Let's write up some comics

This week I bought and read this lot:

Black Canary 1
Much more interesting than I thought it would be from the preview.  It doesn't really feel like my Dinah though, but I guess I'm looking for a Dinah in her 30s ready to settle down with Ollie (who to be fair would never be a rock star).  So this version not feeling like her isn't a criticism.  It is a good comic.  The only thing that pulled me out of it was that I don't buy her wearing her Canary outfit  on stage.  If they'd given her shorts or a skirt it would work much better.

Harley/Peej 1
This was a lot more fun than I expected.  I've been underwhelmed by Harley's main series but this was far better.  The two of them work well together. Unfortunately the cover is not Amanda Conner's finest hour.  The inks are rather heavy and it just doesn't flow very well.

Sensation Comics featuring Wonder Woman 11
Another bad cover,  Yeeuch.  Badly composed, badly pencilled, badly inked and badly coloured.  Inside is Jamal Igle's pencils which are much better but the inks are a bit too heavy handed.  The colours are OK.  Overall, this lacks the finesse of the Gates/Igle Supergirl work, but that's not Igle's fault.  In the issue Di goes to Africa to try to get two sides of a warring nation to reconcile.  It sounds a bit white saviour-ish doesn't it.  I don't think it comes across that way but I'm willing to listen to other opinions.

Princeless book 4 issue 1
The story is good but I hate the art.  The composition of the panels is good, the actions (and interaction) of the characters are good, but the style of faces, the inks and the colours are horrible.  It won't stop me buying this series, but if you do pick it up please be aware that this art is not indicative of the rest of the series' art!  And on the plus side, we do have killer squirrels:

Battleworld: Thors 1
I think I bought this for horse Thor.  It's OK.  I suspect it's more for Marvel aficionados than me.  It seems like a bit of an industry vanity project, and I mean that in the best way possible.

Battleworld: Runaways 1
The only actual Runaway in this is Molly Hayes.  The rest are mutants, Cloak and Dagger and some other randoms who I expect regular Marvel readers will know.  They are all attending a school to train them as Doom lackeys, or some such.  I tell you what, I do like the premise for Battleworld.  It works far better than Convergence, at least for these two titles.  This was a fun enough comic.  It also queered up Jubilee and Pixie, which was good to see:

Are they gay in the regular 616 universe?

Ms Marvel: Crushed (trade)
This is volume 3 of the current Ms Marvel run.  I really liked it, it's a good young adult comic about teenage crushes and the pitfalls that come with it, with added superpowers.  The only thing I didn't like was the thinly veiled lesson about consent.  It just seemed a bit too obvious to me, but maybe that's because I've been seeing this sort of stuff discussed for years and given where I am at the moment, I really could do with not having these conversations.  Quite frankly, I don't care.  That sounds awful doesn't it.  But I don't.  I'm concentrating on my pregnancy and everything else that requires energy, or passion can piss off.  So, I'm wondering who the teenage audience this is aimed at would take this lesson. If they don't find it too much, then I guess it's a good thing.

Batman: The Ring, The Arrow and The Bat
I've been meaning to get this for about 2 years.  Despite the name, it's a Green Arrow trade, not a Batman book.  The first story is Hal and Ollie meeting for the first time.  Hal is working for the government and doesn't realise he's being used, and Ollie is out for a good vigilante time, until he realises the wrongs being done, and then he gets all angry about it.  It's quite a quick change.  Hal and Ollie argue but end up friends.  Art is by Greg Land, before his porn tracing days.  If you like these two, and you like these trades, then you'll like this story.

The second story is Green Arrow and Batman meeting and working together for the first time.  There is lots of snark and one liners.  The villains in the story are stereotypical/generic Asian bad guys, which makes me wince, and plot development is a bit obvious, but apart from that, it's good fun.

I've also been watching Arrow season 1, and while I'm kinda enjoying it, it's a bit bloody miserable isn't it?  Oliver Queen enjoys life, but Ollie in Arrow doesn't.  Granted, he has just come back from the island and is traumatised, but by all accounts he doesn't get any happier over the seasons.  Le sigh.  I like the flashbacks to the island the best.  He looks and acts more like 'my' Ollie there.

Convergence week 8 (the final one!)

Man, I cannot believe I've managed to write about every single issue in this event.  I know some reviews have simply been 'I can't be arsed to write about this', but they are still words, about each and every comic.  Woo, go me, ect, ect.

