

The prior issue had established the Dominator threat. War was happening. And the Legion were at odds with the quasi-allies The Wanderers. This issue ramps up the Dominator threat, showing us just how difficult this war will be to win. From all angles, it seems that the Dominion has the advantage.

Story tellers Mark Waid and Barry Kitson do a great job of showing just how outmatched the Legion are in these early stages. It can't be war without casualties and we see our heroes gravely injured.

And yet, despite all the action, Waid and Kitson continue to infuse wonderful character moments. Most of them come contrasting Mekt's approach to problems with the Legion.

Here Mekt simply wants to chalk up the death of UP delegates as casualties of war and the dropping of dead weight. Cos both upholds the sanctity of life and knows that those delegates would be powerful allies against the Dominators. It is a small moment but speaks volumes about who the Legion are.

With the pedal floored, this book continues to roll on!

Review: Superman #4

Superman #4 came out this week and continued to be a fast paced, wild ride of an issue. There is barely a change to catch your breath as story-tellers Peter Tomasi and Patrick Gleason give us a horror-tinged tale of death, souls, and ghosts.

I will admit that I am not entirely on board with the idea that the Eradicator sucked the 'life force' out of Kryptonians. It seems a bit too nebulous to me. If this was Hellblazer or Madame Xanadu, I might be on board. But I am still mulling over if I like it here. How many souls does the Eradicator hold? All of them? Is the 'soul' of Jor-El and Lara in him?

That said, the book has a great feel of terror in it. There are scenes that are evocative of Raiders of the Lost Ark. Some of the pages seem surreal like Dr. Strange. The colors by John Kalisz really dazzle, a wild display of yellows and purples. It feels a little out of place in a Superman book and that is a good thing. It is engaging.

Lastly, there are some great personal moments here as well. Jon takes a big step towards being a hero. We meet Superman's pal Bibbo and hear how inspired he is by the big red S.

On to the book!

Calista Flockhart Will Return As Cat Grant

I have been covering a lot of Supergirl show news here on the site but The CW keeps giving it to us! Much like last year before the first season, it seems that the show runners are continuing to feed the fire, getting the fans stoked. Whether it be leaked Superman pics or rumors that Mon-El is in the pod, there has been a ton of things to comment on.

But one thing that was hanging over the show was the fate of Calista Flockhart and Cat Grant. The creation of a 'new job' for Kara in the first season finale as well as the creation of Snapper Carr's role as a journalistic boss, it seemed like things were set up to simply have Cat be gone.

Earlier this week the news broke that Calista Flockhart was returning to the show in a limited capacity. Here is a link to Variety's coverage:http://variety.com/2016/tv/news/supergirl-season-2-calista-flockhart-recurring-guest-star-1201827963/

Hmmm ...recurring guest star?

Back Issue Box: World's Finest #258

We are just a couple of weeks from Supergirl Rebirth #1, the reintroduction of a Supergirl book into the new DCU as well as the reappearance of Lar-On the Kryptonian werewolf! I am really looking forward to what writer Steve Orlando and artist Emanuela Lupacchino will be delivering. The brief glimpses of the book we saw at San Diego Comic Con looked incredible.

I have been taking a look back at Lar-On's brief history in the DCU starting with his first appearance in World's Finest #256. While that was Lar-On's only true appearance, his story sort of continued in World's Finest #258. As this story included an interesting wrinkle about Lar-On's lycanthropy, I thought it was worth sharing here. I am hoping that Orlando explores that bit of 'The Krypton Curse' but we'll see.

Lastly, I remember having this comic as a kid. I must have bought it right off the rack. Unfortunately all sorts of books from that time simply disappeared, meaning I was on a hunt for this one in all the comic stores I came across. Hard to believe that I found it while on vacation earlier this summer.

On to the story.

Upcoming Collections! I'm Going To Be Broke!

A hat tip to blog buddy Mart Gray for pointing me to a Bleeding Cool post which showcased ucpoming DC comic collections. Here is that link:
http://www.bleedingcool.com/2016/07/27/going-late-night-dc-comics-amazon-fishing/

The link sent me to Amazon to look for myself. I am continually amazed at how popular Supergirl has become. Just looking at trades, within this year, we have seen a slick Silver Age Omnibus, the resoliciting of the Sterling Gates/Jamal Igle trades, a Daring New Adventures trade, reprintings of the first Peter David Supergirl volume, reprints of the Loeb/Turner stuff, and the resoliciting of the Landry Walker/Eric Jones magnificent series Supergirl: Cosmic Adventures in the Eighth Grade.

Whew! That's a lot of Supergirl collections on the shelves.

But wait! There's more!

Now we have even more trades coming out. A Supergirl Bronze Age Vol.1 is coming out! And another volume of the Peter David Matrix run as well. Suffice it to say, DC realizes (finally) that Supergirl is a marketable character with a deep history.

I'll take a closer look at the trades below.

Superman On Supergirl Show

The internet semi-exploded late last week when the first look at Tyler Hoechlin's Superman suit for the Supergirl show was revealed. Here is the link:
http://www.dccomics.com/blog/2016/07/28/first-look-supergirls-man-of-steel-suits-up

And then a ton of photos of Hoechlin filming in Vancouver in the suit hit the internet.

Now I am going to preface this post by saying that I didn't like the first look of the Flash costume when they revealed that and I think it looks good on the show. And I didn't like the first look of Melissa Benoist's costume (remember when it looked like super dark blue/almost black and brick red cape and boots). But that also looks fine on the show.

To be honest I don't have many complaints about the costume although I will nit pick a bit.

Instead, my biggest complaint in with Hoechlin. Not that he doesn't look like he could play Superman. Just that he is way way too young. These two look like they are contemporaries. He is supposed to be around 12 years older than her. This just doesn't jibe with the timeline.

I have to hope that somehow we get an explanation, even if it is comic book-y in its science.