IGN Top 100 Super-Heroes

IGN.com has put together their list of the top 100 super-heroes of all time and the Super-family are represented fairly well. Here is the link to that list: http://www.ign.com/top/comic-book-heroes/   And thanks to IGN for doing this because it usually leads to great conversations.

I always approach lists like this with both interest and trepidation. Obviously lists like these are personal, even if obtained from a staff the size of IGN. Do they represent some sort of global consciousness? Who knows. I just know that when a list like this is made, I want my favorite heroes to get some sort of respect.

Supergirl came in at #94 and I have to say I was glad she made the top 100. That alone is a measure of how much she has risen in the comic world. That isn't damning with faint praise. I don't know if she would have made this list 3 or 4 years ago.

Moreover, I was thrilled with the explanation that IGN gave:

She’s stepped out of the shadow of her cousin and is slowly building a life that is her own." "Though treated with prejudice and absolute fear during the New Krypton saga, Kara continues to take the high road and try to show humanity their potential, even when she hasn’t fully realized her own.

It is clear that the person who wrote this blurb is a fan and has read the comic recently, understands the path Supergirl is on. It really is a nice narrative.

When Wizard Magazine did their top 200 list a few years back, Supergirl landed somewhere around 150 and the explanation was they liked her belly shirt and short skirt. So this is a clear step up.

Now how anyone could say that Ka-Zar is better than Supergirl, I'll never know. But I was pretty happy with this ... it's something. And I am being optimistic.

Even more surprising was the fact that Superman landed in the #1 slot. I can't remember the last list like this where Superman was top dog. It is almost always Batman or Spiderman. I have even seen Wolverine in the top spot (shivers). So this was a pleasant surprise. And again there was a nice short write-up about the Man of Steel.

Superman is the blueprint for the modern superhero. He’s arguably the single most important creation in the history of superhero comics. Superman is a hero that reflects the potential in all of us for greatness; a beacon of light in times that are grim and a glimmer of hope for the hopeless. He’s an archetype for us to project upon; whether you consider him a messiah or just a Big Blue Boyscout, Superman’s impact on the genre and pop culture is undeniable.

I was so happy to see Superman in that slot. He is the archetype of the super-hero. He is the inspiration for all the other heroes, the role model for what they (and we) should strive for. He should be #1. He is #1.

I also was surprised to see Superboy land at #83. The dichotomy of being both Superman and Lex Luthor is the reason why he lands so high; that friction of his inner self certainly is certainly a great basis for stories. I have said before I never really cared for Conner. But Geoff Johns and Jeff Lemire have swayed me these last couple of years.

Anyways, my list would probably look very different than this list but I was still happy that the Superman Family was so well represented and that the writers had such good things to say.

The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide 41st Edition

My local comic book store sometimes lets me take a copy of Previews home so I can look through for anything esoteric I might want them to order for me. Last week, as I was flipping through the pages, I cam across this image of Supergirl and Batgirl by Amanda Conner.

That's right, Conner's Supergirl and Batgirl will be on the cover of this year's Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide.

As is always the case with Conner, the picture is just great. I don't understand why Conner isn't on a monthly book somewhere. I know I would consider picking up the book just for her art.

But the cover is interesting for a couple of other reasons. This looks like the Supergirl from Wednesday Comics, a younger appearing Kara with a red skirt and gold-trimmed sleeves. And Batgirl is clearly the Barbara Gordon Batgirl, with the flowing red hair coming out through the collar. I wonder if Conner was told to do a Supergirl/Batgirl cover but was given carte blanche for which incarnation of the characters she wanted. I know I would buy this if it was a print or put on a T-shirt.

It's been a while since I bought an Overstreet guide so this seems like the right time for me to pick one up. This year's Guide also comes with a pretty slick Walt Simonson Thor cover.

I'd like to thank the DC Women Kicking Ass blog ( http://dcwomenkickingass.tumblr.com/ ) for also showcasing this cover and linking to this article about Conner's work. The article also includes the original sketch as well as the inked versions of this cover. I love process pieces like that.  Here is that link:
http://scoop.diamondgalleries.com/public/default.asp?t=1&m=1&c=34&s=265&ai=106374

Here is a blurb from the article but if you are a Amanda Conner fan you definitely should read the whole thing.

The Supergirl and Batgirl cover for The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide #41 is her first cover for the Guide. For her it’s a return to illustrating the younger, Wednesday Comics-style Supergirl, and it’s also the first time she’s drawn the Barbara Gordon-era Batgirl for print.

What differentiates this Supergirl from other the many other iterations of the character over the years? Some of the differences are subtle, yet their cumulative effect is readily detectable.

