Legion World Forums LEGION COMPANION Dr. Gym'll's Cultural Rarities Superman, Action Comics, and Supergirl

I haven't picked a Superman title up for awhile. It was pretty cool at the beginning of OYL, but I lost interest, especially with issues delayed and such...

Figured I'd update the title of this thread to reflect the new status quo.

I've got to say, quite suddenly I'm enjoying the Superman titles more than I have in years! The writing just seems to be clicking for me across the board. And the growing cast of characters and subplots is also working very well. I’m reading all three Super-books among the first comics I get each week now. I haven’t done that since the 90’s.

Supergirl has suddenly gone from DC’s worst comic to one of the most enjoyable out there. Sterling Gates has made Kara likeable and relatable, woven a great mystery with ‘Who is Superwoman?’, made the series connect to the Superman books but stand out completely as Kara’s title and has given Lana Lang and meaningful role for the first time since…oh, the 1960’s?

I’m actually pretty excited about where all three of these are heading, and I’ve been a pretty anti-DC person for several months now (don’t get me started on the Bat-books).

As I'm sure you can imagine, I'm picking up Action, Superman and Supergirl.

Supergirl has been a struggle from the start but the recent stories have finally seemed to hit a stride. Kara is finally someone likable as Cobie says.

Of course, I have ulterior motives for picking up Action & Superman now though I can honestly say that I have never collected either (except for Action when the Legion was the back up story!)

Mon is back! And I'm doing back flips.

I'm a little worried about how they may screw up his history but I'll wait to see how it plays out before I get too worked up. For example, how does he overcome the lead poisoning for an extended period? We know that Superman never came up with a way of curing Lar. That has to wait for Irma and eventually Brainy. But if he can now stay outside the Zone for extended periods of time why would he have to go back in and remain for a thousand years? If he doesn't, it takes away a very important component of what makes Mon such a unique & tragic character.

But it's more than just Lar's presence that has me picking Action & Superman up.

The Guardian is also back! One of my all time favorites. So far, I really like this version even though he's a clone (apparently) I'm looking forward to seeing his story play out. Will he connect with Roy? The original was Roy's revealed to have been Roy's uncle years ago. He also had a long history with Jimmy. And it would be fun to see a return of the Newsboy Legion

Finally, there's also Tellus which is very cool. How did he get here and what happens to him now? This is where I hope to get my quasi-Legion fix for a while once Lo3W concludes.

All in all, I give em all a thumbs up!

Oh I forgot...there's also the appearance of the new Nightwing & Flamebird. A pair that I've always had a soft spot for, though I regret the loss of Dick as Nightwing. I'll be curious to see how this all plays out.

Hey, did any pickup the latest issues of Action and see who Nightwing and Flamebird really are?

<span class="spoiler_containter"><span class="spoiler_wording">Click Here For A Spoiler</span><span class="spoiler_text"> its Thara- the security chief and Supergirls former BFF as Flamebird and a rapidly aging Christopher Kent himself as Nightwing</span></span>

More than a bit underwhelming as far as revelations go, but the story in the issue itself was good enough to keep me buying for a bit.

Kryptonions pretending not to be Kryptonion could make for some fun situations. We'll see.

Greg Rucka, the writer, is also writing DETECTIVE COMICS. Which will soon feature the adventures of Kate Kane, Batwoman. And the future appearances of Bette Kane, who DC readers have known up to now as Flamebird. We'll see what name- if any- she'll be using as events progress.

I've got to say, the three Superman titles and Supergirl are all at the top of my read pile every month now. I'm enjoying more than I have since the mid-90's when they were the gold standard of comic books.

Each one is distinct and very well-done. I'm surprised I'm liking "Superman: New Krypton" as much as I am. And I'm shocked and delighted that Supergirl is this good.

Who would have thought the Superman books would be this much better than the current Batman books?

I guess I'm one of the few who preferred Joe Kelly's Supergirl but whatever. She's a favourite of mine I'm glad she's got more popular in general and the most important thing is to keep the title going. Not only for DC superheroines in general but as the character evolves she may become the confident and fearless character I've missed.

WORLD OF KRYPTON #4- I really like Tyr, the 'lowly' cast guy who acts as tour guide in this issue. His name's a bit alarming-- hope there's no gun-hand in his future.

I liked the varities of Krypton culture on display here and how it integrates depictions of the big K from its many eras in DC history.

The images of the work underway to terraform (wouldn't they call it kryptoform?) their world were quite beautiful. It's disturbing to view what they're accomplishing here alongside the machinations of Zod. Any people who'd place him in charge of anything has their issues, don't they?

