I can only say one thing about this issue... ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT!!!

Tommy Monaghan makes a triumphant return in this issue, set before his untimely death at the end of Hitman it's a breath of fresh air for the DCU.

Firstly a warning, read the Hitman series first or most of the jokes will be lost on you, such as the previous Hitman / Green Lantern team up or the hilarious issue with Hitman throwing up on Batman... or the issue which should have won an award for the best portrayal of Superman where Hitman managed to convince Superman that he was doing the right thing, and there was still good in the world.

This issue was a nice change from the JLA at the moment, going back to when Kyle was still in his old uniform as Green Lantern. It's riddled with the usual humor normally found in Hitman with cameo's from all the regulars from Noonan's bar.

Overall, if you you're a fan of Hitman, or just looking for some hilarious reading at the JLA's expense pick up this book :D

M

ok... for the past few issues we have been treated to the storyline about the crystals in Kara Zor-El, and the fact that she is 'supposed' to kill Superman.

now everything has finally been tipped on it's head, but i'm getting ahead of myself.

this issue actually felt right for once, the artwork and script actually fit together, which is something that has been sadly lacking from the Supergirl series so far. is all i finally felt some 'hope' for the series at last.

The artwork done by Garza, Alquiza and Lanning actually really worked for the storyline, their renditions of Kara, Cassie and Robin actually felt right, though the rensition of Superman felt a little too 'Dark Knight Returns' for my taste, but again, it fit in with the story.

The Martian Manhunter is one of the others that has had a 'redesign' in this issue, i've never been the niggest fan of the character, but the look given to him here actually looked more 'alien' than before and gave a bit more mystery to the character.

overall i was left a little confused over the storyline again, the earths sun going red while the phantasms are coming through and Robin claiming over and over to be Batman's Son.

the end of the storyline is getting darker and darker, with Kara explaining to Kal that her only choice to save Earth is to kill him, and he accepts this. he accepts his death with the simple words...

"Do it... and please tell lois... we had no choice"

at this point we are shown yet another Supergirl... something the writers have had a penchant for for some time now...

now we're left with the questions who is this new supergirl? who is out supergirl?

the new supergirl looks more like the Kara Zor-El of old, and i for one am hoping that she will stay around... but another part of me is saying this will be the return of Linda Danvers...

so many question's and so few answers...

all in all a nice read and a fitting close to the storyline, i'm hoping this will be closed up soon so we can head on to brighter and better things for the Supergirl series, but if not i can hope and prey that this is Kara Zor-El returning at last to remove the pretender.

at first i was a bit aprehensive about the comic, the books are amazing and i didn't see how the comics would be able to live up to them.

putting that thought aside i stepped in...

first impressions of the artwork... ok, i try and play it cool but my jaw hit the floor... the artwork isn't subtle by any standard, but it's absolutely perfect for the story they are telling.

the script was taken pretty much word for word out of the first book (Currently they are on book 14 with more to come), it was just as funny/sad/scary as the book.

the characters are drawn pretty much as i imagined them, right down to Anita's penguin collection ;)

all in all this series kept me entertained for ages, if they keep making it (Please, please please...) i will defninitely keep reading it, at least up untill they do Obsidian Butterfly... after that it will kinda turn into Hentai lol

seriously though, if you haven't read the comic, even if you haven't read the books, pick up an issue, read it. i can pretty much promise you'll love it.

M

Overall I was quite impressed with this run of Supergirl, this new issue however didn't seem to live up to the beginning of her 'reign'.

The artwork was ok; to be honest I don't think it works well for Supergirl. Alé Garza is a good artist, don't get me wrong but I don't feel that his artworks works well for the story or for the characters involved in this plotline.

As for this new plotline involving 'Phantom Zoner's'... I’m not too sure what to think about it at the moment, on the one hand is has stopped the 'powerboy' nonsense that had been going on; I’m just not too sure where they are heading with this. They seem to be rewriting a part of the history of superman with Kara's parents, hoping to bring some more 'action' into the book. I think this could be better accomplished by bring the Supergirl character into the limelight a bit more.

Again, the one thing that I keep coming back to when I think about this issue is the artwork. Admittedly Michael Turner is a hard act to follow after his run on the introduction and the first few issues but Alé Garza's art is just lacking something for the character in my eyes. Supergirl in his artwork seems more childlike, a more innocent naive Kara. Now while I’m not against bringing this side of Supergirl out into the open, I don't think that it is right for the storyline at present with the end of the issue telling Kara that she must kill Superman.

Overall I’ll keep reading Supergirl, but out of this run I will rank this issue quite low down on the scale.

Just rereading the issue now I was left with more questions than answers... The phantom zone is supposed to be a dimension away from our own, where nothing can affect anything in this dimension. if this is true and that Jor-El created the 'Zone' to house criminals, I’m not too sure that he would have knowingly used it to house the Super criminals which Superman met later on in his life.

Another thing I did have a slight problem with, this is really minor but it niggled at my brain through the entire read. Superman's father was Jor-El, and so Superman, his son was named Kal-El. different 'first name', same surname. Now in this issue, Supergirl's father was named as Zor-El, Jor-El's brother. So why is Supergirl named as Kara Zor-El, following what I can of Kryptonion names shouldn't it just be Kara-El?

Anyway, that aside the plotline was reasonably well done. I still had a few niggling doubts about the story surrounding the Sunstones and 'ghosts' that came out of the phantom zone to possess people.

So, if you’re a diehard Supergirl fan like me pick it up if only for your collection. If you’re just looking to get into the books and the Supergirl mythology I recommend going back and starting at the beginning of this run. It’ll probably leave you with a better taste for the character than the last few issues have.

M