He's Back Already?

Final Crisis:Legion of 3 Worlds #4 came out last week and brought Superboy back from the dead. Superboy died at the hands of Superboy/Superman Prime just a couple of years ago in Infinite Crisis. While fans of Connor are elated, I just wonder if he has been dead long enough. It felt too soon for him to be back.

Of course, Final Crisis:Legion of 3 Worlds also resurrected Bart Allen after he had only been cold in the ground for little over a year!

I think the turnstile on the afterworld is spinning a bit too quickly at DC for my tastes. Heck, at least Barry Allen stayed dead for 23 years .

The mini-series is a dense mess of action although it is fun to see all these Legion characters interacting with each other. And the return of Conner does nicely set up a Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes run in the upcoming Adventure Comics.

I also wondered if Connor is the person kissing Kara in her 'Origins and Omens' story from Supergirl #38. Hmmmm ...

A Superboy-Supergirl romance would be a new twist.

Review: Superman #685

The build-up to Superman:World of New Krypton and another year without Superman in the super-titles finally came to an end with the release of Superman #685 on Wednesday. Written by James Robinson and drawn by Javier Pina, it moves all the pieces into proper position for the new stories to unfold.

The last several issues have basically been prologue to this year's major arcs. Superman will be on New Krypton. Mon-El and the Guardian will be in charge of Metropolis. Flamebird and Nightwing will be hunting whatever they are hunting.

The last issue ended with Mon-El ripped from a collapsing Phantom Zone only to begin dying from the sudden exposure to lead.


With Mon-El turning an unseemly shade of gray, Superman comes up with an idea. Why not go into the future for Brainiac 5's cure serum? Superman knows that Mon-El is safely active 1000 years from now.

But when he tries to use his Legion ring to go to the 31st century, it doesn't work. Superman sums it up pretty ominously. "Something's wrong ... with tomorrow."

My guess is that we haven't quite reached the post-Final Crisis DCU. The problem with tomorrow is that the events of Final Crisis:Legion of Three Worlds are still bubbling to the surface.

But seriously, not to pick at the finaly scabbed over wound of Final Crisis, when will the DCU move to the post-FC reality. The DCU titles have been moving forward without even a glance at the trauma of Final Crisis. And assuming that each title moves ahead with current storylines will there even be a mention of Earth nearly dying, the death of some friends, the restructuring of the orrery? Hawkman and Hawkwoman and Batman all died in Final Crisis and yet all three are in the current Justice League of America issue. Heck, Hawkwoman stars in the 'Origins and Omens' back-up. Is she dead? Did New Krypton get created before Final Crisis? If so, why weren't 100,000 Kryptonians mentioned? Aftewards? Well where does Final Crisis fit in the timeline of the super-titles. I just think that after a major event .... the last Crisis ... there should be a new feel to continuity. As it is, outside of the impact on the Bat titles, I feel like Final Crisis could have been an Elseworlds mini-series.

Yikes, that's a lot of bile to spring forth from one panel in Superman. Sorry for the tangent.


Realizing that an answer from the future won't come easily, Superman rushes to his lab to try to cobble some cure together last minute.

When he arrives he discovers this 'Alice in Wonderland'-like flask, the 'drink me' label festooned with a Legion symbol. Feeling he has no choice, Superman administers the serum to Mon-El who is miraculously cured.

So this save felt a bit too much like a deus ex machina. However, there aren't many people who could have sneaked into the Fortress to leave it there. My guess? Flamebird and Nightwing. There is a theory floating on the web that Nightwing is Cosmic Boy. He could have brought the anti-lead poisoning serum from the future.

If Nightwing is Rokk, then who is Flamebird? What about Officer Schvaughn Erin?

Now that the immediate crisis of Mon-El and the Phantom Zone is over, Superman can go back to worrying about the ongoing crisis of New Krypton. He simply doesn't trust General Zod. Superman feels his people, the Kryptonians, are in danger and he needs to be there to protect them.

One thing I did like was Robinson showing us Superman's reaction to the UN resolution banning Kryptonians (outside himself) from Earth. He looks pretty shocked and he should be. Things aren't going well with the Terran/Kryptonian relationship. More then ever, he probably feels the weight of setting things right, of being a arbitor between the two sides of his life.

