The Batmom

Supergirl 9

COVERGIRL: Groovy. I like the concentric circles and Black Banshee’s crazy eyes. Supergirl looks she’s tiptoeing so as not to attract his attention, which seems a smart move, if not very superheroic. She kinda looks like the main character in a YA book. Super Harriet the Spy.

INSIDE STORY: Kara’s new Irish friend Siobhan, aka Silver Banshee, tries to fight her destiny and resist domineering dad, the Black Banshee, a supernaturally mean SOB who wants his daughter by his side sucking souls dry.

Siobhan and Kara spend issue 9 battling bad-ass Double B and battling the more powerful, less controlled selves they become in his malevolent presence. Finally, in a desperate attempt to save Siobhan, Supergirl flies headfirst into Black Banshee’s glowing center.

RAMBLE: The Michaels Johnson and Green can surely write themselves a comic book. I am loving the Banshee Family Feud so much I can practically hear the tragic 13-verse Irish ballad in my head, but where’s it going to leave me when the last “Come home, Silver Banshee, to me” is sung?

Back with blah-di-blah Supergirl.

WHO THE HELL ARE THESE PEOPLE?

Supergirl/Kara Zor-El: Recently arrived to earth from her home planet, Krypton. Older cousin of Superman on Krypton; younger cousin of Superman on earth

Black Banshee: Celtic dude. Bad dude.

Silver Banshee/Siobhan Smythe: Kara's new friend, introduced in issue 8. Daughter of Black Banshee.

WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?

Supergirl’s home planet, Krypton, has been destroyed, along with most of its inhabitants. She and an unknown number of other Kryptonians are on earth. Feeling lost, Supergirl was happy to make the acquaintance of Siobhan, but now it turns out she's a bad guy named Silver Banshee.

Superfast Supergirl #8: A Short Sprint

Impressed by @JaneEspenson’s writing sprints, I’m conducting a solo mini. Goal: 1 review. 15 minutes of writing. 5 minutes of editing.

7:33 p.m. GO.

7:34. Because I only have 10 fingers and not 15, it took me 60 whole seconds to add 15 to 7:33. I will never be a Mathlete. No Captain Abacus, I.

Covergirl: (Which I wrote last night. Boring Fact Added During 5-Minute Editing Sprint: I always write the Covergirls before opening the comic book, and a day before writing the review. So this part isn’t part of the sprint.)

I don’t know, maybe I’m being harsh, but I’m just kind of growing tired of Supergirl. She hits the stands the same week as Wonder Woman, and it’s always WOW WONDER WOMAN followed by, oh and there’s Supergirl.

I do like the female Skeletor, especially her fierce-yet-feminine white corset. But come on, Supergirl. At least if you’re going to scream, be a Woman about it.

INSIDE STORY: Having just rid the planet Earth of the World Killers, Supergirl faces some unthankful Army guys wielding guns. Out of the crowd springs a silver-haired sprite, possessing a gift for gab in any tongue, including Kryptonian. Supergirl dashes, taking her new friend Siobhan Smythe with her. Siobhan, like Supergirl, has left home (Ireland) and feels a bit lost.

The two bond, they share, and then at the end Siobhan turns into an evil skull-head wearing a silver Riverdance costume: Silver Banshee.

Ramble: A great read, primarily because of the intriguing pixiesh Siobhan Smythe. I want to read Supergirl #9 because I want to know about Siobhan’s bad-girl self, why she thought she could escape her villainous destiny by running away to America, and what’s up with her rock star dad Black Banshee. Who, by the way, has a totally cool face, not a skull head like his daughter.

Great issue, but begs a question: If the same writers who created Supergirl created Silver Banshee (the New 52 iteration, assuming she’s historic), why can’t they make me as interested in my superhero as I am in this super anti-hero?

I keep all my comic books in a big orange box, which shall hereby be known as The Big Orange Box. Supergirl may be the first woman voted out.

CBV Reads Supergirl #7

COVERGIRL: Solid storyteller of a cover. Big Bads attack. Supergirl defends.

INSIDE STORY: The World Killers attack Supergirl in downtown Metropolis. Reign stands back, in charge and out of the fray. The World Killers almost destroy Supergirl, but she battles back and the ugly Big Bads beat a whimpering retreat to their space ship.