Now to do the final week's batch.

Convergence: World's Finest 2
Not bad. The cartooning journalist is a high point, again.  Sir Justin is alright, but I prefer Sir Ystin from Paul Cornell's Demon Knights.  At least these guys are all heroes, acting heroically.  There's a couple of panels with Telos' giant hands too, which makes for a fun read,  Probably not a keeper though.
The We are Robin preview was dull.

Convergence: Justice Society of America 2
Also not bad.  The JSA are young again with all their powers, and easily defeat the enemy.  Then they lose their powers and get old again, giving us this panel:

This is not good art, because although the guys look marginally different (if you really look) you cannot tell who is who.

It's a shame, because the comic also has this crowd scene, which is a marvellous piece of comic art:

It was nice to see the old guys up and at it again, but I'm not sure whether this issue is worth keeping/  I def preferred Hawkman in the Convergence: Hawkman issues.

The preview is for Superman/Wonder Woman and it is violent and dull.  Supes looks rather like pre 52 Conner Kent and tells Diana he doesn't love her anymore.  I'm still not interested in this Truth storyline, despite Anj's praises for the first Greg Pak penned issue.  Sorry Anj, I'm just a cynic! Wondy has nice armour though.

Convergence: Action Comics 2
This was good, with a great Amanda Conner cover:

Seriously, how great is that?  Doesn't Peej look angry?  I love it.  Especially the stars around their feet. It's just really, really nicely designed.

The issue itself is also very strong.  Earth 2 (?) Peej (Kara) and Superman are fighting the Red Son universe Wonder Woman.  Lex Luthor is still bitter.  The characterisation for the Red Son characters are accurate and the two worlds are slotted together really nicely.  I really, really enjoyed this.  Keeper, obvs.

The back up preview is for Sinestro.  I flicked through it but didn't read it properly.

Convergence: Infinity Inc 2
The characters and setting for this comic feel so dated, yet I found myself enjoying it.  I'm not sure why, looking at the cover I can't quite recall what happened in it.  On reopening it I enjoy the sense of familiarity at the characters used, but it doesn't fill me with excitement.  Probably not a keeper then.

The backup is for Batgirl, which I'm already getting.  I didn't like the video game conceit of this preview, tho the art and plotting is good enough.

Convergence: Plastic Man and the Freedom Fighters 2
I'm still not understanding why Plas is with the Freedom Fighters.  But it reminds me that I did see this great Plastic Lady cosplay online today.
The Freedom Fighters look ridiculous, but that's not really what this comic is about.  It's about Plas stepping up and being a hero.  That makes this worth keeping, I think.

The backup preview is Harley Quinn.  Every month I enjoy the Harley comic, but I feel no affinity to it and no desire to keep it.  I pass it  on to a friend.  I cannot quite understand why it's so popular.

Convergence: Detective Comics 2
Earth 2 Huntress and Robin are up against Red Son Superman.  Supes doesn't want to fight but Huntress is all fists first, talk later.  Red Son Batman comes to their aid.  Like Action Comics, the characterisation of the Red Son Characters are spot on.  The art (and cover) is partly by Bill Sinkiewicz and it's wonderful. Def a keeper.

The preview is for the Flash, drawn by Brett Booth and it is ugly to look at.

Convergence: Booster Gold 2
I've lost track of which Booster this is.  Nevertheless, it's a fun issue until Booster turns into Waverider, which to my mind makes him far more serious with more gravitas than Booster should ever be given.  And the character design is stupid.  I'm going to keep the issue though.  The back up is for Earth 2: Society, with this terrible piece of Peej art:

I tweeted the picture and Escher Girls picked it up and will post it.  It's awful, in all sorts of ways.

Convergence: Crime Syndicate 2
I liked issue 1 far more than this.  This is mostly fights, coloured in a washed out palette that I can't decide if I like or not.  The Crime Syndicate are fighting Justice League Alpha, a future league from the 853rd century.  The character designs of Alpha WW and Alpha Aquaman are nice.  Alpha WW is the only left standing at the end of the issue.  I don't really care for this, it's uninspired, there's not passion.

The preview is for Cyborg and it's very new 52 ish.  Dull.

Convergence: Shazam 2
This comic is great.  It's homely.  It's like a bit warm hug, with thrills.  If you like Captain Marvel you should read it.

