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Post by sunofdarkchild on Oct 18, 2015 7:05:35 GMT -5
Issue 16  Blonde JusticeTwilight is sitting on a throne of corpses, remembering her childhood with her sister. In those days she was known as Molly. She had seen a cat attacking a bird, and though the bird died, she was somehow able to restore it to full health. Seeing this, her sister Jane tells her to keep her power a secret because she'll be burned as a witch. In the present, the Extremists are wondering why Twilight is doing an impression of a statue. Whn they ask if she was a million miles away she says it was a few centuries, not miles. Supergirl attacks Power Girl because she's still only half awake and the last thing she remembers is being in the middle of a fight. Powergirl throws her into a building and starts insulting her. Supergirl is embarrassed. They start helping the survivors as Power Girl explains the origins of the Extremists, still being very touchy with Supergirl. They nearly destroyed the whole Justice League, so she felt she had no choice but to help. In Leesburg, Cutter has taken Mattie to the local dump as a date. He takes out a gun and does an Elmer Fudd impression, which Mattie finds appropriately weird. In Charlotte, Dick is going through his destroyed home looking for his mother. She is very badly hurt. Supergirl arrives and takes her to the hospital. Dick is surprised that Supergirl is in Charlotte and that she knows to call him Dick. The Extremists have found an undamaged section of town and are about to start causing destruction again when Power Girl intervenes. They tussle, for a bit, both getting in some shots. Power Girl reveals that the league had held back last time because they thought the Extremists were alive, but now that she knows they're robots she's going all out. Tracer comes up behind her and hits her over the head with a tree branch. To his surprise, it hurts Power Girl. Not passing the opportunity up, he fashions it into a sharp object and stabs her in the back. Tracer is about to finish Power Girl off when Supergirl shows up, her eyes burning fire, and rips his arms off. She's also no longer holding back because they are robots. It's a perfect opportunity for her to let loose all the rage she's built up over the situation with her parents. Twilight watches from the shadows as Supergirl screams 'No One Else Dies Today!" and slashes back to the black plague, when she used her power to bring many who had succumbed to the disease back to life and was hailed as a miracle worker. She exhausted herself trying to save everyone. In the present, Cutter is taking potshots at rats at the dump. He says that it is a great way to let off steam and hands the gun to Mattie, who tries to say that as a doctor she can't even shoot rats. Instead she shoots the head off a mannequin. Wally's grandparents are walking down the street, talking about how worried they are about him, when the grandmother collapses from a heart attack. Sylvia watches from inside a bar where she is getting plastered. Back at the battle, Supergirl pulls the branch out of Power Girl's back and Power Girl reveals that since the Genesis event her invulnerability doesn't extend to raw materials like wood and stones. Doctor Diehart levitates a gigantic battleship over Charleston and the heroines brace themselves against it to keep it from crushing the town. Lord Havok takes some potshots at them and Supergirl responds by blowing him up with her tk. Seeing his friend blown up causes Diehart to lose control of the battleship, and the heroines crush him with it. They are about to finish off the last Extremist, Gorgon, when Twilight reveals herself. She says that they stopped the villains and she caused some deaths, so they all accomplished their goals. Supergirl wants to bring Twilight down for everything she did, but Twilight hits them with her cold knockout attack again. They see Twilight's past, as see searches through a pile of bodies and finds that of her sister Jane. Unfortunately, the power that allowed her to bring thousands of strangers back to life doesn't work on her sister, and she curses god's cruelty and declares her hatred for him. When Supergirl and Power Girl wake up the day is ending. Supergirl's back hurts her. Powergirl first apologizes for being a jerk to Supergirl. She resented the younger hero because of the comparisons that have been made between them, even before Supergirl came to earth. She then wonders what the point of showing them that scene was, and Supergirl says that it was Twilight's crazy way of reaching out and trying to feel something. My thoughts: Poor Power Girl. She doesn't even rate an appearance on the cover. As far as teamups go this was one of the better ones. Power Girl may act like a jerk, but her greater experience shows, and Supergirl has a good showing when she decides to cut loose. There are again parallels between Supergirl and Mattie, as both take out their aggression on things that aren't alive. More interestingly, there is a parallel between Twilight and Sylvia Danvers. Both were firm believers. Both lost or felt that they lost a loved one. Both came to believe that god was cruel instead of just. And both then embarked on a self-destructive path. Try telling Supergirl that Twilight is like her mother. The Cutter/Mattie scene was cute. As weird as taking her to the dump to shoot rats was, it was also kind of sweet. They make a a good coupe, though I am never taking dating tips from Cutter. Twilight-she's the second great original villain this series produced. There's still a lot of mystery to her despite all the backstory that was revealed, and the parallels with Sylvia give that backstory relevance. Being able to control the Extremists and KO Power Girl and Supergirl effortlessly also puts her pretty high on the threat scale. Overall, not quite on the level of the last 2 issues, but still very good. B+ |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 18, 2015 15:40:11 GMT -5
I need to re-read Secrets and Lies and Blonde Justice one more time - I have a friend that has print copy for me to read and I hope to get them in the mail in 1-2 weeks.
