Strange Visitor - Superman Our Worlds At War Secret Files & Origin

We are a day away from Strange Visitor appearing in the DCU again in Supergirl #16, perhaps as a villain who has been brainwashed or confused by Mr. Bones and the DEO. We know that Strange Visitor has always had a short fuse. So maybe a turn to a mad rage isn't that big a shift in character.

Over the last month, I have been reviewing the history of Strange Visitor, her first arc and her last sacrifice. That last issue in which she is a pivotal part of the defeat of Imperiex in the Our Worlds At War mega-arc was interesting to me for any number of reasons. But her appearance in Superman #173, so crucial to the defeat of Imperiex, seemed to come out of the blue. Now I am really glad I reviewed that issue as it is name dropped here in current continuity!

With that sudden appearance of Strange Visitor and her importance to the ending of Our Worlds At War in mind, I scoured the back issue bins and found her in Superman Our Worlds At War Secret Files and Origins #1. And it is an interesting appearance because it may have spoiled the ending of the story.

Now I will admit, I am missing a few more Strange Visitor books from this time, including the Batman Our Worlds at War Secret Files and Origins book and an Adventures of Superman issue. But this book still intrigued me.

Back Issue Box: Superman #173

Strange Visitor is coming to Supergirl and she doesn't look happy.

But who is she?

I have reviewed Strange Visitor's first storyline earlier this month here and here.

So what about the end of her story?

Superman #173, written by Jeph Loeb with art by the dynamic team of Ed McGuinness and Cam Smith, is one of the final chapters of the Worlds At War mega-arc which traveled through the Superman (and other DC books) in 2001. The simple plot is that a Galactus-style galaxy eater named Imperiex is coming to eat Earth. The enemy of my enemy is my friend so Darkseid has brought Apokolips into our solar system to team up to defeat Imperiex. But things look dismal. Simple Imperiex probes have been incredibly difficult to defeat, let alone the main man himself. The heroes need a secret weapon. Someone will need to sacrifice themselves (as the cover says).

So where does Strange Visitor and her electric blue energy come into play. For once, the cover actually mirrors the inside!

On to the issue.

Ed McGuinness Quick Sketch

And so we reach the end of my review of commissions I got at the Boston Comic Con last month.

I have always been a fan of Ed McGuinness' hyper-stylized art since he first started on the Superman book. It seems to be the perfect blend of exaggeration and energy, bordering on cartoony but not veering into it completely.

I absolutely love his rendition of Supergirl as well. We saw his version of all the versions of Supergirl the mind-bending Superman/Batman#24, a chapter in the 'With a Vengeance' arc. So when I saw he was a guest at the con, I picked out some books to be signed and hoped he would be sketching.

McGuinness was sketching, just quick head sketches. For $30, you could get his sketch book and a head sketch on the back cover or anything else you wanted him to draw on. People were bringing him Marvel blank covers, etc. I got into an extremely long line and waited and waited and waited.  And then I waited. McGuinness drew a massive crowd and people seemed to have 100's of issues to get signed. (For the record, I think bringing more than 10 things to get signed by a creator is rude to both the creator and to the other attendees of the con.)

I finally got up to McGuinness, got my issues signed (including one of my favorite covers of the Matrix Supergirl, Adventures of Superman #582).

And then I got the great head sketch above. I don't think you can be lukewarm about McGuinness' art. Either you love it ... or you don't see what is so great about it. I love it. And so this simple little profile picture of Supergirl is a treasure to me.

So in one day at the Boston Comic-Con I got Kevin Maguire, Francis Manapul, Joe Benitiez, Chrissie Zullo, and Ed McGuinness. Not a bad haul. Still, I wish I had the second day to just talk to the guests more. This con keeps growing so I can't wait to see who will be coming next year. I do hope they start inviting writers as well as artists.

Next con is the Granite State Comic-Con in New Hampshire next month!