The preview is for Constantine, and although I don't know a lot about Constantine, I don't think the creators got his characters right.  I shan't be picking this up.

Convergence: Blue Beetle 2
I'm still baffled as to why Beetle is teaming up with Cap'n Shinypants and the Question.  They are fighting the Legion and there's misunderstandings galore and it looks like it's all going to pot, until Beetle and a Legionnaire hatch a plan and fool Telos into thinking one side has won.  Unlike the Crime Syndicate issue, this comic, full of costumed folk fighting, had soul in it.  Really good and definitely a keeper.

The preview was for Black Canary with art by Annie Wu.  It looks very nice, but it doesn't feel like 'my' Canary.  I've ordered issue 1 anyway.  I think this series won't last that long and if I don't get it I'll regret it.

Convergence 8
I did have a a lot of thoughts on this, mostly around the what the hell is happening variety, but it's been about 2 weeks since I read it and now I don't think I care.  I do like the choice of characters on the cover - Hal, pre Crisis Kara, Barry Allen, pre 52 Supes, Lois and son.  I think what has happened is that the first crisis may not have panned out the way we knew, Barry and Kara may still be alive, Clark, Lois and son are certainly alive somewhere, and Hal maybe didn't die.  All the earths referenced in Convergence and Multiversity are still around, or most of them anyway, and have continued to exist from when their relative timelines were last referenced in Convergence or Multiversity.  DC have said Convergence opens the doors for any and all stories to be told, continuity be hanged.  I don't think I'm really fussed about what happened. This is a dull story told with very little affection or love, but it did give us some cracking 2 issue minis.

"Finally, comic book women get a real bodies make-over"

Title in quotation marks because redraws have been going on for years.

I am referring to this article which has been doing the rounds.  A facebook friend asked me what I thought of it so I thought I'd tidy up and post it here.

The motivations of the team behind this are explained as follows:
When the team at bulimia.com saw Buzzfeed's Disney princess makeovers, they decided they should take these super-human ladies and give them some super human bodies. Their hope is that when viewers see these realistic waistlines, they will be able to better relate to the characters. After all, being powerful doesn't have to correlate with being a double-D, size 2 cat lady,

I'll admit that I'm more inspired by men's physiques in comic books than I am by women's physiques.  I'm not sure if this is because I have a fairly relaxed attitude to gendered bodies or because men are shown as being more muscular than women, but if I think about who I most want to look like it's hook handed Aquaman, every time.  I know I'll never look exactly like him, I know his physique is caricatured, but when I think of visual motivation for working out and getting a six pack he's who I think of.

I don't lady comic characters unrelatable because they can be drawn ridiculously.  I think the world of Wonder Woman, even when she's drawn by Mike Deodato.  Relatable doesn't just mean 'looks like me'.

Having said that, I like the idea of re-drawing characters to look more normal.  It made me realise that some art which I consider realsistic really isn't - the thigh gaps for example.  I think that some of the redraws aren't quite right though - they aren't athletic enough.  There's a difference between tits an ass, normal realistic bodies and athletic.  I don't think there's a problem with making superheroes (and villains) look atheltic if their power set and skills demand it.  For example, the Flash should look like a runner.  Guy Gardner is an ex PE teacher, John Stewart is an ex marine.  I'd be surprised if they didn't keep fit, but they shouldn't look like triangular beefcakes.  Aquaman and Mera should look like swimmers.  Batman and Black Canary should look like martial arts experts.  Wondy should look like a gladitorial athelet.

Some of the redraws don't look right.  Black Widow doesn't look as fit as a physically active spy should be.  Her spying is a core part of her character, and if she doesn't look right I can't relate to her.  If she looks like she spends more time behind a desk than out in the field I'm not interested.  Catwoman, Ivy, Power Girl and Phoenix work for me.  Rogue doesn't.  Given the amount of time the X-Men spend training she shouldn't be as soft as that around the middle.  The same goes for Storm.

In making these characters look like normal everyday women that we can now supposedly relate to, they've taken away some of the power fantasy.  If I'm going to be inspired by a superhero I'll be inspired by their strength of character, their morals and what they can do with their bodies and how capabel their bodies are - but I'm someone interested in fitness and what exercise and training can do to the body.  Not everyone is.

