Review: Action Comics #1075 Supergirl Story

Action Comics #1075 came out last week, a 'special milestone 1075th issue'! I don't know why that number deserves the extra attention but here we are with special trade dress.

It also is the 6th chapter in the Mariko Tamaki and Skylar Patridge Supergirl story meaning we are officially at the halfway point of this plodding story. 

Once more we have a brief, sparse, boring chapter with nearly no progress to the story. Tamaki seems to be treading water in this tale, stretching out a story idea until it is so decompressed it is difficult to read. Worst than that, Supergirl again has almost nothing to do in this story. Every conflict that has arisen in this story is solved by someone else. Supergirl seems ineffective, inept, lost. And even more worse is that as of this chapter - six chapters in mind you, you could pull Kara out of this story and replace her with any other character and it would read the same. Yes, Superman keeps saying that this is a mission that only Supergirl could pull off but we have yet to read why. And even Kara doesn't seem to know anything about it either.

As a Supergirl fan this is frustrating. She doesn't get many solo stories. She needs to shine when she is given the chance. And this story isn't that. 

The art remains top notch. I like Skylar Patridge's breathy style with an ethereal sort of style. Her Kara is fantastic. The cover by Clayton Henry highlights some memorable scenes from Action Comics history including a shot of Kara leaving her rocket (Great Guns!). 

So on to this story, another "Supergirl" story. 

Review: Action Comics #1074 - Supergirl Story

Action Comics #1074 came out last week, including the fifth part of the Supergirl back-up story by writer Mariko Tamaki and artist Skylar Patridge. 

Frankly, I am frustrated with this Supergirl story. 

We are five parts into this 'mystery mission' of Supergirl escorting a prisoner with universal threatening power. But who is it? And why does she need to do it alone? Tamaki has given us nothing to go on in five issues. Instead we get confusing story-telling, empty dialogue, and worst of all, a boring take.

This is supposed to be a showcase solo story for Supergirl. She is completely ineffectual in this story. As of now there is nothing that makes this a Kara story. Take her out and put in Natasha Irons, Starfire, or Hawkgirl and it would read completely the same. She has not even been a hero in this story. She is confused and helpless. In the Supergirl Special Tamaki wrote, the most action we saw was Supergirl eating a cupcake. In this story, we have Supergirl lose every encounter she is in, whether it is a physical altercation or an intelligent conversation. 

If this is supposed to drum up interest in the Supergirl character, it is going to fail. Because she is an afterthought in her own boring story. It is frustrating.

It's a shame because I am a fan of Skylar Patridge's art. And this Mark Spears variant cover is a killer too.

On to the indecipherable story points.

Review: Action Comics #1073 Supergirl Story

Action Comics #1073 came out last week, another of the weekly releases for the title during this Mark Waid main run. 

I was excited when I first heard that Supergirl was going to be the backup for this weekly run. But when the writer was announced as Mariko Tamaki, I had some trepidation. Other runs of hers, and in particular her inscrutable and boring Supergirl Special, made me worry this wasn't going to be a strong arc for Kara.

We are now four chapters into this Supergirl story and, I suppose not surprisingly, it is inscrutable and boring. Supergirl has been sent into space on a secret mission. But the details have been left unknown to the reader as well. I suppose Tamaki thinks a big reveal at the end will be a jolt for the reader. Unfortunately all the coy dancing around the actual plot has made this feel like a slog.

This chapter we get to finally see the prisoner Kara has been sent to fetch. There is a lot of vague dialogue from the villain that is more maddening than mysterious. It seems to imply there is some connection between Kara and the prisoner but there isn't a whiff of specifics.

Supergirl as a character doesn't get a lot of room to shine on her own in the DCU these days. Features like this are a sort of showcase for her, perhaps to drum up support for a new solo run. But a story like this (and like that Special) do the opposite. Kara doesn't shine her. She doesn't do much at all. She seems almost like a side plot device in her own story. And as readers we aren't invested because we don't know what the heck is happening. It's a shame.

As always, I like the art by Skylar Patridge. While there isn't much action in this chapter, there is some fun contrivances that allow Patridge to stretch a bit. The art is definitely the high point of the story.

On to the details, the few there are.

Review: Action Comics #1072 Supergirl Back-Up

Action Comics #1072 came out this week, the third weekly issue and therefore the third part in the Supergirl back-up feature by writer Mariko Tamaki and artist Skylar Patridge. 

I have exactly liked this story so far. As a reader, I still have little idea of what Supergirl's mission is, why she needed to be alone to do it, and what (if anything) Superman knew before he sent her off. She has hypnotized friends. She has asked questions that don't lead to information. And she has been mostly ineffective in accomplishing much of anything.