I wanted to read Blonde Justice!
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Post by sunofdarkchild on Oct 20, 2015 7:37:38 GMT -5
Issue 17  Teetering on OblivionSylvia is leaving the bar, and the bartender is worried about her driving because of how much she had to drink. She brushes him off and drives away anyway. However, as she drives she comes across a purple monster which picks up her car and throws it into a tree. She is badly hurt. In Charleston, Linda and Dick are visiting his mother in the hospital after the Extremists' attack. Dick remarks about how Linda came to Charleston anyway when he told her to go back to Leesburg. Her back is still hurting from the previous issue. A friend of Dick's mother drops by, and Linda knows her. Elizabeth Perske, who was once married to Lex Luthor and was also Supergirl's mentor/boss for a short time. Linda can't figure out how to act in this situation so she ends up acting like a buffoon. She leaves before she can embarrass herself more. The purple monster is sleeping in the woods when a bear comes up to it. It punches through the bear's chest and goes back to sleep. As she flies back to Leesburg Supergirl's back spasms, nearly causing her to collide with a plane. The police, including Fred, have gathered around the scene of Sylvia's wrecked car. The monster shows up, but this time he's friendly. He claims to be L-Ron, a good robot that took over Despero's body, and he helps get Sylvia out of the car so they can start giving her medical treatment. The sight of L-Ron causes her to scream in terror. He remembers something and wanders off before Fred can thank him for his help. Linda is 'coping' in her apartment by sculpting, though she doesn't know why she keeps on sculpting angels. Andy arrives, finally catching up with Linda. Upon seeing the angel sculpture she remarks that she doesn't believe in god. Then the Kents arrive, and Linda can't help calling them 'Ma' and 'Pa' in front of Andy. Before she can explain he phone rings. Mattie is calling from the hospital to tell Linda what happened to her mother. Linda rushes to the hospital, leaving the Kents to tell a confused Andy that 'everyone' calls them Ma and Pa and that their name is 'Kettle.' L-Ron is sitting by a pond when he realizes that Despero attacked Sylvia. He argues with Despero in his reflection, only for Despero to take over his body again. At the hospital, Wally is looking at a bunch of newborns crying in the maternity ward. He says 'shhhh,' and they quiet down. Linda finds Fred outside Sylvia's room, and he just asks what she's doing there. Wally's grandfather finds him. His grandmother isn't doing well. But Wally says death is nothing to fear. Fred says that he doesn't understand why Supergirl is doing 'this' to them. Linda alternates between getting angry and almost breaking down crying. First she asks if Fred would rather she died in issue 1, then says she wants a hug and to be loved. Fred says that he wants things back the way they were, but Linda points out that she wasn't exactly daughter of the year then. When she presses him on that he says that he doesn't know if her improved personality is real or just a put-on. Linda sees a building collapse through a window and leaves at superspeed. Wally and his grandfather come in, and Wally introduces himself as god. Supergirl recognizes L-Ron/Despero as he goes on a rampage through Leesburg. She knocks him down with a tk blast. L-Ron begs her to kill him. She hesitates, allowing Despero to regain control. Despero starts beating the crap out of her. He then uses his third eye to enter her mind, which feels worse than Grodd's psychic attacks had. As she sees the death and destruction Despero plans for the earth her back pain flares again. This time the pain feels 'glorious.' She flies up, and her cape turns into wings of flame. My thoughts: Leesburg cops must have the least itchy trigger gingers of any force in the country. An 8-foot purple monster just happens to appear near a traffic accident, and not only are none of the cops frightened enough to shoot him on sight, but none of them even consider that he might have had something to do with the accident. I don't know if that's really tolerant or just plain dumb. Elizabeth Perske is the only supporting character that was unique to Matrix before this series. She could have had a bigger role, but the series doesn't give her much to do. More Kents-always a good thing. I love that drop everything and come to Virginia just because Linda needs some support. They really do think of Supergirl as their daughter. This is the first time Wally claims to be god, which is probably the oddest part of the series. I don't like or dislike the idea other than not liking there being a literal deus ex machina walking around. But Wally stops interfering in the fights after 'coming out,' so he isn't used in that way very much. The conversation with Fred is a big reason why I would love to see this series as a show. The comic format did not allow for it to be long enough to have the emotional impact it should have had. Even if they had cut the parts where Wally shushes, the babies and talks to his grandfather to make more room for the Linda/Fred conversation, which they should have done, I'm still not sure it would have been long enough. From my understanding of Despero's strength the fight went about right. The bigger question is why Supergirl seems so unhurt after being punched in the face repeatedly. In a one-on-one fight she has chance with her current powerset. Which is why it's a good thing she gets a new power. Some hate the wings, but I think they're fine, especially since PAD took away her shape-shifting and invisibility. It's a more unique power than her flame vision from two issues ago. And once it was certain in issue 8 that they were going to make Supergirl an angel, they had to give her the appropriate powers at some point. If this issue hadn't spent so much time on Wally, which wasn't bad, just not as good as what they should have spent time on, it would have been great. But it spent that time in the wrong place. So B- |