To simplify, often lady superheroes are drawn to be fancied by men, and male heroes are drawn to be power fantasies for men.  Female characters should be power fantasies for women too, but to dot hat, you have to understand how bodies and exercise work.

Wonder Woman Wednesday

Canary, Shiera and Peej (look in his shades) try to hold Di back, while Zee looks on aghast.
You can see the credit in the image.
This is reminiscent of this Barda and Plas sequence from JLA 33, written by Mark Waid:

I don't like this depiction of Plas.  It's creepy.

LSCC 2014: Cosplay

As promised, here are all the cosplay photos I got:

 

 

 

 

And then there was me.

No wonder no one wanted to take my picture. Sigh.  I'll never be one of the cool kids.

Here are links to other people's photo albums:

401 Photography - on facebook.
Holloh - on flickr.
Poisoned Pirate - on Sta.sh.
A Mystique - on twitter.

Comic reviews

Over the last two weeks I have read X-Men 10, Forever Evil 5, Forever Evil: Rogues Rebellion 5, Green Lantern/Red Lantern 28 and World's Finest Annual 1.
Spoilers after the break.

Comixology comic reviews

I am SO behind.  These may be very short.  Since it's been a while since I read them I'll just have to skim them again, oh no, the horror! ;)

Spoilers ahead for: Power Girl 13, Batman L’il Gotham 4/5/6, Green Arrow 16/17, Justice League 16 and Aquaman 16.

Super Silly Sunday

Haw.

From here.

International Women's Day!

To celebrate, have a delightful picture of the women of the DCU.

I think it's a really neat caricature showing various DC heroines personalities.
I have no idea where I found it or who did it though.  If anyone can enlighten me, leave a comment!
Happy International Women's Day everybody!

Wonder Woman Wednesday

The talented Amanda Connor draws a wonderful Wondy and Peej, complete with cat, Stinky.  I think is from the New Beginning trade, but it might be the sequel to that one.

Anyway, I think this sequence of the Amazon Princess translating for Peej's cat is great.

Death of Supergirl homage art

So, about a year or so ago I had in mind a post where I would collect all the homages to the Death of Supergirl cover I could find.  This post has been sat in my draft page since December 2009.  I thought I'd do something about it and actually post the damn thing.

For clarity, here is the original image, from the Crisis on Infinite Earths maxi series, issue #7:

Cutest picture ever

Amanda Connor should draw Kara more often.  (Found here).

Super Powered Krytonian Reviews!

Spoilers ahead for Power Girl # 11, Supergirl # 52, War of the Superman 0 and 2 and the Green Arrow preview.
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Power Girl #11
I decided to get the issues I'd missed, but will be dropping this after #12 as Amanda Connor and Jimmy Palmiotti are leaving, and as much as I love Judd Winick, I just don't think I'll enjoy it even half as much without Connor drawing it.

Anyway, this issue has brain swapping, underground cities, talking badgers, tigers and gorillas, amateur surgery and adorableness from Terra.  Like the other issues, it's of a very high quality and I will miss this creative team when they go.

Supergirl #52
Fun cover:

Yet again I forgot to look for the alternate cover, which was tres stupid of me:

I'm didn't follow Last Stand of New Krypton so have no idea how this fits in with the rest of the story arc, but thankfully this had enough character stuff in it to keep it interesting.  Namely Kara and Brainy's interaction.  A pretty good crossover issue.

War Of The Supermen #s 0 + 2
Issue # 1 is on order.  I've got no fucking clue how Krypton got out of the bottle, or how it was destroyed, or why some people survived.  I'm guessing that the short answer to why is there an army of Kryptonians heading towards Earth is that Zod and General Lane are both maniacs.

One thing that really pissed me off about this was Ursa being given a sexual dimension to her evilness.  Enough already.  We're not all saints or sinners you know.  Judging by current output, I'm gonna blame James Hack Robinson for this one.

Number 0 was a fine recap issue and it reintroduced Jimmy Olsen.  I'd forgotten he was dead.  No one mourned him.

#2 was frenetic and packed with so many different happenings.  I think this draws us into the confllict and lets us experience events from the characters point of view - I think I read somewhere that this is meant to be a 100 minute war.  If that's the case I *want* this mini to feel fast paced and rushed.

Connor mentions something about being inside Mount Rushmore before.  I have a feeling I should remember where this occured.  I don't.  Anyone able to help me out?

