Supergirl #54 - DC

On the inside of this issue, Supergirl is nowhere near as perky as she appears on this cover. In fact . . she's rather sullen, and down-trodden. She's still wallowing in the grief of what happened to New Krypton, and her mother. Although, I'm sure it's not quite as fatal as everyone believes. I mean, it was the bottle city of Kandor. I can't believe that they'd just blow it up for the sake of a story-line. I think something will happen and we'll find that the city is still around . . somewhere. But that's a story for another time. In this one Metropolis sees the arrival of Bizarro Supergirl. And she beats quite a path around the city before Lana can get Kara to get out of the house and do something to help. Also, Cat Grant overhears Lana's end of the conversation, as she's hiding in a bathroom stall. She doesn't know Kara's identity as Linda Lang, but . . she does know that somehow Supergirl and Lana are connected. In fact, she knows that Lana is a rather influential part of Supergirl's life. I'm sure she's wondering how that came about. Anyways, Jimmy and Gangbuster get captured by Bizarro Supergirl, before Kara can attempt a rescue. But we find out that Bizarro Super-girls 'see-through' vision, being the opposite of Kara's . . turns her into solid steel. The issue ends with us looking at a Supergirl statue. We also get a hint that there's somebody in Metropolis, posing as a policeman, that's capturing children. We just get the barest hint at that storyline, but . . I'm sure it'll progress soon. The creative team on this book is now Sterling Gates and Jamal Igle. I think they can bring something different to this book. Now that we're done with the War of the Supermen, Kara . . er, Linda, needs to get her own life going again. I like this book. I hope that they can keep the momentum going.

Power Girl #14 - DC

Karen has a lot of things coming down on her right now. Probably the most important this is that her company is, or was . . stolen out from under her. Well . . technically Donna didn't steal the company. That's Donna, the woman that Karen hired as her CFO. What Donna did was borrow and leverage as much money as she could against Starrware Labs . . and against it's future revenue, based on the various ideas and plans that it had in the works . . which came to about $50 million. And then . . she took off with it all. Apparently she was so enthralled with this payday that she even left her kid with her 'idiot ex-husband'. This is bad enough as it is. But on top of all of that all of this crap keeps happening . . both in and around the city in which she lives, as well as issues with the JSA . . or, I guess you'd say with the JSA All-stars, since they've now split . . that keeps drawing her attention away from being able to deal with the issues she should be dealing with at Starrware Labs. The one good decision she makes is not getting entangled in Booster's mission to take down Max Lord. Booster comes to Karen because of their time together in the JLI, but . . Karen just has to much on her plate right now. Plus . . she doesn't really know whether to believe him or not. And then . . this robot, I guess is what you'd call it . . this robot shows up that seems to be intent on destroying all of New York City. Actually, he starts out small . . just destroying the things that are in his immediate path. But then, during his fight with Karen . . he seems to upgrade, and enlarge, and now he seems to be intent on making his path of destruction much much larger. As I said, all of this is happening as Nicco is pleading with her to get back to the office. 'Emergency?! We've got the bank gestapo gutting our offices, what could be . . Karen?! . . Karen . . .' Judd Winick and Sami Basri have taken over the creative chores of this book. I'm sure Judd will do a great job. And I'm sure there's more to this story with Donna than we're getting right now. It's just that Karen hasn't slowed down long enough to really dig in to it. But sooner or later she's going to have to stop and focus. It's hard to tell where all of this is going right now . . it's only the first chapter. But I do like the feel of the book right now. I just wish that something would happen right for her. She deserves it.

Power Girl #13 - DC

First of all in this issue we get all the pieces put together about Karen's involvement in this whole Max Lord thing. We see her in Justice League: Generation Lost, and she recently had a run-in with Booster in Russia. So this issue shows us all of that, and how those events progressed . . from Karen's point of view. This is also the issue where Karen learns that she really juggling to many balls. She wants to have her 'super-hero' life, but . . she also wants the normal life that she can retreat in to. The problem is, her normal life is still pretty abnormal. She's got her own company, and she's attempting to run it . . solo. All of this while she's keeping up being on call from the Justice League, and pretty much the leader of the JSA All-Stars. In the midst of the juggling, she looses track of her Chief Financial Officer, Donna . . literally. Nobody has seen her in 3 days. And when they finally send someone over to her apartment . . they find out that she's moving. And to make matters worse . . Karen's bank accounts have been drained dry. But all of this happened while she was out on the chase for Max Lord, and . . that's when he did the mind wipe making everybody forget. Well, not only did Karen forget about Max, but . . she also forgot about all the pressing matters at home that were popping up shortly before she got called away. By the time she gets back . . she's pretty much lost everything. Or . . she will shortly. So now the question is . . where does she go from here? We have a new creative team taking over the book this issue . . Judd Winick and Sami Basri. And they made their presence known right from the get go. I know they probably want to redefine her, but . . do they have to tear her down so completely to do so? I actually feel sorry for her. This girl has lost so much in her life. I just don't know how much more she can take. And to make matters worse . . she's definitely not a person that deserves it. Hopefully the new team has some kind of light on the horizon.

