Daily Archives: 28 March 2011

Supergirl 58 (January 2011)

Posted on 28 March 2011 | Leave a comment

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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.

CREDITS

Day of the Dollmaker, Part One: Toying With Emotions; writer, Sterling Gates; penciller, Jamal Igle; inker, Jon Sibal; colorist, Blond; letterer, Travis Lanham; editors, Wil Moss and Matt Idelson; publisher, DC Comics.

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Supergirl Annual 2 (December 2010)

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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.

CREDITS

Supergirl & the Legion of Super-Heroes; writer, Sterling Gates; artists, Matt Camp and Marco Rudy; colorists, Blond and Brad Anderson; letterer, Steve Wands; editors, Wil Moss and Matt Idelson; publisher, DC Comics.

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Startling Stories: The Thing – Night Falls On Yancy Street 4 (September 2003)

Posted on 28 March 2011 | Leave a comment

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Dorkin continues to get better this issue and Haspiel nicely evens out. It’d be hard to get much worse than last issue, so at least he arrested the art decline.

It doesn’t become clear what Dorkin’s really doing with Yancy Street until the last few pages and, once it is clear, well… It’s unfortunate.

For all his repetitive Ben Grimm standards the first couple issues, Dorkin actually tries to do something significant (it’s irrelevant because, based on the time period, it’s clear the story was never in continuity) with the character.

And Haspiel is the wrong match.

I mean, Dorkin needs a strong editor on the series to reign in some of the nonsense and to sharpen the narration and to pace out the last two issues… but the series could have been something amazing.

Instead, Yancy Street’s a mildly interesting effort, one with the wrong art for the script.

CREDITS

Writer, Evan Dorkin; penciller, Dean Haspiel; inker, Wade Von Grawbadger; colorist, Matt Madden; letterer, Tom Orzechowski; editor, Andrew Lis; publisher, Marvel Comics.

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Startling Stories: The Thing – Night Falls On Yancy Street 3 (August 2003)

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It’s really too bad, but as Dorkin’s writing gets better, Haspiel’s art continues to get worse. This issue is frequently hideous, what with the Sandman having an all new costume. It looks like a cross between a jester’s outfit and something from the sixties “Batman” TV show.

Dorkin’s trying—finally—to bring some authentic New York flavor to the comic, which doesn’t work particularly well, but at least he’s trying. He also foreshadows (or maybe not, maybe it’s just predictable) the death of Ben’s squeeze. Dorkin also takes another crack at dealing with Ben and Alicia’s relationship like it’s important. He does better, but not well.

I assume the final issue will have more troubled art (Haspiel and the superhero outfits is complete failure) and all questions will be answered. Well, the questions raised this issue. Dorkin either didn’t bother before or just executed those scenes incompetently.

It’s nearly mediocre.

CREDITS

Writer, Evan Dorkin; penciller, Dean Haspiel; inkers, Haspiel and Wade Von Grawbadger; colorist, Matt Madden; letterer, Tom Orzechowski; editor, Andrew Lis; publisher, Marvel Comics.

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