Supergirl (2005) #51

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Poor, poor Supergirl. Once again, trapped in a crossover she didn’t make, she takes a back seat to Mon-El, the Legion of Super-Heroes (wait, Mon-El’s in the Legion, right… well, he’s not with them this issue), her mother, General Zod and some cute little Kryptonian girl.

Igle gets to do an action issue, which he handles well. He gets to do some iconic panels too and he likes those… shame they are only occasionally Supergirl-related.

Very little actually happens in the issue, which is probably editorially mandated. It goes… fight scene, fight scene, talking scene, fight scene, talking scene, talking scene.

I made that list from memory, but I think it’s accurate.

Gates also doesn’t sell the silly plot points, like when Supergirl momentarily thinks Superboy is trying to kill her mother or something.

And Supergirl’s mother’s a dimwit for not realizing Zod is a bad guy.

Supergirl (2005) #50

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Yay, Igle’s back. And he’s back for an issue where Gates gets around to doing everything.

Unfortunately, Superwoman and Sam Lane are back too. Apparently one can never get rid of Johns’s worst ideas for the Superman line of books. There’s a great moment where it seems like Lane might dissect his daughter. Then he doesn’t.

But the rest of the issue, featuring the return of the Insect Queen (Lana Lang) and Supergirl defeating her, is good. There’s even some Supergirl knows science stuff, which Gates doesn’t make a big deal about.

The end is pretty sad though. Supergirl abandons a recovered Lana because she doesn’t like the way human families work. It’s a great scene, great art from Igle, but a downer.

Then there’s a backup from Black and Slater, basically doing a little recap of Supergirl’s history. It’s got Cliff Chiang artwork so it’s beautiful.

Overall, excellent issue.

Supergirl (2005) #46

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I love not reading the other parts of this crossover, it makes my brain work a little to catch up. Rucka’s back as co-writer here (and Igle and Sibal get help from Pansica and Ferreira). Again, no idea what Rucka does and doesn’t do. Similarly, Pansica matches Igle (especially with Sibal on inks) close enough it’s hard to tell them apart. There were some pages I really liked, reminding me of Igle before Sibal… then I realized it could be Pansica and Ferreira.

Anyway, Gates and Rucka manage the action versus plot development well here. There’s also a nice tip of the hat to–oh, wait, no, complete rip-off of–“Battlestar Galactica” when it comes to everyone finding out the gods are real.

Still, it packages well. And Lois finally has something to do in this issue. Though she’s not surprised at all her father’s a mass murderer.

Supergirl (2005) #45

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And now it’s in the middle of another crossover… I love it when comic book publishers are hostile to casual readers.

Umm. Rucka co-writes here. Not sure what contributions he made.

From what I can tell, the world now knows Sam Lane is alive and he’s a hero and the Kryptonians (Superman included?) are the villains.

Does anyone else remember the nineties, when you had to read every Superman title just to understand what was going on? It’s very similar. Except they don’t have flashy hologram covers. The nineties stuff was probably a little better in some ways; at least it was the first time they’d done it in that manner.

Again, Sibal’s inks hurt Igle’s pencils. Especially on Kara’s cat.

Gates gets in a good scene with Lana Lang and almost a good one with Lois. The Lois one is undercooked.

Unfortunately, getting through this issue is trying.

Supergirl (2005) #44

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I really don’t like Sibal’s inks on Igle. He’s way too reductive. It’s almost like he’s trying to make it look like Ian Churchill or something.

This issue is part of a Superman family crossover. It seems like Sam Lane is trying to get a Kryptonian to assassinate the President. So Gates has to compete with the just plan stupidity of the crossover here. I mean, didn’t Marvel do something like this one in the nineties? Or Image? It’s just awful.

But Gates does a decent job with the action, even though he barely has time for anything else. Lois shooting Supergirl the evil eye is about as close as he gets to any subplot here. It just serves to remind the book can be quite good when it’s not slave to the crossover.

