“This is Not My Life, part 2 of 3”
This three-parter to end out the current Supergirl series is kind of growing on me. I still miss Gates and Igle, but fears about subsequent creators on this series screwing up the character and returning her to the petulant, directionless brat she was during the first thirty-odd issues have proven unfounded. No, my fears on that score are now centered around the Relaunch. It's hard to think positive about what's been released so far about the new Supergirl series. But I have this and the next issue left to enjoy the adventures of the “good girl” Kara.
The issue begins with kind of a double swerve. At first it seems that the cliffhanger ending of the previous issue was a feint – Henry seems to have simply “disappeared” into some known tunnels beneath Stanhope University. Except that as Kara and her new friends attempt to catch up with him we learn that, well, he might have gone into them willingly but once there he is captured by the perpetrator of all the other student disappearances. Meanwhile, Lois is caught snooping by the president of the University, who tries to sweet-talk her but finally takes umbrage at the very idea that those students' disappearances might have been foul play. Of course, we quickly find out the president is behind whatever's going on, when she demands that Professor Ivo, the bad guy who's captured Henry, rush the plot to completion tonight. “Idiots!!” he fumes – “What am I supposed to do, wiggle my nose and wish for the appropriate candidates to waltz into my – ” Then, his remote cameras detect the students searching for Henry. “Oh my … I ought to have tried that nose thing much sooner.” Kara and company find a large chamber – and robot rats (equals Ivo's remote cameras) attack them. Thinking quickly, Kara manages to short out a bunch of them without giving away her identity, but when more attack she inadvertently allows one of them to see her living a standalone cabinet to set up as a barricade. “What …? I work out. {Whoops!}” She somehow does still manage to keep her secret, it seems, but the kids are now trapped in the chamber. Kara volunteers to swim up a water conduit for help … her friends worry she'll drown, but of course they need not. As Supergirl, she explodes out of the water into Ivo's lab. He is delighted at the prime candidate for whatever the scheme is – “Well now … This is even better than I'd hoped.” “End of Two.”
“False Victory”
Harmonia Li and the Legionnaires use Star Boy's multiversal energies to open the pathway to her world, where they emerge directly into a battle against Saturn Woman and the Legion of Super-Villainsthat lasts basically the entire rest of the issue. The Legionnaires seem to be prevailing, but Saturn Queen manages to call the blue flame Master of Chaos that she is working for, who now appears in humanoid form. “Your task on this world is incomplete,” he rebukes her, “and the third of the immortal worlds still waits finish!” – “The Legionnaires gathered against us are strong,” Saturn Queen beseeches, “and even with the gifts you have given us, the struggle remains. … Can you not help us once more?” – “You need nothing I have not already given, mortal woman. … In a single corrupt soul lies the balance of the Yuga … touch his mind, and make him yours.” And he gestures toward Earth Man. “Next: False Legionnaire?”
“Chapter Two”
I'm not even going to bother trying to summarize or comment on this. I didn't like this issue any more than the last and just don't care enough to make the mental effort. Were it not for the pre-order mail-order method that I get most of my comics these days, I would not have picked this second issue up anyway. All I got out of it is that John Constantine doesn't get along any better with Superman than he did with Batman, and that Alec Holland finds out that he's the Swamp Thing. Not that I cared.
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Next up: Since I've already got August's releases, and the big development in August was finishing up Flashpoint including #5 and the new, Relaunch Justice League #1 released together on 31 August - and I can only stick to my guns with regards to reading my comics in the order they came out so far - I'm going to do a Flashpoint - Justice League #1 marathon post. Then I'll come back and finish out July before continuing with the rest of August.
Cheers!
Cheers!
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