Review: War Of The Supermen #1

War of the Supermen has the unenviable task of wrapping up over a year's worth of plots in ths super-titles in just 4 issues. 4 issues!! It can't be an easy job for writers Sterling Gates and James Robinson.

War of the Supermen #1 was released this week and it certainly moved the story along at the necessary pace to wrap up in time. It also answered a couple of lingering questions I have had stick un my mind during this long arc. It also had 2 major plot elements ... major plot elements.

Surprisingly, War of the Supermen #1 was a Supergirl issue, with her pieces of the main plot dominating the book. With Sterling Gates co-writing with James Robinson and Jamal Igle on art, it even felt like a Supergirl issue. I am glad Jamal was chosen to pencil this issue as it really has long-standing implications for Kara. He has such a handle on her character; I can't imagine anyone doing this issue better.


With the Kryptonian army set to flood Earth, General Zod holds Superman at bay, making Kal be a witness to the destruction that is about to unfold. Zod estimates that it will take 2 hours for the Kryptonian troops to overrun the planet. That might be being a bit generous for Eath's defenses. The one thing I have to point out is that Earth won't be facing 100,000 Kryptonians. It appears that only the Military Guild has been pressed into duty.

Superman, being Superman, tells Zod that there is 'always hope', hope to stop the war. He breaks free of Non's clutches. This scene takes place on page 2. That is the last line Superman will utter in this book. While present throughout the book, it is always a silent presence ... either battling or consoling.

So in many ways, Superman isn't the star here, sort of echoing the feeling of the prior year. That said, this isn't just a Superman story, it's a Superman Family story, a Krypton story. There are a lot of pieces to the plot that need to be covered.


One of those lingering pieces is Alura and Reactron.

We are once again shown Reactron getting tortured, this time by Alura herself.
All along, Alura has been one of the toughest character for me to get a handle on. She has been confident and insecure, stoic and overly emotional, loving and harsh ... she has been a roiling tempest of emotions. Early on she was the one who called the murdered Science Police officers 'collateral damage'. And yet she sobs nightly at Zor-El's tomb, bemoaning what she has become. With all the trauma in her life, I can see why she is psychologically uneven.

Kara walks in on Alura and is shocked at what she sees. She brings up the 'watch out for your mother' line Zor-El told her way back in Supergirl #36. Supergirl realizes it was a warning about Alura and what she is capable of. Hey ... I said that way back when Zor-El first said it! Here is what I said way back on December 18, 2008 in my review of the issue - But not before he tells her that she should watch out for her mother. “Watch out” as in “take care of her”? Or “watch out” like a warning?

I am so rarely right with my guesses, I have to take it where I can get it.

With only 4 issues to tell the story, some things I would like to see just can't be shown. I would have liked to see some surprise by Supergirl seeing Reactron alive, someone she thinks has been dead since the end of Supergirl #47. But there isn't enough page space to merit that.


I can remember when Supergirl would kowtow to Alura. Those days are over. Shocked and disgusted by her mother's torture, she chastises her mother.

More importantly, Kara recognizes this incident directly impacts her. Supergirl brought Reactron to New Krypton. She is responsible for him. Alura's actions make her a war criminal. This is probably bluster on Supergirl's part. No one would say she has any responsibility in this. But I can understand her anger at being deceived by her mother yet again.

Alura is steadfast in her stance. Information that can help New Krypton is worth obtaining regardless of how it is obtained; the ends justify the means.


Reactron is another one of those charismatic nutjobs I love to read.

In this scene he answers one of the bothersome questions I had during this Year Without Superman. I can recall being befuddled when Project 7734 captured Supergirl, Nightwing, and Flamebird only to then release them. At the time, I wondered why Lane wouldn't keep them captive or simply kill them. It made no sense. Reactron answers the question. Project 7734 wanted Reactron to be brought to New Kandor ... and the easiest way to do that was release Supergirl and have her capture him and bring him to justice.

Don't ask me why Reactron would agree. He must have been told it would be 3 hot meals and a cot ... not Kvorn torture. I still am happy to have some answer. It really bugged me that Lane set the 'Metropolis Three' free.

Reactron chuckles at Alura's ethical conversation with Kara. He is thrilled at having the opportunity to kill the two women, completing the 'set of the house of El' murders. Luthor's trip to New Krypton included a slight modification to Reactron ... a parting gift. Reactron suddenly seems to be approaching critical mass. Did he know all along he was going to be a suicide bomb?