Supergirl #53 - DC

In this issue we catch Supergirl in the aftermath, or fallout of the War of the Supermen. It's been about 6 weeks since the war's been over, and the super-hero community is still trying to do what it can in the aid of the world and it's rebuilding. But they can't help rebuild Kara's confidence and the nightmares that keep running through her head every night. She dreaming about Superwoman and project 7734. And she's still feeling guilty about all the people that perished when New Krypton exploded. So . . she's made a decision. She's putting Kara and Supergirl behind her. From now on she's going to be Linda Lang . . full-time. She even adopts a secret identity of sorts where she pulls her hair back and wears glasses. Kind of like Clark. Even when something crash lands in the city, Kara . . er, sorry . . Linda decides that it's more important to get Lana the medical help she needs than to assist the JLA members that have arrived at the scene. Actually, it's just Doctor Light and Gangbuster. And that's only because whatever crashed here went straight through her lab before landing in Centennial Park. Dr Hoshi and Delgado are already working on some weird stuff . . they're experimenting on Superwoman trying to remove all of the alien DNA that her father infused her with. So when they come upon the crater, and it's frozen surroundings . . it's hard to be more surprised. But they are surprised when they go further down into the hole to find a Bizarro-Supergirl. Really? I didn't even know there was one. I have a feeling that this story is in for some strange turns. Sterling Gates writes it, with Jamal Igle doing the art. Overall I thought it was a good book, and a nice opening chapter into the next stage of Linda's life.

Power Girl #12 - DC

This was another 'fun' issue of this title. I especially like the beginning when Karen was enjoying the spas and amenities of Atlee's home. She actually let loose, for a little while. She would've felt pretty vulnerable, but . . she also felt like she was in a safe place. However, after sharing their innermost emotions at the waterfall, I think Atlee may becoming a little more attached to Karen than she's normally comfortable with. We'll have to see how that plays out in the future thought. Meanwhile, Satanna has formed an alliance of sorts with Dr Sivana. She's hoping for a weapon from him that will take down PG. But after he gets what he wants, he tosses her out like so much trash. Literally. Also Gerard Shugel has been 'cleansed and returned with proper identification . . in addition, he will have no memories of his time as a criminal.' So we won't be hearing from him for a while, but . . I'm sure he'll find some way to mess himself up once again. Fisher returns the pictures he took of Karen to her. She won't have that hanging over her head anymore. And on the way to work, she once again has a run in with Vartox. Apparently there's this alien guy that's ready to kill him because he was messing around with his wife. PG gets them to settle down and take their dispute off planet. There's the usual flirting and sexual innuendo from Vartox in the process. And then she finally gets back to work. There's good news and bad. A group called Vega 9 . . Karen knows that it's actually Carl and Anez . . they've made a major investment in Karen's company. But unfortunately, her assistant Alice is quiting. And then all the other employees have a celebration for the upturn in the company. Unfortunately, I don't think that's going to last for very long. Also unfortunately . . this is pretty much a wrap-up issue. Justin Gray, Jimmy Palmiotti and Amanda Connor will be moving on as Judd Winick and Sami Basri take over the creative helm. And it doesn't look like the future is going to be as fun or as bright for Karen in the coming months. Right now on the schedule, Karen's got to deal with the whole Generation Lost thing with Max Lord . . somebody sends a behemoth named Crash into NYC that she crosses paths with . . and because of all of this her company suffers as she's paying less and less attention to it. Not to mention there's a mystery coming up where her employees begin disappearing. It appears that she'll be forming an 'unusual alliance' with someone to try to help her figure it all out. So . . I'm sure the book will be just as good . . I'm a big fan of Judd's stories. But . . it won't be the same. It won't be the fun book to read that it's been for the previous 12 issues. It's sad to see these guys go. I've really enjoyed these issues. But . . that's life. Things change, and we all move on. So sad . . to bad . . bye-bye!

Power Girl #11 - DC

This is another great 'Girl Power' book that I just love to read. Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti put in just enough humor here to keep it interesting and poignant. And the meld between their writing and Amanda Connor's art is perfect. Last issue Atlee came to Karen for help, but Karen wasn't aware that Satanna had replaced her brain with that of the Ultra-Humanite. The Ultra-Humanite has made a play for Karen's body before, but she never thought he'd stoop to this. So there's a big drag out fight between the two women, until Karen finally uses some brains and takes her up into the atmosphere . . away from Atlee's power-base, the Earth . . until she passes out. She then makes a beeline to Satanna to find out what happened to Atlee's brain. It turns out that Satanna has put it in some type of gorilla, or monkey, or something. Anyways Karen takes her back to Strata, Atlee's home under the crust of the planet, to get Aurla to help them out. It turns out that she can clone Atlee's body to replace her brain in. She also does a little work for the Ultra-Humanite . . Gerard Shugel. She used the genetic sequences in Gerard's brain to clone him a body also. And while in there, she noticed the abnormal sequences that caused his degenerative disease and fixed that too. You'd think the guy would be grateful, but . . he kisses up to Karen to her face, however once she leaves . . 'It's not over, Power Girl. It's never going to be over between us . . I will have my . . revenge.' And we see that Satanna has also decided that it's time to quit playing around with Power Girl. When Karen came looking for Atlee's brain, she took off Satanna's arm to get her to talk. She knew it wasn't a problem because Satanna and her 'subjects' are excellent surgeons. But even with a Cheetah arm, she's not happy. She decides to get ahold of Doctor Sivana. 'Tell him I've decided to kill a Kryptonian. And I no longer care what he wants in return.' Well, I'm glad that Atlee is ok, but . . Karen's strengthened the resolve of 2 pretty powerful enemies in the process. This is a great book. Yeah sure it's a joke on the 'super-hero' level, but . . it's the tongue-in-cheek humor that to me makes it such an enjoyable read. Well . . that, and . . Amanda's art.