Robinson does give a glimpse of the Guardian as well. Harper has been receiving telepathic messages from Tellus in the form of dreams. Tellus keeps telling the Guardian that he is fine and that the Science Police will arrive. But Harper seems to ignore the advice. After seeing visions of battles with Superman villains Riot and The Atomic Skull, Harper says that he is coming to the rescue.

The rest of the issue is actually a nice character study of Clark. He knows he needs to go to New Krypton to watch Zod, save his people, and hopefully bring an end to the animosity between his two cultures.

But he cannot do it without the blessing of the two women in his life, Ma and Lois. He begins to lay out his reasoning to them. One thing I did not like is Clark saying that he felt Kara was under the sway of her mother. While she may be living on New Krypton, Kara has seemed concerned about her mother's actions as much as anyone. She has never fallen in line with Alura's thinking like a good little soldier.

I did like the little split panel theme seen above. He truly is half Clark and half Superman. It is a nice little visualization of that, as both sides of him are in anguish about how things have unfolded.

I love the support that Lois and Ma give him. When Superman states that he doesn't know what to do, they both say 'yes you do'. They both know he needs to leave Earth and go to New Krypton.

The issue's main story ends with a tender goodbye between Lois and Clark. I am happy that Robinson took the time to show this, as well as Lois' tears after this goodbye. Superman is flying into the lion's den. Lois doesn't even know if he will ever return. And yet, she still knows his place is there. She has faith in him, sure, but that still requires bravery in her part.

The issue ends with a nice 'Origins and Omens' story reviewing Mon-El's history succinctly and setting him up for the next year in Superman.

First off, he gets an identity for Metropolis. He will be Jonathan Kent. Nice touch.

And he looks like he will be busy too. Fights with Atlas and Sodam Yat? Tangling with Lex Luthor? And what looks to be a kiss with Natasha Irons?

I have to say that I am most intrigued with Superman:World of New Krypton. Of all the directions of the super-books, Superman starring Mon-El and The Guardian is the one that I am least optimistic about. Hopefully I will be pleasantly surprised.

As for this issue, Robinson does a fine job of aligning the characters so next month will start smoothly. It still felt more like set-up than story progression, but you have to get to the beginning of a story somehow.

I don't know Javier Pina but his work was serviceable. Certainly it is much smoother than the dark stuff we saw by Jesus Merino and Pable Raimondi recently. Raimondi's stuff looked much better in this month's 'Origins and Omens', less blotchy and thick.

Overall grade: B

Review: Supergirl #38

We hit the halfway point of the 'Who is Superwoman?' arc in Supergirl #38, released last Wednesday. What was interesting about this issue was that we not only moved the Superwoman plot forward with a some mind-numbing reveals but we added a few new plot threads to the mix.

All that and an 'Origins and Omens' look at Supergirl with a few interesting peeks into the future.


Newsarama already showed us the first few pages with the mid-air brawl between Supergirl and Superwoman.

What I find compelling about this interaction is that Superwoman seems to have the best intentions in mind for Kara but is going about it the wrong way. Throughout the fight she just keeps telling Kara that she wants to return her to New Krypton because 'who knows what is happening there'.

The fight isn't very long with Superwoman getting the upper hand and knocking Kara unconscious. But not before Superwoman says 'I told you not to come back here. No matter what your mother said!' Kara recognizes the line as pretty much the conversation Thara had with her in Supergirl's room on New Krypton.

Could Superwoman be Thara?

But before Superwoman can return Kara to New Krypton, she is contacted by General Lane. She is ordered to dump Supergirl's body right there and pick up a 'stray dog'.

Superwoman follows the orders and dumps Kara into the ocean. Eventually we see Kara limp home to Lana's apartment, covered in bruises and clearly dazed.

We cut to Metropolis where Inspector Henderson is performing the autopsy on Agent Liberty in hopes of downloading the memories from his integrated super-suit. Before much can be done, Lucy Lane shows up with government orders to turn over Agent Liberty's corpse to the feds.

Lucy is curt and cold, pure military bravado.

But despite losing the body, it appears that Henderson's initial work might be fruitful. The suit's memory downloaded successfully.