With Reactron glowing brightly, Alura shoves Kara into a radiation deck room and seals it, protecting Supergirl and sacrificing herself. Reactron explodes.


And then, New Krypton explodes! Unbelievable!!

Could ... or should ... Reactron house that much power? Enough to destroy a planet? Seems a bit much.

That said, everyone who voted in the recent poll 'New Krypton explodes', consider yourself high-fived.

New Krypton is gone and so are the majority of her citizens, almost everyone on the surface. That means every guild other than the military guild has been eradicated.


While these events are unfolding on the other side of the sun, Lois and Jimmy are working on exposing General Lane and what he has been doing. They need help and contact the rest of the super-family: the Guardian, Steel, Nightwing, Flamebird, and Superboy.

But they aren't the only super-family member listening in. Superwoman is back and eavesdropping. I love how her face is shrouded by the cowl. It makes her look inhuman.


With New Krypton gone, Superman breaks off his skirmish with Zod and starts to scan the planetary debris. He comes upon Supergirl, saved by the containment cell she was thrown into.
The carnage is everywhere. And Supergirl grieves. This one of those 'big moments, big art' pages. The cousins thought they were alone ... then suddenly have a family, a world again ... only to have it taken away again.


Supergirl is clutching a piece of Alura's S-shield. Alura is among the dead.

What a blow to Supergirl! To lose both Zor-El and Alura so soon after finding them again is horrible. Suddenly Supergirl finds herself pretty much alone in the universe, no family but Kal. This should have major ramifications in the title for some time to come.


It also has immediate ramifications too.

Enraged by her mother's death at the hands of Reactron ... of Luthor ... of Earth ... Supergirl grabs the flag of Krypton, carrying the standard into battle, racing to Earth to join the war effort.

These all are such powerful images by Jamal Igle. There is no dialogue on these pages, the silence of space and all. And yet so much is conveyed by the art ... the body language, the expressions. Great stuff.

I can understand this snap decision by Supergirl to join Krypton in war. To be honest, neither Earth or Krypton is fighting a justifiable war here.


Despite their overwhelming grief, Zod is able to rally his army. This war suddenly has more meaning, a stronger cause.

As a Supergirl fan, I loved this issue. She was really the hub that the issue revolved around. But I wonder if Superman fans have the same feeling. Are they happy with his limited presence and dialogue here?

And while I was happy to hear Reactron answer my question about General Lane freeing Supergirl, there are some answers I don't think I will get answered. The destruction of New Krypton erases all plot threads hanging from World of New Krypton. Questions like what were those silver pelts in the military base?

But those are the small things. The big events here are the destruction of New Krypton and the death of Alura. The death of Alura took me completely by surprise. I hope it doesn't further isolate Supergirl from everyone else and she grieves and deals with this tragedy. But very emotional and dramatic moments here.

As a fan, I am sad because the friction between Alura and Kara always made for good reading. And Alura was complicated and as a result a very compelling character to read.

This issue kicked of the mini-series in an explosive way. Can the rest of the story keep the adrenaline this high and wrap it all up? I hope so.

Overall grade: B+/A

Robinson On Justice League

With all the recent reviews I have been doing here, I haven;t had much time to comment on some of the other news that has come out recently concerning Supergirl. Time for a little housekeeping.

James Robinson recently did an interview at Newsarama about his ongoing run on Justice League of America. Here is the link:
http://www.newsarama.com/comics/Robinson-Justice-League-America-100426.html

Part of that interview focused on Supergirl's role in the new Justice League as well as the bally-hooed relationship between Dick Grayson and Kara once she joins. Here are those blurbs.

Nrama: Supergirl is coming in with the next issue. What does she bring to the team? Robinson: She brings a sense of exuberance and youth. After the events of the Hundred Minute War, she will be needing people around her and needing a support system. Because of events that have already happened, which will be revealed down the line, she already has a closeness to Bill. But she's going to need other people. As for what she brings, she is seeing everything through fresh eyes. She's been a member of a few teams, but for very short time periods. So she's never really been a long-term part of a team before. She's never gotten used to saving the world in such a public way either. So she really appreciates that she's a part of the Justice League, and has a lot of gratitude for that team. And hopefully through her eyes, the readers will see what a great team this is.