Supergirl #52 - DC

Well . . Zod and the Brainiac Revenge Squad have enlarged themselves and are now trying to find Brainiac himself. Meanwhile, Kara and Brainiac 5 are running around the ship, trying to fix the future that Brainiac has destroyed. Yes, he's Brainiac 5's . . um, Great-Grandfather? Anyways, he's brought Supergirl with him because he wants to destroy the central processor for the ship . . and she's got the best strength to do that with. Plus . . I think he wants to keep an eye on her because when she traveled to the future . . a few years ago, Brainy fell madly in love with her. Unfortunately, Saturn Girl wiped those memories clean before she came back in time. I think Brainy wants to make sure that nobody slips by giving her too much information. Plus . . I think he just wants to spend some time with her. It appears that Lex has made it into the bottled city of Kandor, and finds where Commander Gor is interrogating Reactron. We're under the impression that he's there to free him, but . . he just takes something from him. I think it's the device to help him enlarge and get out of the city. Which he does, and then . . he steals one of the bottle cities for himself. Anyways, we get our first image of Brainiac, in like 3 issues, when he pops up on the monitor to tell Brainiac 5 that he's been tracking him, and to watch out for the Visper Phages. So Brainiac 5 and Kara destroy the central processor, which allows Superman and Quislet to get aboard the ship. Whatever happens next, happens in Superman #699. I thought it was an ok story. I enjoyed the dialogue and interaction between Kara and Brainy. I thought that was easily the best part of the book. The rest of it just served to progress the story a little further. Sterling Gates writes it, with Ivan Rodriguez doing the art. I thought Ivan did a great job. I assume this is his first work, but . . it looked very polished and finished. Matt Camp does the cover. Overall, I thought the issue was ok. If you don't follow the book though, you might just want to wait for the TPB and get it all together. I'm sure it'll be out soon.

Power Girl #10 - DC

This is a silly issue. That boy that took the pictures of Power Girl coming out of the Starrware building, and changing into uniform . . he's decided that he wants to blackmail her. But it's not how you'd think. First he wants her to come to his comic shop with him when he goes to get his weekly books. Secondly, he wants he help with a bully, and his gang, that has been tormenting him. And finally . . he wants her help in asking a girl for a date. You know . . typical teenaged boy stuff. But first, Power Girl has to deal with Satanna. At the end of last issue we saw them fighting and then Terra shows up. Well Terra helps to get her off of PG's case, but . . in the more personal events that follow the fight, Karen notices that Atlee is acting funny. Just little odd personality traits. Then later when Satanna attacks again, but this time not with her ani-men . . this time she uses Manhawks. They're usually something that Hawkman deals with. Anyways, during the battle she notices that Terra is a little more blood-thirty than usual. And by the end of the book, she finally pieces it together . . somehow Satanna has put the Ultra-humanites brain into Terra's body. Now she just has to figure out how to fix it, and find out what they did with Terra's brain. The thing I really like about this book is the humor that Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti put into their scripts. At some points it's almost a slap-stick type of humor. But . . I think it's perfect for this book, and this character. That, coupled with Amanda Connor's rather whimsical art, and . . it really makes for a fun read. Hopefully these guys stay on this book for a long time to come.

Supergirl #51 - DC

I have to say . . the majority of this issue is kind of frustrating. I mean . . Connor and the Legion have come to try to help the Kryptonians, and save all the various races that are trapped aboard Brainiac's spaceship. But Zod has branded them all 'alien terrorists', so . . their hands are kind of tied. They're being attacked by both sides of this conflict. But by the end of the issue, things have started to sort themselves out. It seems that Zod and Ursa are starting to show their true colors. I believe that they are up to more than we know. Also, Kara has stepped up and helped to push her mother to use her position of authority more constructively. First she helps to sort out the confusion about Connor and the Legion, both with her mother and with the rest of the council. Which pisses Zod off to no end when they are all granted a pardon. And then I think Kara has pushed Alura to think about who's really running this planet . . her, and the council . . or Zod? I'm thinking that besides this attack by Brainiac, there also may be a form of civil war in New Krypton's future. One of the main reasons they aren't having any success against Brainiac is that the whole society is split into factions. And none of the factions seem to be willing to help the others. They need a leader that will tear down these walls. And, with the Legion pardoned, the issue ends with them all . . as well and Supergirl and Connor, heading off to help Superman and Mon-El aboard Brainiac's ship. Which leads us into Superman #698. I thought that Sterling Gates and Jamal Igle did a great job with this issue. They moved the story along, and we got more of a feeling of how things are shaping up on New Krypton. Not just with the attack, but with the society as a whole. Or . . the pieces that it's in right now. Which I think is exactly how Zod wanted it. He's a crafty SOB!