Sounds familiar...

So I'm enjoying the Superman books so much, I think I'll probably pick up the World's Finest mini-series in October.

I'm actually hating the Batman books right now (though I'm looking forward to Detective with Batwoman). But I see it as DC's biggest loser of a sector in their line.

However, Sterling Gates is writing WF and he did the impossible and turned Supergirl into one of my favorite comics, so hell, I'd probably be checking out New Guardians if he wrote that. (big wink to you if you remember that awful series)

(and the crap "event"/mini that spawned it... :rolleyes: )

Batwoman in 'Tec is awesome, and I'm buying Streets of Gotham solely for the Kate Manhunter back-up. Sirens of Gotham is nice to look at...

Despite several rave review of Detective Comics, the Batman books still have Winnick on Batman and Damien as Robin, so I'm reading them all last in my huge pile of comics. The Superman books, however, have been suprisingly excellent for several months now, so I caught up with them.

Superman
Probably the best of the bunch (though Supergirl is giving it a run for its money) is Superman, featuring Mon-El, as well as Guardian and several others. Being a Legion fan I of course love Mon-El but I actually like how Robinson is using him. In a way it’s a tabula rasa regarding the human race and Earth, yet Mon also has a distinct sense of heroism that comes through. Guardian is great, but what I really like is the Tellus subplot and where that is going. I like how the two have developed a friendship. This is the first time Tellus has been used in over 20 years…its kind of cool.

Action Comics
At first I was a little ‘meh’ on Flamebird and Nightwing, and then even more so when I learned who they were. Yet Rucka has proven to me again that he’s one helluva writer because I’m actually starting to care about them, including Chris Kent, who I find almost as annoying as Damien in Batman. What’d one the trick is Annual #12, in which we get the full origin of them both and how they got to being Nightwing & Flamebird, and it really fleshed out both their characters in a terrific way. I’ve come to really like Thara Ak-Var, and am curious about how the “Flamebird” may or may not be Rao.

Supergirl
I’m still shocked at how this title turned around from the epitome of all things horrible at DC to one of DC’s best titles. For that Sterling Gates deserves a big raise, as well as everyone else involved. Supergirl is not only likeable, but she’s someone you can relate to now—a HUGE difference from a few years ago. She’s experienced the death of her father, the notion that she’s unwanted on both worlds while torn between them both, she’s lonely, sometimes isolated and is trying to find herself. All these things seem like they should have been there all along but for whatever reason were not. Her relationship with Superman has finally reached the point it should have always been while her relationship with Lana Lang has really helped the series tremendously. The Superwoman storyline was actually pretty fascinating too, and I don’t think we’ve seen the end of her. Reactron is getting a little annoying and I hope he gets some justice served up soon. The detective who was helping her was another great addition and I hope wakes up from his coma, as Supergirl having her own supporting cast is a must.

World of New Krypton
My CBS actually sold out of #3, so I’m waiting until I find a copy before I read #4. I hope them selling out of a Superman/GL guest appearance is a good sign of the industry.

What’s best about the titles is that each one now stands on its own but is very closely related to one another with several subplots running through them all. Specifically is the usage of General Lane, which at last is further explained, as well as Codename: Assassin. At first I didn’t really care for this, but Mssrs. Rucka, Robinson & Gates have changed my tune. They are doing a good job tying all the series together and furthering all the plotlines to a next place. There is a real feel of progression going on each issue that I find appealing. And the continued usage of Lois, the Daily Planet staff, Steel and several others is nice and reminiscent of the Silver Age in which various characters appear over a wide range of books, while some others are regulated to one title in particular. I also have marveled at how the writers have fleshed out the Kryptonians; not only Alura (and Zor-El previously), but Zod, Ursa, Non, the various guilds and so much more.

Captain Atom back-up in Action Comics
The Captain Atom also began in Action and its only a few issues. What Robinson & Rucka did was give me an immediate: WTF is going on here? Which is probably a good move to develop interest for Cap. My dad was a huge Steve Ditko fan from Spider-Man in the 60’s so when he returned to Charlton, my Dad became a huge Charlton fan and remains so to this day. Though Blue Beetle and the Question are his favorites, he also loves Captain Atom and that has translated to me somewhat as well, so I’m glad the Superman guys have picked up Cap, who is one of those woefully misused characters for decades now.

Well, even my back-up CBS was sold out of #4 so maybe thats a good sign for GL and Supes. Hopefully I'll be able to grab a copy somewhere soon.