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Post by sunofdarkchild on Oct 23, 2015 5:27:54 GMT -5
Issue 18  Divine InspirationFred is sitting with Wally's grandfather and asks how long his grandson has thought he was god. The grandfather reveals that Wally's parents died in a fire when he was three and that he started thinking of himself as god to cope. Wally tells his grandfather that he's sorry just before a doctor comes in to tell him that his wife has passed away. At the fight, Despero is pretending not to be frightened by Supergirl's transformation, but his fear shows. Supergirl is also terrified of what is happening to her. Supergirl tries to blast Despero with her flame vision, but Despero dodges it. He tries to deflect her next flame blast with his own mind blast, and the two are locked in a DBZ beam contest. It is a battle of wills, and Supergirl's doubts about what she is becoming causes her to lose. However, she is only knocked down, not ko'd, and immediately gets back into the fight. Supergirl hits Despero with one of her flame wings, hurting him. People are arriving at the hospital from Despero's rampage. Mattie tells Fred that Sylvia is out of surgery and that she's stable. Wally then tells Fred that Sylvia will be all right. Fred asks Wally why he isn't with his grandfather, and Wally says that he goes where he's needed or where he wants. Wally admits to being moody since as 'god' he's also a combination of many different gods. He then makes a not-so-veiled reference to Linda being a 'combined being' and disappears the moment he really has Fred's attention. Mattie returns and tells Fred that he can see Sylvia now. Wally reappears by his grandfather with a tissue. Fred sees the state Sylvia is in-it doesn't look good, and as he sits at her bedside he prays to god for the first time in the series. Supergirl is dominating Despero now with her wings. She feels 'righteous anger' at his pain. Suddenly the flames leave Despero and L-Ron reveals that he has regained control. Supergirl thinks that her wings only hurt people who intend to hurt others. She wills her wings to turn back into her cape and the two discuss where Despero's spirit has gone off to. Suddenly, purple energy envelopes Supergirl. Rather than just using his third eye like last time Despero is trying to possess her outright. Cutter arrives at the scene and starts taking pictures of the fight until half of a wall lands in the way, blocking his line of sight. In the hospital, Fred asks Sylvia to squeeze his hand, but she's still unconscious. He leaves and overhears people talking about Supergirl's fight with an eight foot tall monster. They think she's very brave. Fred asks Mattie what she thinks of Supergirl. Since Supergirl saved her from Chemo in issue 5 Mattie of course thinks Supergirl is great, and this seems to get through to Fred, who rushes out of the hospital and hitches a ride in a police car that is headed towards the fight. At the fight, Cutter's car is destroyed by debris. Despero says that Supergirl will 'belong' to him, and Supergirl remembers what Satanus said about Silver Banshee not being able to possess her. She decides to engage Despero in a mental battle. Fred arrives and goes past the police line that at this point is just there to keep civilians back since the police realized how useless bullets are against Despero before Supergirl even got there. Despero is winning the mental battle because Supergirl is conflicted, but that's when Fred reaches her and tells her to kick Despero's butt. Hearing words of encouragement from her father after all this time gives Supergirl the strength to beat Despero at his own game. She thinks that while Silver Banshee was wrong and there is good in everyone, in this case it isn't worth looking for. Still, she shows mercy and relents before killing him. Despero laughs at her 'weakness' and goes for L-Ron again, and she blasts him again. Despero's spirit explodes, and ash starts falling like snow. Fred tells Supergirl that she'd make any father proud, and they hug. At the hospital, Wally's grandfather has had enough of his claims to godhood and yells at Wally to prove it by bringing back his wife. Wally runs to the maternity ward and says that he brought her back as one of the babies. He and his grandfather hug. My thoughts: If they wanted to prove that the wings make Supergirl more powerful, having them do that much harm to Despero is a good way to do it. Beating a guy who can take on the whole Justice League-including Superman-at the same time, is no mean feat. It makes it clear that they can do this because it is supernatural, so it doesn't necessarily mean that she can beat Superman with the new power. I have no problems with the fight. New