Power Girl #9 - DC

This book is just fun to read. I'm not sure if it's Justin Gray & Jimmy Palmiotti's stories, or if it's Amanda Connor's fantastic art . . but I always find myself chuckling when I read this book. It's just a lot of fun to read. This issue starts out with Karen receiving a package under her door, just as she's stepping out of the shower. So she grabs a towel and chases after the guy that left it. It turns out to be a red-haired 14 year old boy. And he's scared to death. But . . in the process of running down the steps, she gives the boy, and one of her neighbors, a thrill when the towels falls off. It was hilarious. She runs back to put on sweats, but . . it just shows how spontaneous of a character she is. But when the chips are down . . when somebody gets up in her face, as do Satanna's animal-men later on . . she's ready to throw down with the best of them, and never backs away from a fight. Anyways, she makes pretty short work of Satanna's men, but . . Satanna has some type of sonic-boom hammer. It kind of looks like one of the Joker's props, but . . you know, technological. It ends up hurting Karen, not because of the hits, but because of the massive vibrations that it sends through the rest of her body. It actually gives Karen a nose-bleed. Karen's stunned, but eventually she gather her wits, grabs it from Satanna and breaks it. That's when Satanna throws some type of glowing circle on PG's chest. 'That nasty bit of technology is assessing your mass and cellular structure. Once it has all the little details on your physical body, it will use gravity to compress your entire body to fit neatly inside.' It looks pretty painful. Apparently Satanna is mad at Karen for messing with her friends, specifically the Ultra-Humanite. But then when it looks like PG may be beaten . . her friend shows up, Terra. And she's ready to kick Satanna's ass. Justin & Jimmy put some nice character development in this story also with Karen and her work. It's only a few pages, but . . with as busy as this character is, she only spends time at work incrementally anyways. However, if she wants her business to grow, she's going to have to figure out something on that front. Maybe she should have one of her assistants run it for her . . I don't know. I really enjoy this book. Like I said . . it's fun. And the art just pops off the page. It's not my favorite book, but . . I do look forward to reading it every month.

Supergirl #50 - DC

First of all this issue has 2 fantastic covers by Michael Turner and Josh Middleton. Unfortunately we haven't seen Michael's work here since the earlier issues this series, but . . it's always nice to see his interpretation of the 'girl of steel'. Anyways, this story goes back a few years. Back in Superman #671 - #673, the Insect Queen had taken Lana to the moon to be the host body of her highness. Superman had gotten her out of that situation, but apparently the Queen left a little bit of herself behind to grow and fester inside of Lana. Which is where all the medical problems and mysteries have been stemming from in regards to Lana's condition. But that's no longer a mystery. Last issue ended with Lana in the hospital in some type of cocoon. However, when we start this issue, we find that the situation has progressed and Metropolis is now covered with her hives. Apparently the Insect Queen's master plan was to draw either Superman or Supergirl into this drama, and then use their DNA to produce super-powered drones. These were going to help her take over the world. So . . between Kara, Doctor Light and Gangbuster not only do they thwart her plan, but . . they also purge all influences of her from Lana's body. However, by the end of the story we find out that Kara has decided to distance herself from Lana. She's enjoyed her tutelage over the previous year, but . . she trusted Lana. Now she feels that trust didn't go both ways because Lana never confided in her as to her problems. Although, I'm not really sure if she's as mad as she's acting or if she's just pushing Lana away. I guess that'll be a sub-plot for future issues of Supergirl. Anyways, as we go through this issue we also find out that Lucy Lane is back, Superwoman. The area where she blew-up, in Maine, obviously was imbibed with her displaced magical energy. The suit that gave her the powers was created by Mirabai, so it was heavily magic based. Apparently when another man recently died hers, that magic energy reached out to his corporeal form and 'borrowed' his matter and cells to rebuild, if you will, Lucy's. However, it also gave her the powers that the suit was trying to mimic. When Gen Lane first finds her alive he's concerned about the well being of his daughter. But when he finds out that she's now also a 'super' . . that she may now be considered Kryptonian . . his demeanor towards her becomes decidedly colder. He starts calling her Major Lane, and he's decided to take her back to base so that they can run some tests. 'The Kryptonians weren't satisfied with killing my daughter. No . . they had to go and make her one of them.' By the end of the issue she's fully recovered and back in costume . . and looking for 'daddy's' approval. 'No more testing. No more questions. As you can see, I'm fit for duty. So. What's my next assignment?' I always thought that Lucy's character was never fully explored when she was killed. So now . . I guess we get another chance. Sterling Gates writes this story, with some fantastic art by Jamal Igle. Seriously. I've always thought that Jamal had some talent and potential, but . . with this issue I really think he's starting to realize, and show it. In the back-up story, by Jake Black and Helen Slater . . she's the girl who plays Supergirl on the Smallville series . . we basically get an eye-witness account of the effect Supergirl has made on Metropolis. It's an interesting tale, and shows how even though Cat Grant is trying to publicly slur Kara, her actions and deeds have spoken louder than Cat's words. I know. That sounds corny. Sorry. Cliff Chiang does the art, and it's a nice little story. Overall, I thought this was a great 50th issue. At first I thought the Insect Queen part of the story was lame. But . . it did tie up some loose ends that have been hanging over Lana's head for about 2 years. So . . progress was made. It was entertaining and was in a good package. What more can you ask for?