In the meantime, I got tired of waiting and read #5 and I'm glad I did. I thought it was an excellent issue, the best so far in this series, and one of the best of the entire last two months.

It was a very good job at showing quite clearly the true heroism of Superman in a way that doesn't make him seem like a boy scout or out of date--and I love when writers are able to do that (like Joe Kelly did back in Action #775 a few years ago).

Robinson & Rucka also are doing something that didn't seem possible a year ago: they are making General Zod interesting and layered with motivations and the capability to change his mind and opinion. I like his continued growth here (and am interested to see how the surprise ending proceeds).

The guilds shown in WoNK have the potential to be a boring subplot but yet they are making it very interesting as well, so I like how they make it critical to the overall storyline but underplay it so you're not beaten over the head.

All in all, I say World of New Krypton is quite excellent.

I think World of New Krypton is decent. I'm not blown away, but there's enough good stuff going on and enough novelty in the concept of Supes being both just another guy while still proving himself exceptional here to keep me interested.

I'd say the best thing about this title is the Pete Woods art--some of the very best art currently appearing in a monthly comic! This guy's always been talented, but I think WoNK will be remembered as the title in which Woods took it to the next level!


Supergirl is the best of the bunch since Geoff left Action. I agree with everything Cobalt said about this. Sterling Gates and Jamal Igle deliver a good, strong read month after month. For Igle it's a career-defining work, just like Pete Woods stuff on WoNK. I've a feeling Gates will be DC's next big writer like his mentor Geoff Johns.

Superman is a decent comic but a little, well, boring I guess. The thing about it is that Robinson is stretching out his subplots month-in and month-out without much seeming to happen with them. I enjoyed the part of the June issue that focused on Mon-El experiencing our world and trying to live in the moment. But it was sandwiched around more Sam Lane stuff and just continued to set things up with a confrontation between John Henry and Atlas cliffhung. It would have been a much stronger issue if it left all the subplots out and devoted every page to the Mon-El stuff that was working so well.

I haven't read this latest issue yet, but I suspect I'll get more of the same especially with the crossover coming up in August. Maybe after that crossover resolves (presumably) much of what Robinson has been setting up, subsequent issues will have some room to breathe. Regardless, I ain't about to drop a title featuring Mon-El and Tellus prominently! (I also like Renato Guedes' art quite a bit--very distinctive.)

As for Action Comics, I dropped it after three issues with Nightwing and Flamebird. I was a little waffly on the title but faced with the choice of paying $5 for an annual and then the ongoing increasing to $3.99 with the addition of a backup I wasn't particularly interested in, it seemed a pretty clear jumping-off point. Ironically those things seemed to sell it for Cobalt, but I don't really regret dropping it.

In any case the issues I read were pretty forgettable storywise, and there seems to be no consistent artist with probably three or more pencillers having drawn or solicited to draw issues already. I may buy the crossover issue this month, but it's far from a sure thing.

I'd grade the Superman titles thusly, report card-style:

Supergirl: A
WoNK: B+
Superman: B-
Action: D

You're totally right about Pete Woods and shame on me for not saying so myself. His art is just kicking ass right now--one of the best in the industry!

I just read the Summer JIMMY OLSEN SPECIAL...

<span class="spoiler_containter"><span class="spoiler_wording">Click Here For A Spoiler</span><span class="spoiler_text">... did they really just kill off Jimmy? I'm hoping Tellus knew to swim to whatever body of water Jimmy found himself in after getting shot. </span></span>

I liked Natasha Iron's role here, though I was saddened by <span class="spoiler_containter"><span class="spoiler_wording">Click Here For A Spoiler</span><span class="spoiler_text"> the death of one of her INFINITY, INC teammates, Fury (the teen that changed between boy and girl bodies/personae)</span></span>.

With WORLD OF NEW KRYPTON #7, the screws of the story begin to tighten.

My favorite bit, though, was the scene with Tyr-van. I really like this character (possibly because he's a dead ringer for a younger Jan Arrah, IMO-- I wonder if Superman would think so?) and his apparent real friendship for Superman underneath his treachery. Or acts of obedience, as he'd call them.

The Kryptonian guilds and how they affect New Krypton's culture have been a fascinating example of world-building that I've quite enjoyed.

I hope Tyr-van has a life past whatever happens during the hyped upcoming 'Superman' event that's supposed to connect everything going on here, in ACTION, SUPERMAN, ADVENTURE and SUPERGIRL.