powers, self-doubt, and worrying about mommy and daddy not loving her add some pathos to the battle. The scene where Fred sits at Sylvia's bedside is very moving. Fred is at his limits. With regards to Fred's decision to support Linda and go to her, I would have liked it to be a little more clear what was going through his head. Something like a reference to Doomsday during the conversation about how brave Supergirl is for fighting an 8-foot monster would have made it more clear that he was worried he'd lose his daughter for real. The Wally stuff is getting better, but is still less interesting than everything else. The last scene with him was nice, but again, I'm more interested in Fred and Linda. Small spoiler-Wally will not be featured in any fashion in the fanfic I'm writing. I don't dislike him, but the other characters and plotlines are so much better that he takes away more than he adds, like replacing Miguel Cabrera with someone who is only borderline hall of fame caliber. (Also, episode 2 is out as well in the fanfic forum) Overall-a good fight, some good character development, but had the potential and failed to be one of the truly great comics because of the rushing of the Fred/Linda rapprochement. B |
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Post by wildfire2099 on Oct 23, 2015 7:10:46 GMT -5
I'm not sure why I've never read this.. PAD was my guy in the early 90s (and remains the only autograph I've ever been inspired to get)... especially since it sounds really good. Thanks for the excellent reviews  |
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Post by Trevor on Oct 27, 2015 12:51:28 GMT -5
Comixology finally has a sale featuring this run; all 80+ issues at $.99 each. 25% off if you buy discounted iTunes codes first at ebay/PayPal.
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Post by sunofdarkchild on Oct 27, 2015 13:35:51 GMT -5
Comixology finally has a sale featuring this run; all 80+ issues at $.99 each. 25% off if you buy discounted iTunes codes first at ebay/PayPal. Wow. I'm surprised they uploaded more than half the series all at once. But that's awesome. |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 28, 2015 8:14:06 GMT -5
I just read Blonde Justice and your write up on it - was pretty much what I expect it. Thanks for the review here and I just wanted to say this this is one of the better stories of Supergirl.
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Post by sunofdarkchild on Oct 29, 2015 10:25:05 GMT -5
Sorry for the wait-writing the tv show fic is taking up the time I'd normally be using to do these reviews. Episode 3 is now up.
Issue 19
Middle Aged Crisis
Supergirl is ice skating along with many of Leesburg's civilians on a frozen pond in winter, wearing a sweater based on the electric Superman's costume. She thinks to herself that it was good to do things as Supergirl that don't involve fighting bad guys so the people don't come to associate her with disasters.
Fred shows up and asks for her autograph so he can talk with her without giving away her secret identity. But she tells him not to worry since as a cop he has plenty of reason to talk to her. A bunch of kids then start asking her for autographs. As she signs them she tells Fred that she's made 'arrangements' to make the transition easier for him. Fred mentions Wally.
At something called the Atlas Corporation, a middle aged man is being fired. He angrily tries to enter his boss' office, but the door knob shocks him and a security guard throws him out. Half-conscious, he says that they haven't heard the last of him.
Wally and his grandfather are visiting his grandmother's grave. Wally goes off while his grandfather becomes lost in his memories. Supergirl meets him and asks him about the whole 'god' thing. He laughs when she asks him to prove it since pretty much every proof is already done by other superheroes. Of course Supergirl is not about to accept anything on faith.
Wally pulls the old 'three questions exactly' gag before allowing her three real questions. She asks why god has a grandfather, and he pretty much says that his grandparents are fake and only exist so that he won't attract attention. Her last question is about what she is becoming. Wally tells her that she's an earth-born angel and that she should read a specific book to find out more.
In a warehouse the guy who was fired puts on a super-suit, which was the project he was working on, and vows that as 'blast-off' he'll make them sorry for firing him.
Fred is sitting at Sylvia's side in the hospital when Jonathan Kent walks in, ready to give his 'frat brother' advice on how to raise a superhero. He gets Fred to admit that Linda was drunk during the accident and that she is a recovering alcoholic.
Mattie and Cutter wake up in her bed. They got drunk and don't remember what they did afterward, but that's kind of obvious. Mattie is disgusted with herself. She opens the window to get some fresh air, but sees Blast-Off flying out of control and remarks that she "hates this town."
Blast-Off has no control over his suit and crashes into a small plane. Supergirl catches the plane and sets it down.
Blast-Off crashes into the middle of town. His suit creates a tornado effect, picking up cars and everything else. A couple is about to be crushed by a flying car when Supergirl blasts it apart with her tk. She struggles to get close to Blast-Off through the wind.