Supergirl #49 - DC

Well . . it's finally happened. Whatever has been plaguing Lana for the last year or so has finally caught up to her. When she goes down in the beginning of this issue, there's massive amounts of blood coming from her eyes and mouth. And I know that the little bug running across her phone is some kind of clue . . but I have no idea what it is. Meanwhile, Kara and Inspector Henderson are fighting the Silver Banshee. The Clan McDougal's spirits have taken over Kara's body, and are just as interested in getting all the family heirlooms as the Silver Banshee is. However, I assume since the Banshee's form is real, she has more control over their power and uses it to banish them. Not forever . . they'll be back eventually, but . . for now, they're gone. After which, she thanks the Inspector for helping her find the heirlooms, and then she takes off with them. Meanwhile, in the hospital, Lana is fighting for her life. Kara is starting to suspect something, I think, about Lana's condition. But she can't confirm it until she sees her body. However, when she races down to the morgue, she finds her body cocooned in some type of chrysalis . . it's also taken out the orderly, and it appears to be being scratched open from the inside. Whatever has happened to Lana . . we're about to find out next month in issue #50. I can't believe this book has reached that milestone already. This issue is by Sterling Gates and Matt Camp. I enjoyed the story, but . . even after 50 issues, it seems like Kara is still trying to find herself. I mean even in this issue . . she's just all over the place. At least she wasn't bouncing back and forth between Earth and New Krypton. I'm glad that this book has lasted as long as it has. I just hope that it receives the focus and attention that it needs, and deserves, to keep it going.

Power Girl #8 - DC

This issue wraps up the Vartox of Valeron story-line. Last issue he came to Earth to ask Power Girl for her help in repopulating his planet. He tries to woo her, and seduce her . . to no avail. And then he released a planet killing monster, the Ix Negaspike, in hope that battle would arouse her emotions. That didn't help either. She still found him repulsive. Anyways, the last issue ended with them fighting this indestructible beast. Power Girl tried to freeze it and shatter it, but . . it just ended up making more of the beasts. However, she did notice that with their increased number also came decreased intelligence. With Vartox's help, she freezes and shatters them once again. 'There's not enough brain matter to regenerate this many copies of itself. I think I turned them into indestructible space cows.' Anyways, she also finds out that the reproduction process on Valeron isn't the same as on Earth. Basically they both need to touch this 'Pregno-ray' and it sends their energy to the men and women of Valeron. This apparently helps them move their soul into younger versions of themselves. Thereby extending the life of their planet. So Power Girl gives in, and does end up helping. Meanwhile, while all of this is going on, there appears to be a girl, Satanna, that has an agenda to take Power Girl down. She's looking for the Ultra-Humanite, and she appears to be in league with Dr Sivana. Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray write this book. While Amanda Conner does the art. Honestly . . I really like it. First of all, the art is fantastic. It really has a 'fun', upbeat type feel to it. And Jimmy and Justin write just enough humor into the story to keep things interesting. I loved the dialogue between Karen and Vartox this issue. Especially after she started drinking the 'golden wine'. Actually . . I think I may like this one better than the regular Supergirl series.

Supergirl #48 - DC

A few little points of interest this issue . . Inspector Henderson is back, and on the job. Kara finally learns that there's some kind of health issue going on with Lana. The problem is . . nobody has any idea what it is. All they know is that it's attacking her immune system. But most of this issue is spent on bringing us up to speed on the Silver Banshee. It appears that she's looking for the seven heirlooms of the McDougal clan. It's the only way to break the curse that's been put on her by souls of the clansmen and women before her. Inspector Henderson has come into possession of one of them. He was sent a letter by Captain Tanner saying that it would be in his hand if they found him dead. Which they did, and Inspector Henderson took it. However, he soon found out that the reason the heirlooms are hidden is because they hide themselves inside the people that have them. He soon found out that when he got near another of the heirlooms his arm glows. But now the Silver Banshee has also found a way to track them and he's afraid that she's closing in on him. Of course, next thing you know . . she attacks. Her scream takes away Kara's hearing, but the Inspector points to a box that he wants her to see. When she opens it, she's attacked by some kind of magical force, and the next thing we know Kara looks like a cross between Supergirl and the Silver Banshee. I guess you'd call her Super-Banshee. Personally, I've never really liked the Silver Banshee character. I don't know why. She just seemed kind of kooky to me. Anyways, I thought this was an interesting issue, despite that. Sterling Gates did a good job keeping the story interesting. But I have to say that I think Fernando Dagnino did a great job with the art. He's an artist that hasn't been around for a long time, but every time I see his work I think it gets better. Anyways, I hope they wrap up this Silver Banshee thing next issue because I'm much more interested in seeing what's going on with Lana.