Lex's use of what I presume is Rao the Sun God's body, to turn out yellow sun to a red one, thereby decimatin the Kryptonian space army, is an intriguing proposition.  I am curious as to how the Kryptonians will get out of this.  My guess is the JLA, GL Corps or similar turns up to save some of them, or there's a glitch adn the sun reverts back to yellow pronto.

GA preview
OK, so Cry for Justice was absolute crap.  What has followed on from that has also been a bit rubbihs, so far as I can tell.  But this looks to be about a hooded, tunic-ed Ollie prowling the woods at night, fighting bad guys.  This is right up my street.  So this will be put on standing order.  And, I love Ollie.  That scene where he shoots through the guy's septum ring and takes off the end of his nose?  To use a sportslike Americanism, that was brutal.  It was probably violence for violence sake, but, I like gore.

What isn't up my street is the woman as potential rape victim trope.  Enough already!  Can we really only be imagined in relation to sex and sexual violence?

Blackest Night: JSA #3

Spoilers ahead.
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Well this was a whole lot better than I expected!  A fine end to the mini.

The art was off - I wish artists would understand how boobs and boob windows worked.  For example, look here.  The lady's breasts are big.  The window is big, but it is high, not wide, or low.  Boob windows that are as low as those seen in this comic will not hold boobs in.  They will spill out, even if you have Kryptonian super boobs.  Especially if you have Kryptonian super boobs that are somehow pushed up, possibly by an invisible super bra.  Push up bras are not very good at keeping you in one place.  At leats mine aren't, and I have pretty large boobs.  Gaah.

And her costume mysteriously changes to her old non windowed one for one panel.

Aside from that, the colours are nice and the story is good.  We open with BL Superman giving us a run down on his life.  Then we cut to the present moment and Mr Terrific is building a thunderbolt bomb that will wipe out the Black Lanterns in the area and it's up to the rest of the JSA to delay BL Supes.  Unfortunately thsi Kal -L is trying to thrash Power Girl.  When she's collapsed, he's ripping through the rest of the JSA like flies.  Jesse Quick is running with her father, enjoying having him back, but knowing that it's not really real.

What I loved about this is how the heroes are not fooled anymore.  Karen knows that this Supes is not real and she's doing her damndest to stop him.  And stop him she does.  The rest of the group are all clued up, even Jesse and they all work together to destroy them.

I don't have any scans of this comic, but I did find some scans of the latest Wonder Woman issue, which show just how awesome Power Girl is.  She and Wondy are fighting, in America:

 

 

Comic reviews..

Featuring some fascinating thoughts and spoilers for Superman/Batman # 69, Power Girl #9, Batgirl #6, Green Lantern Corps: Blackest Night # 45, Green Lantern: Blackest Night # 51, Blackest Night: The Flash # 3.
Supergirl #50 is gonna get her own review.
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Superman/Batman # 69
Taking place in the aftermath of the Our Worlds at War crossover, Superman is very angry in this.  Playboy Bruce seems surprised that there are aliens in the universe, which seems a little odd considering this is the DCU we're talking about.  You can hardly move for tripping over aliens.  This issue is not really about the Supes/Bats relationship, which dissappoints me.

As I wasn't into comics at the time of the Our Worlds at War crossover, I couldn't care less about this story arc.  However I'm sure it pleases a lot of fans.

Although it wasn't all bad.  The splash page of the tentacled evil Durlan was very pleasing.  How I wish I had a scanner show you all. *sigh*


Power Girl #9
I love the art on this.  The pencils, the colours - everything is so vibrant, so joyous and fun!*  I love that karen is so powerful that bombs, grenades, guns and fire don't bother her in the least.  Satanna brought out a sonic boom hammer, and even that wasn't enough to put her down.  Then Terra arrives and oh my, doesn't she look really demented.

I'll miss this title.


*except for Satanna's outfit, which is beyond stupid.


Batgirl #6
I feel like I should love this but I just can't - there's soemthing missing and somehow the whole thing just doesn't gel for me.  Having said that, there are some very good things - Damian carrying a sword (I can't believe Dick is letting him do this) and Steph doing her best Batman impression in Jordanna' Spence's room.  It tickles me when other chars do Batman impressions - I'm specifically thinking of Oliver Queen doing one for Hawkman in Quiver.

Green Lantern Corps: Blackest Night # 45
Guy Gardner goes mad with a chainsaw!