Alas, this chapter is more of the same. We get, maybe, a small crumb of information about the 'prisoner', at least a concept about them. But not much more. A question I had from last issue is answered here, explaining something I thought was a plot contrivance. But another plot point is added that makes this story feel even more dodgy. For the most part, Kara is basically ineffective. She asks a lot of questions and is otherwise failing on every aspect of her reason for being there. 

Honestly, I really feel we are treading water. And there is nothing I have seen so far that makes me understand why this had to be solo mission. That is the crux of this story and three parts in, I have no clue.

Maybe by the time we get to the end, Tamaki will have made this ride understandable.

As for the art, I remain a fan of Patridge's work. I feel like her work is a wonderful stew of other artists I love. This issue I felt there was a sort of Joelle Jones feel to things. We get more action sequences here and I liked how those flowed.

But still, this is mostly a slow boil. And I was hoping for more.

Review: Action Comics #1071 Supergirl Back-Up

I have been away on vacation and so will try to catch up on reviews over the next couple of weeks.

Let's start right off with the Supergirl back-up story from last week's Action Comics #1071.

I struggled a little with the first part to this tale. From the lack of details to Supergirl's hypnotic mind-wipes of her friends, it was a bit of a riddle. Mariko Tamaki's story telling remains a bit dodgy. I hoped that things would pick up. 

But this second piece of the story just made me ask more questions. We still don't know much of the details about Supergirl's mission. In fact, she doesn't seem to know much about her mission either. That makes me question just what Superman knew about it before he sent her. If he knew nothing, it is a rough mission that he sending her out alone to do. If he does know more, then he is withholding information. That doesn't feel right either. 

But there are other questions about this story that stuck out to me. Things that happen, or don't happen, which make very little internal sense to me. The dreaded 'this happened to move the story along' thought creeped into my mind more than once. And in a short back-up story, that is never good. 

Skylar Patridge continues to be the star of this show. With a sort of rough pencil style that seems part Guy Davis and part Bilquis Evelyn, the art is quite captivating. The brief action in this chapter feels fast and violent. 

So far, however, this story hasn't grabbed me. On to the details.

Review: Action Comics #1070 - Supergirl Back-Up

The All In era at DC Comics started this week with the release of Absolute Batman #1. Part of that initiative is Mark Waid coming on to Action Comics and that title going to weekly! Within Action Comics, we have a Supergirl back-up feature by Mariko Tamaki and Sklyar Patridge. 

Given the focus of this site, I will be reviewing these Action issues in two parts, making sure to give the Supergirl story the space it deserves. For us old timers, seeing Supergirl in the back of Action Comics, a space she anchored in the Silver Age, is perfect.

Action Comics #1070 was released this week. So we jump right into the story. But before we get there, a couple of opening salvos.

First off, Supergirl is treated very very well by Mark Waid in the main story. I cannot wait to show how Waid continues that 'field marshal', second-in-command feel for Supergirl within the super-family.

Second, Mariko Tamaki wrote the rather bland Supergirl Special #1 almost a year ago. That story was extremely rough. Supergirl not remembering Krypton (after PKJ had her be the Kryponian archivist for years). Supergirl jealous of Power Girl (after we just had a PG story where she was jealous of Supergirl). And, of course, a concentration on eating snacks. How DC could read that story and say 'this is the writer we want to guide Supergirl in her next solo story' is confusing.

Third, this story seems to concentrate on Supergirl's 'new power' coming out of Absolute Power, a hypno-vision where she can literally control people. That has troubling implications all over the place about consent. In the story, it shows the super-family having a lack of trust in their friends. And we simply don't need Kara to have this power any more than we need Black Canary to have heat vision or Power Girl to 'astral punch'.

At the very least, Skylar Patridge is reunited with Tamaki and brings a wonderful art style to the proceedings. Patridge has a sort of breezy, fine-lined style that feels like a top-notch indy book. That is not faint praise. The art is beautiful. 

But this opening chapter is a little confusing and a little troubling. So I hope things get tighter. On to the book.

All-In DC Comics And A Supergirl Back-Up News

Absolute Power is the current summer event churning through the DCU but news has been out for a while that it was just the precursor to a new initiative at DC Comics called DC All In. Solicits are out and will be reviewed in depth. But for now, let's talk about the set-up.

Spear-headed by DC alum Scott Snyder, the early news was that it would be a sort of Marvel Ultimates universe allowing new stories to be told with new characters on a more established new Earth. 