“When we were doing the story for Wednesday Comics, we were trying to make her a younger version of the character, a teenager around 13-14 years old,” Conner said. This particular Supergirl would be a little less experienced, very eager to do the right thing, and definitely not jaded.

I loved the Supergirl strip in Wednesday Comics and can only hope Palmiotti and Conner will do another Supergirl story in Wednesday Comics 2.

Review: Supergirl 30

Well, I don't even know where to begin here. I know that I was looking forward to the continuation of the 'saving Thomas' storyline. As a result, I was already in a disappointed mood when I began reading this issue.

But that isn't fair to this issue. I shouldn't let my prior expectations taint how I review this. Still, to throw a 'rest issue' in the middle of the storyline that ended on a cliffhanger seems foolish. It is especially foolish in a title struggling to keep an audience.

Overall, this issue seems a step backwards in the development of Kara's character. If there is one thing that Kelly Puckett has done in his time as writer, it is make Kara a bit more confident in her abilities and feelings. In this issue, Will Pfeifer again makes her seem like a little girl lost. The art by Ron Randall is steady if unspectacular.

The issue starts with Kara fighting Livewire in Metropolis. While she easily dispatches Livewire, she remains confused about the purpose of the confrontation. Why would Livewire be willing to kill everyone just to get Superman's attention? And why are people seemingly disappointed that they were saved by her rather than Kal?

That leads to the high point of the issue, a brief scene with Batman. Kara goes to him to talk about her struggles understanding this world and remembering Krypton. Batman does a nice job showing the similarities in both their origins. In talking about her parents, he says "You remember seeing their faces one last terrible time. That's not easy." After all, wasn't it looking into his parents' faces that one last terrible time the event that spurred Bruce into becoming Batman?

And just like that I have a new understanding of Kara's origin, a new way to look at it. Any time a writer can make you look at something very familiar but in a new way, it is a success. Congrats Mr Pfeifer!

Deciding she needs some resolution to her Kryptonian memories, she goes to the arctic to search her spaceship for any message or memory crystals like Jor-El sent with Superman. Then she talks to Pa Kent about things. Interdispersed there are scenes of Kara babysitting Kal-El on Krypton and some memories of Zor-El telling her that Krypton will 'live on through her'.

At last, she goes to the Fortress to access Superman's crystals to see if they hold any keys for her. She asks the Jor-El program if it can say anything about 'cousin Kara'. Calling her 'dear Kara', Jor-El says that Allura and Zor-El are too busy making Kara's ship and therefore do not have the time to make any memory crystals. Still, she will remember Krypton and 'we'll all live through her.'

Satisfied, she reconciles her feelings about her father by saying goodbye to him in deep space.

After reading this issue, I felt that most of this had been handled early in Puckett's run when Kara was shown 'hard light' memories of her loving parents. Second, as I said before, after a couple of issues of a more confident Supergirl this seemed like a slight step backwards. And should all the concerns she has early in the issue be wiped away with a simple phrase 'we'll all live through her'??

And did this really need to intercut into the current story?

On the big plus side, this does seem to eradicate the "kill Kal-El, mad Zor-El, crystal hell" storyline once and for all. And for that I am very very pleased. Remember this mess?

Supergirl 30 final grade: B

Will the real Supergirl 30 please stand up?

Hmmm ...

I went to the comic book store today looking forward to buying this issue of Supergirl.


After all, it is the next part in the 'saving Thomas' storyline. This was the cover that was (and still is as of this writing) being shown on the DC comics website.

And, the last issue did end with something of a cliffhanger as Superman discovered Supergirl's lair with Resurrection Man and Dr. Luzano. The last panel is Superman telling Kara that Thomas has died.




To be honest, I was pretty excited to get *this* issue. It seemed like the title was gaining some momentum. This storyline showed a maturing Kara, a heroic Kara, and has had some interesting plot turns.

So how shocked was I instead to get this issue:




Seems like a rest issue. There is a new writer -Will Pfeifer. Ron Randall has been pencilling the book with Drew Johnson, but this issue seems to be all him. Doesn't seem to have anything to do with the 'saving Thomas' story.

I don't know if there is an acceptable reason for this switch. The issue not being finished is unacceptable. I suppose I should be grateful that it is not because this was some forced Final Crisis crossover.

Anyways, review tomorrow or the next day.

It Came from the Back Issue Box - Supergirl and Honda Seat Belt Campaign

It's sounds crazy in this current age of car seats, booster seats, and safety concerns, but back in the mid-1980's people needed to be convinced to use seat belts while driving. Even crazier is that they needed to be convinced to seat belt in their kids!