 

Wonderful cover.  

Wel, this issue was a treat and a half for Guy fans.  And Kyle fans.  And Mogo fans.  In fact, this issue will have created a fair few Mogo fans I reckon.  A sentient planet is a great idea.  The leeches thing? Less so.  Still, I greatly enjoyed this issue.  But I will not be satisifed until Mogo is facing off against Black Lantern planet Xanshi.

Green Lantern: Blackest Night # 51
Isn't Hal as Parallax an ugly looking bastard?  And then he proves his evilness by ripping the Spectre's face off.  Nice.  Crispus Allen appears to be trapped behind onwe of the Spectre's eyes - I wa snotg expecting that.  Nice detailing there.

The Spectre gets filled with rage, and I am ponderign just how scary a Red Lantern Spectre would be.  Very scary, judging by the amount of red vomit he can produce.

Parallax is seperated from Hal Jordan. and before Sinestro can claim the entity for himself, Parallax is whisked away gods know where, and then we hear a voiceover from Hector Hammond's cell  muttering about how bad it is that 'it' has Parallax.  Intriguing.  I bet this feeds into Brightest Day.

I want to know what the mysterious crimson entity of anger the Spectre referred to is.

Blackest Night: The Flash # 3
What another great cover!

 

Inside, the art is also good, but I don't think it does justice to Bart.  It's just not exuberant enough.   It works really well for the dark zombie theme of the story, and Kolins did really good work on the Rogues Revenge mini, I just don't like his Bart.  However, I did notice on re-reading just how differnetly he draws the villains and the heroes.  The Rogues and the Black Lanterns ahev that scratchy screwed up feel, but the Flashes, when not possesed by BL rings, are freshfaced and pure (like the cover), but still remain recognisably as drawn by Kolins. I think this is a great artistic trick.

I'm very disappointed in Boomer's actions.  I find it hard to square this Boomer with the one in Supergirl a while back.   I can see Boomer getting fucked up by his Dad returning from the dead.  I can see this making him confused, angry and hopeful and causing him to agree to feeding sex offenders to his Dad.  I can't see him feeding innocents to his Dad.

But aside from that, I thought this was a great mini, and probably the strongest one so far.

In which I get a bit annoyed

Cancelling 6 titles at the comic shop turned out to be be way more painful than I expected.  And now, I see that DC are promising all sorts of loveliness what with Blackest Night Green Arrow and Power Girl vs Wonder Woman.

I say Bah.

So, this turned out to be a tie-in week

Spoilers ahead for GLC: Blackest Night #44, Blackest Night: The Flash #2, Starman: Blackest Night #81 (resurrected title), The Phantom Stranger: Blackest Night #42 (resurrected title), Power Girl #8 (not a tie-in, amazingly), Superman/Batman #68 (Our Worlds at War tie-in).
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GLC: Blackest Night #44
Hoo boy this was fun.  Mogo turns up to save the day!  I cannot wait until he faces off against zombie Xanshi.  Next issue: Guy Gardner faces off against everyone.  Oh yes, this is why I buy superhero comics.

Blackest Night: The Flash #2
This is very much a middle issue - we saw the Rogues vs the ex Rogues, with some great scenes between Captain Cold and his sister, and some illuminating (pun intended) panels demonstrating his level of emotion.  The other half of the book delat with Barry acquiring the blue ring of hope.  He tries to save Bart, and Solovar anf Eobard Thawne turn up to provide extra harrassment.  I like that Barry is a member of the Blue Lantern Corps - from what I've read of him in Rebirth and a few other bits and pieces, it does seem to fit his personality quite well.  However in the context of DC superheroes, when you say hope to me I still think of Superman first and foremost.  Ahh well, this is a good mini and next issue will hopefully resolve everything nicely.


Starman: Blackest Night #81 (resurrected title)
I was definitley dubious about this, given Robinson's recent attempts on Cry for Justice, but I needn't have worried, this turned out well.  I've read one other Starman issue which was really very good, and he has kept up the standard here.  There's some incredible art, I can't quite work out by who as the credits list the various tasks as Colours, Letters, Layouts and Finishes, yet no penciller or inker.  I'm assuming Layouts means pencils and Finishes means Inks (broadly speaking), but I couldn't say that for definite.

I think y'all should buy this issue.

