Lois Lane 1 (April 2014)

Pulitzer Prize-winning–not to mention gainfully employed–journalist Lois Lane thinks in hackneyed phrases like “a thief in the night.”

About the only nice thing to say about Lois Lane–her first comic to herself in almost twenty years–is I like how writer Marguerite Bennett keeps the misspelling thing from Superman: The Movie. Sure, it might be a DC New 52 editorial decision and it’s not like Bennett does it well–or gets why it worked in the movie–but whatever.

The art, from a litany of folks who I’m not taking the time to list, isn’t bad. It’s not good, but it’s decent enough DC house style. No crazy proportion problems. The monsters look cool.

The story has to do with Lois being a good sister to Lucy, who’s had a girlfriend for five years and hasn’t told her sister. They need help. Just like this comic.

D-

CREDITS

Nostalgia; writer, Marguerite Bennett; pencillers, Ig Guara, Meghan Hetrick-Murante, Emanuela Lupacchino and Diogenes Neves; inkers, Marc Deering, Meghan Hetrick-Murante, Ruy Jose and Guillermo Ortego; colorist, Hi-Fi Colour Design; letterer, John J. Hill; editor, Rickey A. Purdin; publisher, DC Comics.

Supergirl (2005) #55

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Another very fast read, but it goes very smoothly.

Gates resolves his cliffhanger pretty quickly—all while developing the Bizzaro-Girl character into a sympathetic character (some via flashbacks to her origin on the Bizzaro planet). Supergirl, of course, is the only one who can see her as a misunderstood creature and not a monster.But Gates also has time to bring in a second action sequence, handle some stuff at the Planet (Cat Grant has some subplot of her own going, in addition to the Lana discovery) and then come up with another end sequence.

It’s an excellent issue, the kind of thing one wishes Gates and Igle had been doing all along. It doesn’t develop Supergirl as a character very much, but it is a solidly diverting superhero comic. And it’s not making Supergirl slutty.

Igle has a great time with the art too; he’s got lots of variety.

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.