Supergirl #47 - DC

This issue was all about Alura, Kara's mother. Last issue Kara brought Reactron, Major Krull, to New Krypton for her mother. Alura wants him to stand trial for the horrendous deeds that he's done. But she knows she has to do it secretly because the friends and families of all of those that were killed will want to see their own style of justice . . or vengeance. As we go through this story we see some of the background on Alura and Zor-El. Not so much how they met, or fell in love . . but rather how a member of the artists guild changed the heart and mind of a member of the science guild. So now . . now that Reactron is on New Krypton, Alura has to try and balance the urges and responses of a grieving widow with that of the leader of New Krypton. She's using what Zor-El taught her about truth and justice as a measuring stick. She wants to handle this in the way that would've made her husband happy. However, as the leader of New Krypton she also has to think about it's welfare and future. So she's made a decision. With Commander Gor's help Alura fakes Reactron's death, as he supposedly tries to escape in the melee of grieving parents and family. Her heart wants him dead, but . . in her mind she knows that he contains to much information to simply throw away. Obviously Reactron didn't create this situation or put himself in it. Someone else did. We know it's General Lane, but . . Alura doesn't. So her plan now is to get information from Major Krull and try to save New Krypton's future and maybe prevent a war. Or if not . . at least be ready for it. I thought Sterling Gates did a fantastic job of capturing the mood of New Krypton in this book . . the feelings that Alura and the rest of the fallen's families have been wrestling with since their departure. I also enjoyed Matt Camp's art. It's a rather simple style, but it fit the mood and feel of this book perfectly. I can't believe we're almost up to issue #50 already. Where does the time go?

Supergirl #46 - DC

Last issue ended with Kara, Thara and Chris being subdued by Reactron. He has them in Red-Sun chains. But Chris finds out that the Red-Sun doesn't have any affect on his tactile-kinesis. Isn't that kind of the same power that Connor has? I wonder what the connection is there? Anyways, he helps them break free, but . . with a gold Kryptonite heart, it isn't long before Reactron again overpowers them. He's beaten up Kara and Thara, and is about to take out Chris when Lois comes snooping around. This is just enough to distract Reactron for a second. But when he comes back to Chris, the trauma and stress seems to be having an effect on Thara, who's watching the whole scene unfold. It seems like she's basically trying to will her powers into working when, all of the sudden . . she transforms into the actual Flamebird. Reactron is no match for this power. Flamebird removes his Kryptonite heart, and when it looks like she's about to kill him, he spills his guts about everything. 'No please it wasn't me . . Mon El's alive! He's alive! It was the witch, Mirabai, she did it. She disguised me and Metallo. She used magic . . even the bomb, the water, it was all General Lane's idea! It was Lane!' Lois is still present when all of this comes out. Anyways, Kara talks Flamebird down, so she doesn't kill Reactron. And says that she'll return him to New Krypton for justice. Kara and Thara end up making up after that. And Thara tells her about the secret that Lana's been hiding. Unfortunately . . we don't actually hear what it is. Kara tells Lana that they'll talk about it when she returns from New Krypton. Overall I thought this was a pretty good storyline. This is the conclusion, but . . it's still really not over. What's Lois going to did with what she's learned? And it says that next issue we'll learn what the final fate of Reactron is. Sterling Gates and Greg Rucka provided the words. And Jamal Igle and Eduardo Pansica provide the pencils. I liked it. I thought it was a good story, with a believable conclusion. It also left several things open to future resolution. I just can't believe that we're almost up to issue #50. Wow! Where does the time go?

Supergirl #45 - DC

This issue picks up where the last part of this story ended . . with Kara, Thara and Chris coming face to face with Squad K in Paris. Also, with the whole world thinking that the three of them killed Mon El, and then bombed the water supply under Metropolis . . Morgan Edge and Cat Grant are stirring things up even more with they're extremely biased coverage, and opinion of these events. So Kara's taken them to the only place she can think of that may be safe enough for them . . Lana's apartment. Thara thinks that there may be something up with Lana. She doesn't trust her. But they have come up with a plan to get in contact with Lois, and try to find Reactron. If they can get Lois to berate some kind of confession out of him, and then have Lois record, or print it . . they may be able to clear their names. Of course their names will be cleared anyways when the world finds out that Mon El isn't actually dead. But the question is . . where is he? Meanwhile, General Lane has called Squad K back to base. And he's assigning Reactron to their team. Thara may be on to something because the General seems to be concerned about Reactron giving anybody any information. It almost seems like he knows their plans. And he's given Reactron separate orders. He's to clear up all looses ends. That means eliminating Supergirl, Nightwing and Flamebird. Sterling Gates and Greg Rucka are doing a great job with this story-line. The tension and frustration felt by these characters is palpable. Right now it seems like he's got General Lane holding all the cards. Something has to happen soon to change that balance. I'm also impressed with Jamal Igle's pencils. This guy has been a solid artist for a little while now. And he continues to impress me. Unfortunately we have to wait 3 weeks for the next part in Action Comics #882.