The Phantom Stranger: Blackest Night #42 (resurrected title)
Also pretty good.  However it probably won't make much sense if you're not reading other Blackst Night stuff.  Zatanna's on the cover but isn't in the book.  In fact it is mentioned why she's not there, within the book.

Power Girl #8
Jeez, I know Power Girl is meant to have a big chest, and I know Amanda Connor specialises in doing sexy art, but this cover is ridiculous.

Inside it is good fun, Vartox gets even more sleazy than he was last issue, Karen can't help laughing at the Pregno-Ray and she gets to wear the gorgeous ballgown from the Women of the DCU poster that Adam Hughes did.  She even has the earrings in too.  Nicely done, Ms Connor, nicely done!

Superman/Batman #68
An Our Worlds at War tie-in.  I know, what?  Our Worlds at War was a tie in published in 2001.  I thought it was mid 90s and had to google to check the date.  When I mentioned my surprise at the banner in the comic shop they said it was cos the DCU timeline is all in flux now.

But, you see, I buy Superman/Batman because it's not tied in (or shouldn't be tied in) to regualr DC continuity.  I know it brought us Kara back, which is great, but on the whole the other tie in issues have been rubbish.  Blackest Night for example - 2 issues of utter crap.  Although that might be my disdain for Man-Bat, Solomon fucking Grundy and Bizzarro speaking.

Anyway, I was not remotely excited about this issue.  Somehow it surprised me.  Despite Batman looking like All Star Goddman Batman and Supes somehow being all gritty (so wrong), it was fairly enjoyable.  Not particularly memorable, but enjoyable.  There was some retro 70s esque exposition going on which was quite fun.

Over the last few weeks I have also received the following trades - Green Lantern/Green Arrow volumes 1 and 2 (wonderfully funny!), Superman: Last Son (reviewed here) and Wonder Woman: Bitter Rivals.  The WW book was great, as I knew it would be.  Greg Rucka had the golden touch for writing Wondy I think.

I have also ordered Fallen Angel volume 1 (the PAD book which was meant to be Linda Danvers after his Supergirl book was cancelled) and the first Trinity book, by Mat Wagner, not the weekly series.  I borrowed this Trinity book years ago and was quietly impressed, so thought it was high time I bought it.

Superhero sign names

Continuing on from my previous post, I give you more ideas of what sign names I would give the various superheroes.  I've also now edited the previous post to give pictures of each hero.  Makes more sense that way.

Regarding Guy Gardner, I've now decided that Guy's sign name should be linked to his lapels, as that is a very distinctive jacket he's wearing.  I do believe no other GL has a uniform quite like it.

How about Power Girl?

It would be the shape of the boob window.  No question.

As for her civilian name, a pun on Starr seems easy, so the sign for star then, whilst you lipspeak her first name.

As for the Wonder family.  Take Wonder Woman:

Before I said you'd just sign Wonder+Woman.  But to make it an actual sign name, you could trace the W shape on your chest and lipspeak either Diana, Wondy, or Wonder Woman.

For Donna Troy:

Again, easy.  Do the sign for sparkle all over your torso and lipspeak Donna.

For Wonder Girl (Cassie) I think it would very much depend on her outfit.  For an early version of her costume:

Whether she's wearing her blond hair short or she's wearing a wig, the goggles are a mainstay.  So let's make the sign for goggles (either on her forehead or her eyes), and lipspeak Wonder Girl or Cassie.

That's all for today's lessons, I'll be back in a few weeks with more!

500th post: In praise of Supergirls

This here posting is my 500th entry on this blog.  What better way to celebrate than to talk about one of my favourite and one of the most enduring characters, Supergirl?

Note: I am not including any comments on the pre crisis Kara Zor-El or Matrix before the PAD run, simply because I haven't read these.

Recently, well a few months ago now, I re-read my PAD Supergirl trades - Supergirl and Many Happy Returns.  This series was critically acclaimed and a favourite with fans.  It has heavy religious themes, Christain based, using angels, demons and concepts of heaven and hell.  For someone like me who adores religious and mythological discussions I basked in it.  At the start of the run we discover that the previous being using the Supergirl moniker, Matrix, has merged with a dying human named Linda Danvers.  They later became an earth born angel.  Matrix uses Linda to connect with humanity and Linda uses Matrix to redeem herself of her sins, of which she has committed a great many.

