Hawk & Dove 3 (January 2012)

Hank Hall didn’t vote for Obama, but he’s not going to let his evil counterpart (Condor–who knew Gates was a Michael Crawford fan) kill him. I think they were just trying to appeal to the conservative reader… but then immediately lost the Tea Party reader.

Anyway, it’s another crappy issue from Gates and Liefeld. It’s really more Deadman’s book than Hawk and Dove’s. I mean, Deadman saves the day. And, wow, even though he’s mostly possessing people, Liefeld still manages to draw him terribly. While Hawk (in particular) is a terrible Liefeld rendering, Deadman is beyond incompetent.

It’s an all-action issue, which means it’d be incomprehensible to new readers–there’s no recap of how Hawk and Dove end up at the White House much less their new villains.

I’m trying to think of something nice to say because Gates’s Supergirl‘s so good….

Maybe his editors wrote it.

CREDITS

When a White House Runs Red…; writer, Sterling Gates; penciller, Rob Liefeld; inkers, Adelso Corona, Jacob Bear and Liefeld; colorist, Matt Yackey; letterer, Dezi Sienty; editors, Rickey Purdin and Rachel Gluckstern; publisher, DC Comics.

Hawk & Dove 2 (December 2011)

I know the new DC Universe is racially diverse, but I allow know DC doesn’t like being topical with Presidents (so they can be timeless). But is the bad guy choking Obama at the end? It’s kind of ballsy.

Otherwise, Hawk & Dove is the opposite of ballsy. Gates’s plotting is so safe and traditional—unless you count someone getting tortured by a suicide girl—the comic would be terrible regardless of the artist. In two issues, Gates’s writing has made me wonder if I just imagined his Supergirl writing or if he just had a better editor.

This series follows Hawk, which is immediately boring, because Hawk is a big, dumb ox. His character’s nothing different, not even if he’s still living at home, like in the relaunch. It’s a terrible approach.

As for Liefeld, he’s even worse than last issue.

Hawk & Dove‘s clearly never going to improve.

CREDITS

Party Time; writer, Sterling Gates; artist, Rob Liefeld; colorist, Matt Yackey; letterer, Dezi Sienty; editors, Rickey Purdin and Rachel Gluckstern; publisher, DC Comics.

Hawk & Dove 1 (November 2011)

Are they bringing Don Hall back to life?

My brain actually hurts after looking at the Rob Liefeld art on this book. I was trying to understand his view of the human body and its proportions and I think my brain broke. His men seem to be without waists and ribcages and his women have the proportions of Barbie dolls.

And Liefeld’s Deadman is just plain goofy. He looks like a life-size balloon.

Given the incompetence of the visual storytelling, I can’t tell if Gates had a good script. I don’t think so. I think he breaks the rules of epical progression to be cute and the reader gets stuck with a couple lengthy exposition scenes.

Strangely, I’m sort of curious about the characters. They’re supposed to end up together. Will Gates address it, will he ignore it, will he give Liefeld more panels to butcher?

We shall see….

CREDITS

First Strikes; writer, Sterling Gates; artist, Rob Liefeld; colorist, Matt Yackey; letterer, Dezi Sienty; editors, Rickey Purdin and Rachel Gluckstern; publisher, DC Comics.

Supergirl (2005) #59

Sg59

All writers have limits… and it’s too bad Gates’s limit is writing Cat Grant as a likable human being. He just can’t do it. He tries and tries here, but he ends up making Superwoman more likable than Cat. It’s a strange disconnect. There’s just something so hateful about her, he’s gone beyond a point where he can even bring a glimmer of humanity to her.

That statement made, it’s a wonderful issue. It’s a Christmas issue, ending up in Smallville (it’s hard to tell Kara’s supposed to be the one in the glasses—I thought they were still drawing Ma Kent with blonde hair or something). Gates and Igle get in the action, they get in some drama….

They wrap things up beautifully (it’s their last issue). It’s really too bad they didn’t get a chance to do the comic, instead getting stuck with crossover tripe.

Still, lovely work.