And the end, with Supergirl being possessed–is way too subtle. Hopefully it’s a short crossover.

Supergirl (2005) #43

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Kryptonian society really isn’t thought out enough. This issue is about Kara going from guild to guild (a guild is basically a career path–I’m assuming it’s all for the greater Kryptonian good, dirty socialists) and seeing what they’re like. Gates frighteningly frames it in a letter to her dead father. Because he’s using it for narration, it sort of cheapens the idea of it as a grieving process. It comes off as an easy way to narrate an issue and to feign emotional connection.

What’s so off about Gates using it is the actual content is good and shows Kara and her mother grieving. It goes far to humanizing the mother, who now gets the excuse of being in the Science Guild to explain why she acts to remote and evil all the time.

It’s decent; the narration device hurts.

Sibal’s inks here take away some of Igle’s enthusiasm.

Supergirl (2005) #42

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I love how Kara’s got a backpack for traveling between New Krypton and Earth. It’s a fantastic detail.

The issue opens on a low point—the revelation Sam Lane served under Sergeant Rock—but it quickly recovers.

First it’s Kara telling Lois about killing Superwoman. It’s an excellent scene, even if Lois is being a bit of a bitch and not particularly smart. I thought she was an investigative reporter and she can’t figure out her evil dad is back from the dead.

Then here’s some superhero stuff with the bad guy getting out. I guess this Reaction guy is a Supergirl villain, not a Superman villain? Because she needed her own Metallo? It goes on way too long, but Gates makes up for it with a lovely close with Lana and Kara.

Igle’s back and he handles everything quite well. He’s got a great finale sequence at the sun.

Supergirl (2005) #40

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Okay, I did not expect that reveal for Superwoman’s identity.

Gates does manage to reduce his supporting cast by at least two and maybe three here, so it’ll be interesting to see if he uses that opportunity to finally get Supergirl running on its own.

But what he does with the Superwoman reveal is nice since he’d sort of set it up to be something different the last issue and then this issue, when Supergirl does figure it out, the reader isn’t privy to her thought process. It’s a surprise for everyone (well, at least for me).

He does take the time to do other things, of course. Like Jimmy Olsen flirting with high school girls, which is creepy and makes Cat Grant sympathetic because of her disgust. But the Lana Lang plot development is a little problematic because she’s barely in the series.

It’s well-executed, modern superhero stuff.

Supergirl (2005) #39

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This issue is a very fast read. It’s solid, because it should be a fast read–it starts with Superwoman revealed to be a villain and continues to get Supergirl up to speed on that point.

Gates manages to get in some decent moments. The way he establishes Lucy Lane isn’t particularly bad, just a jerk. He also gets in a nice scene with Kara and Lana. The series really needs a breather issue where Gates isn’t forced to spend half his time on crossover obligations.

It’s clear Gates hasn’t set the series up to run independently yet.

Caldwell fills in for Igle on a few pages–not special pages, just a few pages at the end of the issue. Their styles don’t match at all. Igle has a fluidity and roundness to his lines, Caldwell is sharp and jagged.

Supergirl shows potential, even with New Krypton weighing it down.

Supergirl (2005) #38

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Some revelations this issue. Well, for me anyway. First, Superwoman works for Thunderbolt Ross (sorry, Sam Lane–again, who ever said Johns’s Superman: Secret Origin was better in terms of continuity revising than Byrne’s Man of Steel? Not me). Second, she’s not Kryptonian. Do these revelations have anything do with Supergirl? I mean, the book’s called Supergirl. Maybe. I’m sure they’ll play out in action scenes anyway.

Otherwise, there’s not much Supergirl here. Superwoman kicks her butt and Kara crawls home to Lana, one of those nice relationships I wanted to see more of but don’t get to because of the New Krypton stuff. Gates is good at those scenes. He’s also good at the stuff with Agent Liberty’s death and Lucy Lane (maybe the series should just be called, Superman’s Women) and the Metropolis detective.

Some very nice Igle art–and from Clark on the backup.

It’s nearly fine.