WHat did people think of that 'hunt for reactron' stuff. I thought it was pretty unnecessary myself but the implications of Alura coming face to mask with Reactron is something that has me excited.

Having just read issue 10 (11came out today), I'd have to say World of New Krypton has degraded to C- or D territory. It's overly clear by this time that WoNK is merely a placeholder/status quo setter for the overarching Superman uber-story that this is just a small part of. It's a mish-mash of different story arcs wrapped around Krypton's goofy class struggle and not really its own storyline. I think the inevitable hardcover collection will leave the reader experiencing it for the first time wondering, "that's what all the hype was about?!?!" If it weren't for the fact it's already down to its last two issues, I would drop it like a hot tomato! Otherwise, I may as well see it through (and maybe 1-12 will fetch a decent price from some poor sucker on eBay )

I dunno--I just think a big concept like this one should have had a BIG story to accompany it. Is that a fallacy on my part?!?!

As I said before, the art by Pete Woods has been exceptional--only recent issues have had other artists helping him out, which really dampens the effect.

Eff this! I'm ready for all this New Krypton shit to be over! It's even diminished somewhat the otherwise-awesomeness the only super-title that's been worth reading on a consistent basis--Supergirl--with its frequent and bothersome crossovers.

Yeah, while I don't consider the WoNK story to be *bad* per se, I have to wonder what the hell the point was all along. There were good moments in the mini as a whole but it doesn't seem to justify the whole event. It simply removed Superman to New Krytpon for a little while other people guarded Metropolis, but really nothing has changed from 12 months ago. No one has really evolved and the split didn't really do anything to anyone.

Meanwhile, Action Comics started off weak, had a moment of glory in the middle and basically retracted to being a weak comic book again. The characters aren't all that interesting and basically every story amounts to Nightwing and Flamebird flying around the world either being chased or chasing someone. There needs to be more to a comic book than that. And the Captain Atom back-up is pretty incomprehensible.

Superman, with Mon-El and several others, is a mixed bag. You get the sense there is a large overall plot that really seems in depth and coordinated. Yet the actual execution of said plot is a little too tiresome and 'same old'. Meanwhile, Mon-El's interactions with the people of Metropolis have been a bit too brief. I'm really intrigued by the Legion subplot and am glad to see Jimmy Olsen and Steel being used, but no one is doing anything all that interesting other than just being on-panel. And General Lane as the main villain in both titles is really just kind of stupid when you get right down to it. If you're going to use Lois's Dad as the main antagonist for Superman, you better be bringing the A-game of all A-games. Here he is the typical cliche of an aggressive, power-tripping army General. His chief thug, Codename: Assassin, is much more interesting.

And yet there is one great title: Supergirl. Over a year ago I was saying how amazing it is that the title has come this far. A year later the level of quality remains incredibly high. Like Lardy says, the only real complaint is it keeps getting sucked into crossover issues with the other Super-titles, whose plots bring it down. But when its on its own, its really firing on all cylinders. Kara is incredibly likable yet absolutely flawed. Her relationship with Lana Lang is great: not even a little mushy or contrived and yet bursting with subtle moments of trust and kindness. Most importantly, it feels like Kara is growing a little in almost every issue. We're not getting that in the Super-titles elsewhere, which is the problem, but here we get it in spades. She's overcoming her father's murder and suddenly has to deal with Lana having a terminal disease; she's trying hard to live up to the standard Clark has set and yet dealing with all the mistakes and over-reactions a normal teenager would make. Sterling Gates (writer) really nails every facet of personality.

While I'd like to see more Mon-El, I'll be glad when WoNK is over and Superman is back in his own title and Action Comics. Mon's adventures will hopefully continue in Adventure when he's grown up, or elsehwere in his pre-Legion days. But the two main Superman comics could use a hiatus from marketing ploys and take a cue from their sister title (or is it cousin title )?

I thought Supergirl #48 was the weakest non-crossover issue in Sterling Gates's excellent run on the title. We only get a few pages of what I really want to see--what's going on with Lana--and then straight into a Silver Banshee story.

Silver Banshee, while a natural foe for Supergirl, just isn't all that interesting. The concept is working much better over at Secret Six with the very intriguing Jeannette character. SM is just so one-note (pardon the pun) and nothing seen here really changed that for me. Worst of all, it's a two-parter, meaning that what's foreshadowed on next month's cover will probably only show up in the last two pages or so. Boo!

So a rare miss for an otherwise excellent series.

ACTION 885: Nice, shiny art and a fun A-Team sort of ruse by Guardian, Mon-el, Nightwing and Flamebird (who I like, but still can't help finding less fun than a Dick Grayson/Bette Kane partnership would be...)