Mattie is shoving Cutter out of her door when Byron, Dick's horse, runs past them, closely followed by Dick. Cutter thinks that there might be a story like last time and follows the horse, leaving the other two behind.
Supergirl is still struggling against the wind. She activates her flame wings and those allow her to finally fly without difficulty. She uses both her tk and her flame vision to destroy the parts of Blast-Off's suit that are causing the winds, and for a second it looks like the threat is ended.
But then the suit's backups kick in, threatening to blow up the hapless would-be-villain. Supergirl tries to get him out of it, but another force destroys the suit at super-speed.
Supergirl sees Comet for the first time, a man with long white hair, a purple, and white suit of armor, and an overall weird and old look about him. Supergirl is enamored with him, but he flies off almost immediately.
The gang all show up, Cutter, Mattie, Dick, even Andy riding Byron. Mattie realizes that she lost track of everyone and that they are all still suspects in being Comet. She "really" hates this town.
My thoughts: THIS is why I prefer to keep the Kents alive after Superman makes his debut. Byrne definitely didn't have this scenario in mind in 1986, but by making Superman not an orphan twice-over he left the potential for this sort of stoy-the Kents advising other parents of superheroes. And in Supergirl's case they share parenthood. This is what people mean when they say that killing off characters limits story potential.
Other than that it was a pretty good lighter issue. Having fun in public is a good idea on Supergirl's part. Not only does it help her image, but it gives people even less of a reason to think that she has a secret identity.
I like that Fred is still out of his depth despite having come to accept that Linda and Supergirl are now the same. It shouldn't be an easy thing to deal with.
We have the first mention of Carnivean, though it can easily go unnoticed.
This was the best of Wally's conversations yet-except for the part about his family being fake. That takes all the impact away from the death of his grandmother. It makes it look like her heart attack was just an excuse for him to be in the hospital at the same time as Fred.
The action is nothing special, but it isn't bad.
Mattie reactions make for good comedy.
We finally see Comet-and he is ugly. It's a good thing they eventually explain why Supergirl is attracted to him, because it isn't his looks
Overall, my only complaint is the issue of Wally's family and that the action could have been better. But this issue wasn't trying to have anything other than a joke villain. Another B |
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Post by sunofdarkchild on Nov 11, 2015 7:05:39 GMT -5
 Coming HomeNot going to be doing a full review of this for several reasons. For one, it wasn't done by PAD. Also, Supergirl really ight as well not be in it. She's just there to listen to Prysm's problems, and even Prysm plays second fiddle to another character called Fringe. I have no idea why they bothered even having Supergirl in it or touted it as a teamup. Easily the most skip-able issue I'll be covering even if you don't go in hoping for it to do something with the title character. |
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Post by sunofdarkchild on Nov 11, 2015 8:06:20 GMT -5
 Things Best Left ForgottenWe open with a woman in a straightjacket screaming amidst a scene of carnage from ancient Greece. She then sees a giant foot about to crush her, before it is revealed that she is a patient in a mental institution (though the straightjacket already gave that away). She begs to be let out and says that her name is Cassandra. The doctors of course think she's cuckoo for cocoa puffs. She has another vision of an angel with wings of flame and continues begging. The panels pull out to show that the mental institution is on an island and that an island sized giant is walking towards it. Supergirl is flying into battle, but she is distracted by what her fathers (no, that is not a typo) just revealed to her, which we see in a flashback. At Jonathan Kent's urging, Fred told Linda that Sylvia was an alcoholic. Fred had been about to leave Sylvia over her alcoholism when she discovered she was pregnant. Not only did this compel Fred to stay, but it got Sylvia to quit so as not to harm the baby. The withdrawal was hard, and she turned to faith groups for help with coping, with is how Sylvia became so religious. In the end her determination not to harm her baby won out over her addiction and Sylvia became the woman we've seen over the course of this series. And when she saw her baby for the first time any desire for alcohol was gone. But when she thought that Supergirl, who she had turned to for help, had eaten her daughter, Sylvia felt like her lifeline had been snapped and fell back into her long-forgotten habits. Linda feels guilty and thinks that she shouldn't have said anything about merging, but both Jonathan and Fred assure her that she did the right thing. In the present, Supergirl is forced to concentrate on the moment when she comes up on Cerne of the Millenium Giants, who is so big he makes the Heisei Godzilla look like a mouse in comparison. With his size, every step he takes causes massive destruction, though for the moment that is limited because he is out at sea. Unfortunately, a large cargo ship is caught in the waves generated by Cerne's footsteps, and Supergirl starts to push it out of the way. But she can't save the ship and stop Cerne from reaching the island. Even though Cerne is still a half-mile away, his footsteps are already causing an earthquake which breaks the wall of Cassandra's cell, allowing her to escape. Cassandra flashes