Wednesday Comics #12 - DC

This being the final issue of this 'experiment', I assume all the stories will be wrapped up here. I guess Luna shot herself, and then jumped out the window. She tells Batman that she couldn't see herself locked up, and apologized for not finishing it the way he would've wanted. He just looks at her and says her name . . and has he touches her cheek . . she realizes . ."Bru . ." But then she's gone. Orora dies from her wounds, but before she does she gives Kamandi her compass. She points at the face and says "Humans". So as Tuftan, Caesar, the Lion and Tiger nation head off to finish off the Apes, Kamandi decides to go off alone. South. Maybe to find some more of his kind. Superman checks on Lois, but she's fine. As he's talking to her on the phone, she's looking at a heading about Batman stopping an alien attack on the Daily Planet. It's good to have friends to watch your back. Deadman makes it back to Earth, but he's still scolded by Rama Kushna. She's upset because he upset the balance between Neron and his dukes. So now she's got some extra work for Boston to do to try to balance things out. Hal watches as the rest of the alien armada leaves Earth's atmosphere, and then he goes back to his watering hole to check up on Dillon. Rex Mason and company make it out of the pyramid, and a CIA transport shows up to pick them up. End of story. The Titans beat Deathstroke easily, now that he knows who he really is. I guess he really does have some psychological barrier that stops him from defeating them. Now that Korgo has been sent to Earth, Rann's little uprising is all fading away. Now Adam just has to worry about how Alanna would feel about him if she knew that he was a withered up old man back on Earth. Supergirl has passed out from when she was shot by the sun. But the aliens feel bad for assuming that she was threatening. While she was passed out, it turns out that Krypto and Streaky explained it all to them. You know . . universal translators and all. But after they leave and the aliens remove their helmets, we find out that they're a race of intelligent dogs and cats. Who knew? Chemo explodes and apparently takes all the Metal Men with him. Well . . except for Mercury. Now Magnus is just going to have to rebuild them again. Wonder Woman beats Dr Poison and the Cheetah, but . . I'm not really sure what she gained out of the whole thing. It was all a bit confusing . . right up until the end. Sgt Rock says goodbye to the villagers, and Easy Co heads home. And in the Flash strip . . we find out that all that crazy stuff that was happening was actually a comic strip itself that Barry wrote and Iris was reading. After Morgaine is defeated, the Demon reverts to his Jason Blood form. And Selina does a little flirting. And finally, with Aquaman's help, Hawkman defeats the T Rex while the rest of the JLA stop in alien invasion. All in all . . this was probably the most boring issue. Everything wrapped up this time, but most of the action was last issue. However . . it was ok. Again . . hats off to all the amazing talent. There was a great cast of writers . . Brian Azzarello, Dave Gibbons, John Arcudi, Dave Bullock, Kurt Busiek, Jimmy Palmiotti, Neil Gaiman, Eddie Berganza, Paul Pope, Kyle Baker, Dan Didio, Ben Caldwell, Adam Kubert, Karl Kerschl, and Walt Simonson. And then for the art we had . . Eduardo Risso, Ryan Sook, Lee Bermejo, Vinton Heuck, Amanda Conner, Joe Quinones, Mike Allred, Sean Galloway, Paul Pope, Kyle Baker, Jose Luis Garcia Lopez, Kevin Nowlan, Ben Caldwell, Joe Kubert, Brenden Fletcher, and Brian Stelfreeze. Quite a cast of characters . . on the creative side as well as in the actual pages. I wonder if they'll ever try this again?