Nrama: You mentioned once that Supergirl would grow close to Dick Grayson. Can you explain what you mean by that?

Robinson: Well, what I mean by that is... I was thinking about how she's never had any siblings, and Dick Grayson didn't grow up being around siblings. And what I wanted to try to do within the Justice League is to turn them into their own version of the World's Finest team. Nothing sexual, mind you. Just a sibling type relationship where they're close friends in a way that starts off with her needing a shoulder to cry on a little bit. And that becomes a deep friendship. But I want to stress it's not a sexual relationship. Everyone always assumes that's where that's going.

I do like the idea of Supergirl injecting some youthful entusiasm into the League. The hints about what Supergirl is going through after the War of the Superman is interesting. The league may be the only 'family' she has.

And I suppose I should be happy to hear Robinson say so emphatically that Dick and Kara's relationship is not sexual. But did it really need to be said? Wouldn't a sexual relationship between them be odd ... if not outright icky?

But let's give Robinson credit for saying it. I suppose there are writers who would have written their relationship that way.

I am a bit wary of Robinson's treatment of Supergirl. I can only go by what I saw of her in Cry For Justice as a yardstick. In that series, at times, she was fantastic, rushing into things heroically and acing as the muscle. She even figured out 'Captain Marvel' wasn't Captain Marvel. That said, she also had some pretty wooden dialogue and at times seemed pretty immature. I am going in with an open mind.

The JLA seems to be in legacy mode with Dick, Donna, and Kara carrying the torch for the Trinity. I have to assume the big three will eventually come back. When that happens, I hope Supergirl either stays with the League or lands with another team. The question is ... which one?

Review: War Of The Supermen #0

War of the Supermen #0 came out on Saturday, Free Comic Book Day, and represented the beginning of the last arc of the over year-long New Krypton storyline.

Broken up into two stories, the issue provides a jump-on point so anyone just starting the story can sort of get caught up (and what better way to lure in a new reader than a free book). The first story focuses on Superman in Kandor squaring off against General Zod. The second story showcase Lois and her investigations on Earth. The stories are written by the War of the Supermen duo of Sterling Gates and James Robinson.

The cover is a standard iconic pose of Superman by Eddy Barrows. This was not the initial cover solicited for the book. I wonder just what happened to the original J.G. Jones cover? Was it scrapped when responses were less than optimal? Barrows handles the inside art in his usual great style.

Anyways, after the slow fade of enthusiasm of this long arc in the two monthly titles, I was glad to see DC promote the books via FCBD. Remember, last year's free book was Blackest Night #0 which jump started that mini-series.


The issues starts with Superman crashing into the New Krypton military installation to try to shut down Zod's plans of interplanetary war.

There isn't much room for discussion. Kal slugs Zod after a few exchanged pleasantries. I love the expression on Superman's face as he tells Zod that his hands not his opinions are what Zod should be worried about.


Zod shakes off the punch and shows Superman just what an attack should be. He unleashes Ursa.

Ursa is wonderfully crazy, slashing Superman with her K-knife and licking his blood off the blade. There is something so deliciously wicked about her. She is brutal, amoral, and passionate. I bet she is a joy to write.


Non joins in, holding down Superman and allowing Zod the time to gloat a little bit.

Zod used Superman to train his soldiers. Superman's experience was invaluable; he was the perfect teacher to hone the skills of the Kryptonian army.

Zod also kept 'his enemies closer', allowing him to monitor 'Commander El' and hide his military secrets from Superman's prying eyes.

It is a bit ironic that Superman's lessons could lead to Earth's destruction. That said, I wonder if his time on New Krypton might have inspired some citizens to do what's right ... make them side against Zod. I hope Lieutenant Nar is one of those people.


And after a year of Zod sporting a veneer of civility, he finally shows his true colors. While it is true that General Lane's attacks give cause for the war, Zod also notes that destroying of Earth will give him his revenge on the house of El. It's personal.

I love villain talk and Zod gives us some great lines here. "Level the planet", "kick the ash from the charred bones in your face", "find the person you love the most and rip them apart before your eyes" ... wonderfully evil. This is the Zod I want to see. No deception ... just malevolence.


