WORLD'S FINEST #4

STORY: Paul Levitz
ART: George Perez, Kevin Maguire, and Scott Koblish

I really, really wanted to like World's Finest. In fact, for the first three issues, I gave the series a whole lot of leeway due to it's grand scale and ambitious storyline that could have been great. Unfortunately, Paul Levitz squanders any good will he had with this finale to "Rebirth", which carps around endlessly resulting in no real conclusion to an already struggling arc. What's most upsetting is why this series has been tripping up so much: Levitz has been focusing so much on developing Karen Star and Helena Wayne, that he completely lost the plot in constant flashback sequences and "witty" banter between these two friends. It's not often I criticize a writer for penning too much character development, but in the case of World's Finest #4, four months of neglecting the plot comes to affront with painful results.

Since the first issue, the villain Hakkou has been terrorizing various scientific locations around the world, including Karen Star's dimensional transporter and one of Michael Holt's labs. It's been assumed since his debut that Hakkou was a parademon, stranded on New Earth just like Power Girl and Huntress, after the war with Apokolips on Earth 2. As the final issue of "Rebirth", it would only make sense that Hakkou's origins would be locked down, or at least an explanation would be given for his radioactivity-absorbing powers. Apparently, Paul Levitz feels otherwise, instead opting to give no answers and no explanations. Huntress and Power Girl are still locked in a showdown with Hakkou in Tokyo Bay. Still. Maybe I'm being too harsh, but a four-issue arc shouldn't spend two of those issues focused on one fight. And a pretty lazy, uninteresting one at that.

Seriously, nothing seems to be resolved this month. Every issue of World's Finest thus far have included flashback sequences drawn by Kevin Maguire, jumping back a few months at a time to give more insight to the few years since their arrival on New Earth. Again, one would expect these time-jumps to be leading up to something, or at least to the current day, but one would be disappointed, yet again. If they don't have a connection to the story, what is their purpose? Unfortunately, even though Kevin Maguire's artwork is far superior to Perez's dated style, he's relegated to side-story, something I hope DC will change in the near future when Perez will inevitably move onto another series to make look like everyone has plastic surgery and awful 80s hairstyles.

Because Earth 2 has been so strong, I want to believe that World's Finest will get better. Though, it may take some time to recuperate from this big letdown.

GRADE

C-

(COMIC) SUPERGIRL #8

STORY: Michael Green and Mike Johnson
(GUEST) ART: George Perez and Bob Wiacek


Last month, Supergirl finished up it's fantastic first arc, "Last Daughter of Krypton", in which she woke up on Earth, went in search of Krypton, and fought the four Worldkillers created by Kryptonian scientists. It was a fun (if not somewhat fragmented) story that gave Kara a solid, well-written origin. Supergirl has been written and re-written so many times (the 'New 52' Supergirl technically counts as Volume 6) that it's hard to keep her continuity straight, even for die-hard fans.

This month sees the the reboot of a Superman villain who has received mixed reviews since 1987: Silver Banshee. Exhausted from her fight with the Worldkillers - and with nowhere to go anyway - Supergirl becomes surrounded by Metropolis police looking to arrest her. A young Siobhan Smythe intervenes, shouting that it was Supergirl who saved the city. After a short kerfuffle and a quick getaway, the girls bond when Siobhan learns to speak Kryptonian after hearing only a few short sentences from Kara, a gift for languages some people possess.

Siobhan gets Kara set up with street clothes and they head out to a bar where Siobhan is playing an acoustic guitar set. Usually, I'm a big fan of George Perez's artwork - it often reminds me of Silver Age books without seeming cheesy or overdone - but the pencils of Siobhan's performance make her look like she's drowning or making a "cooooo" sound with her mouth. Also, the silver lettering that identifies her singing are drawn jagged and nigh-broken looking. This is the kind of font I'd expect from a withered, old sorceress who cackles and sounds like a crow - not from a young Irish woman who claims she has a pretty voice.

Michael Green and Mike Johnson have created a whole new character for Supergirl, a way to make Silver Banshee more than a simple third-tier villain. Black Banshee arrives at the club, using his dark magic to stir up chaos in efforts to find his daughter, Silver Banshee, and in the confusion, Kara loses Siobhan. Of course, fans already knew who Siobhan was the moment she showed up earlier in the issue: Silver Banshee. Green and Johnson leave the issue on a cliffhanger for next month when it looks like Supergirl will team up with Silver Banshee, something I never thought I'd say.

GRADE:

B+

(REVIEW) Superman #6

Written by George Perez
Artwork by Trevor Scott, Nicola Scott and Brett Smith

George Perez's run on Superman has been taking it's sweet time, creating a current-day world for Superman. While Action Comics and Justice League are focusing on the origins of characters, it's nice to see Perez giving ol' Supes the proper treatment of a standard storyline. And a rather good one, at that.

Last we left Metropolis' savior, he was acting more like a dictator than a benevolent protector - martial law and a near-murder before Supergirl shows up in this issue's opening pages. During their fight, the real Superman wakes up in orbit around Earth. Before impostor Supes can deliver the final blow to a mostly-defeated Supergirl, Clark swoops in to correct the situation. He tells his city the truth about the alien impostor and immediately leaves Metropolis before Gen. Lane's strike force arrives.

It turns out, nanotechnology is the root of this arc's events. From a world whose nanotech could repair any damage doled out to the planet or people, the 'Collector of Worlds' - who makes it into a disappointingly small amount of panel space - wanted their science to add to his own. In a narratively simple malfunction between technologies, the planet's nanotech went berserk, leading to it's connection with Superman (which we apparently don't get to see until next month's Action Comics), bringing it to Earth. Since it's memory matrix-whosit-whatsit was damaged, it tried to 'fix' Metropolis, then Superman himself by creating a replica out of nanites.

And while the last few pages sort-of just fizzle out with lengthy explanations, at least there's a Superman vs. Superman brawl to pad it out. The real value in this first Superman arc is the lead-up to the Summoning arc that's been referred to in Stormwatch.

GRADE:

B

Review: Superman #5

Review




Superman #5
Written by George Perez
Pencilled by Nicola and Trevor Scott

This month's Superman was a thinker. Not much time has passed since the end of issue four, and Supes is stuck in a cyclone made of fire and ice; a curious thing indeed. After a few minutes of controversial news coverage, the cyclone dies away, along with Superman's previously gentle and charming manner. A new militant Superman has taken his place and begins exterminating any major threats to Metropolis.

Superman has been a point of mixed emotions for me. On the one hand, I like how DC is incorporating non-DC villains into the canon, though I'm frustrated about the pace at which things are developing. It hasn't been uncommon for writers to utilize the half-thoughts-half-article approach to Superman, allowing a more human scope in which to interpret Superman's actions, his behavior and his very existence. Unfortunately, George Perez hasn't really used this technique in the best way. He's severely fragmented the storytelling flow by constantly skipping back and forth to Lois, Clark, Perry, Jimmy and others. And with this fragmentation comes a missed opportunity to really give this relaunched Superman some awesome personality.

The final pages really get things going again and definitely make me want to read the next issue, so we'll see how things pan out next month.

Grade: C-