Supergirl Show 613: The Gauntlet

Supergilr episode 613, The Gauntlet, aired this week and was one of the more enjoyable episodes of the season. This was a high point.

We got progression of the main plot, Nyxly trying to unite magic totems to create a super-weapon. There is a fair amount of action and Supergirl is part of it. The show, as it has done this whole season, leans into its continuity heavily. That all works.

This also is the last chance for these actors to play these characters. So this episode also allows our characters to break from their mold a little bit. They all get courage but it effects them all differently. If you have followed these characters for 6 years, this almost felt a little like comedy. I loved that too. In particular, and in what is becoming a sort of weekly statement, Jesse Rath as Brainy just slays. And, as always, Melissa Benoist is wonderful as Supergirl and Kara, showing hope and relying on her family and friends. Wish we saw some of this in the comics.

And I have to admit that I was wrong in thinking that the characters themselves are the totems. But I will hold on to the hope that I will end up being right in some way. 

On to the details!

Review: Phantom Zone #4

Today I review Phantom Zone #4, the final chapter of the mini-series which introduced teh concept of Aethyr the Oversoul into the DCU.

As I have said in prior reviews of this mini, this is about as crazy a Superman story as you are going to read. We go to Hell and back, from the lurid to the psychedelic, and then back to Earth for a slugfest. I don't know if I have ever read something quite like this before. And certainly as a 12 year old reading this off the rack, I was both confused and elated.

Writer Steve Gerber does a great job of mixing a weird, almost horror vibe to the story as Superman travels through Aethyr in hoping to get to Earth. Last issues trip through the layers leads to the monster's lair. But, as usual, Gerber provides us with oddly paced side scenes to flesh out the story. From the opening 5 page scene of the nihilistic Nadira and Az-Rel destroying a punk rock club to Faora Hu-Ul doing what she does best, a lot of pages are spent making sure we know who these villains are and what they would do if left to tromp around Earth.

Artists Gene Colan and Tony DeZuniga are on art again and really have had to stretch themselves this whole series. We are in the dingy back streets of Gotham and the surrealistic landscapes of Aethyr. I can't imagine anyone better suited for the job.

And as a side note, once again Supergirl is treated with tremendous respect getting into the main action sequences and quipping her way through clobbering the villains. Just great stuff.

Settle in once more for the weird!

DC Comics December 2021 Solicits

The DC Comics solicits for July came out a while ago and as usual, there are some highlights and lowlights. As usual, I advise you take a look at all the solicits to see the whole docket. Here is a link to Newsarama's coverage:
https://www.gamesradar.com/dc-solicitations-december-2021/

The Elseworlds (are they still called that?) titles sound very interesting. And I continue to be impressed with the Philip Kennedy Johnson Action Comics series and this solicit sounds great. No surprise, the Supergirl solicit has me intrigued and concerned.

Let's get going.

SUPERGIRL: WOMAN OF TOMORROW #6
Written by TOM KING
Art and cover by BILQUIS EVELY
Variant cover by STEVE RUDE

The traumatic secrets of Supergirl's past are revealed as our heroine races to the edge of the universe to escape Krem and his latest weapon! The murderer of young Ruthye's father has gotten his hands on a Mordru globe and plans to use it to make our hero disappear forever. Can she save herself and the young girl's future in the process? She'll need the help of her trusty steed, Comet the Superhorse!

Just what we needed, more trauma in Supergirl's past. Tom King certainly knows one note and he sings it well. I just don't understand it. 

Frankly his track record makes me worry that his incarnation of Comet is either going to be something icky or is headed to some depressing end. You know Comet, the goofy part of the Silver Age Supergirl? Let's see if we can make him dark. 

The last issue was just so shockingly depressing that I have little optimism left for this. 

Let's look at the rest of the Super books.

Review: Supergirl Woman Of Tomorrow #4

Supergirl Woman of Tomorrow #4 came out this week and was the best issue of the series and also the worst issue of the series. 

I have talked in the past about my issues with this series. The overly dramatic prose of the narrator. Ruthye as the point of view character in a book which is supposed to star Supergirl. The overly dark and depressed Supergirl, cursing and drinking her way through the book en route to a destiny where she apparently kills someone. 

Writer Tom King likes nothing more than emotionally broken, despondent characters and his Kara fits that same demographic as Mister Miracle, The Vision, and Adam Strange. Heck, even his Wally West was a traumatized murderer until wiser minds retconned things. 