Superman tries one last time to reason with Zod. War will destroy both planets. Given the arms race between Earth and New Krypton (let alone 100,000 super-soldiers), I think Superman might be right.

This is another one of those panels I love. There is no reason Superman should be able to shrug off Non and Ursa if they are super-powered like he is. No reason except pure will and determination. That's Superman.

But I also love the energy of this panel. Look at Ursa ... you can see she how she is holding on for dear life, her body contorted like a rag doll. When an artist can show that dynamism, he is firing on all cylinders.


Reason isn't going to work here ... not when the order to mobilize has laready been given.

This was a nice prologue to the main story. And Barrows really is on his game here.

The second half of the issue is told almost exclusively in splash pages by some of DC's hottest artists. This story is exposition, Lois writing about all that has happened before.


So for those like me craving to see David Finch's take on Supergirl, here it is. The Brainiac storyline is recapped. Beautiful.


And for those like me who miss seeing Gary Frank's Supergirl, here it is. The 'New Krypton' story arc is recapped. Fantastic.


And here are all of Earth's protectors during Superman's absence, as drawn by Ethan Van Sciver. Superb.


And here is the Project 7734 gang as drawn by newcomer Diogenes Neves. Nice Superwoman.

I wish I could post all the splash pages. I didn't show two excellent pages by superstars Aaron Lopreti and Cafu.


The story ends with Jimmy finally revealing that he is alive to Lois ... and he has some information about General Lane.

So we have a high action story with great art and a mind-boggling cliffhanger in the first story. I mean ... seeing all those Kryptonians ... I still don't know how Earth is going to survive this.

And we get a recap for new readers in the form of spectacular splash pages from the upper echelon of comic artists. The Finch and Frank pieces are just tremendous.

But best of all, it was free. And we are near the end of this massive story.

Not bad!

Overall grade: A- (kicked up a half grade or so by the splash page art)

Review: Outsiders #29

It seems that every month I review The Outsiders, I wonder if it will be my last. As I have said before, the reason I came to this book was the inclusion of the Eradicator.

So far the book has been light on the Eradicator and heavy on team dysfunction. Last issue, the team basically got ripped in half by Geo-Force. Where will the characters end up? Is it the end of the Outsiders?

The answer will have to wait as this issue is devoted to the character of Looker and how she appears poised to rejoin the team. As someone very new to the Outsider characters, I know very little about the Looker character. I can recall that she was someone considered plain who suddenly became stunningly beautiful and equipped with some sort of mental powers. A quick read of her wikipedia entry (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Looker_%28comics%29) confirmed those thoughts as well as letting me know she is a vampire?

The early pages of the book show a very self-centered and superficial Lia backing out of a fashion show and ruining the designer's outfits. She complains that she needs to constantly be surrounded by beauty and those outfits didn't make the cut.

The scene feels absolutely gratuitous as Looker pads around the room removing her clothes, having her female thrall remove some of her clothes, and then asking her male bodyguards to help her remove her undergarments.

I suppose it sets the stage for me as a newbie to the character. She is immature, petulant, and superficial. What else ... sensual? Over-sexed? Obsessed with physical appearances?

It still felt a little too Cinemax for me.

Her actions are being watched from afar. A vampire hunter has been hired by a vampire clan to kill Looker, who has been killing vampires. His name is Stake. The name just sounds like it was ripped from the 1970s.

The character I have been the most interested in reading about in my short time on the title is Katana. She seems all the warrior woman, steeped in honor, following the Samurai code. As a result she feels bound to follow Geo-Force.

But she knows he is mad. And she clearly has feelings for Owl-Man, one of the Outsiders banished from Markovia by Geo-Force. She seems torn. She kisses Owl-Man and tells him that she is staying. I like the shocked look on his face as she leaves.

One thing that took away from the scene was the art. In one panel, her eyes are open and we see her irises. In the rest of the page, her eyeholes are skin-colored implying her eyes are closed. But it is somewhat off-putting. Are her eyes closed the whole conversation? It just doesn't look right.

But back to Looker.

Dolled up in her fighting clothes, she hits the nearest trendy clubs, again to surround herself with beauty. She does a quick recap of her origin ... her humdrum life with her boring husband. She wonders how she could have ever lived that life.

While in the club, Stake makes his move. He thinks she will be easy prey.

