Supergirl: Being Super

Bought at my school's Spring book fair.

Title: Supergirl: Being Super
Date: May, 2018
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Mariko Tamaki
Artist: Joelle Jones, Sandu Florea
Colorist: Kelly Fitzpatrick
Letterer: Saida Temofonte
Cover: Joelle Jones, Kelly Fitzpatrick
Editor: Paul Kaminski, Andrew Marino, Robin Wildman

Trade paperback collection of Supergirl: Being Super issues #1-4 from 2016-2017.

It feels like rebooted origin stories are getting to the point where they are separated by months, rather than years these days. So I had a bit of trepidation approaching yet another origin reboot (putting aside the question of whether this was main-canon continuity or not; that's also something that's become more and more fuzzy these days).

But this was really good. Not for the plot, necessarily, although the plot did its job adequately. It was the dialogue and supporting cast that really made this work. Kara Danvers of (Smallville stand-in) Midvale, Kansas, turns sixteen years old, having hid the powers that make her different from her peers since childhood, only to have those powers fail her when she needs them most.

In the face of tragedy, Kara begins to question everything about her life, and she uncovers the secrets that will set her on the path to, well, to being super.

Kara's interactions with her friends were interesting enough that I was to some extent disappointed that this is essentially the story of her leaving home to start her hero's journey. I would happily read further adventures of Kara's best friend Dolly, without needing a bit more superhero stuff. And her relationship with her parents was intriguing, and definitely worth further exploration.

The villains introduced here (two new ones and one very familiar one) are likely to be seen again and all of them have plenty of story potential.

Joelle Jones does great work with the art all through the series, ending with an awesome visual on the last page.

This was a great fresh start for a classic character, and I would be happy to have this be the definitive Supergirl origin story moving forward.

Rating: 8/10

Batman Beyond Unlimited #1

I liked the couple of animated episodes I say, so I picked this one up when it came out.


Title: Batman Beyond Unlimited
Issue: 1
Date: April 2012
Publisher: DC Comics

Writer: Adam Beechen, Derek Fridolfs, Dustin Nguyen
Artist: Norm Breyfogle, Dustin Nguyen, Derek Fridolfs
Colorist: Randy Mayor, Andrew Elder
Letterer: Saida Temofonte
Cover: Dustin Nguyen
Editor: Sarah Gaydos, Jim Chadwick, Kristy Quinn, Ben Abernathy

For those not familiar with the Batman Beyond animated show, this takes place in a near-future setting where Bruce Wayne has retired and now acts as a mentor to teenager Terry McGinnis, the new Batman.

 

Two stories here. First up is a Batman Beyond solo story involving gangs of Joker followers gathering in Gotham for some unknown purpose. The Batman makes short work of two different groups of them, but something more sinister is afoot, and it involves someone dangerously close to McGinnis’ ex-girlfriend.

 

The girlfriend drama was irritating, mostly because Dana is totally in the right when she says that Terry isn’t giving her the attention she deserves. He is, after all, off being the Batman all the time. Terry, meanwhile comes off as something of a whiney jerk in his attempts to convince her to renew the relationship while basically not even attempting to say he’ll to better.  Dude, maybe you should have thought about the effect on your social life before, you know, taking up the Cowl? Just a thought.

 

The fight scenes also could have been better. They had a nice look, visually, but the “Jokerz” were just so incompetent that it was hard to take any of it seriously. And Bruce Wayne was actually pretty unhelpful as far as the whole mentoring thing goes. McGinnis is supposed to be an inexperienced kid, but he’s also supposed to be taking his real-time advice from one of the greatest tacticians who ever lived. This should make a difference at some point.

 

I did like Barbara Gordon as Gotham Police Commissioner. Clever idea, and well executed.

 

The second story was a Justice League Beyond story (it took me til about halfway through before I figured out what the “B” in “JLB” stood for). The roster is Warhawk (a “half-breed” Thanagarian; no they did not tell us what his other half is), a Green Lantern named Kai-Ro, the Batman (McGinnis again), an older Superman, Aquagirl (on monitor duty; figures!), Micron (future version of the Atom), and Big Barda (drawn a bit more sexy than in other books I’ve seen, although this may be in line with her look in the current continuity).

 

They go up against… wait for it… more Jokerz! And some animal-mutant-types called Splices. This is seriously swatting a mosquito with a sledgehammer. I was feeling sorry for the villains by the time it was over.

 

Once the mopping up of the bad guys is done, various plot developments follow, setting the seeds for a number of future stories.

 

Hopefully with an improved quality of opposition.

 

Rating: 4/10

Scooby-Doo! Where Are You? #36

Ruh-roh! Continuing with a selection of my son's small but growing comic collection.

Title: Scooby-Doo! Where Are You?
Issue: 36
Date: October 2013
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Sholly Fisch, Darryl Taylor Kravitz, Jymn Magon
Artist: Fabio Laguna, Karen Matchette, Leo Baltic, Horacio Ottolini
Colorist: Heroic Age
Letterer: Saida Temofonte, Randy Gentile, Travis Lanham
Editor: Jessica Chen, Kristy Quinn, Jeanine Schaefer
Cover:Fabio Laguna, Jason Lewis

Three stories in this comic, all of them vaguely automobile-themed.

First up, Shaggy ends up taking over for champion drive Earl Daleheart (no, really) in a championship stock car race. As it turns out, when properly motivated, Shaggy drives away from monsters even faster than he runs away from them.

The second story hits a pet peeve of mine. I am something of a purist when it comes to Scooby Doo. I prefer my Scooby Doo with no real supernatural elements. To me the whole point of Scooby Doo was showing kids that the monsters weren't real and there was always a rational explanation. At some point the cartoon abandoned that and introduced real ghosts, which I always felt missed the point.

The story itself is a pretty harmless comic relief bit involving a ghost who hitches a ride on the Mystery Machine and runs afoul of Scooby, who is protecting his precious Scooby Snacks. Oh, and Velma loses her glasses. Seemingly for no reason than to remind readers that Velma losing her glasses is supposed to be funny.

Next, please.

The third story involves a cross-country race and a ghost car that keeps running other cars off the road. There is also a maze for readers to solve, which is actually incorporated into the story pretty well. This story was actually a pretty nice tribute to highway ghost legends, and it has enough of a plot twist to make the mystery entertaining.

One reasonably good story and two that were just there.

Rating: 4/10