back to when she admitted to being the reincarnation of Cassandra as a child and her parents had her sent away to an asylum immediately. Cassandra finds a boat and decides to drive it straight at Cerne, because she's mad as hell and not gonna take it anymore. Supergirl gets back from saving the ship and tries to attack Cerne with no success. She tries to lift him, but he swats her away. Finally her wings activate and she flies straight into Cerne's mouth. Cassandra also reaches Cerne as he manifests his own flame wings and a giant flaming 's' symlbol appears on his chest. He knocks her off of her boat and into the water. Inside Cerne, Supergirl is trying to communicate with him, but instead his will is overwhelming hers and he is stealing her power to use to destroy the earth. In desperation she flies out of there and lands in the ocean, seemingly passing out. Supergirl is woken up by a hallucination of Comet, who says that they are alike. Supergirl reaches for his hand, but finds Cassandra's instead. Suddenly Superman Red arrives and saves them both from drowning. They land on the island, which Cerne destroyed while Supergirl was unconscious. Supergirl wonders if she should have saved the island instead of the ship, but Superman Red assures her that all that would have happened is that the sailors and she herself would have died as well, and that no hero is faring any better against the other two giants. He and Supergirl fly off to regroup with the Teen Titans. My thought: The cover is a lie. Only Superman Red shows up in the issue. Blue is nowhere to be seen. This is the only time Electric Superman shows up in the series apart from a single panel flashback in issue 14. I don't know if that is because PAD was against the idea or if he would have avoided using Superman anyway. There really isn't a place for Superman in the stories since issue 6. This crossover is what turned Superman back to normal. I don't remember the Millenium Giants crossover very well. The split into Supermen Red and Blue was for some reason not collected by my father and sister even though they were subscribed to the Superman titles at the time. I never had a problem with Electric Superman outside of the splitting into red and blue versions arc, which I never got to read. From my understanding the other two millennium giants are being handled by the rest of the superheroes while Supergirl is sent alone to fight Cerne. Man did she get the short end of the stick. Usually it's Superman that gets the suicidal one-man missions. Batman must've had the flu or something, because that is poor planning on the JLA's part. The best part of the issue is easily the flashback to the conversation between Linda, Fred, and Jonathan Kent. It does more to flesh out Sylvia than the previous 19 issues, and its a sweet moment between Linda and her dads. I think Cassandra would have been better off being introduced earlier, before Fred accepted Linda again, because the rejection of her parents was similar. For a character who gets so much focus this issue she only shows up once more in the whole series. Having a precog around could have been interesting, but them's the breaks. Overall an average story that is raised by the family flashback. So C+ But now we get to the worst subplot of the series....the two issue exploration of Comet's backstory... |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 11, 2015 8:41:26 GMT -5
When Comixology started selling the 90s PAD Supergirl series I started picking it up, having heard that it is the best Supergirl run even though it doesn't have the 'real' Supergirl. Do people really call it the best Supergirl ever? I'm not doubting you, I just ... no way! Peter David's Supergirl came out at a time when I was reading a few more super-hero comics than usual, and I remember reading the first twenty or thirty issues. I remember liking it when it started. I must have liked it, or I wouldn't have read it for that long. Mostly, I remember thinking the art was FANTASTIC! But I flipped through them five or six years ago and it seemed very thin. The whole angels and demons aspect was not nearly strong enough for it to go on as long as it did. (I find that with Peter David a lot, especially when I go back and read them years later. I never wonder why I stopped reading in the middle of a storyline because I always remember getting bored. I was re-reading Peter David's Hulk a few years ago and I only read a few issues after the Pantheon started, even though there were a bunch more issues left.) Meanwhile, the 1960s Supergirl stories are AWESOME! Inventive and fun and CRAZY! Totally whacko! I'm not going to say they are the best Supergirl comics ever because there are a lot of Supergirl comics I haven't read. But they are certainly better than the Peter David series. (Which isn't bad. I liked it the first time around.) But you and I look for crazy, whacko times in comics. Those are the kind of comics that we both look for. I am surprised you like anything by PAD. That is a shocker to me. Not a bad thing, it's just from the stuff I see you post about, I would think you'd steer clear of PAD. Of course, I'm never 100% familiar with all works by all writers, so maybe he's done some more light hearted stuff. I have never read any Supergirl anything before. But with DC reads, if I start reading something, I tend to like to read it from the beginning, and not jump into a character/team in bronze or modern age where they already have soooo much history (or have been written as a completely different character and are only the same in name). I can jump into characters and teams anywhere with Marvel, but I get confused if I try this with DC. I am going to keep this run of Supergirl in mind, though, for once I have read some silver age stuff. I do love me some PAD writing, so I doubt that this will disappoint. |