Surprisingly, Looker knows how to fight back. She is able to hold off his attack. I love this dialogue. She sounds like such a party girl ... lamenting the blood on her dress and calling Stake a bitch. Too funny ... even if unintentional.

Stake takes off telling Looker he knows another way he can get to her.

Unfortunately, mid-fight, the art chores change from Don Kramer's smooth style to Philip Tan's more stylized and smudgy art. It is a jarring change which interrupts the flow of the book.

Turns out that Stake thinks that he can get to Looker by grabbing her ex-husband, the boring guy who never locked the door. Based on everything I have read at the beginning of the issue, you would think Looker could not care less about this guy, that she has completely cut off all ties to her past life.

Looker might be protesting too much. She not only follows Stake to her ex-husband's house, she kills him. How ironic ... Stake is staked.

And then we get the best moment of the book. Despite immediately complaining about another battle-ruined outfit, she pauses and from afar sweetly says goodnight to her husband.

Maybe all of this superficial spoiled super-model behavior is her emotional armor. She lost her old life, became a hero, then became a vampire. Maybe she has some regrets. Maybe that quiet life as a plain bank teller had more depth than she wishes to remember.

Looking to get away from it all, she books a flight into Markovia, presumably to rejoin the team.

I wish the book ended there because frankly that one panel sort of struck me. It even made me rethink the earlier stripping scene. Maybe Didio was trying to show just how much of a front Looker is putting on to hide some sort of internal psychological pain. I love conflicted characters. If she had simply killed Stake and gloated, I probably would have dropped the book. Instead I am wondering just who the real Looker is. I am curious enough to keep the book on my pull list.

Unfortunately, the book ends with another sort of 1970s comics moment.

The fashion designer ruined by Looker's tantrum is drowning his sorrow at a local bar when he is suddenly given a magic horn from someone named Veritas and invited to become Veritas' herald.

A spurned fashion designer sought out by a higher power to become a super-villain? A magic animal horn?

Huh?

I have to say that the ending brought down the grade of the book a little.

The art in the book is solid if disjointed as described above. Kramer has such an organic style, all smooth round lines. Tan's work is distorted and scratchy in a good way. I even see a little bit of Chris Bachalo in his faces. Both styles work, just not shoved into the same issue. We have seen this before with Tan who just can't seem to stay on time.

And Didio's dialogue can be a bit ham-fisted at times.

But he has me intrigued with the internal conflicted natures of now Katana and Looker. That isn't even mentioning the insane Geo-Force. I guess I will stick around a bit longer.

Overall grade:B

Review: Superman:Last Stand Of New Krypton #3

Superman:Last Stand of New Krypton #3 came out last Wednesday, ushering in War of the Supermen. I was interested in seeing just how this long ongoing storyline was going to be set up for the next big event. We have known about that series for some time. So far Last Stand's story has been moving ahead at a great pace. Would this last chapter continue the trend?

Another big question I had was whether James Robinson and Sterling Gates were going to finish this Brainiac-centered storyline both satisfactorily and in a way that would naturally lead into War.

There were a couple of things I assumed would happen in this issue. One, after all the talk about guild prejudices and the need for a leader, I assumed Superman would step up and unify the different sects. I thought he would be that leader. Second, I thought New Krypton was going to explode setting up the reason for the war. How did I do with my guesses? We'll see.

But let's start out with the fantastic Ryan Sook cover. I can't get enough of Sook so I was glad to see his work on this title. It is a dynamic piece; you can almost feel Brainiac's fist coming out of the page. Hey ... how about Ryan Sook as the regular Supergirl cover artist?

The issue picks up right where Superman #699 left off. Luthor has begun enlarging an alien city on Brainiac's ship, causing it to plummet to the surface of New Krypton. Mon-El has left with the Legion having rescued the bottled cities. Zod is brawling with Brainiac.

That leaves Superman, Supergirl, and Superboy with the job of slowing down the ship so it doesn't crash and demolish Kandor. We are treated to 10 (!) pages of splashes and giant panels like above ... large action shots of the the three heroes and eventually the population of the city all pushing against the bulk of the ship.

Big moments deserve big art. This felt right .. the progression of the main panels on each 2 page spread is great as the focus moves from a wide shot to an up close view. We go from Superman being a small red streak on the first pages to this close-up of the heroes's faces. You can really see the strain on Superman and Supergirl.

