Hello again GEN readers! It’s Jill a.k.a. The Nerdy Bird back with this week’s installment of DoubleDCoverage. Who is Batgirl? The question is finally answered! Plus, the secret origin of Mon-El and Daxam. It’s one for the history books! Reviews for Batgirl #1 and Superman Annual #14 are ahead, also, check out my star ratings for my other pulls from last Wednesday!

BATGIRL #1

This book was awesome! I can’t say it enough. We’ve been waiting to find out the identity of the Batgirl under the cowl in her new ongoing series for a while now. I’m pretty happy with the decision. So who is Batgirl and what is she doing with her life? Read on.

The issue opens with Batgirl breaking up a deadly drag race. Her minds voice makes it pretty obvious who she is, especially if you’re a fan of the character. It’s Stephanie Brown, former Robin and former Spoiler. Stephanie is about to start Gotham University but has a lot more than that on her mind. Her mother thinks she’s quit vigilantism and Tim forbade her from ever wearing the Spoiler costume again. So isn’t it convenient when a new one is literally handed to her? Three weeks ago, after a fight with some goons, Cassandra seems fed up with the mantle. The mantle she wore for Bruce. She sheds her costume, hands it to Stephanie and disappears. Seems rather abrupt but when you consider Bruce Wayne was about to adopt her when he died, it’s understandable. I’m sure we’ll be hearing more from Cassandra soon.

In my opinion, the book wouldn’t have been complete without a cameo from the original Batgirl, Barbara Gordon. Luckily she’s going to play a much larger role from the looks of things. She meets with Dr. Leslie Thompkins out on a basketball court where the recently paralyzed Wendy is engaging in a game with other wheelchair bound folk. Even though Barbara has been in a wheelchair for a long time now, she shares a great deal of anger with Wendy who is just beginning to cope. On the train home Babs gets to lay the smackdown on some unsuspecting thugs who attempt to hurt her. She says, “That felt good. Which is what worries me.” It doesn’t help that at a meal with her father later he says, “Sometimes it’s like you don’t want to be happy.” She definitely has a lot of stuff to work out but when Dick informs her of the new Batgirl, it’s just one more negative thing to deal with. It’s time to have a talk with Stephanie.

I really like some books, like Blackest Night for example, because they are dramatic and intense and others, like Power Girl because they are fun and funny. Batgirl falls in another category somewhere between the two. This was just really, truly enjoyable for me. Brian Q. Miller, a writer from Smallville, is relatively new to DC having only done a few issues of Teen Titans but he already feels like the perfect fit for this book. The dialogue is fresh and sincere. He’s captured both Stephanie and Babs perfectly. Artist Lee Garbett, who’s no stranger to the Bat family, seems well suited to the material as well. He’s got pictures of Robin and Robin and Batman symbols littered around Stephanie’s room, which says so much about the character. She even doodles Bat symbols in class. Even though, Stephanie has been through a lot, which is I think rightfully left out of this first issue, you can see how much passion she has for being a hero. Just look at her peering at the costume out of the corner of her eye while she’s brushing her teeth. This girl is hopelessly devoted.

SUPERMAN ANNUAL #14

Annuals are like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get. Sometimes they feature quirky joyrides through a characters world, other times they wrap up part of a larger story arc. In this case we were treated to something extra special – the secret origin of Mon-El and his planet Daxam. And when they say secret, they really mean secret.

Legionnaire Tellus secretly left crystals for Mon-El that contain the history of Daxam. Originally Green Lantern Sodam Yat, a fellow Daxamite, was going to deliver them face-to-face but Tellus warned against it for the good of the future. Mon-El recently discovered he is dying and is at odds with himself about whether or not he even wants to know his history. He’d prefer to live in the here and now. Eventually he decides to listen and the crystals speak to him directly calling him by his real name Lar Gand. It starts with Krypton’s evolution into an advanced civilization. After many conquests a pilot found an inhabital planet orbiting another sun. The pilots name was Dax-Am. The aboriginal race on that planet was capable of reproducing with the Kryptonians who chose to remain there. The who cultures melded in such a way that after a few generations, Krypton was barely a memory.