Reign may not be fighting, but she’s a mad chatterer. (Funny bit when Supergirl, fending off three World Killers at once, wonders what in the hell Reign’s going on about.)

We learn:

Working on a spaceship laboratory, Kryptonian scientists created World Killers from embryos gathered from planets around the cosmos. World Killers crave destruction and can only be destroyed by other World Killers.

Led by Reign, the World Killers escaped their incubators and went to Krypton for answers, only to discover the planet obliterated. They turned to earth, home of the only known surviving Kryptonians.

Supergirl has no answers, but she’s learning to manipulate her earth-powers and uses them to send the World Killers whimpering back to their spaceship.

They head back to space, seeking the planets from which their embryos were stolen.

See ya, meanies.

But wait. Before they leave, Reign drops an enticing fact at Supergirl’s red-booted feet.

THERE IS ANOTHER WORLD KILLER.

Who is he? Or is it a she?

Reign doesn’t know.

Supergirl doesn’t know.

I know.

Superboy.

Ramble: Actually, "I guess. Superboy."

But “I know. Superboy.” flows better.

Why would I guess Superboy? I’ve never even mentioned Superboy, right?

The Sneaky Petes at comic book companies like their characters to glide across the aisles, from the pages of their eponymous books into someone else’s adventures.

I first realized my characters were jumping books when I caught Batgirl swooping down from the right corner of Nightwing Issue #4, her cape nearly getting caught on the spiky silver “G.” Robin’s grown-up superhero self had recently appeared in Batgirl, so I wasn’t totally surprised, but I’ll admit; I was a little overwhelmed. I could barely keep up with my superheroines’ monthly appearances; how was I going to track them if they were going to pop-up willy-nilly all over the place?

Happily, they do nothing willy-nilly. You’ll never read that silly-willy phrase again.

Based on my (extremely brief) observations:

1) Story-hopping superheroes only show up in related books; New 52 Batgirl might show up in New 52 Nightwing, but she won’t show up in New 52 Batwoman. Or New 52 Wonder Woman or Supergirl or Superboy. Well, she COULD. These are comics; anything’s possible. But likely, she won’t.

2) Storyhoppers share cover billing with Numero Unos. Supergirl appears on the cover of Superman #6 and Superboy #6. The Sneaky Petes are sneaky, but they don’t want you to miss your favorite character’s guest appearance. For this reason, they’ll also mention the guest appearance somewhere in the character’s own comic book.

3) While the character merges make for richer stories (IMHO), the storyhopping doesn’t mess with the continuity of a superhero’s main book. You can miss your superhero’s guest appearance and still understand what’s going on in the next issue. Unless Superboy turns out to be a World Killer. Then I'm wrong. And right.

New 52 Superman #6: Real Superman is being held captive. Fake Superman ravages Metropolis. Supergirl thinks Fake Superman is Real Superman, AKA her cousin, Kal-El, but then he starts beating her silly. Real Superman eventually saves the day. Kind of a lame gig for Supergirl, showing up for the sole purpose of getting beat up. Hope she charges a hefty appearance fee.

New 52 Superboy #6: Superboy’s in a bit of a funk, not knowing who he is or where he comes from. He does know he’s a clone, reports to a mysterious organization, and is kind of evil but also discovering his conscience. Kara runs into him zipping around the skies above Metropolis and thinks he’s a compatriot. She’s horrified to discover he’s half-Kryptonian, half-clone. She explains he’s a “Kon-El, or “abomination in the House of El,” a ticking time bomb who can’t help but eventually become “a mindless killing machine.”

Sounds like a World Killer to me.

WHO THE HELL ARE THESE PEOPLE?

Supergirl/Kara Zor-El: Recently arrived to earth from her home planet, Krypton. Older cousin of Superman on Krypton; younger cousin of Superman on earth

Reign: A World Killers. A sentient weapons created by Kryptonian scientists; now adrift, confused about her origins, ripped and pissed

WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?

Supergirl’s home planet, Krypton, has been destroyed, along with most of its inhabitants. She and an unknown number of other Kryptonians, including her cousin Superman, are on earth. Supergirl has arrived far later in earth-time than Superman; while he was much younger than her on Krypton, he’s older than her on earth. Supergirl is reluctant to accept the total destruction of her planet. Reign tries to convince Supergirl to help her take over earth, but Supergirl says no. Reign is, per usual, pissed.