Luckily the ship is able to be brought down slowly enough to keep most of the city intact ... most of the city. Kandor is devastated, a huge crater smoldering in the center. And that alien city is still growing!


I love how Brainy's first thoughts are of Kara as he flies over the wreckage. And I love how Supergirl is still working hard to hold back the expanding city. This growing city will destroy Kandor too. I was glad to see Supergirl not be satisfied with the small victory of landing the ship and instead keeping her eyes on the big picture.

Luckily Brainiac 5 is able to reverse the tech and re-bottle the city, stopping te damage.


Stopping the ship wasn't easy.

Superman literally gets skewered.


And Luthor looks a little worse for wear after riding inside the crashing ship.

But not as bad as he looks afterwards when Brainiac punishes him for his treachery.

Brainiac couldn't have really just snapped Luthor's neck ... could he?


But Brainiac outside his ship is a weakened Brainiac. And you are pretty weak when you are on a planet full of super-powered people who loathe you. The Kryptonian citizens are about to massacre him when Zod shows up.

In a surprising move ... I mean an almost unbelievable move ... Zod tells his people that Brainiac is his alone. He then uses a red sun rifle on himself to deprive himself of his powers and squares off against the beefy Coluan.

Okay, I can see how taking on Brainiac alone would make Zod the hero of New Krypton, the defeater of their cultural boogey man. And I can see that defeating Brainiac without powers would make Zod's victory even more legendary. But we have seen this Brainiac stand toe-to-toe with Superman. Does Zod stand a chance here, no matter what his training? Seems like it is high risk. Seems foolish.


Superman is able to get back into the fight after a quick dose of synthesized yellow sun rays and a blood transfusion from Conner.

There is something so Silver Age-y about this transfusion. I can remember reading comics as a kid where it seemed everyone was either getting a direct transfusion from or giving one to Batman.


Somehow ... somehow ... Zod defeats Brainiac. In front of the gathered masses, he prepares to execute Brainiac with a bullet to the head.

Superman won't stand for it. He flies in, blocking the shot. He's Superman; he can't watch a helpless being be killed.

I have to say Zod has a decent point. Brainiac is a destroyer of worlds. What does Superman want? A trial? I guess it just shows how tough it is to be Superman, to stand up for your convictions 100% of the time. It can't be easy.


Before Zod can take matters into his own hands again, Brainiac 5 walks up and teleports away with his ancestor.

Before he goes, he has another quiet moment with Kara. He tells her to watch out for Alura. He isn't the first one to give Kara this advice. Her own father did as he died in her arms. Alura has been a complicated character over the year but she has been her most supportive of Supergirl recently. Is that going to change?


And with that, the last stand against Brainiac comes to an end and we see the fallout.

Luthor was working with General Lane all along. The Luthor on the ship was a Toyman created robot. We have seen these super-cloaked robots recently in the World's Finest mini-series. For his cooperation against the Kryptonians he earns a pardon.

But here is where we see the uncertainties of war. Lane is off the mark with his assumptions about the results of his attacks. Lane thinks there will be panic on New Krypton, a period where they are disorganized. In fact, this attack does the exact opposite.


After his victory over Brainiac, Zod's popularity soars. He is given total power. So Zod is the Kryptonian who can unite all the guilds under one banner! Nice twist.

He removes Alura from power.

I love this panel. Alura is all alone in the council chamber, the only surviving member. You can sense her isolation here. And putting her off center adds to the effect. We not only see the empty council seats but we also see that Alura is not the center of things any more.


With evidence that Earth was an accomplice in the attack on New Krypton, with his people united behind him, Zod declares war. There's my girl Ursa in the background.

So no New Krypton explosion ... yet.

A lot happened in this Last Stand arc. Kandor got shrunk and re-enlarged. Mon-El is saved, joins the Legion, and saves the future. Brainiac is defeated. And Zod grabs power and declares war. Not bad for 3 issues and some cross-overs.

Unfortunately, the climax of the series was Zod declaring war and we knew that was happening. There wasn't really a 'Krypton shattering conclusion' as promised on the cover. Well, maybe it was shattering ... but we knew the conclusion going in.