This run had a variety of different artists on board and so showcased a number of different styles.  From the first trade we have:

She's tall!  She's muscly and imposing and graceful and elegant.  I love everything about this page - the composition, the colours the inks, the poses, the facial expressions.  It's wonderful.

Later on Gorilla Grodd has taken control of Supergirl's mind, and true to comics form, her outfit mysteriously changes:

What I find interesting about this is the similaraties between this outfit and the one Kara Zor-El (post crisi) wore when she was mind controlled by Darkseid:

It's the facial expression and the trousers I think.  And the heels.  Granted, it may well be just coincidence, as good-women-who-turn-evil are nearly always drawn in similar styles.
The other interesting this about this evil-Supergirl(matrix) is how when she is regressing back to her good self, her hair becomes more normal and less bouffant.  Isn't it odd what mind control can do to you?  [/sarcasm]

By the end of the run, Ed Benes was doing pencils but had yet to develop his emphasis on tits and ass art. (see here or read any recent Titans issue). The result is some characters are sexy but not plastic.  My avatar is an Ed Benes Linda Davvers Supergirl and a full image can be seen here:

That image is the back of the Mnay Happy Returns book an features the pre crisis Supergirl who visited for a few issues and Linda Supergirl. This is one my favourite ever comic images because it shows the two girls' very different personalities and also because Linda has such an engaging look on her face.  Kara is sweet, optimistic and ready for a fight, but Linda is actively challenging you to a fight.  Linda looks cocky, self assured, tough and like she could break anyone with one punch.   This isn't a one off fluke image, throughout the book the girls strengths and traits are shown through the art as much as through the words.  It's such a pity Benes doesn't produce art like this anymore.

By this final trade the story had moved away from it's earlier religious themes and the appearence of the pre crisi Kara Zor-El led to some interesting alternate universe shenanigans.  I won't spoil anything here, but this trade is one of the most fun stories I have ever read.  Linda Danvers has grown so much from the start of the run and is now truly heroic, but also rather sarcastic.  There are some great silver age jokes and the two supergirls interactiosn are delightful.

The whole earthbound angel story was retold in the Elseworlds book, Wings.  Again with very different art, this is a short version of the PAD run and is well worth hunting out (click to enlarge):

When the PAD run ended and Linda Danvers as Supergirl was no more, we were not starved of female Kyptonians adventures.  Or at least, sometimes we weren't, for Power Girl was on the scene.  Unfortunately she has had her past retconned so many times it can be difficult to know what her origin is meant to be, when.  Originally she was the Earth 2 version of Supergirl, but since Crisis on Infinite Earths she has also been an alien from an unspecified planet brought here by a Symbioship and a time travelling Atlantean and generally confused.  Her story was retconned yet again in Infinite Crisis and she is now back to being an alternate universe Supergirl.  I recommend reading Power Girl to learn more about her and why she's great:

For she is great, she's not a copy of Supergirl she is her own woman.  She currently has own series, drawn by the the brilliant Amanda Connor.  I review these as they come out and it has proved to be a cheeky, light hearted, satirical and throughly enjoyable title.  Karen Starr is portrayed as a confident and composed young woman who doesn' suffer fools lightly.  Her are some scans from the series:
 

And now we have the current Supergirl run. As with Power Girl, I review each issue as it comes out and back in September 2008 I did a long post about how the whole run to that date had been, well I used the word ruined then, now I think that is too strong a word, but there are definite problems with it.  Should you choose to read it, it will give you an overview of this inarnation of Kara-El up to issue 33.

The title has improved massively since I wrote that post and will reach it's 50th issue in February 2010.  2009 marked the 50th anniversary of Supergirl's creation and she will be heavily involved in 2010's War of the Superman crossover event.  I can only hope that this will lead to more people picking up her solo book and becoming a fan.

I could talk about so much more now - I could mention Supergirl in Wednesday Comics, Supergirl in Cosmic Adventures in the 8th Grade, Linda Danver's reappearence in Reign in Hell (which admittedly I haven't read yet), other Elseworlds books with a Supergirl figure in, or all the future and alternate universe Supergirls there have been.  If I did that I'd be here for a year and a day, so instead I shall point you towards the Supergirl Comic Box Commentary's round up of the best Supergirl moments of 2008 and 2009.

Happy reading everyone, and here's to another 50 years for Supergirl and 500 posts for me.  Thanks for reading.