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Post by dupersuper on Nov 12, 2015 1:21:41 GMT -5
Do people really call it the best Supergirl ever? I'm not doubting you, I just ... no way! Peter David's Supergirl came out at a time when I was reading a few more super-hero comics than usual, and I remember reading the first twenty or thirty issues. I remember liking it when it started. I must have liked it, or I wouldn't have read it for that long. Mostly, I remember thinking the art was FANTASTIC! But I flipped through them five or six years ago and it seemed very thin. The whole angels and demons aspect was not nearly strong enough for it to go on as long as it did. (I find that with Peter David a lot, especially when I go back and read them years later. I never wonder why I stopped reading in the middle of a storyline because I always remember getting bored. I was re-reading Peter David's Hulk a few years ago and I only read a few issues after the Pantheon started, even though there were a bunch more issues left.) Meanwhile, the 1960s Supergirl stories are AWESOME! Inventive and fun and CRAZY! Totally whacko! I'm not going to say they are the best Supergirl comics ever because there are a lot of Supergirl comics I haven't read. But they are certainly better than the Peter David series. (Which isn't bad. I liked it the first time around.) But you and I look for crazy, whacko times in comics. Those are the kind of comics that we both look for. I am surprised you like anything by PAD. That is a shocker to me. Not a bad thing, it's just from the stuff I see you post about, I would think you'd steer clear of PAD. Of course, I'm never 100% familiar with all works by all writers, so maybe he's done some more light hearted stuff. I have never read any Supergirl anything before. But with DC reads, if I start reading something, I tend to like to read it from the beginning, and not jump into a character/team in bronze or modern age where they already have soooo much history (or have been written as a completely different character and are only the same in name). I can jump into characters and teams anywhere with Marvel, but I get confused if I try this with DC. I am going to keep this run of Supergirl in mind, though, for once I have read some silver age stuff. I do love me some PAD writing, so I doubt that this will disappoint. PAD books are full of light-hearted stuff. Check out his Young Justice run... |
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Post by DE Sinclair on Nov 12, 2015 12:50:32 GMT -5
But you and I look for crazy, whacko times in comics. Those are the kind of comics that we both look for. I am surprised you like anything by PAD. That is a shocker to me. Not a bad thing, it's just from the stuff I see you post about, I would think you'd steer clear of PAD. Of course, I'm never 100% familiar with all works by all writers, so maybe he's done some more light hearted stuff. I have never read any Supergirl anything before. But with DC reads, if I start reading something, I tend to like to read it from the beginning, and not jump into a character/team in bronze or modern age where they already have soooo much history (or have been written as a completely different character and are only the same in name). I can jump into characters and teams anywhere with Marvel, but I get confused if I try this with DC. I am going to keep this run of Supergirl in mind, though, for once I have read some silver age stuff. I do love me some PAD writing, so I doubt that this will disappoint. PAD books are full of light-hearted stuff. Check out his Young Justice run... Starting right off the bat with the new villain Mighty Endowed, who fell on her face. Literally. "She has... vast tracts of land." |
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Post by sunofdarkchild on Dec 10, 2015 17:02:44 GMT -5
  Kind of a double review. I had known about Superman Forever, but didn't know until pretty much now that it was a continuation of a Team Superman story. I think the Supergirl stuff in them both warrants a look. Those who wear the Shield and Superman ForeverAfter the battle with the Millennium Giants Superman is missing and Steel, Superboy, and Supergirl are protecting Metropolis in his absence. They stop a robbery (though Supergirl causes needless collateral damage by crashing through the sidewalk for no reason). But the cops don't seem to care. They must be used to needless destruction of public property by now. Superboy asks why Superman isn't back yet and Supergirl assures him that of course Superman will return. This leads into a discussion of Superboy's origins and how he was cloned to be like Superman, escaped Cadmus, and ended up in Hawaii. They fly to the Central Park statue of Superman. Supergirl remarks about how they don't really know each other well, but they're connected by Superman. She also says that during the Reign of the Supermen she thought Steel was a robot at first, which leads into him talking about his origins and how he made weapons that fell into the wrong hands but his life was turned around when Superman first saved him. Superboy decides that for the sake of fairness Supergirl should tell them her origin, first guessing that she has Kara Zor El's origin from the Silver Age. Supergirl wishes her origin was like that and uncomfortably tells them the story of the Supergirl saga an how she was the only survivor of a planetwide genocide and her recovery with 'a family Superman knew,' leaving out the parts about the Kents and her subsequent mental breakdown. Her story is so intense and tragic that even Superboy loses his smile. Supergirl also leaves out her more recent merger with murder victim Linda Danvers. The only