Matrix Monday: Superman #83

 Just last week I called for a hiatus to Matrix Monday.

Sorry, that was premature.

Even though I had gone right up against the beginning of Peter David's reimagination of the character, I was reminded of Superman #83, an epilogue to the Funeral For A Friend arc, and a sort of closure to the entire Reign of the Supermen storyline.

This issue came out 4 months before the beginning of Matrix's mini-series, Supergirl #1, to put this in the right context. (Had I thought about this in a more organized way, I would have done this purely chronological. I came pretty close.)

I have said before that I found Funeral For A Friend to be something of a turning point for the Matrix character. It was there that she seemed to become more independent, began to think more like a hero, and seemed determined to fill the shoes of the departed Superman.

Here, I think, we see more of that. I really want to hear what people think about a certain scene near the end.

I think Roger Stern had her take a little step backwards in that independence at the beginning of that mini-series. But I think he did that to make her eventual break away from Lex that much more impactful.

On to the book.

Back Issue Box: Adventures of Superman #499

In Superman Rebirth #1, the pre-Flashpoint Superman and Lana Lang head to the New 52 Superman's tomb to enter and move the body. Lana is there to move the body, to bury it on the Kent farm. The pre-Flashpoint Superman is there to take the body to the regeneration matrix to revive the body. After all, the pre-Flashpoint Superman had died and been restored in that way.

The whole scene reminded me of Funeral For A Friend, the arc that happened in the immediate aftermath of the Death of Superman. In that story, the world was reeling from the death of Superman, grieving. But there were other forces at work, many of them nefarious. People wanted the body for their own purposes. I am sure, Superman Rebirth #1intentionally was crafted to call back to this.

Wanting to look back at Funeral For A Friend, wanting to revisit a scene at the tomb, and wanting to showcase Supergirl (this is a Supergirl blog), I thought I would review Adventures of Superman #499.

Before we get to the story, a couple of comments. One, I really love Funeral For A Friend. Death of Superman had many wonky story beats (Doomsday heads to Metropolis because he overhears a wrestling commercial?). Reign of Superman (which I also love) has huge action sequences, the mysteries of the four replacements, and the return of Superman. Funeral takes a pause to let us see how the loss of Superman hits everyone. It really is a character driven arc, even if it has its own action sequences.

And I'll remind people that I think that Funeral For A Friend is the turning point for the Matrix Supergirl. The arc starts with her as the subservient lover and ends with her questioning Lex and moving towards being an independent hero. We see her take the next step in Reign of Supermen. But this chapter is when she is still naive to be listening to Lex completely.

Written by Jerry Ordway, with art by the stellar Tom Grummett and Doug Hazelwood, here is Adventures of Superman #499.

Geoff Johns and James Robinson on integrating Supergirl into the Superman family

Remember in the 1990's when Superman mattered and Supergirl was considered part of the family?




It just feels to me that DC is trying to make the Superman titles relevant again. It seems to happen about once every 10 years, that talent is brought to the titles and the stars align. I guess the last time I felt this way was with the Reign of the Supermen. While I know that the Death of Superman brought some publicity, I actually enjoyed both Funeral For a Friend and the Reign storylines. And the couple of years after those arcs were pretty interesting.

At the time, it just seemed like Superman mattered again. But that energy seemed to peter off for me. Since about 2004 I haven't collected a Superman title monthly outside of All Star Superman.

But then something weird happened. I was lured back into a Superman title. I was told that I should buy Geoff Johns' 'Legion' story in Action Comics. After all, that story included the "best" Legion I knew and was drawn by Gary Frank who drew such a lovely Supergirl in the early 1996 title.




So amazingly I enjoyed Johns' story! I even planned to pick up the Brainiac storyline; it started this week in Action Comics 866.




Then DC announced that James Robinson will be writing Superman and a JLA spin-off with Kara!

Johns and Robinson!? Now that is a confluence of talent to make people notice Superman again. Both have said they want to try to synch up the titles to do and overall bigger story. Integrated Superman titles! Reminds me of those little triangles they used to have on the covers so people could read there Superman titles in the right order. For example, Action Comics 677 was issue 20 for the year (see left side of pic).




And here is the key thing for this blog. They both seem to care about Supergirl! They both talk about how she should have a key part in the Superman titles and in Superman's life. How she needs to fit into the DCU.

In this month's Wizard (issue 201) this is what Robinson had to say:

Q: Will you be incorporating Supergirl back into the Superman world?

"There's stuff involving Kryptonina heritage that we will be working on strongly, which will affect all of them. No one's been trying to involve the creative team of Supergirl in with everything else and that is something we intend to change.

She could be a great character, and that's our goal - to make her a character that has her own identity. I don't really feel I know who she is apart from being this blonde, super girl, you know? She doesn't have personality quirks and a personality that Hal Jordan or Oliver Queen, or Dick Grayson have, so I think the important thing to do is to give her that.

Q: So you have been talking with Kelly Puckett about incorporating the books?

"Yeah. We discussed how to best make it into part of the DCU and of the Superman family as opposed to merely a book with a Superman logo on it."

Seems silly to be excited by the statement, but he wants to give Kara a personality! He wants her to be part of Superman's life. And, best of all, he wants to include Kelly Puckett in on the discussions so that there is a consistent vision of Kara!

And now, here is what Johns said on ComicMix today.

http://www.comicmix.com/news/2008/06/11/interview-geoff-johns-on-the-return-of-brainiac-in-action-comics/

"Then coming in October after “Brainiac” and “Atlas” are concluded, the books are all going to be linking up, including Supergirl. There will be some more announcements about Supergirl down the line but there is a big storyline that we’ll be telling in the last quarter of the year in the world of Superman that builds off of the things that happen in “Brainiac” and “Atlas.” "

Imagine, a big storyline and more announcements about Supergirl in the last quarter of the year. They actually have plans for Kara!

Here is the cover of Superman 679 (due in August), a nice Alex Ross Kara in the background.

If there is one thing most people can agree on, it is that there has been no clear direction for the Supergirl title. I like the Puckett stories, but based on message boards and blogs not everyone does. I didn't like the Joe Kelly stories at all, but I have read plenty of people on-line who did.

What I think everyone can agree on is the lack of consistency on the title.

Maybe this is the answer. Maybe having the super-book creators talking to each other will make the difference.

I have enjoyed Kelley Puckett run. And the fact that two great writers like Johns and Robinson are going to work on Superman, include Supergirl, and work with Puckett is great. That they have plans for her, important plans that will link her to the Superman titles, well that is fantastic.

As a Kara fan, I am very optimistic. Anyone else?