I think James Robinson and Sterling Gates really did a great job on this mini. Many of the plot threads from New Krypton are tied up here. The pace and action was incredible. But there is so much story left to say ... so much to wrap up. Is it possible to finish this year long story in 4 issues? I really hope so.

And I think Pete Woods' art is stunning here. I am glad he is staying on as the artist of Action Comics.

Overall grade: B+/B

It's Official ... Middleton Off Supergirl

I figured that Josh Middleton was off cover duties on Supergirl after three straight issues were released/solicited without his art.

He recently made it official on his blog. Here is the link and some of the post:
http://joshuamiddleton.blogspot.com/2010/04/so-long-supergirl.html

Well, that's it. Supergirl issue 51 marks my final Supergirl cover, and my last bit of mainstream comic book work for the foreseeable future (even if I was just doing covers at this point). I have plenty of other stuff to keep me busy, and I want to dedicate every minute of my free time to personal work only, so the comic book covers had to go, bringing to an end, with a whimper, ten years of mainstream comic book work-for-hire.

My deepest gratitude to all of you who have supported my comic book work over the last decade. Your comments and kind words have always been an inspiration, and I feel a real obligation to do my best for all of you, which is one more reason it was time to move on.

I can only praise Middleton's work on the book and hope he has a great future. I am sort of bummed that he sounds like he is done with comics in general.

Middleton started doing covers with the landmark Supergirl #34, the first issue of the Sterling Gates/Jamal Igle run. At the time, it really felt like the title was starting fresh. Middleton's unique and stunning style was a perfect complement to the great work happening on the inside.

The purpose of a cover is to get the attention of a curious buyer scanning the racks. There is no doubt that Middleton's work was eye-catching.


I mean ... here is my favorite cover from his run, Supergirl #38. Supergirl is in the foreground, a look of fear or concern on her face. In the background ... ethereal, spectral ... is the looming Superwoman. Dazzling. All his covers had that attention-grabbing feel.

Another thing I appreciated from Middleton was his occasional breakdowns of his covers on his blog, showing the process from thumbnail to sketch to pencil to color. I love that behind-the-scenes stuff.

Anyways, best of luck to Josh Middleton on his future endeavors. And thanks for the great covers for the last year plus.

Now the big question is who will be the next cover artist? Whoever it is, they have big shoes to fill.

Review: Superman #699

War of the Supermen #0 comes out in a couple of hours, one of the offerings at Free Comic Book Day. That means the Last Stand of New Krypton storyline needs to be wrapped up and pretty quickly.

Superman #699 is the penultimate chapter of the Last Stand arc and also represented the end of the Mon-El era in the book. The action comes fast and furious here, the whole issue taking place in the catacombs of Brainiac's ship. Like much of the Last Stand story, an effort is made to differentiate Superman from Zod. In World of New Krypton, you got the sense that the two men were trying to work together. Now, under the stress of the Brainiac attack, their true natures are exposed.

As seen at the end of Supergirl #52, Zod and a cadre of his soldiers were able to enlarge and are gunning for Brainiac.

When Superman joins the battle, he questions Zod's priorities. Shouldn't the 'Brainiac Revenge Squad' have grabbed Kandor and removed it from the ship? Shouldn't the safety of the citizens of Kandor be paramount? Zod dismisses the thought. The city is safe on the ship. He is out for revenge.

I don't know. Couldn't one of the soldiers grabbed the city and left? Couldn't the soldiers just rip through the ship's framework forcing it to land? Is this room by room exploration looking for Brainiac the most expedient way of fighting this war?

Again, it shows the different approaches to a problem that Superman and Zod have. One thinks of others first. The other thinks with his fist.

Rather than get bogged down fighting robots, Superman flies off to do the right thing and rescue Kandor. As he flies off, Brainiac arrives and Zod and the Coluan square off.

In the meantime, Mon-El remains captured and trussed up. While under, he recalls some of his conversations with General Lane's goons when he was captured before.

Now some interesting information is implied here. Most of the scenes show that Project 7734 knew a lot about Daxamites despite Mon-El supposedly being the only one on Earth. It also seems that Mon-El being a male Daxamite is exciting to them. I guess the implication is that Project 7734 has a female Daxamite they have been experimenting on. Is she working with them? Or a captive like Mon was? Did he want his rocket so that he could send whoever this Daxamite is back home?

Who is this female Daxamite? Now that is an interesting wrinkle.