Wednesday Comics #11 - DC

Only 2 more weeks to go, and it looks like Batman's got this all figured out. Luna had killed her husband . . well . . she used Hardy to kill her husband, and then she was going to kill Hardy. You know . . so he couldn't talk. Anyways, since there's another issue left . . we're left with a cliff-hanger ending. There's a shot fired, and we see Luna falling, or jumping through a big glass window. But . . did she shoot Batman, or herself? Or . . was there someone else there that we haven't seen yet? Hmmm!! Now that Tuftan and Caesar have been rescued from the Apes, Kamandi is looking forward to getting to know his human stray, Orora. But before they even get a chance to speak, she's shot down by an Ape sniper. Is she dead? Will Kamandi once again be the only living example of his species? Superman finally has the upper hand on the aliens. He snapped out of their telepathic influence when they threatened his parents. But as he pummeling the alien, he realizes . . he forgot about Lois! Have the aliens gone after her? And will he be able to reach her in time? In Hell, Boston realizes that he's being played by these women that were captured by the demon. He finds out that they just wanted him to release them so that they in turn could release Neron. He ends up leaving them behind, and walks out of this crazy place. But that leaves the question . . what's next? All it says is . . 'Loose Ends!'. Hal confronts the alien race that's trying to attack the Earth, but they quickly find out that they're no match for the power of his ring. Metamorpho and Element Girl take out Algon as he tries to power up the ship with the Star of Atlantis. However their deception pays off as the foil his plans. He then tries to bring the ship down around their ears. 'If I die . . you all die!' Trident, thinking that he had defeated the Titans, drops his disguise. He was actually Slade. Gizmo had rigged him up with a psychic implant so he forgot who he was . . he actually thought he was Trident. But then on the last panel . . . . On Rann, Adam Strange has sent lord Korgo to Earth . . on his Zeta-beam. We see him trapped in a museum display. Supergirl has gone off to the sun to try to stop the aliens from dumping their crap into it. But once there . . she doesn't know how she's going to communicate with them. They fire their guns at her . . which actually hurt her. But it looks like Krypto and Streaky are coming to her rescue. The Metal Men have Chemo contained, but he's still going to explode. The shove him into the basement of a nearby construction site, and as the story ends he and all the Metal Men go up in a cloud of smoke. Wonder Woman finds out that everything she's been through has been because of the machinations of Ares. Now she has to trust the Cheetah to protect Etta and the Professor while she fights Ares offspring. They were trying to manipulate it so that he would be the recipient of the Seven Stars of the Amazons. Easy Co. finally makes it into the building where they're holding Rock. And with their help, it looks like he's finally defeated the Germans. Grodd is trying to save his world. Barry is still trying to save Iris. It looks like the only way Barry is going to be able to do it is if he and Iris work together. He doesn't have to be the lone hero. It looks like the Demon has finally defeated Morgaine . . freeing Selina. And as Hawkman battles the T-Rex, on the beach . . Carter soon finds out that he has some help from the denizens of the deep . . and their master, Aquaman. It looks like the League has finally arrived. Now that we're almost done . . I'm finally getting in to this series. Of course . . all the cliff-hanger endings don't hurt either. But whether you like the format or not, you have to admit that some of the art looks amazing. Only 1 more issue to go. I think.

Wednesday Comics #10 - DC

We're on issue #10 now, so we're getting close to the end. Batman goes after Luna for the murder. He tells her that the Police are right behind him, but before he can do anything he's attacked by some wolves? Where did they come from? With the weapons that Kamandi found, and his help from the Lions, they quickly overpower the Apes in Shintun and Kamandi himself takes out Baaku, their leader. After they release Caesar and Tuftan they're ready to press the attack, but the Apes quickly retreat. Superman overloads the alien's minds with a tidal-wave of information. They're a hive mind, so by doing so he's stunned them all at once. Now he's pressing his advantage. Deadman impales the rune stone and stabs Kalak with the sword while it's attached. Apparently that's enough to take him out. He, and the rest of the females are free now. They just have to find a way out of here. Hal goes out to meet the invading force, and try to warn them off. But they aren't easily impressed. It looks like he's going to have to fight for it. It appears that both Rex and the Element Girl expired on the maze of elements . . or periodic maze, if you will. Apparently this temple is actually a space-ship. When Algon, the last remaining elemental, touches the Star of Atlantis he will turn into the fuel that's required for it to leave Earth. Unfortunately, it will destroy the Earth in the process. It appears that Triton has defeated Tim/Robin. He then tells the story of how the Titans destroyed the future of Earth. But before he can kill him he's confronted by Gizmo. Who asks him, "Do you remember who you really are?" Adam Strange has sent Korgo through the Zeta-beam back to Earth. He's hoping that since he has no counterpart there, he'll be diminished from the blue baboon that he is on Rann. Supergirl approaches the alien space-ship that's causing the solar-flares. Unfortunately she doesn't have any way to communicate with them. And it looks like they're viewing her arrival as hostile. Will Magnus puts a plan in place to slow the reaction that's occurring in Chemo right now. Unfortunately, I don't think they're going to be able to stop it, just contain the explosion. The question is . . will they survive the experience? In the Wonder Woman story . . I'm still a little confused about what's going on. It has to do with the Seven Stars of the Amazons, and Etta and Cheetah are involved. After that . . it's all more than a bit confusing. Plus every issue they seem to be experimenting with the panel lay-out. I'm not thrilled about this one, at all. Sgt Rock is attempted to escape. However, he's not making much progress. But the rest of Easy Co appear to be knocking at the door . . literally. It appears that Barry's problems are all coming from Grodd. Some 50 years in the future he's trying to communicate with himself in the past. Somehow the whole process has cause a problem that has sucked Barry, and Iris, right into the middle of it. Barry's trying to save Iris, but . . he may have to save the future also. It appears that Etrigan and Catwoman have the upper-hand over Morgaine, until Catwoman with the sword she's given. When it strikes Morgaine she turns into a swarm of locusts and quickly take over Selina. It looks like she's in control now. And Hawkman is trying to fight a T Rex to keep the survivors from the airplane crash safe. It's hard to tell if he's winning or not. Overall, I'm enjoying this little experiment. I still think the price-tag is to high, but . . I still bought it. So who am I to complain. There's some great talent here . . and only 2 issues to go. I guess I'll stick around and see how it all wraps up.