people she's told so far are her parents, both sets. She's been to scared to tell Clark because she's afraid of his disapproval. She thinks about how worried Ma and Pa and Lois must be and decides to go to the Daily Planet to try to comfort Lois. She tells the boys that they're going there to get information about if Superman's been sighted elsewhere in the world. As they reach the Daily Planet roof Superboy whispers to Steel that he's grossed out by finding out that Supergirl is made of protomatter, and Supergirl hears him. When she gets angry with him he says that he's glad that he knows the truth because that's what 'the S guys' are all about. He assumes that none of them, not even Superman, have a secret idea and that they are all 100% honest with each other. Supergirl tries to disabuse him of that notion while not revealing anything. Superboy insists that the S stands for truth and therefore if Superman had a secret identity he would have told them. Steel says that the S stands for justice, and Supergirl that it stands for hope. Perry White pops up, having listened to the whole thing. He tells them that they're all wrong and that the S stands for all three concepts. Then he says that they all do the S proud. They notice a plane in trouble and go to help. The story then picks up in Superman Forever. The Kents find Superman, restored to his original self. He goes to Metropolis where Team Superman is catching various parts of the plane that are falling off, along with several people falling out of the plane. Superman catches the main body of the plane and sets it down. Lois happened to be on the plane and is thrilled to see Superman back and in his original costume. As Team Superman reaches them, Supergirl tries to convince the boys to leave Superman alone so he can catch up with his wife. It takes a bit, but when Superman tells them that she's right they agree to leave. And Superman and Lois go to their apartment. There's more, but that's where Supergirl's part ends. Team Superman also has 'secret files in the back,' with bios of the major characters from all three Superman spinoff books and a short story unique to each main character. Supergirl's in an excerpt from Linda's diary, both from before and after she merged with Supergirl. She hung out with Buzz because like her he didn't buy into the reverend like her mother. She also hated that her father owns a gun. Buzz's influence is making her more sadistic and wanting to hurt people, and she doesn't seem to care for her former friends anymore. But she's still a fan of Supergirl even though she thinks she should have grown out of that. She does think that some of what Buzz does is sick, but still funny. Supergirl finds this diary and is horrified by it, having not remembered most of it. She writes a bit about her current day, including the time she rescued a kitten from a tree. One of her old friends is still scared of her from a threat Buzz made in the first entry. My thoughts: This was a pleasant surprise. The 'Team Superman' from this era is my ideal Superman family, but even when they team up they usually don't interact very much. I put it here since it literally comes right after the Millennium Giants, which was the previous issue of Supergirl. The recaps of their origins are nice, but unnecessary for me since I already know them. But It's cute to realize how little they knew about each other. Neither of them knew that Supergirl wasn't related to Superman. And to see Superboy go from having a major crush on her (he'd been trying to get her to go out with him since Reign of the Supermen) to being disgusted because of the protomatter thing was interesting. They're descriptions of what the S symbol stands for highlight the difference in their personalities and outlooks. Superboy is out there. He hides nothing and expects everyone else to do the same. Steel is focused on righting wrongs after his guilt in making weapons that killed innocent people. And Supergirl is about inspiring people. Characters today all seem the same compared to the diversity of personality on display here. Even though PAD wasn't involved, I loved Supergirl's characterization here. After everything both of her selves have been through. Matrix losing her world and for a time her mind, and being manipulated by Luthor. Linda losing faith in god and humanity after seeing the reverend murder his wife, turn into a violent and depressed person, and ultimately end up murdered by her supposed boyfriend. After enduring all that, Supergirl still sees her role as bringing hope and inspiring people. That's the sort of characterization that makes Stephanie Brown one of my all-time favorite characters. There were a lot of little things. Supergirl being worried about how the Kents and Lois are doing, her efforts to keep Clark's ID a secret. And I liked how she seemed to be the leader of the group, but at the same time was embarrassed about giving her opinion. Superman Forever shifts the focus to Superman, of course, but she gets a moment of getting the others off of his back. It's nice to see her looking out for Superman like the stepsister she is. I wish there were more stories like this. And it makes me sad that this era ended. Superboy went emo, Steel kind of fell off, and Didio made decisions based on amusement park rides about what to do with Supergirl. Final score-A The diary is interesting in what it reveals. For one, despite her violent attitude, Linda was not homicidal. She hated that there was a gun in her house and that killing people could be part of her father's job. She also doesn't approve of everything Buzz does at this point. She's not a nice person, but at least at this point she hasn't crossed the line into being truly evil. |
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