I guess we'll find out in the next issue of Adventure Comics.


The Legion shows up trying to complete their mission and rescue Mon-El and the bottled cities.

But why would Element Lad have to ask Projectra where she learned her martial arts skills? He was at her wedding. He has worked with her as Sensor Girl. Of course he would know that she learned it from her husband Karate Kid (although she says she learned some new moves from The Guardian). So why would he ask that? I can understand Robinson wanting to pass along that information to readers who don't know it ... but there has to be a more natural way to get that across.

During the fight, Mon-El is able to shake off his shackles. He's back.

Nice splash page.

Superman meanwhile has found Kandor and meets up with Supergirl.

In a nice moment, Superman turns over the city to Supergirl, trusting that she will protect it and re-enlarge it. It shows just how much respect and confidence he has in her these days. He knows she can do it, freeing him up to stay on the ship and battle Brainiac.

It also sounds like he is saying goodbye to her a little ... like Kandor is her home, not his. Interesting.

I don't know if he would have trusted her like this 2 years ago. I love how close the super-cousins have grown recently.

Despite the battles rocking the ship, the Legion advises Mon-El not to join the fray.

His destiny is to save the cities and save the future. He has to leave Superman behind.

I wish more time could be spent showing Mon-El being conflicted about this. Wouldn't he feel that he could do both. Don't the Legion look tough enough to save the cities themselves? Why should he trust them so implicitly? And yet, they come from the future with that information; surely they must know what they are talking about.

You sense that Mon-El has issues with it ... he wants to help Superman and the Legion. I just wish a little more time was spent showing it.

Supergirl and Brainy head back to New Krypton's surface to try to re-enlarge Kandor.

In another great character moment, Brainy admits to Kara that he cannot guarantee that he can enlarge the city safely. I can't imagine Vril Dox admitting something like that. Nor can I imagine Querl admitting that to everyone. I think it shows his love and trust of Supergirl too.

I really like that these two are together in a comic again. It just sort of feels right.

And luckily, Brainy is able to re-size the city safely. Kandor is big once more.

So it seems like everyone who guessed on the recent poll here that Kandor would stay shrunk (I was one of them) were wrong.


With Kandor safe, Superman joins Zod in fighting Brainiac. I really liked this kinetic panel by Bernard Chang.

I still don't know if I like Brainiac wading in like a bruiser here. He should be cerebral and not want to sully his hands.

And with Mon-El leaving Earth and Superman, he decides he isn't worthy of the S-shield any more. He opts to go back to his original costume. He also decides to return to his shag haircut rather than the spiky style he had before.

I'm glad ... this is Mon-El. That other look didn't feel right.

But in the biggest turn of events, Luthor decides to expand the bottled city he grabbed in Supergirl #52 inside Brainiac's ship! With a city expanding inside, buildings bursting from the roof, Brainiac's ship starts to fall.

You have to love Luthor. He is on his own side. He has been 'teaming up' with Brainiac for some time now. There is no reason to do this if you are working with Brainiac. I guess there is no honor among super-villains.

One thing I have to say about Last Stand of New Krypton ... you barely have time to catch your breath. One of my bigger complaints about this 'Year Without Superman' was that at time things seemed to slow down to a crawl. Not here. Kandor was shrunk and re-enlarged over a couple of weeks. Mon-El is fighting then captured then fighting again within 2 weeks. Last Stand has felt like a summer blockbuster movie.

This issue continues that trend. There is a lot of action here. But not brainless brawling. The action drives the plot. And Robinson even sneaks in a new plot thread ... the female Daxamite.

That said, while I have enjoyed Last Stand, I still can't help but go back to the numerous subplots started here in Superman as well as in World of New Krypton over the last 14 months that I think might simply go unanswered. Once Superman returns, will we see The Guardian anywhere? What about his niece? His romance with Dr. Light? Prince Ra-Man? The power source of the multi-colored laser satellite? What about those silver pelts in WONK? And those are just the ones I can remember off the top of my head.

But that is all background noise. This was another good issue. After seeing Bernard Chang's work on this title and Wonder Woman, I was glad to finally see his take on Supergirl. Unlike Ivan Rodriguez' recent take, Chang really seems to draw her as a teenage girl. His work on these battle-filled issues really shines.

Overall grade: B+/A