Don't get me wrong, as a child of the 70's I can remember being in the 'way-back' of a station wagon flopping around as my parents drove around. Even today my parents call the car/booster seats my kids use 'torture devices'.

In 1984, the US Department of Transportation - run by Libby Dole - had a campaign to increase seat belt (then called 'safety belt) usage. In conjuction with Honda and DC, they released 2 issues starring Supergirl to promote safety belt use. One issue was aimed more for the pre-teen/adolescent age group. The other was aimed more for a younger set. This is the issue reviewed today.

The issue is borderline psychedelic in nature. Supergirl meets up with 2 kids on a family trip and discusses safe driving. The trip takes a spin through a land populated by fairy tale characters. Here they meet Humpty Dumpty who doesn't wear a seat belt and gets cracked during a fender bender. They also meet the Old Lady Who Lived in a Shoe, the Big Bad Wolf, and fairy tale characters who demonstrate the utility of seat belts, obeying traffic laws, and not succumbing to road rage. The panels are busy, brightly colored, and littered with bizarre imagery. Learning from these encounters, they all decide to buckle up - even our invulnerable Maid of Might.

Lastly, they head to a safety show where the Crash Test Dummies from prior public service announcements demonstrate the problems of not wearing a seat belt including being expelled through your windshield should you crash into a brick wall.

Through this gentle education, both Supergirl and the children learn that seat belt use should be standard and that from now on they will all use them religiously.

No one will confuse this issue with Maus or Watchmen, but it delivers a nice message albeit in a convoluted way.

For me, the most intriguing thing about the issue was the credits. Somehow DC convinced legendary artist Joe Orlando to do some of the scripting and all of the pencilling. He draws a fairly straight-forward Kara.

The second most intriguing thing is that DC picked Supergirl to be the spokesperson. At the time, the Supergirl movie was post-production and there was the monthly Daring New Adventures of Supergirl title. Maybe DC felt that as a 'younger' character she would resonate more with readers. Still, New Teen Titans was DC's most popular title at the time. I am surprised they did not get the nod. Not that I am complaining ...

Review: Supergirl 1-28

Let's review the Supergirl issues so far.



1-5: A decent opening story, picking up where the Superman/Batman origin story ended. Jeph Loeb did a decent job of showing how difficult it was for Kara to find her way on earth initially. And there is always some guilty pleasure in seeing a Kryptonian/Lutho smack-down. The 'split persona' plot twist is a little tired, and the seeds of the 'I am here to kill Kal-El' thread were planted here though. Grade: B



6-8: One year later and we have 3 inscrutable issues taking place in Kandor with Kara again being mind-controlled. After an aborted rebellion and fiery speeches, Kara takes off for Earth to possibly search for Argo. Even Greg Rucka knew this was so bad, he left after 2 issues. Grade: D




9-12: The beginning of the Joe Kelly experiment. A series of one shots which are hit or miss. The high school issue, where Kara tries to have a secret identity only to leave after she sees how cruel teenagers can be, is a brief shining light. The Outsiders issue (11) and the Terra (12) issue do little to move the title forward. The Outsiders issue in particular seems more interested in cheesecake art than story. The Terra issue shows us a shallow Kara rave dancing rather than saving people. It was here I began to feel some dislike to the character, who had yet to show much heroism and instead was sort of a jerk. Overall grade: B, might have been higher without the Terra issue.



13-15: The Power Boy arc. Some nice art here. And a decent message against abusive relationships of any kind. Still, Kara seems flighty and shallow here again. And the seeds of the 'kill Kal-el' plot as well as the 'crystal powers theme' start to put down roots here. Grade: C-




16-19: It ends with Kara asking Kal to forgive her and become part of her life again. Whew! Unfortunately to get there we have to see a demented Zor-El experimenting on Kara, leading her on a Colombine like rampage in her high school where she mows down students with a crystal gun, and Kara killing her mother. There is some obsfuscation where maybe these memories were planted by the dark herald of the Monitor. But who wants to read about a murderous Supergirl with crystal powers and a genocide streak. In particular, issue 18 seems a slap in the face to older Supergirl fans where a 'sweet as pie' Silver Age Kara tries to rough up the current one. It read more like Kelly trying to show some fans that a heroic Kara is the wrong direction. It didn't work. Grade: F




20-22: Amazons attack cross-over. Two Countdown crossovers. (shivers). Enough said.