The crazy thing about this issue is that the first half reads much more like the classic Supergirl that I am looking for. You know the Supergirl who wants to help people as much as she can so that they don't suffer as much as she has. Yes, there is trauma in her past but she has moved through it. She isn't wallowing in it. She fiercely wants to stop it from happening again. And for a while, King gives us that Kara.

But about halfway through the issue we take a hard turn into that darker material, And this back half I see a Supergirl I simply don't recognize. And I have been reading her for more than 40 years. I have been a fan of hers for that long. And I have celebrated her her for 13 years. I don't know who this Supergirl is. That saddens me. Because as this is a Tom King book, the (as he put it) 'the little trade that shows you how great she is', I don't know if we will move away from this. I mean when will we see Scott Free Mister Miracle again?

One thing I have never complained about is  the art. Artist Bilquis Evely has serenely powerful strokes,  a sort of  ornate penciling that just sings. Her Kara is angelic. The expressive work is powerful. The alien worlds are unique and odd and well, alien. Add to that Matheus Lopes wonderful color palate, a mix of peaceful oil paintings when needed and garish neon when necessary, makes this book one of the more beautiful books on the racks.

If only I could get behind this story. But I simply can't. 

Supergirl Show 612: Blind Spots

Supergirl episode 612, titled Blind Spots, aired this week and dealt primarily with racism, discrimination, and the difficulty people of color have getting others to see the problem. Blind Spots is an appropriate title.

As a middle-aged white male, it is hard for me to comment on the topic too much. I try to be the best ally I can be. But obviously I can't empathize with the issues being discussed here. And it will be hard to criticize the execution of this episode with it potentially sounding like I am criticizing the message. I would never do the latter. As such, don't expect too much commentary here. It will me more like a plot synopsis rather than a deep dive.

I will say a couple of things up front. 

This was definitely a 'tell me' social episode, not a 'show me'. There are actually some nice subtle ways that disparity and inequality are shown in this episode, like the councilwoman literally siphoning off the life of the disenfranchised. But a lot of this is in your face. That can work sometimes. 

Second, the Super Friends aren't aware that Nyxly's powers aren't working. They are trying to stop her from putting together a potentially universe-destroying weapon, trillions of lives at stake. So while noble, Kelly yelling at her friends for not helping the 20-odd people sick in the hospital seems a bit short-sighted. But I guess that was the point of this episode. That sometimes you need to see the trees and not the forest.

This was thought-provoking, and maybe conversation-provoking for families watching it. 

Review: Phantom Zone #3

I continue my look at the origin of the Aethyr concept with this review of Phantom Zone #3.

It is hard to know where to begin in this introduction. In earlier reviews of this book, I have been saying that this book makes a big turn from superhero action to psychedelic insanity. And this is that book. 

That isn't to say that we don't get great hero action. Supergirl again is on the main stage as is Batman. They are trying to thwart the the freed Phantom Zone villains from running roughshod on the Earth.

But the main part of this book is Superman working his way through the unknown layers of the Phantom Zone. Writer Steve Gerber breaks out his E. Nelson Bridwell, working in some Kryptonian history and some prior stories as we get dive from one bizarre landscape to another. 

Gerber's delve into miasma gives art team Gene Colan and Tony DeZuniga the space to use their skills. Nothing says Colan more than the weird and he uses all the tools in his toolbox. Even the cover, showing a red masked woman becoming a planet that explodes, let's the reader know that this is going to be a wild ride.

And here is the kicker. It was incredibly hard to limit what to post here artwise because every page has something special. There is something incredible and warped on almost every page. I hope everyone can read this in floppy or trade or on the DC app (where I pulled the panels from).

Settle in folks. Things are gonna get nutty.

Review: Challenge Of The Super Sons #6

The Challenge of the Super Sons #6 came out this week, the penultimate issue of this fun mini-series. This is before Jon was aged. This is before Damian went even crazier. This is when two tween heroes could just have some silly fun. 

Writer Peter Tomasi has had a great understanding of these two boys, making me laugh as they bicker and joke their way through their adventures, inspiring each other along the way. This issue has all of that as our heroes escape from the distant path to get back to the 'present' day. I do think this mini-series could have easily been 6 issues, not seven, This side adventure in the past has gone on for maybe just a little too long.

Some of that feeling might come from the art in the last few chapters. Evan Stanley has a nice, fun, cartoony style. But it is hard to jump to that after getting more standard superhero fare from artists like Max Raynor. I wonder how I would feel if the whole book was done in this sort of style. 

Still, there are a couple of great moments in this issue that makes me once again know I will miss it when it is gone. I know I will definitely miss this Jon.

On to the book.