Our tour of Metropolis continues as we see Cat Grant gleefully writing a story on the UN's decree that all Kryptonians outside of Superman are banned from Earth. Of course Cat is going to love this story. It means Kara is now banished.

Cat then gets a package from her 'tiniest fan.'

The package holds an old-fashioned appearing sock doll of Supergirl. Cat dismisses it and tosses it in the trash.

But there has to be more there. And Cat, given her history, should be wary of this package. While she might think this is a prank from Kara she should really be worried that it is from The Toyman. And what better visual cure for readers than the shot of Cat's desk in the first panel. There is a picture of her son who was murdered by The Toyman.

Maybe this (presumed) eventual storyline will be the way Kara helps Cat and lessens the venom between them.

Ahhh, but then the big reveal! Or is it a red herring?

The 'stray dog' Lane mentions is Reactron who has gone after his ex-wife. Superwoman breaks into the apartment and grabs him. Reactron opens his chest revealing his gold Kryptonite heart and blasts Superwoman assuming it will kill her.

She chuckles that it tickles and then says 'whoever said I was Kryptonian?'

Whoa!

Now I don't know what to think!

The clues have been mounting in my mind that the best fit for Superwoman is Thara. She is a bit more physically mature than Kara. Her hair is short enough that it could easily fit under a form-fitting cowl. She would know Kryptonese and would have these powers. She might not want to obey Alura but would wish that to be hidden so she could maintain her station. As a result, she could be blackmailed by Lane.

But she should be effected by Gold K, which she clearly is not. Maybe enough of her suit os lead lined to protect her?

But if Superwoman is not Kryptonian, who else fits the bill?

A Daxamite might, but we know it is a lead-lined uniform. Unlikely.

A robot?

Maxima? She actually fits. But I think she is dead. And she hasn't been see in this storyline and Igle recently said that the character is someone seen in the arc. And I think Maxima is Flamebird.

I doubt Superwoman is Lucy Lane. How would she have powers and know Kryptonese? Why would General Lane need to blackmail his obedient daughter?

My latest off the wall guess (and I guess I am still stuck on 'evil clone') would be a clone of Alura. What if the Kryptonite poisoning bolt that struck her included Black K. Remember Kara was subjected to multiple types of Kryptonite. Maybe the bolt effected her as Black K has done in the past and split off another Alura.

That might explain some of the contrary statements Alura has made. Some made by Alura A; others by Alura B. She would be a member of the family of El. She would want to protect Kara. She would hide out on New Krypton, staying in a dusty abandoned room. And maybe Black K clones aren't effected by Gold K somehow.

At this point, I don't know what to think. I guess that is the sign of a great mystery.

After that reveal we have a great 'Origins and Omens' story, written by Gates and drawn by Matthew Clark. The opening shows just how conflicted Kara is bewteen Earth and New Krypton. She has a nightmare where she is literally pulled apart by the people of the two worlds.

There is a great scene with Lana where Kara discusses just how alien New Krypton seems to her now. She doesn't think she fits in but feels obligated to stay with her mother. It shows just how mature Kara has become during her time on Earth. There is the old saying 'You can't go home again.'

Lana grabs her chest and spits up a small amount of blood but hides it from Kara. She tells her that Linda Lang should move home again.

Looks like Lana is sick and is going to need someone to help care for her. That might be the hook to have Kara move back to Earth. Of course, given the UN declaration, she will have to stay hidden. Can anyone say 'emergency secret weapon'?

But look at the visions shown in the Book of the Black Lanterns. Looks like we have a very intriguing year coming up.

1) Kara and Inspector Henderson back to back in battle formation.
2) Silver Banshee
3) Zod, Ursa, Non, and Alura
4) Superwoman and 3 hidden figures
5) Lana in a hospital bed, Kara watching over her
6) Kara kissing someone!

Looks like the Silver Banshee is going to be added to Supergirl's rogue's gallery. And a love interest? Who is that guy she is kissing? So interesting.

This issue felt like a set-up issue for the rest of the year but there were enough reveals to make the Superwoman storyline go from simmer to boil. I thought this issue was great.

Overall grade: A