When the Daxamites eventually took to space exploration they went peacefully and with much curiosity. They discovered breeding was possible with many of the worlds they came across, especially those with yellow suns, but such a thing was forbidden. Eventually they reached a primitive Earth where the humans believe the Daxamites gods for their abilities under the sun. A male human and a female Daxamite fall in love yet she leaves him knowing she is carrying their child. The aircraft she came home stayed exactly where it was for many years eventually overgrown with plant life. Among other factors, the influence of a Kryptonian entity called the Eradicator, created a sense of xenophobia in the Daxamites and they outlawed space travel. A Science War erupted between the Daxamites but 300 years later a cult rewrote history to reflect that an alien race warred with Daxam instead. And finally Lar Gand (Mon) comes into play. We always knew he had found a rocket hidden on Daxam but what we didn’t know was his friend Van sacrificed his life so Lar could escape in it. Once inside it had a preset course for Earth which he allowed it to take and that’s where he first met Clark. The rest is history although there is one more, very important detail given. The name of the Daxamite woman who had a child with the Earthman was Bal Gand.

This was an inspired tale by James Robinson. I actually felt like I could be reading the history of a real civilization, one that’s out there right now. That’s how engaging this issue was for me. Appropriately enough it was titled, “History Lesson.” Mon-El’s story has become so much more tragic since he took center stage in the Superman title. Robinson has also fleshed his character out so well that I really care about him now and hope his story doesn’t end in tragedy. Javier Pina’s art was fantastic, especially the several different settings he was charged to bring to life. His depictions of the young, naïve Lar Gand versus the now troubled Mon-El were powerful. It was also really cool to get glimpses of some of the early civilizations the Kryptonians and Daxamites visited like Thanagar, home to the Hawks and Xudar, the home of Green Lantern Tomar Tu.

BATMAN: STREETS OF GOTHAM #3 – I love Zsasz vision. I’m not entirely feeling this series but this issue had some excellent moments.

BLACKEST NIGHT: SUPERMAN #1 (OF 3) – Robinson created an amazing atmosphere in this one. Best panel? Superman’s aura showing fear, will, love, rage and hope all at the same time.

JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #36 – We see the story behind Professor Amos Fortune and his Royal Flush Gang. That man should not wear spandex.

THE OUTSIDERS #21 – The effects of Blackest Night have finally reached the team as they are locked out of the clubhouse, I mean Batcave, and must find escaped Bat villains so they can’t be used as Black Lanterns.

POWER GIRL #4 – Bet you wish you were a hobo lying on the ground of that alley. Fantastic dialogue and details this issue.

SUPERGIRL #44 – That General Lane is a slippery one. I guess this mysterious Mirabai is magic-based because she’s affected Kryptonians pretty easily.

WEDNESDAY COMICS #7 (OF 12) – I love how the layout of Wonder Woman has changed from horizontal crazy to vertical crazy and I still can’t understand what’s happening. Also, I totally thought that was a boy in the Hawkman story, apparently it’s a girl. Woops.

My pull list for this week (dear god help me):

BATMAN AND ROBIN #3
BATMAN: WIDENING GYRE #1 (OF 6)
BLACKEST NIGHT: TITANS #1 (OF 3)
DETECTIVE COMICS #856
THE FLASH: REBIRTH #4 (OF 6)
GOTHAM CITY SIRENS #3
GREEN LANTERN #45
JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA #30
SUPERMAN #691
SUPERMAN’S PAL, JIMMY OLSEN SPECIAL #2
TEEN TITANS #74
WEDNESDAY COMICS #8 (OF 12)
WONDER WOMAN #35

Which two should I review for DoubleDCoverage #23?

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