Looking forward to General Lane's comeuppance-- he's not quite to Norman Osborn levels of overexposure, but he's getting there. I hope he skulks off for a year or two once all this is over, but I wouldn't mind reading about him again once some time has passed. Unlike Osborn...

The Captain Atom mini hasn't catapulted to the forefront of my imagination, though it does feature the creation of a new(?) mystical world and a potentially worthwhile recurring villainess. This particular installment held the reunion of CA with some Justice Leaguers, who put him through his confessional paces, before extending welcoming arms. The last page makes me look forward to the next couple of issues... Captain Atom and the Shadowpact. Sounds intriguing, eh?

Though I notice one-time squeeze Eve 'Nightshade' Eden is *not* among the Shadowpact members pictured. Too bad... would fitting this is with her SUICIDE SQUAD/SECRET SIX appearances have been so difficult?

So, I'm catching up on the Superman comics with "Last Stand of New Krypton" ending and "War of the Supermen" beginning. This post will reflect the latter and I'll get to the former in another post when I get those read (could possibly be later tonight). I know we've been discussing this on the Legion forum too b/c of Legion involvement but I've largely held off on doing so there--mainly because the Legion hasn't been all that involved besides Brainy.

My major conern/criticism is that I'm beginning to suffer event fatigue in a major way in the Superman comics. I'm actually pretty relieved we're almost there and a new era will begin where Supergirl can go back to her solo stories (as it remains an excellent comic book, particularly when not event-centered) and Superman can return to Superman & Action and we can get some solid stories again. Rucka has now left and I kind of get the sense Robinson has grown weary of his Superman stuff and Sterling Gates was called in to get this thing wrapped up for them.

Last Stand of New Krypton isn't that bad a story, just drawn out and suffering from the fact that "New Krypton" was a 12 issue maxiseries that seemed to go on forever. I like seeing Superman, Supergirl, Superboy and the Legion all working together--but part of it seems to be just moving chess pieces around with no attack in place. Also, Luthor, General Lane, Zod and Brainiac seems to be overdoing the villain usage. There was just too many characters here with too little happening.

I'm not exactly thrilled that its going into the weekly "War of the Supermen" but I'll give it a chance, certainly because I'm feeling happy that this era is just about over. It was not a bad era by any means, but just overstayed its welcome.

I hope by story's end, Kandor will be shrunken again and Zod is removed from the table. Also, I hope Alura has a solid role with some redemptive qualities because her story is probably the most interesting of the entire last year's worth of storylines besides the leads.

Also, on one final note, I've basically been skipping over Action Comics the last few months. Flamebird & Nightwing has just become super-boring, while Captain Atom's back-up feature has felt pointless. With Rucka's exit, the writers obviously don't have their heart into it. The oncoming Luthor story isn't exactly getting me excited; the one-issue Superboy story will be a good lead in to his ongoing series (which I'm definitely looking forward to), but I actually wouldn't mind some solid Superman stories again in Action.

Well, I caught up on the rest of the Superman comics after my comments last night for “War of the Superman”, including the Free Comic Book Day issue. On the one hand, I am relieved that things are moving an incredible pace now and this storyline is being resolved; on the other hand, I’m still really feeling some fatigue on the entire New Krypton stuff and knowing its about to be over isn’t helping.

Allura did indeed get exactly what I was wondering about in my above post, though I kind of wished it worked out differently.

The destruction of Kandor caught me by surprise and not really in a good way. It seemed kind of pointless to throw away such a great concept. Mainly because I’d become so tired of Kandor that it didn’t really make me feel any emotion. I’d rather it was re-bottled and then revisited in a new way by new writers. Hopefully something similar will happen shortly. What I mean is, if this is all we’re going to get from Kandor, it seems like a bit of a waste.

I also wonder why DC chose a Free Comic Book Day book to be so mired in about two years worth of continuity? Readers probably checked in and wondered what the hell was going on. Unless I’m just a little jaded, and they actually were pulled into the story (which I admit, could happen).

I think at this point spectacular ending could really save this whole era for me and make me think of it more fondly (especially if I reread all at once one day in the future). A ‘dud’ ending would have the opposite effect.

With changes coming to Superman, and given the decline of newspapers in the real world, I wonder if Clark Kent will get a new job. Remember back in the 70s (or was it even the late 60s?), he was made into a TV guy, which shook me to my little teeny-bopper boots. So maybe now he should work as a blogger, or a Wikileaks type of guy.