Supergirl (2005) #58

Sg58

Gates really humanizes Cat Grant here (I didn’t know she had a dead son, for example) and it comes a little late. If he’d done it earlier, she wouldn’t have seemed so shrill. Besides that delay in characterizing, it’s a good issue.

Igle does a great job with Supergirl, as usual, but something about his approach is a little different. This issue is the first in forever not to be laden with New Krypton scenery or props; it gives Igle a chance just to do the superhero stuff and he does it really well.

Gates’s pacing is a little off too, I suppose. He’s going for dramatic emphasis more than content.

Oh, now I remember how this issue ends… with Lois going to visit her psychopathic sister. It’s undoubtedly a setup for something, but it takes the issue away from Supergirl and Cat.

Regardless, it’s a good little Christmas issue.

Supergirl Annual (2009) #2

Sga2

For the annual, Gates sends Supergirl to the future. The whole new Legion of Super-Heroes continuity is incredibly difficult to understand. Every time they guest in a book, I get even more confused. But Gates does a good job doing a done-in-one adventure. The story moves, has a lot of scenes, and has Supergirl and Brainiac 5’s relationship develop a little.

What’s bad is Matt Camp’s art. He draws everyone like they’re twelve—making the Supergirl kisses Brainiac 5 scene a little confusing—and it draws attention to things one shouldn’t be minding.

There’s some fill-in work from Marco Rudy and Rudy looks a little like Chris Samnee (though nowhere near as good) and those pages work really well. He draws the cast like people, not these weirdos with too young heads and too mature bodies.

It’s nice Gates can competently do this continuity nonsense.

Supergirl (2005) #57

Sg57

Thank goodness for the colorist because without him, you wouldn’t be able to tell who Chang was drawing as a Bizarro or as a non-Bizarro.

Chang actually manages to draw Supergirl okay (too lanky to be slutty even), but everything else is a bit of a disaster. His art lacks dimension, which messes up his proportions eventually.

Again, Gates uses the events on Bizarro world to make Supergirl feel okay about herself and the New Krypton thing, but here it works a little better. Maybe because he’s got an actual relatable event, maybe just because he really does make all the Bizarros sympathetic. Bizarro-Girl is such a good character by the end, she’s ready for a limited series of her own.

The issue has an epilogue back on Earth, teasing about the revenge of Cat Grant. It’s a necessary addition, but it still damages the momentum.

Otherwise, fantastic.

Supergirl (2005) #56

Sg56

It’s amazing how much I enjoy Supergirl even though the issues read so fast. Gates never leaves the Bizzaro planet this issue either, so there’s no subplot development.

It does open a little weak, with Supergirl telling the unconscious Bizarro-Girl helping her will be a cathartic experience (not in those exact words, but close enough). Gates doesn’t know how to do subtle self-reflection. It’s not a superhero comic standard for a reason—there just isn’t room for it.

But once Supergirl and Bizzaro-Girl land, the issue just gets excellent. There’s space bugs, the DC version of Galactus (oh, wait, didn’t he have bugs in Ultimate Nightmare?) and Bizarro. Gates takes the reader on an abbreviated tour of the planet and its population, which is just a lot of fun (even though some of them don’t make it). It’s strangely good-natured.

And Igle’s art is rather excellent.

Supergirl (2005) #55

Sg55

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) #54

Sg54

Besides one glaring problem (implying there’s a supernatural pedophile out there posing as a Metropolis cop and kidnapping kids), this issue of Supergirl is a great read. It’s a fast read too—really fast, but it all works.

Well, wait… more Cat Grant lameness as she discovers Supergirl and Lana’s relationship/ DC’s unable to produce good new villains.

The issue opens with Jimmy Olsen discovering Bizarro-Girl in a good sequence (so good Gates should do an Olsen series of some kind) then finds Kara (or Linda) moping while Metropolis gets destroyed. Lana has to call her up to motivate her and the scene works well enough. Gates is able to pull it off because the reader wants to see Supergirl in action, not moping. So he gets some slack.

Then there’s a strange one page panel where she pauses to enjoy flying before saving the city.

But, otherwise, great.