Perhaps to get ahead of the craziness of San Diego Comic Con or in fear of being outshone at SDCC, DC has released a ton of information about this. Head here for what is known:https://aiptcomics.com/2024/07/17/dc-comics-absolute-dc-all-in-line-comics/

Since hearing about this, I wondered how this was going to differ from the Earth One books or even a plain old Elseworld. This looks much more cohesive and more tied into the main DCU. The idea that the current DCU is built on the idea of Superman (something good that came out of Doomsday Clock) is fantastic. Darkseid wanting to build a universe in his image is not a bad idea.

“If the main universe is set up by Superman energy, this universe is founded on Darkseid energy,” Snyder added. That makes the heroes underdogs. “They have to be tougher. Have to be more resourceful,” and that makes them more badass.

Of course, Snyder says it means the heroes will be more 'bad ass' usually means it is something I'm probably not going to like but I'm willing to give it a shot.

But there's more.

Review: Supergirl Special #1

Why has this blog survived for 15 years? Because I feel I need to trumpet how great Supergirl is as a character. I need to share her history and talk up why I love her.

Why will this blog keep surviving? Because DC doesn't often seem to share what I love about the character. They either make her dark or a loner or drunk or overwhelmingly sad or unsure of herself. And I have to keep sharing the best aspects of Supergirl to make sure people know that this is recent problem.

Which brings me to the Supergirl Special #1. 

This is another book that just seems to get Kara wrong. Even worse, it seems to absolutely 100% ignore the most recent Kara stories so it seems out of continuity and out of character. In Action Comics and Steelworks and Superman books recently, Kara is showcased as intelligent, second in command, respected, and sure of herself. She is still learning. But she is established. She has been a big sister, a Kryptonian scholar, and hero. She also has seemed happy.

Writer Mariko Tamaki goes far away from any of that characterization, writing a story that I do not like. This is a Supergirl who has some sort of competitive and unsettling relationship with Power Girl. This is a Supergirl who isn't sure of herself. She is glum in the Kent home. She somehow worries she is going to die when a building collapses on her. This is a Supergirl who struggles with remembering Krypton. She thinks she can never win.   

There is almost too much wrong with that paragraph. Just six months ago, Kara and Power Girl were hugging, accepting each other (in PG's Special ). She is the Kryptonian scholar in Action Comics talking about religion, politics, folklore, and history. She is the heroic field commander of the Super Family in that book and in Superman too. 

How do you reconcile this story with those years of stories? I have no idea how this story made it through editorial. It is in complete conflict with Supergirl's character. 

But let's look beyond that. A special like this is supposed to celebrate a character. It is supposed to raise interest in the character. It should be a pilot to see if there is interest enough for a solo title. 

After reading this issue, who would want to read a Supergirl book like this one? Who wants to read a story about a sulking hero who is trawling her social media and isn't sure of herself. Who seems sad. Who is wandering through life.

There is nothing to celebrate here.

It is a shame because the art by Skylar Patridge is really wonderful. 

As hard as it is to say as a Supergirl fan, I hope a new series isn't born out of this take. 

DC ... please ... get someone who understands and loves the character to write her book.

On to the specifics.

DC Comics October 2023 Solicits Part One: Supergirl Special

The DC Comics solicits for October 2023 came out last week. There is a lot happening. A Wesley Dodds Sandman book, a Jay Garrick book, an Alan Scott book and even more. Here is a link to all the solicits:

https://aiptcomics.com/2023/07/24/full-october-2023-dc-comics-solicitations/

Now  I usually go over the super-solicits in one post but as you can see by the title a Supergirl Special has been announced. I felt like that deserved its own post. Because I should be thrilled. I should be.

Here is the solicit.

SUPERGIRL SPECIAL #1
Written by MARIKO TAMAKI
Art by SKYLAR PATRIDGE
Cover by JAMAL CAMPBELL
Variant covers by FRANK CHO and WILL JACK
1:25 variant cover by RAMON PEREZ
1:50 variant cover by AMANCAY NAHUELPAN
Foil variant cover by WILL JACK ($8.99 US)
$5.99 US | 48 pages | Variant $6.99 US (card stock)

GIRL INTERRUPTED!

After joining the Superman Family and their heroic efforts in Metropolis, Kara thought she had found her place in the world. But there’s only room in town for one Supergirl, and Power Girl’s sudden reappearance has made her redundant. Her identity and role are both in question as she looks for answers. Will they lead her out of the city or out of this world?

Find out as critically acclaimed writer Mariko Tamaki (Supergirl: Being Super) returns to the Maid of Might with the help of Skylar Patridge (Wonder Woman)!

Alas. 

I am not thrilled.