23-28: Kelley Puckett and Drew Johnson come on. Immediately out of the gate they do 2 things that revitalized my interest in the comic. One, they made Kara act like a hero again. The first issue shows her trying to help Superman in some intergalactic war. She wants to help!! Second, they completely erase the 'mad Zor-El, kill Kal-El, crystal hell' thread, showing actual visions from Krypton of a loving Zor-El and a scientist Lara. Hurrah hurrah!!




Next, they bring in a old school Kara villain, Reactron, last seen way back in Daring New Adventures of Supergirl issues 8 and 9, a nice touch for the old-timers.




But the most intriguing plot has been the cancer plot. Kara promises a young cancer victim that she will save him despite the dismal prognosis. This has always been an undercurrent in super-hero comics. Why stop Blackstarr when instead you can plant crops and feed the hungry? Build shelters for the homeless? Turn deserts into plains? Kara asks the question 'maybe curing cancer is a better use of my time than stopping crooks.'


While the actions she does to bring this about (find Resurrection man, break a noted evil scientist out of jail) seems silly, it makes sense for the character. Kara is a teenager; she is going to be impulsive and do things that seem silly. Still, it is for a good cause.


Some bloggers/message board pundits have complained about this run. They say Kara is too passive. That she is constantly being bailed out by Superman and seems subservient to him. That she has no guts or spirit. I think quite the opposite. This is the best version of Kara I have seen so far in this title. Now if only Drew Johnson could have drawn all the issues so the art would be consistent, it would be fabulous. Grade: B+



And now that we are caught up ... from now on ... monthly reviews.

Drew Johnson off Supergirl

Well, Drew announced on his blog that he is off Supergirl ... finishing up in June.

http://www.cursethatmonkey.blogspot.com/

He is listed as the artist for the July issue (#31) on the DC web site.

I, for one, am going to miss his art. His tenure was short. He had multiple issues where he only did some of the pages (although he did have appendix taken out emergently somewhere along the way).

But he drew a very sleek and beautiful Kara. His added some personal flourishes to her costume. I especially liked the crazy overly large sleeve ends he gave her. I mean look at the panels here. Just slick.

Unfortunately, this just continues the trend of rotating creators on this title. It is unfortunate, but I will always compare this title to Peter David's run, one of my favorite comic runs of all time. David wrote all 80 issues. Leonard Kirk drew the bulk of the issues, sandwiched between solid runs by Gary Frank and Ed Benes. And David had a vision and path for Linda in that title, a grand story that was well on it's way by issue #29. That vision has not been present in this title.

But let's not forget the post ... take care Drew Johnson. I really loved your work.

It Came from the Back Issue Box- Action 292

Since I know it will be impossible for me to collect all of Supergirl's Silver Age stories, I have made a list of seminal issues to watch out for. I was lucky enough recently to find a pretty ragged copy of Action 292 in a bargain bin for $4. It's importance to Supergirl? It's the first appearence of Comet the Super-Horse.

Overall, the story drips with Silver Age innocence. Kara has several dreams in which she is saved by a flying super-horse with an odd comet-shaped mark on his brow. In the first dream, the horse rescues her from kryptonite wielding aliens. In the second, Comet pulls a sinking submarine to shore. In the third, Streaky and Krypto travel back in time to WW2. A kamikaze plane is about to crash into a hospital ship but is thwarted by Comet, who suddenly appears just in the nick of time.

Completely mystified by these vivid dreams, Kara attempts to rid herself of these dreams by riding a real horse. As Linda, she visits the Supergirl Dude Ranch! (Please suppress that smirk ... it was the Silver Age!) Surprisingly, at the ranch is a wild white stallion with a comet-shaped mark, a horse no one has been able to ride. No one that is but Linda. While riding the horse, the stallion makes some motions to let Linda know he is aware she is Supergirl. He also secretly evidences some super-powers like flight and strength. The cowboys are all shocked that little Linda can ride the bronco with such ease.

The story ends on several cliff-hangers. Why did she dream of him? Who is he really? And what new adventures will they have?

Most Kara fans will know that Comet ends up being Biron, a centaur from ancient Greece under some enchantment.

As he did many times in his Supergirl run, Peter David did an homage to Comet in the 1996 Supergirl series who had a very very different origin.

Welcome Welcome Welcome

Hello all and welcome to Comic Box Commentary.

I am new to blogging and have high hopes but limited time. The dream situation would be reviews of current comics as well as TV, movies, and other pop culture nuggets as warranted.

The blog will most likely be up and running full force after the holidays.

In the meantime, enjoy a commission I obtained from Phil Noto at the Baltimore Comicon of my all-time favorite character Supergirl. I love Noto's classic 40's glamour style. In this commission, I love Kara's girl-next-door good lucks.

Hope to talk to you all soon.

Anj